Cot wedge for reflux baby - experiences please

[Igglybuff]

Hi my 13 week DS has reflux. He's had a choking episode from lying on his back (in the day) so now I'm not letting him sleep that way as I think it's too risky.

We ordered a cot wedge to keep him tilted at 30 degrees as recommended - currently he sleeps on me or on his left hand side but this stresses me out so I get very little sleep.

The cot wedge arrived today and it looks ridiculous. It's so sloped that we would need to strap DS in otherwise he would slide down

Has anyone used one of these before? I'm now thinking of propping his cot up instead but would DS slide down? Any tips welcome!

Thanks

you are putting him in the feet to foot position? if so, where is there for him to slide to?

his feet could get caught in the cot bars at the end of the cot. Or his legs would end up bent and I doubt he'd sleep - DS is a big baby at over 15lbs and wriggles loads. It really is quite a slope!

the only thing I can think of is to get a cot bumper and put it at the foot end? that might stop him sliding further down the cot?

I guess so. I'm just concerned that he'll slide down and the pressure of his full weight his feet would make him uncomfortable - almost like sleeping standing up. I had him on it earlier to test and he just slid. And I'm not sure about harnessing him in every night as doing it would probably wake him (Velcro straps).

30 degrees is quite a slope, I agree.

Do you have 2 books the same thickness to try as a cot prop? see how you get on?

is that the one?

DS has severe reflux and we used an amby hammock (these been recalled in the US) till he was 12 months with a nappy breathing monitor. Only time he would sleep more than 20 mins was in the hammock. We had a small wedge for the pram and moses basket but it didn't really help as it was only few inches. DS chokes daily and stopped breathing once at 4 weeks old. Now he is 13 months and we can't prop up the cot as he would get out so we roll a towel up underneath in a 'n' shape so it slopes up abit.

Yes tipsy - but DH got the ultra size which is a lot higher than pictures!

jelly is your son better?

I'll try the wedge and straps but failing that will tilt the cot!

iggly, we use these:

cot blocks

when I stay at my parents' with DS, we use books instead.

how is your LO now?

Hi my son still has pretty bad silent reflux but he is alot easier to manage than the horror of the first few months. He is still on Losec which helps alot with the acid/pain. When he hasn't had it he screams for hours with splashing noises in his stomach and he is inconsoulable.

When they can play and distract themselves things get very much easier. Still hard with eating since he is still eating baby purree mostly etc but we are hoping he grows out of it by walking steadily (soon hopefully). Over 90% grow out of it by age 1 though so don't let it dishearten you!!

We still have some sleepless nights and he is often in bed with us until asleep and then we put him in his cot with the towel under. It's not 30 degrees like the wedge (otherwise he could climb out now) but enough for his head to be abit higher.

I hope the wedge works for you, reflux is terrible. i had no idea how bad it was, DS is no 5 and my others were all sick but not suffering with it. is your DS on any meds?

Put a couple of paperback books under the cot legs at one end. That is what I did with ds. Lifts the cot a bit but not too much. You can buy cup things that do the same thing. We used something similar to this and they were fine (didn't make a jot of difference to ds's reflux though).

Jelly, no he's not. We had him on gaviscon but it made little difference and made him constipated. As I'm BF, it was also a right pain as DS would fill himself on milk then gaviscon on top would overfill his stomach and he'd sick it back up! It's hard to tell when he's full... So we've decided to manage it without meds and see how we get on for now. It's not too bad provided we keep him upright after eating etc. However he still gets in discomfort especially at night and he sleeps with us!

molly and duende - I'm going to try tilting the cot as we put DS in the wedge harness and he just slid down...

DS seems to be ok but his reflux does seem to bother him more and more. He used to be ok but now he's refusing feeds (as of today ) and complains a lot.

Jelly how do you give losec? I asked my dr for alternatives to gaviscon and he said they were too messy and not worth bothering with as DS seemed ok. However I'm concerned that it's getting worse so might have to go back.

my DS is also on Losec. It is a bit of a pain to give but without it we'd all go mad!
my DS started to refuse feeds at about 7 weeks, he'd stop after an oz or so, and start screaming his head off. often, he'd stop breathing after a few sucks and I had to blow in his face for him to catch his breath.

anyway. we put a tablet on a medicine spoon aand pour a tiny bit of warm water over it. wait for it to disolve into little granules, then squirt it into DS's mouth with water from a syringe.

this seems to work best for us. the granules can't be crushed and they would get stuck in the bottom of the syringe when we tried just syringing them in.

Thanks duende. It's worrying when they refuse feeds as you know it must really hurt. I'm going to aak about the losec.

My DD had a terrible time with reflux from about 6 weeks, she's now 51 weeks and 1 day . She was hospitalised for a couple of days with sleep apnea due to reflux, there she slept on a ski slope in the cot. they stopped her slipping down by rolling up a celluar blanket (or towel) into a long tube and then putting in a pillow case in a U shape, then put the pillow case in the cot and DD had her bum on the bottom of the U. It worked well until she learnt to roll over. My then the reflux was a lot better and we didn't need such a slope. We put the cot on a slope by sticking some hard back books under one end of the cot

I'm not sure if you're breast or formula feeding, we got put on Enfamil AR, a prescription formula, which worked wonders alongside Ranitadine and Domperidone (can't remember how they are spelt). Once we got the dosages stopped it did stop the apnea. She is now off the medication, but still on the Enfamil.

We used the cot blocks, he did gradually slide down, we used to pull him back up if we were up in the night but he never got in a very bad position (like feet trapped out the end).

If he struggled to sleep we let him fall asleep in the car seat and then transferred him. Luckily, he was a good sleeper, once he was asleep he was normally ok.

lobsters happy first birthday to your DD when it comes! I think I can picture the pillow arrangement. That must have been scary having her in hospital. I'm BF so a bit difficult administering meds.

moomaa - that;s good to know. He is a bit of a wriggler though in his sleep so who knows where he'll end up! I think it's wind making him wriggle - not sure.

The medication was given to DD orally through a little syringe we popped in her mouth, the dosages were so small it worked fine (0.27ml of one and 1ml of the otehr 3 times a day), I can't see why it couldn't be combined with breastfeeding. However, the first medication was prescribed while in hospital, then we were under the consultant for a long time, as the apneas didn't stop for a while he prescribed the second medication. I don't know if GP's will prescribe it in the first instance, although they were more than happy to do the repeat prescriptions.

One more thing, if you are worried about issues in the sleep ask your doctor about other help. I was given a breathing monitor and CPR training by the hospital, touch wood never needed more than stage 1 of the CPR training and the breathing monitor was hugely reassuring.

lobsters thanks - I was going to go on a first aid course but if I can get the hospital to train me that would be better. I've been looking into monitors - have only seen the angelcare breathing one which I might get.

Iggly, we have this one, and we're happy with it:

baby moitor

RRP is usually about £90, so the above is a good deal.

That looks good duende - the bugbear of the one we have (shouldn't complain as given to us secondhand) is that it picks up every noise even traffic outside so can't hear DS unless he's really loud...

Dear iggly,
have same prob, despite meds my 4m old son is still in pain at night. I use the b/feeding pillow in his crib to sit him up with, then put a blanket underneath his bottem and the pillow folding it over his lap like an evelope. His apnea mat still picks up his breathing in this position (from angelcare monitors), and he does not move an inch. He is quite a wriggler so I also put a cushion under the end of the mattress where he feet are, so if he were to slip he couldnt go uphill! I looks so comfy, and most nights he hardly stirs. Worth a try for your bub I think.

Hi boysaloud - in the day I prop up DS on the breastfeeding pillow to keep in place whilst I potter. I'll see if I can set something similar up for the night!