So LO has a tummy bug/cold and had been throwing up her milk a lot, sweaty and giving me yellow/green watery poops so we took her in on Friday to be checked over and was told it was a bug, temperature was good so we were sent home. Anyways on Tuesday she fed as usual and brought her milk back - nothing unusual she's been doing it since she was born - but it had bits of brown blood in it

Took her back in to be sure and we were taken to a different hospital and taken to a childrens ward. The pediatrician who checked her asked all about her history and I told her I was treating her for colic but wasn't 100% that she had it. The ped told me she had reflux and the brown blood was where it had laid on her stomach and burned it a little causing it to be inflamed and sore

I had tried to get her diagnosed from around 1 week old! And EVERYONE (HV, GP etc) just kept saying "some babies are noisier than others" "wait it out 6-8weeks they settle" etc. Here were her symptoms:

Bringing back milk after every feed some projectile, arching her back, grunting, groaning, crying but not screaming, not giving up her wind, general discomfort through the day and night and a general feeling from me!

This is what the ped told me:-

Colic 'usually' begins from 5-6 weeks and not from birth
Colic 'usually' begins early evening - early hours of the morning
Colic 'usually' has the LO screaming in pain and no settling helps
Reflux can start at any age
Reflux 'usually' is there all day/night and baby has discomfort at all times
Reflux often lasts til LO is on solids

Trust your instincts because had someone listened to me (I even kept saying "I think she has reflux" and was told she didn't) and had she been diagnosed earlier she wouldn't have had to bring up blood before someone paid attention to her poor soul! She now has gaviscon in all her bottles and the first night home from hospital slept 5 1/2 hours!

Thanks and absolutely true, so many people are clueless about reflux and don't realize that colic is just "unexplained crying", they cling to that myth that colic is gas (if you know it's gas it's not colic!!!). It took me 5 doctors to finally find one that understood my boy's reflux which lasted 14 months not 6 weeks!!

It's horrible it's something so easy to treat as well yet has caused me sleep exhaustion for near 6 weeks cause no one would listen! The ped said straight away "it's definitely not colic I'm 99% sure she has reflux" but she was getting so sore with it she'd started getting a temperature off getting so upset and flustered. Glad you got sorted in the end though!

Oh thank goodness you found someone! I went nuts and drove 2 hours away to a children's hospital at 1am! Mine was diagnosed about 6 weeks too, 6 weeks of hell. Hopefully you can get some slow improvements from now.

I'm so glad you got diagnosed. Luckily for us my GP specialised in peads so my LO was diagnosed at 4 weeks. My friends LO wasn't diagnosed for 8 months which was very distressing for the whole family. I wish there was more information available.

GP's are normally clueless about reflux (think they're clueless about most things personally, but that's a whole other story) - I just had a diagnosis yesterday when I finally managed to get referred to a Paed at one of the local hospitals after 5 weeks of painful traumatic feeds for my little boy. I've said it was SR right from the beginning but because he wasn't being sick or losing weight the Drs ignored me and told me he was crying for no reason and would grow out of it.

I was passed around from Dr to Dr and each one said a different thing, one trying to fob me off by advising to use soya milk for him. I rang C&G and they said soya wasn't suitable for under 6 months really, and never to be used on boys due to the hormones in it!!! I'm glad I stuck at it as eventually they got fed up of me and pushed me onto a Paed, hoping I think, that I'd get bored of the wait and give up....... what mother gives up when her child is in pain, seriously??

We pick up his prescriptions later today hopefully

That's terrible some people have such a bad time getting diagnosed. My dr diagnosed him straight away based on what I'd told him. We just had trouble getting the right meds for him.

Agreed!

Evie's reflux lasted 16 months

Some people are under the impression that reflux doesn't actually exist but believe me.... IT REALLY DOES!!

So glad you sorted it hun!! My lo was diagnosed with reflux v.early on though she was never sick and I also knew she was intolerant of her milk but the doctors wouldnt listen re the cmpi. We eventually refused to leave the hospital until they let us trial her on the right milk! She started puree at 4 months and is no totally off her ranitidine which is amazing but she still has to have gaviscon in her bottles.

xx

Thank you ladies...I'm glad you all got your LO's sorted and diagnosed too cause it's awful! I'm annoyed it had to get as far as her bringing up blood - so none the wonder she was crying and grunting all day and night. She's only been taken it 2 days but already is keeping more of her feeds down and sleeping better so fingers crossed she continues to improve! Mammy's instinct is never wrong!