Hi all,

I've been a lurker on the prem forum for a while now as I had my son Ethan at 31 weeks in December. We were so lucky that he didn't have much wrong with him other than needing the cpap for the first 3 weeks of his life and as a result we got to take him home last week (7 weeks old)

Unfortunately, he has always been slow in learning to feed and giving his bottle is usually not the most enjoyable part of our day (it's a constant fight to get him to go through the whole bottle, wind him, stop him possiting/spitting, getting him back to sleep etc). Typically though, once he's down for his sleep, he will make the usual grunting and goat noises (apparently that's normal), but will then go quiet for 2 or 3 hours until his next feed.

However, over the past 24 hours he seems really really uncomfortable and unsettled - although he is lightly sleeping, he's going red in the face, making goat noises and grunting constantly and moving/tensing his little body all the time. I know he isn't constipated because he has a dirty nappy at least once or twice a day - but he just seems so uncomfortable or possibly in pain.

Does anyone have any advice or have you experienced this? I am so worried about the little mite and me and my husband have no idea what to do other than take him to the doctor if it carries on

Thanks so much for any responses

hi sounds just like it was with ellie until we tried colief in her bottles as we thought she might have had a problem breaking down the lactose in the milk to sugars, as her dad has lactose intolerance so he colief does that in the bottle before it goes in babys tummy xx

It could be reflux. Alex didn't get it till we gt him home. You should speak to your paediatric nurse if you have one or your HV. He may need gaviscon or some medicine

I agree with Sam. If Ethan is fighting bottles it's one of the first signs - it was ours too!
It's really, really common though, if you see your GP they can give you something x

OMG, I could have written this myself! My son was born at 31 weeks in December as well. Nothing was really wrong with him just needed to grow

Clayton does the exact same thing where he grunts and sounds like a goat for about an hour or so after he eats. He struggles with eating also. He arches his back and turns his head side to side when he eats.

This is acid reflux! Or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We had a test done two weeks ago to confirm. Sure enough, it is pretty severe. I had to make a video him grunting and stuff to get my pediatrician to understand how long and loud it lasts!

We started medicine, but it only kind of works. Some things that we have done to help was lifting one side of his crib. Also holding him upright for about 1/2 an hour after he eats. Putting him in a swing or something like it (not swinging of course) to keep him upright. Don't put him in anything that scrunches up his legs because this can cause the acid to be pushed up. I heard that Dr. Brown's bottles help with acid reflux. I just ordered some and will get them in a couple of days. I hope they work! Also giving him a binkie helps because he keeps swallowing and it helps keep the acid down.

I know how hard it is to see them in pain. I feel terrible that I can't help him, but there is not much else I can do for him right know. We are waiting to see if the medicine will work. Here is hoping that both our boys will grow out of it soon!!

Hiya and congrats on the birth of your LO, glad to hear he is doing well and had no complications.

Does sound like reflux, as others have said i'd try and speak with your paediatrician or community nurse if you have one. Reflux is very common with preemies and is very painful. My LO is now 20months and still suffers badly with GORD, she's on Domperidone four times a day and an adult dose of Omeprazole at night and for us it's the last step before she needs surgical intervention again. This is just an example of extreme GORD so i dont want to worry you.

As someone else has said a pacifier does help with reflux also try tilting baby's cot up by putting a pillow under the mattress or if in a crib a few books under the feet as this helps gravity and the milk/acid has a harder job going against it. Also making sure you feed your lo upright or on a high incline where possible and keep him upright for about 20-30mins after each feed.

It's so so horrible to see our LO's in pain but if it is reflux, most babies grow out of it by the time theyre about 6 months old, in Ella's case it's different as her oesophagus does not work normally due to not being connected at birth.

Hope things settle down soon, i think out of all the strife we've had with Ella the reflux has got to be the worst xx

Hi all,

I just wanted to say a belated thank you for all of your advice (I haven't had a chance to get back online until today!). So it turns out that Ethan does have reflux and so after two trips to the Drs, we have finally got him on Gaviscon; this, along with all of your suggestions seems to be doing the trick! He's not being sick anymore and doesn't seem in pain when drinking his milk. My only problem now is that he is starting to become very windy and really uncomfortable after feeds, which causes him more pain in a different way - we can't win!

Anyway; as a result, I'm now trying him on different bottles, have got him on Infacol and if he doesn't improve, am going to talk to the Dr and HV about moving him on to Aptamil comfort as I've heard this is much easier on the stomach than Nutriprem 2. He's gaining about 1oz a day at the moment and will still be on iron and vitamin supplements and so I'm hoping that this won't be a problem from that point of view.

Thanks again for you advice and Kywiki, I hope your little one improves too - feel free to PM me any time as it sounds like our babies may have a lot in common!

xx