Early weaning for reflux mentioned.. But I don't know what to do?? Help.. (Long)

[stepmum]

I can give you our experience as we weaned at 15 weeks on medical advice. LO had silent reflux and comfort fed so had no problems with this weight, but then he developed lactose overload cos he was taking too much milk, then this gave him constipation, he ended up on adult doses of lactulose. Then the constipation was impacting on his hernia which could have resulted in surgery..sooo early weaning was the best option to try and tackle all of his probs at once. He had to stay on the lactulose at first because solids bung them up a little bit more. But I have to say we have never looked back, He used to be so uncomfortable and restless and he'd cry constantly. Now he has a comfortable amount of milk, he has a quiet night's sleep, he doesn't disturb himself and he never usually cries anymore so I know he's now content.) I've only had to give him lactulose once or twice in the last couple of weeks and thats only through me being paranoid because he hasn't pooed since the day before or something.

On the whole, it worked for us.:thumb up:
If you choose this route I hope it works for you too

 

[xxMichellexx]

Wow michelle..... 57 weeks pregnant hey? lol

Yeh forgot to mention Im weaning her through my belly button haha xxxx

 

[summer rain]

Summer rain - are there certain foods you should avoid if your baby has reflux then??

It depends; I am in no way an expert on reflux but anything acidic can be a problem-eggs used to make my eldest sick as well up until when he was 2

 

[supertabby]

It sounds like you're having a terrible time, I really sympathise. I suspected reflux before 2 weeks old but it wasn't until she was almost 2 months old and rushed to hospital in an ambulance (choking) that it was officially diagnosed. I was fobbed off by 2 gps, 2 midwives and hv before that, who said its just wind or all babies are sicky etc. Fortunately the hospital doctors were much better and she's still under consultant care now.

Isobel has settled best on a combination of gaviscon, domperidone and omeprazole but I know from threads on here that what works wonderfully for one reflux baby can be a disaster for the next. She was bf till 3 months, then combi till 4 months - we know breastfed babies DO get reflux! I really wanted to wait till 6 months and do BLW, but on advice of the consultant we weaned at 5 months and 1 week. The consultant had said early weaning could help but wait until 5 months - but that may be because he felt that was right for Isobel, I don't know if he'd suggest earlier for different cases.

Isobel started climbing the percentiles when she was weaned. Before weaning she was just below the 25th line. Now at nearly 8 months she's between 75th and 91st (weight and length). Her reflux has improved a lot, though not perfect and we've tried reducing meds but she relapsed so she's staying on them for 2 more months till we try again. I don't know if the improvement was the weaning or age though as the stomach matures and gets better with age eventually anyway.

If you can I'd try to hold off till 5 months at least, and try other things, as obviously the 6 month guideline is the ideal and I'm not sure how much/easily a 3 or 4 month would eat? However I'm not a doctor and if your lo is losing too much weight then it may be that early weaning is the best thing.

We did purees once a day (veg purees and runny porridge) until 6 months. At 6 months we introduced finger food and she took to it immediately. At nearly 8 months she's now learning to use a spoon to feed herself too so its working well and I don't feel we missed out on not doing BLW now.

Good luck! Oh and try sainsburys for clothes if you don't already - they are really long. Isobel is long and even so the sleepsuits dangle off her feet.

 

[SiberianLover]

I started with rice cereal at 15 weeks. It made a huge difference. LO is already on 2 mL of Ranitidine twice a day, the max for her weight. The medicine helps, but I notice the days she has her cereal she does so much better. I usually mix it with a bit of apple or banana to give it flavor, as she isn't too excited about it plain. We only do one meal a day this way, so far. I'll be honest, I don't give her cereal every day either. She's a giant slob and takes forever to eat...lol

 

[mummy2lola]

Hey Hun,Lola has silent refluxed and it was a nightmare but to b fair ranitidine really helps with her.I weaned last week due to reflux and it hasn't made it worse at all,infact she sleeps more calmly,doesn't posset as much (apart from yesterday so won't b trying banana again) I think it's helped alot.if u Rey it and it makes baby worse then stop for abit but right now I can imagaine how ur feeling as I've been there so I would say go for the weaning Hun just don't use anything that will upset the reflux,acidic things.tomatoes especially,I was told sweet potato sometimes made it worse for some babies but not others aswell xx

 

[clare83_2000]

We also went to A&E with a choking baby he has been on rantidine and domperidone for a while and has just started omeprazole. The peadatrician said to start baby rice at 17 weeks which we tried but LO wasn't impressed didn't know how to eat it so we have left it for a while, if the new meds don't work will maybe try again at 5 months as he is having so much trouble sleeping and keeps waking screaming.

 

[Eliza_V]

Thank you to everyone for your helpful replies It's good to know that we're not the only ones going through it (although I know it isn't nice for any of you!)

I think what we're going to do is stay as we are until Wednesday; that way I would've been back on dairy for week. Then if she is still screaming/coughing/trumping/vomiting - which I'm sure she will be - I will cut it out again, along with soya, and then when it's starting to take effect after a couple of weeks, we should be back at the hospital with the results of the scans, xrays and blood tests. At that point LO will be about 19 weeks old, so if there isn't a marked improvement I will look at trying baby rice/purees.I am reluctant to do this without the test results back you see, since I told the doctor I wouldn't be doing it and that's what is on file.

I want to avoid trying formula, purely as if it doesn't work, I've stopped BFing for no good reason I just wont have the time to express enough to keep my supply up as well as feeding her formula, as she's so high needs I barely have time to even run to the toilet sometimes! Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-formula or anything

My only worry is that I know she still wont be gaining very fast over the next few weeks again.. But at least she *is* gaining, even if it isn't very much. If she seems remarkably hungry or anything and I feel like she's drained me (like she did yesterday, must've been comfort feeding or hit a growth spurt!) then I may start topping her up with EBM occasionally, despite it still risking my supply..

Thank you so much everyone. xxx

 

[jlomo2]

Hi there, just thought i would give my imput on baby reflux. my baby is now 8 weeks old... she was refluxing on breastmilk, was prescribed gaviscon, this did not work so i tried formula milk, with gaviscon and domperidone, still no use.... was having a right game with docs and nurses trying to get a diagnosis as all they were saying is that it was normal, when i knew full well it wasn't. finally got somewhere after taking pics of amount baby was bringing back up and demanding a referral.
whilst i was getting no where with docs i did my own research and found sma stay down milk... this milk is desighned for babies with reflux and whom bring there bottles back. i must say this milk is definately worth a try.. i took my baby of the meds whilst i tried this milk incase it was too much for her. and fingers crossed it has worked wonders x she still sicks up a little but no where near the amount she used to before. the milk is a lot thicker than normal milk and you have to make it with cold water that has been refridgerated, also smaller teat holes will not let the milk through, i am using teats from 6m plus so that my baby can feed.
hope this as helped

 

[jlomo2]

p.s also she has been tried with lactose free milk but was still the same