infant gaviscon for reflux ebf advice!

[ladders]

Hello wondering if any of you ladies could help, dd has been diagnosed with silent reflux she's 6 weeks old, she doesn't vomit but you can hear stomach contents coming and her swallowing them back down and then looks in pain. She'll do a big burp and then cry for ages afterwards as the acid in her mouth. She constantly looks like she is in discomfort and has a bad taste in her mouth she wants to get out. Laying down she gags and chokes and has upper respiratory noise when asleep.
Iv elevated her head end of the moses basket and I hold her up for at least 30 minutes after each feed etc but doesn't help. The other night I had to hold her for 2 hours after each feed by which time she was close to needing another so exhausting for us both.

Spoke to her gp at her 6 week check and got the usual "some babies cry and are grumpy " I was so mad, I'm a nurse albeit a vet nurse but I know signs of reflux so I persevered and he's given me infant gaviscon.

My problem is getting it down her, iv tried with the water as it states which I have no chance of she gags and chokes and gets upset. Iv tried mixing with a small amount of expressed bm in a bottle but she's never taken a bottle before so she takes so long it goes thick and she can't get it through, bm with a syringe is the most iv got in but it still a mission and she looks so upset.
I just want to cry all the time, when she's awake she just is never happy and it breaks my heart and now I'm upsetting the only time together when she looks content (feeding) does anyone have any tips on how to give effectively to a bf baby? What's the smallest amount I can mix it with to use Syringe? Should I preserve with getting her used to a bottle?
Thank you and I'm sorry for the long post it's just been another long and sad night

 

[Pink Sarah]

We gave it to our lo by syringe I think it was 2.5ml water the doctor only let us have it for 2 weeks even though it worked well, lo is 20 weeks now and is still sick and upset while it comes up bit a lot better than when he was tiny. He had sickness with it though so not sure if that makes a difference. It's just so awful when they upset but hopefully if u keep using the syringe baby will get used to it. Big hugs x

 

[Kiwiberry]

I have to give my baby girl Prilosec (which is the same as gaviscon in the US). What I usually do to make things easier is I give it to her during her bath. I make sure to put a little extra liquid in the syringe because I know she will spit it up. Before I start to wash her I squirt her medicine in the inside of her cheek. She does really well swallowing it down. Her medicine is also strawberry flavored to make it easier to handle. She does not seem to mind it, especially not compared to Zantac which is another medication we tried before this one.

What I used to do before we got the Prilosec was give it to her in 10ml of breastmilk from a bottle, however she does not like bottles anymore since we have been exclusively breastfeeding. The Zantac was unflavored but this method still worked pretty well for us.

 

[justmeinlove]

We asked for ranitidine instead :-\

 

[upsy daisy1]

No advice but I had the same with my daughter.I breastfed for a month but stopped as she was so I'll with reflux I thought I was doing something wrong.I tried going to the drs and got the same.. Baby's cry.she use to scream every night at the same time for hours. Bringing up acid and swallowing and then screaming. It was really horrible. I went drs so many times in the end I gave up. Turnt out she was sensitive to lactose and as soon as I put her on lactose free comfort milk the reflux went.I wish I had tried to eliminate lactose from my diet before stopping breastfeeding. Maybe try to eliminate lactose as I've heard good results from thus but consult Dr first. Hope your lo feels better soon.

 

[ladders]

Thanks everyone, kiwi thanks for your advice but it has to be given six times a day during a feed so can't do the bath but I can certainly try to distract her with something and see if that works.
PinkSarah I can't believe that the dr only gave you such a short supply since it was working that's really uncaring!
Dr basically implied I just wanted it to get her to sleep through the night which is ridiculous because she's never going to sleep through at this age and I don't want her to! I said I have a year off work to look after her so I'd get up every hour in the night if she needed it because she's my job now, it's not to make my life convenient it's to stop her being uncomfortable and unhappy. He kept saying how hard it will be to give when bf like it would put me off because was too much effort. I don't care how hard it is as long as it works!
he said go back in a month you can bet your life ill be back before then if it's not working!
And thanks upsy, eliminating diary will be really difficult as I'm a veggie so it's the only protein I get but will certainly try if nothing works, I really don't want to give up bf because she's so good at it and I enjoy that time together and we have been extremely lucky in the fact that it's been easy for us.

 

[noon_child]

Thanks everyone, kiwi thanks for your advice but it has to be given six times a day during a feed so can't do the bath but I can certainly try to distract her with something and see if that works.
PinkSarah I can't believe that the dr only gave you such a short supply since it was working that's really uncaring!
Dr basically implied I just wanted it to get her to sleep through the night which is ridiculous because she's never going to sleep through at this age and I don't want her to! I said I have a year off work to look after her so I'd get up every hour in the night if she needed it because she's my job now, it's not to make my life convenient it's to stop her being uncomfortable and unhappy. He kept saying how hard it will be to give when bf like it would put me off because was too much effort. I don't care how hard it is as long as it works!
he said go back in a month you can bet your life ill be back before then if it's not working!
And thanks upsy, eliminating diary will be really difficult as I'm a veggie so it's the only protein I get but will certainly try if nothing works, I really don't want to give up bf because she's so good at it and I enjoy that time together and we have been extremely lucky in the fact that it's been easy for us.

Can you ask for a medicine that works on the acidity (ranitidine for example) rather than the fact it comes up in to her throat? If she isn't vomiting it up, she isn't losing weight because of it, so a medicine to address her pain/discomfort might be a better choice. The Gaviscon just makes the milk less likely to reflux, it doesn't actually address the acidity. Ranitidine can be given without mixing in to any feeds.

Also pacifiers can help. I know they aren't recommended when bf because people sometimes substitute it when baby needs a feed, however the suck/swallow action they create can be really soothing. It may take a while to find a shape she likes though!

 

[justmeinlove]

Yeah, really do consider ranitidine. Drs can be idiots about reflux. We ended up taking lo to a&e with her silent reflux and only there did someone finally give us ranitidine.

Re being a vegetarian, tofu? Beans, lentils?

 

[supertabby]

Use the syringe. My DD had reflux and we were told to give the gaviscon in a bottle, we mixed it with some expressed milk so she'd take it. She quickly decided the bottle was easier (we found out when she was 3yrs that she has tongue tie!) and over the following 6 weeks after starting gaviscon she dropped feed after feed in favour of a bottle. Eventually she completely refused the breast and we stopped bf at 12 weeks. It broke my heart. There were other factors in play, ie tongue tie and some earlier issues with thrush, but in hindsight giving a bottle with a taste of milk before every breastfeed was a big mistake for us.

 

[ladders]

Thanks for that supertabby that's what I'm worried about Because I really don't want to stop bf because of it.
Did the gaviscon help your lo? How much did you mix it with?

 

[Kiwiberry]

Wow 6 times a day? That is certainly a lot! Thank gosh Riya's medication only has to be given once a day. That is why it works so well with her bath.

Good luck mama reflux is hard to deal with!

 

[ladders]

Sure is, she's been on the gaviscon since Monday morning and we haven't had a poo since then. Iv tried to give her cooled boiled water but she chokes and gets distressed.
How long would you ladies wait before going back to the drs? My dr said try for a month but I can't go that long if its not helping she's only 6 weeks old! But I feel I can't go back too soon as it will look like iv not even tried. I'm thinking a week but what do you ladies think?

 

[RaspberryK]

Id book an appointment for Friday, we mix 1 sachet of gaviscon with less than 5l water and give in a syringe before every feed plus she is now on ranitidine 3 x daily.
Xx

 

[Pink Sarah]

PinkSarah I can't believe that the dr only gave you such a short supply since it was working that's really uncaring!.

Thank you my doctors are the worst ever!

I would take little one back to drs if she normally poops regularly as gaviscon can cause constipation and you don't want lo to suffer with that as well.
Is she seeming any better now?

 

[ladders]

Yes we had a big poo this afternoon, thicker consistently than normal but still normal relms for bf babies. Today we have managed much better to get the gaviscon down iv been mixing if with between 5 and 7mls of ebm and giving during the feed with a syringe. Fingers crossed she has seemed much more settled today and has slept well and she has even given me the loveliest smiles for the first time ever. Keeping my fingers crossed gaviscon is the key

 

[Kiwiberry]

I think a week sounds good. That is about how long I have waited in between medications for her reflux.

 

[ladders]

Rasberry did you start off with just the gaviscon and then get the ranitidine after? What was her symptoms after starting gaviscon and before ranitidine? dd is still cranky and looks like bad taste in her mouth and now constantly foaming at the mouth. She tolerates laying down better now on the gaviscon but I don't feel it's completely sorted

 

[RaspberryK]

Rasberry did you start off with just the gaviscon and then get the ranitidine after? What was her symptoms after starting gaviscon and before ranitidine? dd is still cranky and looks like bad taste in her mouth and now constantly foaming at the mouth. She tolerates laying down better now on the gaviscon but I don't feel it's completely sorted

yes we did start with just gaviscon double sachet 6x daily, I would have said that it was a slight improvement less gulping etc but it actually increased the amount of vomit and it only worked for the feeds it was given with so I went back. The doctor said it's harder with bf so give the gaviscon every feed and the lowest dose of ranitidine for her weight to see what happens, well it's improved but she was sick 5 times yesterday so today I gave her a double sachet first thing as I knew it'd be a huge feed and then single ones this morning and when she wakes from her longest nap today she will have a double one up to 12 single sachets.
She's much happier overall, we have a 6 weeks check on Tuesday so I'll go through with the doctor then.
Xx

 

[ladders]

Rasberry sorry to bother you but wanted to pick your brain again, lo was doing really well but the gaviscon has bunged her up and she's only producing small flakey poos and is now refusing to eat. I can still see and hear the acid come into her throat and she's now inconsolable. I have a dr appointment today and hoping to try ranitidine, did your dr give it willingly or did you have to push for it? Am I right in thinking your uk too? what is your ranitidine dose?

 

[RaspberryK]

I'm in the UK, I didn't have to push for it but I did describe all of her behaviour, the severity and included examples.

Thankfully the gaviscon doesn't bother her.

She was on 0.3ml ranitidine 3 x per day now she's on 1ml 3 x per day which is still low dosage based on a conservative weight estimate of 5kg. There's 75mg in 5ml, the dosage is 4-10mg per kg per day...