Not coping too well with reflux

[Barbourella]

Hi,
I am a new mum of 6 weeks and totally struggling with the overwhelmingness of being a new mum and also the reflux my baby has. The past 3 weeks have been horrendous where he has got progressively worse that we went to hospital and have meds for him (ranitidine & dompedone) and he has improved slightly but the community nurse told me today that the sickness will not disappear completely and I feel like I'm back to square one with my coping of the situation.

He is sick after every feed, sometimes projectile and we are so scared to put him down at night in case he chokes! I am breastfeeding at the moment and have been exclusively for the last week and a half as he seemed to be worse with formula but I'd like to reintroduce formula soon as I am exhausted!

I am feeling really down about it, I am stressed, sad and worried and when I hear about other people's babies sleeping through the night or being really easy I feel so jealous it makes me angry and then I hate myself.

I love my little boy so much but I am not enjoying motherhood and thought it would be so much better, and then when I say this out loud it makes me even more sad!! I need to get a grip!!

Anyone else had this? Any tips other than tilt moses basket, keep him up right for 30 mins after feed.... Any advice would be gratefully received.

Back to hospital tomorrow for follow up apppoinment, not sure what to expect,

 

[booda]

Aww hunny, my LO has reflux (had it really bad) and there were a few times I almost took him back to the hospital he was born in to leave him there with a note saying I couldn't deal with him anymore. And then had to deal with all the guilt from that.

Reflux babies are HARD HARD work. I see you're pretty new here, it would be good to stick around, a lot of mums on here have been through reflux with their little ones and have some great advice.

So far we have found this to be helpful:

-~Moby wrap/mei-tai carrier for around the house, so I could get stuff done - or even make a cup or tea or sandwich.....when LO wouldnt let me put him down wihtout screaming til be was purple, and also for keeping him upright.

~for his moses basket, i stuffed cushions underneath the mattress to make it go on an incline. LO would flop to either side though I found - so i rolled up 2 cellular blankets (the ones that are quite holey) and put then either side of him to "prop" him there, it seemed to keep him in position.

~kept on breastfeeding even though it felt impossible. Formula makes reflux worse because it stays in the stomach twice as long, therefore mroe acid is produced as it's harder to keep down. It was hard, I was exhausted, but I'm glad i stuck at it, because now it's a breeze.

~If the domperidone and ranitidine isn't working, theres always Omeprazole to try in place of the ranitidine. Sometimes it takes experimenting unfortunately.

~I can only talk from my experience, but after i eliminated dairy from my diet, after 3 weeks I had a different baby. Still pukes, still has the odd screaming match but not all day long, waking up screaming in pain, going purple and silent from screaming, going hoarse from all the screaming like he was. It was identified as cow-milk protein intolerance, which causes reflux and other things such as rashes and stringy or frothy poo. Something to think about....if you think it might be an issue and want to try a dairy elimination diet, soya should be avoided too, im not saying your LO has CMPI but it seems to be more common than the medical professionals make out.

If i can think or or remember anything else i'll post back here.

 

[booda]

https://www.babyandbump.com/parenting-groups/506794-reflux-help-support-thread.html

Feel free to join the above thread too, you subscribe automatically by commenting there, even just copy and paste your post from here and all the people subbed to that thread will see it, im sure they will have more helpful advice and support too x

 

[Barbourella]

Thanks Booda. We went for the follow up appointment and ended up with my little one having an operation on his pyloric stenosis muscle as it was swollen which is why he was so sick as the milk wasn't able to flow into the intestine. We've had over 24 hours and no sickness!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that he won't continue to suffer with reflux and the sickness really was just down to the blockage as he has suffered enough. I am hoping we are moving forward and I can start to enjoy being a mum and able to look back at this past 6 weeks and smile.

Thanks again for you help!
Happy New Year!
X

 

[booda]

im glad everythings worked out for you

 

[DextersMummy]

I dont know if anyone has mentioned this as i havent read the posts im sorry (mad rush day) though my lo also has reflux, have you been on the forum little refluxers? they were and are always a big help to me. xx

 

[jessica.C.]

Taking care of babies with reflux problems is hard work. When my son reached 2months, he's been having reflux problems. I agree to stuff blankets to elevate his head. What I did for my son is I bought a baby bean bag. It keeps his head elevated and I wouldn't have to worry about him having reflux problems while im doing chores around the house. Oh, by the way..I got the one from Chibebe. Hope it helps!

 

[HappyDays1]

I hav e a Chibebe snuggle pod, and it is the best invention ever! It relieves my babys reflux and i highly recommend it to everyone. It is the best money you will ever spend, too, because unlike other baby products you buy when theyre born, it lasts for many years, so you get much more than your moneys worth from it. Highly recommend over and over again.