Reflux and preemies...

[Jen1802]

Hey girls I'm wondering if any of you could give me some advice. Juno is 4 weeks adjusted age now and her reflux is just getting worse! She is still getting breastmilk but also giving her nutriprem 2 at night time as its thicker. She's on ranitidine and infant gaviscon but the past couple of weeks she is spewing up soooo much! She's in pain when she's feeding and afterwards and I'm just fed up with seeing her in pain! I know reflux is a typical preemie problem and wondered when will it start to get better?? We're up at the hospital dietician tomorrow and I'm hoping they'll maybe suggest some magic cure (wishful thinking!!!) xo

 

[bek74]

Oh sweets there is no magical cure, both my twins had it ( both prem @ 28wks ). We tried the infant gaviscon and thickened formulas but if anything they made it a lot worse.
My Pead put mine on Losec and it was wonderful, it made a huge difference. I also elevated their cots and to be completely honest it is a tiring long journey. It honestly didn't get a lot easier till they were around 8mths.

 

[Jen1802]

Thanks Beks I was thinking the same thing. The dietician suggested carabel today and then told me I could start weaning her in 3 weeks time if I wished...she then said I'll definitely need to start weaning her at 13 weeks adjusted age so March time and that it should help with the reflux. I then had a drs appointment this afternoon and she adjusted her dosage of ranitidine and prescribed carabel for thickening the formula and try to stop the projectile vomiting...I'm a bit pessimistic it'll work but its worth a shot I suppose. Aside from that I'm going to try cutting down the amount of her feeds and try feeding little and often...there goes my idea of getting a full nights sleep anytime soon! lol. What is losec btw? xo

 

[bek74]

Losec is a tablet u dissolve in water and give them 3 times a day for reflux. My Paed suggested weaning very early also but mine weren't ready and from the vomiting the solids caused and the pain of the reflux mine developed full food refusal and landed themselves back in hospital Feb last year for about a month. They had to tube feed them and slowly reintroduce the bottle. It's has been a long journey.
A lot of mums have had great success with weaning early so try it but not push it. The thickened formula keeps them feeling fuller so they don't tend to want as much or as often, which is what I found. My Paed prescribed them a prem formula ( that u can add a thickening agent to ) so that way they could get all their calories and nutrients with less milk, great for when ur weaning also.

 

[Jen1802]

Thanks Beks! They are on nutriprem 2 which is specifically for preterm infants and those of low birth weight and I added scoop of carabel to her first bottle this evening just to see how it went. She brought up one tiny mouthful and that was it! Could hardly believe it! I was expecting the usual near entire bottle thrown up round me, I don't want to get my hopes up just yet that its actually working but will see how it goes over the course of the weekend! xo

 

[bek74]

That is awesome, I would add karicare thickener to mines prem formula and it was pretty good. The already thickened reflux formulas on the market made my twins worse.
Keep me posted how she goes over the weekend xoxo

 

[Jen1802]

So today we only had one projectile vomit, absolutely none over the course of the nightfeeds but just her 10am, think it was because we were dressing her and it hadn't settled enough in her tummy yet tho. Her bottles since then she's brought up only tiny mouthfuls and didn't spit up at all in her last feed. I think we've finally cracked it, little and often and carabel! XO