Reflux, colic and lack of sleep - all suggestions welcome!

[andik]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone can provide any thoughts to help me.

My son Nathan was born at 27 weeks and as a result has reflux which I am told he will eventually grow out of. He was took off the medication two days before he came home but started to suffer again so my gp prescribed dom peridone and infant gaviscon.

Nathan then developed signs of colic so spoke to gp to see what I could do and he advised the dom peridone can cause colic so told me to stop this and continue with just gaviscon. However he is still suffering and either does not bring up any wind or brings up everything he has had (I am breastfeeding but he also has expressed milk for the gaviscon).

He is so bad at night that we are spending every night sat holding him upright as its the only way to stop him screaming so hubby and I are not sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. It was that bad on Thursday that I even called scbu yesterday as gp was closed for easter and they said all of the anti colic meds will prevent the gaviscon from working so will have to wait for gp to open on Tuesday.

They suggested massaging his tummy which I did last night and he bought up a large amount of milk but it was lumpy, the consistency of porridge, which I am hoping is because the gaviscon thickens the milk. A friend suggested just giving him cooled boiled water but I thought you weren't meant to do this until approx 6 months so didn't know whether to risk it.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

(Sorry to ramble but needed to get all the info in!!)

 

[AP]

The consistancy of the sick sounds normal. We only had reflux, never colic, and I realise from here that we were lucky!

It took a few tries of different variations of medications before what we found was right for Alex.

We were on Gaviscon, Domperidone and Ranitidine. Ranitidine is a minty type of med that helps neutrilise any acid in the tummy. I think this was the most important one out of the three.

If there is no change at all since coming off Domperidone then maybe it might be worth going back on it? Domperidone processes the food quicker so he may be less likely to bring the milk up.

As Alex grew, so did the amounts of the meds. We weren't happy with being on Gaviscon, as it caused her nappies to go hard, something you might experience in time. It might even be contributing to her discomfort at night. I went through a week of Alex screaming and we couldnt put hr down - it was in fact the Gaviscon clogging her up!

It is fine to give cooled boiled water, but not too much, just an ounce or so I would say.

In the end we switched to SMA Staydown rather than expressed milk/formula and it did make a difference. We sat her up for at least 20 mins after feeds, let her use a dummy after feeds, and if u think he might be about to be sick, blow sharply in his face once - something the neonatal taught us. (Doesnt always work mind but it can cause a reflex action to take a breath and swallow)

At 9 months corrected (alex was a 27 weeker too) we have almost stopped the domperidone and still using Ranitidine as we still feel it makes a difference. We're weaning too, and thats made a big difference.

I hear that colic is something that they grow out of far quicker than reflux though, so it ight not last long hun

 

[hayleysd]

my little boy has reflux, ans was put on sma staydown, it is brilliant, we noticed a difference straight away and he is hardly sick now and will settle with no fuss

 

[Anna Barry]

Hi there,

My little one has reflux too, she was born at 25 weeks, again she is on ranitidine, domperidone and gaviscone, at the moment she is on expressed milk and Nutriprem 2 every other feed and is 6 weeks corrected. I found that cool boiled water with the tip of a tea spoon of brown sugar mixed in helped soften the poo ( as the gaviscon used to bung her up) Also i put my pregnancy wedge pillow under her mattress in her moses basket to keep her tilted upwards, i found this really helped her settle. I keep her upright for about 20mins after a feed and then settle her with a dummy. I also give her Infacol before every feed and this has helped her with wind!!! Hope this helps.xx

 

[seekingbaby#1]

I'm not sure if your in America, but Aiden is on enfamil AR which helps babies with reflux. It has rice starch in it, which thickens when it gets into the stomach. Its wonderful and I've read great reviews about it online.