Reflux Help & Support Thread

[mrsthomas623]

I've just read through this thread cos I'm at my wits end.

I've been waiting since last Friday for the result of the lactose intolerance test to come back for Katie. To be told today it needed to be taken directly to the hospital within an hour - no one told me this - so we now have to wait until Monday for the results. This isn't good enough so we're seeing the Dr again in an hour cso Katie is so much worse than last time.

She screams after EVERY bottle. Sometimes in the middle of it, sometimes at the end, sometimes 20-30 mins after. She seems in so much pain, like she either can't get the milk down or like something has suddenly hurt her. Seeing her look in so much pain is literally tearing me apart. We've tried infacol, dentinox, gripe water...nothing works (because it's not wind!). She is rarely sick, so it must be silent reflux. I'm convinced it's reflux though. She can scream from 30 mins to anything up to 6 hrs at it's worse....I feel I can't take it anymore. I can, but what I mean is I can't take not knowing what the cause is just in case it's something bad!!

Just wanted to let you know this is exactly what Nolan was like. We switched him to soy formula and put him on zantac syrup and it helped quite a bit. That being said, it still usually takes about an hour to take a 5 oz bottle and is a horrible sleeper. But at least he does not scream during the bottles anymore.

 

[Lizzyxxx]

Thanks once more for sharing your stories. What i have been doing which i think helps is using the Avent bottles with the slowest teats still, im thinking when he used the slightly faster ones he was taking it too quick which was making him even sicker.

 

[KittyVentura]

Fin has reflux but he's a big baby and gaining weight really well so it's unmedicated.

He has a constantly snuffly nose, he's sick ALL.THE.TIME and he gets hiccups about 6 times a day. He has the odd crying bout but he's not too bad now... particularly now we feed him upright

 

[Lizzyxxx]

Fin has reflux but he's a big baby and gaining weight really well so it's unmedicated.

He has a constantly snuffly nose, he's sick ALL.THE.TIME and he gets hiccups about 6 times a day. He has the odd crying bout but he's not too bad now... particularly now we feed him upright

Yes, the snuffly nose is horrible, i use the Nasosal drops and they clear the boogers out!

 

[Worrisome]

finally took us 5 months to get hayden sorted out when we were saying from just 4 days something was wrong all we got was its colic

then in sept 2010 he was rushed in to hospital in a critical condition as his breathing wasn't very good and turns out he was drowning on his stomach acid that had gone into his lungs he is now 8 months old and he has suffered from chest infections since then we are currently going through bronchitus with him again this is now number 8

Great thread Lizzy,hope it can be made sticky sometimes it just helps to talk it through with others.
OMG thats awful, hope he gets rid of the bronchitis soon.

Millie has reflux, she has been prescribed Gaviscon but made her so constipated it made her little bottom bleed, so I have taken her off it, she is currently on a comfort milk, but this seems to make the mucus worse.

We had an awful experience with Staydown, she was sick and couldn't bring it up it was so thick, she was literally choking on it, so I have stopped that straight away.

I think its wrong that Dr's wont do anything if baby's are putting on weight, as I found with ds1 (who still has reflux at 6 years old) and dd that they feed more, as the sucking relieves the pain.

Has anyone else's lo got bad mucus? Millie sounds like she has been smoking 80 fags a day, Dr checked her chest and said it was fine and was either the reflux or mucus left over from the section. But she is sick so much mucus it should be gone by now at 9 weeks, I think the milk is contributing to the mucus?

 

[Farie]

Nim has awful mucus, it's got worse over the last week or so. She wheezes and puffs away, it can't be good for her?
I noticed aswell that on the occasions she does puke it comes out of her nose too, is so nasty to watch.

Also her reflux is mostly silent, but I noticed if I eat something I shouldn't the chucking gets worse, this happen to anyone else?

 

[Worrisome]

Was she a section baby Farie, love the avatar by the way. Just out of interest where can you buy those swaddle blankets and can you put the arms in?

Honestly, I found when I bf it was a lot better, considering trying again, as I heard it was better for reflux as bm easier to digest. Have you tried Carobel with bm? I was thinking if she was still bad when I am bf to try this maybe?

 

[brunettebimbo]

Nasosal is brilliant!

 

[Worrisome]

thanks hun. I have some calpol ones but to be honest, it more in her throat, sounds like its on her chest but gp said it isnt

 

[anna matronic]

Evan is always bunged up too, really bad in the mornings and often wheezy. I have just got some nasal drops for him as he could hardly feed 2 days ago and got really upset about it He isn't as mucousy as he was and was always told this was cos he was a section baby.

Well I have been given lactulose for his constipation as the doctors want to keep him on gaviscon. He hasn't been to poo since 2pm Tuesday and considering he is a 3+ poo's a day baby it has been harsh on him I have stopped the gaviscon in an attempt to get him to poo but he hasn't, so shall give the lactulose a go. If he hasn't poo'd properly by Monday I have to take him back and hopefully they will give him ranitidine instead.

He is so unsettled at the moment. New house and bad belly ache

 

[Lizzyxxx]

How annoying is this STUPID Reflux, its so unfair we have to medicate our LO so early on when we should just be enjoying them (even though we are)

finally took us 5 months to get hayden sorted out when we were saying from just 4 days something was wrong all we got was its colic

then in sept 2010 he was rushed in to hospital in a critical condition as his breathing wasn't very good and turns out he was drowning on his stomach acid that had gone into his lungs he is now 8 months old and he has suffered from chest infections since then we are currently going through bronchitus with him again this is now number 8

Great thread Lizzy,hope it can be made sticky sometimes it just helps to talk it through with others.
OMG thats awful, hope he gets rid of the bronchitis soon.

Millie has reflux, she has been prescribed Gaviscon but made her so constipated it made her little bottom bleed, so I have taken her off it, she is currently on a comfort milk, but this seems to make the mucus worse.

We had an awful experience with Staydown, she was sick and couldn't bring it up it was so thick, she was literally choking on it, so I have stopped that straight away.

I think its wrong that Dr's wont do anything if baby's are putting on weight, as I found with ds1 (who still has reflux at 6 years old) and dd that they feed more, as the sucking relieves the pain.

Has anyone else's lo got bad mucus? Millie sounds like she has been smoking 80 fags a day, Dr checked her chest and said it was fine and was either the reflux or mucus left over from the section. But she is sick so much mucus it should be gone by now at 9 weeks, I think the milk is contributing to the mucus?

Yes Staydown made Lucas very sicky and made him choke it was horrid!

 

[Worrisome]

Anna how is Evan on the gaviscon? Lizzy its vile stuff. I thought I may have escaped reflux this time, ds1 had it, still does, ds2 didnt have it and it was a very different experience

 

[stardust599]

Hey

Just wanted to share out story -

Macy was breastfed for 2-3 weeks and was always fussy and constantly feeding and crying, I thought something was wrong with my milk so stopped BF - I now realise that wasn't the case and think if the DRs and midwifes had listened to me I'd have been able to carry on.

I switched her to Aptamil 1 and she was still a very fussy feeder, crying afterwards and we were told colic so switched to comfort milk which made her worse, went back to Aptamil 1 and persevered still thinking it was colic. She screamed at every feed, gulped it down, arched her back, shook her head and refused the bottle then wanted it back, she would headbut, claw at me and scream for ages afterwards. She never slept more than 10mins at a time. Started to research things and realised she might actually have silent reflux.

Went to 4 different doctors who didn't listen and kept saying "colic" "fussy baby" "unhappy baby" "perfectly healthy" "doesn't like the taste of her milk" "wind" etc.

Started on Gaviscon after I begged doc which didn't help and made her horrendously constipated.

Switched to SMA Staydown which helped for a few days and we thought we had it sorted.

Then came back 10 times worse than before and I spent all day crying with her.

Weight gain slowed and started refusing to eat.

Still suffering constipation and quite often blood through her poos. Also very wheezy/raspy, constant stuff nose, constant horrendous thrush that wouldn't go away no matter what we tried and also sometimes projectile vomited and choking on her bottle and own saliva!

Took her to A&E after 15hours of non-stop screaming and complete refusal to eat.

Tried to fobbed us off again but I persevered and we were seen by a paediatrician who said it was definately silent reflux.

Started omeprazole which helped a little but still fussy and refusing to feed.

Ended up staying in hospital with her for a couple of days as she was completely refusing to eat. Was on the verge of being tube fed as she was dehydrated but I managed to get her to eat little and often.

Seen by a consultant paediatrician who said she was possibly intolerant to cows milk as well as suffering from reflux. Prescribed Neocate.

Been on the Neocate for 2days now and is already taking her feeds much better, still fussy and crying on the bottle but taking 2oz each time and no screaming afterwards.

Also slept for 1.5hours nap today (would only ever sleep for 10mins max before) and has gone to bed at 7.30pm yesterday and today for the first time EVER. Still hasn't pood so hoping once the rest of the milk is out of her system she gets better again.

I'm still not convinced that she has a milk allergy but the consultant said Neocate would help the reflux too as it's quicker digested and much easier for her little tummy to process.

Hoping that things keep getting better as I was getting to the point I just couldn't cope anymore.

Things I found helped -

Slow flow teats - I changed her to faster flow and thought it was better as she managed to get more down before the fussing started but I've gone back to the slowest flow (Avent bottles) and although it takes ages to feed her she's much better afterwards.

Not winding until after bottle - Once winded Macy would also scream and refuse to take anymore (I think the acid was coming up too) so now I don't wind her until the end of the bottle and do it very gently, just keeping her completely upright as long as she needs and gently rub her back.

Don't force feeds - If she starts to fuss I take the bottle away, give her dummy and distract her then try again 15 mins later, can take ages to finish a full bottle but it's worth it and she doesn't scream as soon as the bottle hits her mouth now.

Keeping her upright - I NEVER lie Macy flat as it causes her so much pain, I have a little cushion that it always under her, on the changing mat, playmat. Her crib is raised up at the head end a little bit (maybe 30 degrees?)

Side sleeping - Macy chokes when she sleeps on her back and wakes up screaming, I now lie her on her side on a sleep positioner with a rolled up blanket front and back to stop her moving.

Feeding little and often - Macy can't tolerate big feeds as it upsets her tummy, she now get 1.5-2oz every 2-2.5 hours and is much more settled.

Dreamfeeding - Still Macy's best feed. We pick her up at 11pm when she is in a deep sleep and feed her asleep, she always takes 4oz at this feed and we can put her down straight afterwards with no fussing or crying or waking up!

And also, when everything fails and she won't stop screaming I use the happiest baby on the block technique to calm her - Swaddling, Side/Stomach hold, Sucking (dummy), Shhhshhing and Swinging/Shaking. Works 99% of the time to distract her from the pain and I can usually get her to sleep or feed afterwards


Hope that helps someone!

 

[Worrisome]

OMG Stardust, youve had an awful time of it
Really hope the Neocate works for you.
I am trying Millie on Aptamil comfort tonight instead of Cow and Gate comfort and one sachet of Gaviscon. Only problem is, I have had mixed responses as to whether to mix them.

 

[Farie]

Stardust

Worrisome she was a natural birth baby, no drugs, born at home, 6h labour. The wheezing only started after the reflux, will try the nose drop thing you suggested. Thank you. The swaddle is an Oz made one, not sure if you can get them in the UK, they are amazing, Nim won't tolerate her arms down so it's a lifesaver. Msg me if you want one and I can send one over if you like?

The Losec seems to be helping, no screaming today quite spitting but not so upset by it ....... And randomly LOVES the tiny incy bit of pear purée she gets the granules in weird baby! Fingers crossed it keeps working, I'm still dairy, tomato, onion, choc etc free so hoping she'll settle more and the feeding will improve.

 

[anna matronic]

Worrisome, when I start evan on gavisvon (have done twice as weaned him off then restarted) he is like a different child. Less sick and very settled especially at night. But once the constipation kicks in he's a nightmare. I've stopped gavisvon again, hea not poos for 3 days and now has lactulose. Will start gavisvon again today. Last night had terrible projectile vomit and screaming fits lasting a min or so for no reason. Hate it

 

[stardust599]

Worrisome, when I start evan on gavisvon (have done twice as weaned him off then restarted) he is like a different child. Less sick and very settled especially at night. But once the constipation kicks in he's a nightmare. I've stopped gavisvon again, hea not poos for 3 days and now has lactulose. Will start gavisvon again today. Last night had terrible projectile vomit and screaming fits lasting a min or so for no reason. Hate it

Have you tried SMA Staydown instead? I found it had the same effect as Gaviscon but the constipation wasn't quite so bad - the pooh was still hard but there was no screaming for hours trying to get it out. Once a day we also got Macy to have a little drink of prune juice mixed with water to keep her regular.

Edit - I see your breastfeeding, ahhh sorry, I should have checked first before suggested new milk lol!!! xx

 

[Samemka]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posts in this thread. Sometimes I feel very alone when Katie is at her worst, and horrible that I can't do anything to comfort her. This thread keeps me going!

We don't know if she does have silent reflux or lactose intolerance (or I guess, either!!), I'm waiting for the LI results...I'm doubtful it's that because she's never ever screamed (touchwood) during her middle of the night bottle - but I do wonder if that's because she's on comfort milk which containts 50% less lactose. Maybe because she's gone 6-8hrs from her last bottle she doesn't scream because she hasn't got as much 'build up' in her system...wheres in the day she goes 3-4hrs? It's probably not that at all but I find it so strange she's never screamed in the night when the rest of the time it can be all day!

She also has red spots which were on her cheeks, neck, and are now spreading to her chest. I've read a sign of LI could be a rash so wondering if it is this. I just don't know She has a constant cold/sniffles too.

 

[Farie]

Nim never screams at night, she always feeds etc fine between 10pm-4am
The stomach doesn't make/makes less acid over night, hence why a lot (not all) of reflux babies are feral during the day but good sleepers at night.

Apparently this is particually true in the case of intolerance triggered reflux.

 

[Farie]

Stardust - I meant to say, how do you stop Macy chucking up after her dream feed? I was thinking of trying Nim's 10pm feed as a dream feed but can't see how it will work cos of her spitting? Do you just hold her upright but asleep for 30 mins afterwards?