Hi everyone, my 3 week old daughter has been diagnosed with reflux today
She was very relaxed for the first 2 weeks of her life but the last week has been a nightmare
She's really irritable and distressed after feeds and is terribly sick.
We've been given infant gaviscon which we started tonight but she was sick straight after her feed as usual. I feel so sorry for her.. She's very clingy now too and won't go in her moses basket anymore.
I'm breastfeeding so it's hard to get the gaviscon into her. Any tips from anyone?
Also, is there any more advice anyone could give? Do I need to adjust my diet?
Thank you
Welcome, adn so sorry your havin to deal with this. My dd, Sophie, suffered terrible acid reflux and is till exclusively bf (one yr old yesterday). Spot on info from Aliss.
For Gaviscon:
Give gaviscon BEFORE feeds (not after).
To mix it pour the sachet into an eggcup: no corners where the meds get stuck
Fill a 5ml syringe with cooled boiled water: if its still hot jst run the filled syringe under the cold tap to cool it really quick. The syringes that come with 'nurofen' are great cos you can sterilise them and they're not 'pointy' at the end
Add 3mls of the water to the gaviscon and mix until smooth, then add the rest of the water - if it still goes lumpy jst leave it a couple of minutes and the lumps will disolve
Draw all the 5mls back into the syringe: you DONT need to mix it with 15mls as directed - I checked this with a few different pharmacists who all said 5mls was plenty!
Put syringe into babies mouth & release the gaviscon slowly - make sure you aim the meds at the inside of baby's cheek, rather than pointing it
towards the throat
Offer bf immediately
Also, I used to mix a couple of syringes of gaviscon and take them upstairs to use for night feeds (i put them in a long toothbrush holder to keep them clean) - i know they recoment you make it up immediately b4 giving to baby, but worked ok for us!!
DEFO keep up the bf if you can - it is MUCH easier to digest than ff which can cause more pain. Have a look at this article here: https://www.reflux.org/reflux/webdoc01.nsf/(vwWebPage)/Breastfeed.htm?OpenDocument
CMPI/ MSPI (cows milk protien intolerance / milk soya protien intolerence) is the most common allergy in babies and can cause severe reflux. Excluding dairy from your diet can make a huge difference if this is the case. Have a look here https://www.refluxrebels.com/Acid_reflux/Acid_reflux_medication.html to help you decide if this may be an issue for your LO (quiz menu at top). This is a list of ingredients to avoid if avoiding dairy: https://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01.pdf
This book saved my sanity (best £6 I ever spent - just read the reviews by other parents): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Colic-Solv...0681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319413881&sr=8-1
Feed your lo while they're half asleep
Put your baby to sleep on their tummy. I started this at 5 wks cos my LO could not lie on her back at all. At first i only did it during the day so that i could keep an eye on her, but after a week i did it at night too cos it was the only way any of us could get some sleep. I was terrified of SIDS at first cos tummy sleeping is a major factor in cot death, but when i researched it i found that it was almost always in combination with other factors. Have a look at the SIDS website b4 using tummy sleeping s o that u can take every possible precaution.
Trust your instincts and do what works for you and your baby - if the only place she can sleep is a bouncy chair then do it.
There are meds out there that can really help. Usually they start with gaviscon, then move onto ranitidine (zantac), then omeprazole. It can be a battle getting the docs to take you seriously, and a constant battle getting them to increase dosages or change the meds, but stay polite, firm and insitant. If your daughter is really distressed goto the nearest childrens hospital, or at least one with a paediatric unit and keep pushing un til someone helps her.
sorry so long, but i felt I needed a lot more detail in the beginning than i could find!!
) but made up in a 10mg/ml concentration so at least she only has to take 1ml twice a day and its easier to get that down her.
It was hard enough with DD & both my Boys were alot older, so that was easier
Can you please suggest where I should start? 
