Reflux in my premmie

[mummyosborne]

Hi guys,
I'm new here but my little girl was born at 29 weeks and is now 15 weeks old, she has had bad reflux since she was born and she was kept in the SCBU for an extra two weeks because they couldnt stop her D-Sats with her reflux. I've been to the doctors it feels like weekly with her, but they cant seem to suggest anything to help, shes on Domperidone, Ranitidine and Gaviscon but it seems to be making no difference. Theyve changed her back to pre-made formula which has helped a bit (but its not helping my back carrying round all the cartons!) but she is still so uncomfortable and with her colic on top its just a bit of a nightmare atm! I've heard that reflux is a common problem with reflux and just wondered if anyone had any hints?
Thanks
xxx

 

[mummyosborne]

common problem with premmies** sorry was typing too fast! x

 

[ShadowSeer]

Im a new mummy to a 30 weeker....Stoopid question....What is reflux exactly?

 

[harryandme]

Hi there,

My son was born at 30 weeks and we have been through the reflux hell. He is now 10.5m (8m adjusted) and I just wanted to say, it will get better. He was put on Gaviscon to thicken his milk at 3 months old and Ranitidine, but he still continued to suffer really badly. We had 7 admissions to hospital in a 6 month period with chest related issues, which they are investigating whether reflux assisted this as well. We have been referred to a chest specialist and they put him on Domperidone and Omeprazole and this helped - he stopped being so sick and restless with heartburn and actually has been sleeping through the night regularly. Obviously the older they get, the better it gets too. My son still wont sit up properly and throws himself back, but is wanting to stand and once they start getting mobile, the reflux calms down. He will stay on the medication until he is moving around properly and then be weaned off. So hang in there, I know how it can feel endless somedays.

Some tips would be to keep your daughter at a 30 deg angle at all times whilst feeding and upright afterwards for 30 mins and prop up her bed at night times to 30 deg.

Our paediatrician suggested using Aptamil Comfort (we were using Aptamil first milk) as it is thicker and easier to digest which can help babies with reflux. My son still uses this now as we do not need to use gaviscon when he is on it, but you can't buy it in carton form. I think Cow and gate do a version too and SMA's is called Staydown.

Are you under your paediatrician still since leaving SCBU as the GP's don't tend to know a lot about reflux whereas your paediatrician should be able to help.

Good luck and I hope this post has helped a bit.

x

 

[mummyosborne]

hi harryandme,
thank you for the advice, Ella is still on Nutriprem 2 and will be for at least 3 more months =/ so unfortunatly cant use stay down milks or comfort milks, but the ready made formula is a bit thicker than the powdered milk so the GP put her on that. i spoke to my paediatrician about it at her 6 week check who abrupty told me 'there were no other preterm milks' which i know is not true as sma and aptimil do a preterm range! i just seem to be fighting every step of the way to get people to understand. shes been admitted to the childrens ward twice with problems related to her reflux and everytime theyve just sent us away with no extra advice.
ive seen many doctors who just seem to assume ive got a case of the "new parent worries" which is true to an extent but i know that shes suffering and its hard to see her like that.
so i thought as no one else was helping me posting on here couldnt hurt!
xx

 

[ermm23a]

Mine has it. He's on the ranitidine and it has seemed to help. We also have him sleeping on an incline. We try not to lay him flat on his back, as that can make the reflux worse. We also use the pre-made formula, have never even attempted the powder. Oh- and we use the Dr. Brown's bottles as well.