SMA staydown

[stepmummy]

I am thinking of putting LO onto this but am I too late? She is SO sicky. I don't think it's reflux because she doesn't seem to be in pain at all but after a feed, she throws up every couple of mins for at least 45 mins - sometimes up to two hours.

I've tried everything, keeping her upright, Gaviscon (made her constipated), carobel thickener. It says birth to 6 months, is there no point in using it now? I wish I'd heard of it earlier.

We've started weaning and I thought that might make it better but now she has colourful sick instead which is staining everything.

Can anyone recommend Staydown? And if so, where can I get it? I have looked in Tesco but they don't seem to have it.

Am so tired of mopping her up and being covered in sick myself!

 

[MrsNovBaby]

LO went on to SMA staydown at 10 weeks, we were prescribed it from the hospital and they sent the health centre a letter to say they should prescribe it for LO. Had it for nearly 3 weeks now. Just refluxing totally about once a day now, not every feed xx

 

[stepmummy]

Is it an NHS prescription? i.e. Free??

 

[choc]

I changed to this a few weeks ago. I would recommend it in the sense that he has stopped chugging up pure milk after his feeds but he is still sick sometimes a few hours later. It is more like real sick though, clear with white lumpy bits in instead of pure milk. So we have seen a definate improvement.

The down side is that the teat always gets blocked and it is very frustrating. I have moved up a teat size, tried different ways of making up the bottle and all to no avail. I will be feeding him and sudddenly realise the milk hasn't gone down or I haven't heard him swallow and realise he is sucking but nothing is coming out. It drives me crazy after about the 4th time per feed!

 

[katy1310]

Sophie went onto it at 7 months (7 months actual age, but she should have been 4 months at the time because she was 3 months premature!)

It's worked brilliantly for her - she was really really bad with reflux - we were going through 6 or more outfits per day, couldn't go anywhere without bibs and muslins and now she's actually almost never sick. She rarely has to wear a bib any more, and I couldn't tell you the last time we used a muslin!!

Choc - are you making sure the water is very very chilled before adding the powder? If there's any hint of warmth in it at all, it all just clumps and clogs up in the teat. DH discovered also that it's better if you stir it THEN roll the bottle between your hands. We had those problems too at the start but if we make sure that the water is completely chilled first and make sure it's well stirred before we warm it up, it's fine. What bottles are you using? We are using dr browns size 3 teats. xxx

ETA - we get it on prescription too.

 

[stepmummy]

Ooh this is all really helpful, thanks. Katy when you say 'on prescription', do you mean free? How did you go about getting that? My GP was really unhelpful as soon as we discovered it wasn't reflux, just plain old puking

p.s. Your LO is GORGEOUS!

 

[AP]

You'll only get it on prescription if its defo reflux i think.
Tescos and boots have it to try.
We still use it at the night feed. (like katy we have a preemie) but staydown is 0-12 months and even then theres no reason at all why you cant use it after that too.

 

[AP]

And tbh i dont know how the doc thinks its just plain old puking if shes being sick this much and being weaned?

I think a new doc is in order hun?.... And a second opinion. It could be reflux or a lactose intolerance?

 

[stepmummy]

Yea you're probably right. Dr is a loon anyway, drums his fingers while I talk and tries to rush us out of there as quickly as possible! Can it be reflux if she has no pain? It's like she doesn't notice until I wipe her face then she gets really annoyed and tries to wriggle away. She's getting a horrid rash on her chin too from all the patting with muslins

 

[AP]

My LO hasnt really shown pain when it comes to reflux. Only when she was first diagnosed, but she was really little back then. My carpet screams in pain, it cant take it no more
Seriously though she will just throw up, and now often likes to pick it all up/rub it in. Defo reflux, but no pain!

Grab a tin from boots hun, or a another large tesco if it works, pop to the docs and say " this staydown really works, but the woman at boots told me i can get it on prescription"
Thats what we did, and we get 6 cans at a time.

 

[katy1310]

Ooh this is all really helpful, thanks. Katy when you say 'on prescription', do you mean free? How did you go about getting that? My GP was really unhelpful as soon as we discovered it wasn't reflux, just plain old puking

p.s. Your LO is GORGEOUS!

Yes, we get it free. I agree with SB22 that you should investigate further though - Sophie wasn't showing any signs of it bothering her either but she was constantly being sick after all her feeds, and honestly she is like a different baby now.

We just took her to the doctor and explained what was going on and I did say we were wondering if it was reflux because this had been suggested when she was in neonatal and he agreed.

He tried her on baby gaviscon first but that made her worse for some reason.

He is wanting to try her back onto normal milk again but I'm really reluctant to because the staydown milk is working wonders!

Awww, thank you for saying she's gorgeous!!

 

[AP]

Katy dont worry about changing hun seriously. If its not broke dont try fixing it. As for cows milk it has no more calories than staydown so doesnt make a difference what you use.

 

[choc]

Sophie went onto it at 7 months (7 months actual age, but she should have been 4 months at the time because she was 3 months premature!)

It's worked brilliantly for her - she was really really bad with reflux - we were going through 6 or more outfits per day, couldn't go anywhere without bibs and muslins and now she's actually almost never sick. She rarely has to wear a bib any more, and I couldn't tell you the last time we used a muslin!!

Choc - are you making sure the water is very very chilled before adding the powder? If there's any hint of warmth in it at all, it all just clumps and clogs up in the teat. DH discovered also that it's better if you stir it THEN roll the bottle between your hands. We had those problems too at the start but if we make sure that the water is completely chilled first and make sure it's well stirred before we warm it up, it's fine. What bottles are you using? We are using dr browns size 3 teats. xxx

ETA - we get it on prescription too.

Yes it is water straight from the fridge. I'm using tommee tippee and size 3 teats. There are no visible lumps in the teat! I will try stiring first, thanks!

 

[MrsNovBaby]

Ooh this is all really helpful, thanks. Katy when you say 'on prescription', do you mean free? How did you go about getting that? My GP was really unhelpful as soon as we discovered it wasn't reflux, just plain old puking

p.s. Your LO is GORGEOUS!

Yes - we get it free xx

 

[stepmummy]

Thank you all, you've been so helpful! I will get a tin and make an appointment at the docs. Thanks again, what would i do without B&B!?

 

[katy1310]

Sophie went onto it at 7 months (7 months actual age, but she should have been 4 months at the time because she was 3 months premature!)

It's worked brilliantly for her - she was really really bad with reflux - we were going through 6 or more outfits per day, couldn't go anywhere without bibs and muslins and now she's actually almost never sick. She rarely has to wear a bib any more, and I couldn't tell you the last time we used a muslin!!

Choc - are you making sure the water is very very chilled before adding the powder? If there's any hint of warmth in it at all, it all just clumps and clogs up in the teat. DH discovered also that it's better if you stir it THEN roll the bottle between your hands. We had those problems too at the start but if we make sure that the water is completely chilled first and make sure it's well stirred before we warm it up, it's fine. What bottles are you using? We are using dr browns size 3 teats. xxx

ETA - we get it on prescription too.

Yes it is water straight from the fridge. I'm using tommee tippee and size 3 teats. There are no visible lumps in the teat! I will try stiring first, thanks!

It's so annoying when it clogs the teat and they are sucking away for ages then getting frustrated and you realise they haven't had any! The dr browns bottles have a plastic tube thingy up the middle and it's so irritating when it clogs it up. We haven't had any problems since we started stirring it though We used to use tommee tippee bottles but we didn't find them so good when we switched to staydown because of the way it sits on top of the water when you put it in, and there wasn't really any space!! The dr browns bottles are a bit taller, lol!

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

we have been using it since 3mths.
LO had awful reflux, smelt of acid all day long, throwing up even in a deep sleep.
she would have 6 outfit changes in a day - all soaked through and usually 2-3baths as the sick would cause a rash if you didn't mop it up fast enough.
my OH refused to 'medicate' her so we looked into the Staydown.
none of our chemists or supermarkets sold it - closest stockist I could find was a 30min drive away and even then they only ever had 2/3 tins at a time so we couldn't rely on that.
I told the GP that we were having trouble finding it and none of the local supermarkets had been asked to stock it before so it didn't seem very popular and he wrote a prescription.
we get a box of 8 tins @ a time, pain to store but when you can't readily get it I dont mind too much.
from the very first bottle we had a great improvement.
LO is still sick but it is no longer causing discomfort or smelling of acid, it is usually just her overfill.
GP & HV tried to get us to wean her early too @ 17wks but she couldn't even sit so we held off until 21/22wks and started so slowly making a note of everything she ate.
so far at 7mths we have had some bad days - she cannot seem to handle any dairy - yoghurts, cheese etc, all make her really sick again and takes a good couple of days to settle down.
the staydown has a thickener in it so you cannot add anything like gaviscon and it MUST be made with really really cold previously boiled water.
we make up 2 / 3 bottles of water and store them until required.
always roll the powder once scooped in - never shake or it will block the teat up, it takes a while to dissolve.
some babies will drink cold milk but mine wont and we had trouble feeding her so I designed a way of gently warming the feed (the heat activates the thickener, hence preparing cold).
LO is currently on 8 oz so we make up 7oz bottles of fridge cold water, add 8oz scoops, leave on worktop for up to 2hrs (sma careline said this can be done but once baby has started drinking MUST be thrown with the hour) then when LO is ready add the remaining last ounce of boiled water just to bring it up to temp
no teat clogging as the powder has already dissolved (just give it a good roll every now and again in that 2hrs) and LO gets warm milk.
we use dr browns stage 2 quite happily - no blockage.
avent stage 2 work but my LO is losing her suck power and suddenly finding them harder going (it is a firmer teat).
I will stop boring you now but if you want to know anything

 

[stepmummy]

Wow Ouch not boring at all! Thanks for providing so much detail, this is the first time I've felt like actually maybe it isn't just her being "a sickie baby". Everyone seems to say "she's a baby, of course she's sick all the time" but it's awful, I hate anyone holding her after a feed as I get so embarrassed.

The sick does smell quite acidy too and we go through at least 8 muslins a day. I have folding and tying them loosely around her neck but even four layers of muslin don't last long.

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

hehe.
I should work for SMA shouldn't I...!
Seriously though - it has been great for us and we are both happy we didn't even need to try gaviscon or the likes.
It takes a while getting into the habit of almost making a bottle up when you have just finished feeding LO the last one but you get there in the end.
there are some other reflux formulas available, 'script only but I don't know the names.
LO def isn't cured at 7mths, we tried her on hipp goodnight milk at 6mths when she went through a little regression phase but just that one bottle at night bought it all back.
Staydown is suitable up until 12mths and GP will prescribe until then.
babies can be 'sicky babies' but when that sick is acidic, causing discomfort (LO would arch her back, whimper, go wide eyed and watery, then be sick) then there is more to it.
these days unless a yoghurt has upset her we can go a good 5 days without any vomit.
if she is ill though, like a cold with lots of mucus it comes back quite bad x

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

SMA are very helpful as well on the phone.