Reflux

[dee]

i just had my Son Diagnosed with Reflux after he's been screaming for days in pain during feeds and after and most of the day poor baby i couldn't console him at all no matter what i did,


now i have to feed him 2oz every 2 hours and if that doesn't work he has to have medicine and if that doesn't work he needs to have an operation so i home the reduced feeds work...

anyone else had this

 

My son has this hun, honestly, an operation is a very very last resort!! The meds noramlly help to control it. Does he have problems with weight gain at all? When was he born ? Was he premature? (reflux is common in preemies).

Sorry tons of questions!! Anything you wanna know, just ask hun, I know how nightmarish living with reflux can be xxx

 

[dee]

hi yeah he was a 35 + 4 baby so was a little prem and he was 6lb 15oz but he's gained quite a lot of weight he's 11lb 4oz now and he's 7 weeks old but i think that was due to me thinking he was screaming to be fed all the time so i was feeding him too much

i'm hoping the small feeds will help him poor little mite

 

Poor thing, How much milk does he drink and what milk is he on? Have they given you a thickener to try like Infant Gaviscon?

 

[dee]

he's on cow + gate and no they gave him nothing he's on 2oz every 2 hours when he takes it

 

He is a good weight hun so at least isn't failing to thrive
His reflux could partly to do with him being premature as the eosophogus flap isn't working properly when they are born (as I understand it).

Damien had small amounts every couple of hours too but his reflux just made him sick no matter what he had. He is now fed 4 hourly and has been for the last 2 months. We changed his milk many times, to Soya, to different brands of normal first milk (Aptimil, Farleys, C+G, SMA Gold) but none of them helped. He is now on Omneo Comfort (made by Cow+Gate) and it has improved his sickness and unsettledness no end.

My HV is not very helpful and neither is the doctor, because really they aren't paediatritions (sp?) and they aren't very clued up about premature babies at all. They only deal with 'normal' children.

Omneo Comfort is a thickened feed so it's harder for them to bring up and stays in their tummy. Makes their poo smell like rotten eggs but I can live with that if he keeps his milk down! When he is sick he only brings up watery vomit which shows the milk is staying down.

He is also on liquid suspension medication for his reflux (Domperidone and Ranitidine). He is having a PH study (a probe from his nose into his tummy) today to determine whether these medications are making any improvement on his condition or not, and will also show the severity of his reflux.

Does your son see a paediatrition? Maybe your Gp could refer you to see one if you don't? One thing I have leant with GP's and HV's - you have to SHOUT to get anywhere with them and get the tests you need. It was only after my son went into hospital because of his reflux that they listened to me.

Another thing thery can give you to thicken up the feeds in Infant Gaviscon (poder sachets - which in my experience didn't help us) but it does work for some babies. With Omneo Comfort or if you use gaviscon in normal first milk (you can't use Omneo and gaviscon together) you will need to get teats with bigger holes. Damien uses Dr Brown bottles with level 3 teats (or fast flow if you use normal bottles).

Although Damien has this aswell as your son, I can't give direct advice that you should follow as I am not qualified to tell you, but this is what works and doesn't work for us and things you can discuss with your HV to do.

Sorry for rambling on!

 

[dee]

hi its nice to talk to someone with the same problem so don't worry about the questions,

Matthew has now been in hospital twicw with screaming throwing up and refusing to take his bottles, the last time was yesterday when they diagnosed reflux, i have to monitor his feeds and how much he throws up and wether he screams when he is feeding or after, he has to have 2oz every 2 hours, i have to ringward back tomorrow with results to see if he needs medication, so far through the night he's thrown up twice screamed through 2 bottles and most of the time and still going, poor little mite is arching his back in pain and there's nothing i can do to help him

 

Some of the things that worked for us before the meds kicked in were holding him at a 45 degree angle to feed him, winding him frequently throughout the bottle (every 1 or 2oz's although Damien was on 4oz's when we started this), keep him sat upright for half an hour after a feed to help it go down, keep his cot/moses tilted an an angle, and also lettign them sleep on their side or tummy. Damien would never ever go on his back without projectile vomiting everywhere. It's only now his meds and milk are making a difference that he will sleep on his back again.

Is reducing the feeds and making them more frequent working at all? Is he making grunty moaning noises too? That's what Damien did if I ever put him down. he arched his back all the time too.

When Damien first started with this, I got so so so frustrated and upset about it. It really is upsetting to see them in so much agony and so uncomfortable. Damien is not 15 weeks and I'm learning to live with sick all over me and him and am quite calm about it now. It is hard to get your head round initially, and can be so frustrating if your docs don't listen toy ou or you feel you aren't getting the help he needs, but I hope your health proffessionals are better than mine.

You're definately not alone with reflux

 

[dee]

the reduced feeding isn't working at all its just making it worse coz now he's hungry and in pain and throwing up, i've lifted hiscrib mattress and his pram mattress but apart from standing and rocking him over my shoulder nothing settles him at all and he's tired out his eyes are all red from no sleep

 

Does he have a dummy? A great thing for reflux babies is a dummy because they feel pain in their tummies from both being sick and the stomach acid, and they get confused and think it is because they are hungry. So if they suck on a dummy it can settle them. If he doesn't take to one straight away try another type. The one's Damien likes are the falish orthadontic silicone teats. Doesn't like the round cherry shape.

If the feeding every 2 hours isn't working go back to the old routine, try 3oz every 3 hours or 4oz every 4 (or more if he takes it). My HV thought Damien was being greedy and overeating but he stuck on 4oz every 4 hours for about 6 weeks and started to lose the weight gain. Now we have changed his milk he has taken up to 8oz in one go ! Granted he is still sick but at least he gets about 6oz each feed now.

Are you giving him 2oz every 2 hours during the night too? You must be shattered! he probably settles more over your shoulder as he is strecthed out and it's easier for his tummy to settle when he is upright.

 

[Tiny Sue]

Hi dee...

My daughter has reflux too but only a mild form, because she never screamed or played up at all when being fed, but she wasn't gaining weight because of her frequent vomiting. The doctor put her on a special feed called Enfamil AR which you can only get from the chemist, and which thickens in the stomach so that it can't come up. Naomi is also quite hard to wind at times, but that's not really a huge problem. As a matter of fact, reading your account of Matthew's problems makes me realise that OH and I are blessed with such a placid baby.

A great thing for reflux babies is a dummy because they feel pain in their tummies from both being sick and the stomach acid, and they get confused and think it is because they are hungry.

Sami, that's amazing, I had thought that Naomi was sucking her fists and acting hungry just after she was fed because she was confusing pains and hunger. So I gave her a dummy for that very reason!

Great minds think alike!

How's wee Damien now? And yourself? Naomi's doubled her birthweight now and is well above average for a three month old!

Sue

 

Damien is double his birthweight now too the chunk 13lb 7.5oz!! His weight is above average for a 9.5 week old (his corrected age) so is doing well!
He went into hospital today to have a probe put into his eosophogus through his nose to monitor his reflux for 24 hours. He is a grouchy bunny now bless him! Go back tomorrow for it to be taken out.

I'm doing okie, back on my meds which I am a little dissapointed about but I have to be a sane mummy for Damien and if that's what it takes I'll do it

Regards winding - Damien has been much easier to wind since being on Omneo Comfort too come to think of it. He was a bugger to wind before but is much better now.

 

[dee]

hi there again

Matthew has just been in hospital yet again and this time they tried him on soya milk as we have a strong allergy to cows milk in our family he drank 3oz and fell asleep straight away no screaming no arching his back while drinking it so now we are home and trying this milk to see what happens but i'm hoping this will work he has enough to cope with allready with a dilated kidney and a hernia poor mite has to go through countless tests to see why his kidney is still dilated and if there's a blockage anywhere, or even reflux to his kidney, he has to be on antibiotics long term too, luckily they are sure his hernia will go by itself,

oh!! i do hope this milk works

 

So do I hunnie reflux/allergies are ahorrid thing to live with when you aren't sure what is causing their unhappyness. We tired Damien on Soya and he was good for a couple of days but it too made his poo smell rotten and eggy but it didn;t last for long before it stopped working so it obviously wasn't the milk that was the problem.

Are you getting the milk on prescription? I'm sure you can get Soya on prescription as it is an allergy milk.

 

[dee]

i'm not getting it on prescription yet as the hospital gave me a tin of sma soya just to try him on but i'm sure if this works i will be able to get it on prescription,

i actually got him to smile instead of crying this morning which was really nice

 

That's good hunnie! Is he drinking alot better now then?

 

[dee]

oh yes he falls to sleep most of the time straight after his milk but he's still bringing a little back up and screaming maybe 3 or 4 times a day which is a lot less than before


i hope this works i never wanna hear him scream like before

 

[petchy]

i'll join the reflux mummies' club! ruben was really miserable with his reflux before, and as he's BF the gaviscon was not easy to give him, and it only made him constipated - he was still sick just as much, it was just gloopier. she was very reluctant to start off with as he was gaining weight very well, but the GP finally prescribed cimetidine (reduces the stomach acid) and after a couple of days he was a different baby altogether! so much more content!

he's still sick a lot, but i can live with that! at least he's not screaming with pain 24-7! there were a few weeks when i thought my baby carrier/sling would become permanently attached to me as it was the only way he would sleep!!!

 

[Lucy]

Hi

Does anyone know, is reflux when the baby is sick alot or can they have the acid without being sick? We think Olivia has colic sometimes (arched back, screaming for prolonged periods of time but she doesn't bring knees to the chest of have a blue line above her lip etc) but maybe she has reflux? She is sometimes sick 2 or 3 times a day and brings up both fresh milk and digested milk but she's not screaming when she's sick?

Just wondered ....

thanks

Lucy

 

[Dee1985]

i never even took my daughter to the docs about her felux i thought it was just how babies were, untill i watched a show and realised its just what Dior had

she was born 35weeks and when she was sick after a feed it was real thick like cheese, she cryed when layed down flat.

looking back i feel so bad she went through it all with no medication!!

but im expecting this baby to be early so im expecting reflux to be a prob again if so then i will be straight to the docs, but iv got all my own lil tricks now that i learnt from my first

iv seen the special cot matress that is raised so baby dont lie flat and swaddeling was great for Dior.