Reflux in infants - advice Please

[midivydale]

So Once again i need you ladies. My poor baby is suffering frm reflux and we are getting very desperate for help. Can anyone recommend a consultant? Any other treatments that have been of help? Cranial osteopathy?

Sorry for typos but writing as im rocking an inconsolable 4 week old. It breaks my heart to see him in pain (yes and sleep deprivation is getting to me as well...)

X

[Belle]

Have you seen your GP? there is a kind of sliding scale of medication which goes gaviscon- rantitidine and /or domperidone, and finally omeprazole (the last generally thought to be the most effective but hard to get as technically 'off-licence' i.e. GPs don't like to prescribe unless has been seen by a consultant, though some will). Having had two children with reflux, the youngest far more severely, I'd personally say complementary medicine prob won't cut it...and proper medication along with various practical measures will be your best bet. We are lucky to have private insurance with my husband's work, so see a doctor at the King's private wing - can PM you details if that is an option for you - but I gather the NHS referrals CAN be quick if you are fortunate to get a GP who takes you seriously and refers quickly. If you do a search on here you'll see a couple of recentish threads - one started by me, one I think by Bee74 about this problem, with babies the same age at the time as yours is now, lots of useful advice there.

In the meantime just sending you much sympathy as it is SO damn hard, and having a newborn is hard enough without having one in constant pain/screaming etc. Really feel for you. It does get easier etc. But get all the help you can as soon as you can, just feeling you are doing something proactive will help. I used a sling (in upright position) a lot in the early weeks to give him some relief, lying down is just agony for them when it's bad.

[chantelle]

both my children had it and were prescribed gaviscon. My son also ended up with ranitidine and finally grew out of it once he was on solid foods. It is frustrating - I mix feed my daughter, which makes it a lot easier to give the gaviscon (in a bottle) but it's heart wrenching when she can't even latch and breastfeed because of the pain.

[enjoy]

Hi,

I do believe in Cranial osteopathy. When my son was little l took him the osteopathy centre for children(occ).

It did wonders to him. Fees were donation based, you could pay what you could afford.

If it works, great. If not, you havent done him any harm. I would call them and ask if they can help!!

Good luck.

[bee74]

i so feel your pain. my daughter is just getting better at 3 1/2 months, but still not our of the woods. in the end, i took her to italy as peds at kings' didn't seem very helpful. in italy they took her off the med she was on (prescribed here) and put her on gaviscon, except it comes in a syrup, easy to administer and it worked well. they also said reflux aggravates wind, so they gave me some herbal remedy for it.

get in touch if you want the italian gaviscon.

she also slept in a hard carrier (the one to take toddlers hiking) for almost 2 months so i didn't have to hold her constantly in the night.

good luck and i hope it gets better soon.

[Yellow Sardine]

Another reflux baby here. Our boy also had a cow's milk intolerence, which I understand is pretty common amongst reflux babies, and a combination of ranitidine and cutting out cow's milk worked wonders for us. As I was breastfeeding this meant cutting cow's milk out of my diet. If you are formula feeding and suspect a cow's milk intolerence, you can get cow's milk free formula on prescription (it's the proteins in the milk that cause problems not the lactose, so lactose free formula won't cut it). Although it's not that long ago I can't for the life of me remember how long it took to notice a difference but I think it was within a few days and he was a completely different baby. Like Belle, we also used a sling a lot as he absolutely hated being put down.

Reflux is just horrible, I do hope things get better soon. In the meantime feel free to PM me if you want.

[Strawbs]

Another reflux baby here. Cows milk protein allergy too. I had to stoP Breastfeeding and they tried him on SMA stay down then switched him to neocate (dairy free milk). He is on gaviscon with every feed, 2 tablets of omeprazol a day and is being weaned slowly and early. He had to sleep on us upright for 10 weeks, it was utterly exhausting so I completely understand. I have a couple of reflux wedges if you would like them, one fits a Moses basket (or the carrycot of a pram) and the other fits a crib. If you need any help or advice please just give me a shout. X

[midivydale]

Thank you all so much, we have had another very bad night and i just feel so sorry for our lil guy. How do you know if baby is allergic to cows milk? Are there tests or through trial and error?

Any advice and recommendations on consultans would be very appreciated.

My gp said they grow out of it by six weeks but all the reading i have done and the comments from you guys suggests otherwise?

[Belle]

argh six week! that's rubbish - or at least in our experience. Some GPs in my experience dismiss it as wind/colic which it is not. Our consultant said 6 months or poss a year - my older son was a year before he stopped throwing up, but the pain was managed by medication from early on, and same with my younger (just needed stronger medication, and in his case Nutramigen, as is also suspected of Cows Milk Protein Intolerance). They didn't test for the latter, just drew some conclusions (was very rashy particularly after each feed), and now we're at stage of introducing solids we're due to get some advicec on how to try him on dairy slowly.

[Yellow Sardine]

We found out through trial and error. I was at my wits end and decided to give it a go, not really expecting it to work but it did. From what I recall you are supposed to give it at least three weeks before giving up but we noticed a difference sooner than that. I did cheat a few times and paid for it later. Our son is now nine months old and I have only been back on dairy for seven weeks or so, so it definitely can take longer than six weeks. Our GP admitted she wasn't very clued up on reflux but she did look it up and prescribe medication + refer us to a paediatrician, so see a different doctor I say.

[susyp]

my daughter was same chronic reflux due to cows milk allergy - we gave her formula and she had immediate reaction - then we went for a private test to confirm (via gp) - cost ?120 then back into nhs system from then on. Me giving up dairy made no real difference- think they can often have other allergies / intolerances that you would never find out - but most of these disappear i think (or they did with us) - still got the cows milk one and soya intolerance (common to have both - soya is in everything !).

it's the most exhausting thing in the world, and all around you are mothers having a lovely time (or so it seems), i know it can feel very lonely. lots of hugs xxx

susypx

[Wanhope]

Hi there,

I also wanted to echo what others have said re the 'will be over this by six weeks' advice -- I think that's probably unlikely and is certainly inconsistent with what our paediatrician advised and our own experience, sorry. We saw NHS paediatricians and paediatric dieticians in both North London & at Kings (which has a paediatric gastroenterology clinic) via referrals from our local GPs, though I did have to be fairly assertive about the need for them sometimes. We also went the escalating medication route, from gaviscon to ranitidine to omeprazole, and actually found everything a bit useless and time-wasting until the omeprazole kicked in at around the same time that I managed to get all the dairy and soya protein out of my system (for us this was around five weeks). In sum, I'd say try to manage this as quickly as you can: try to get a referral to a paediatrician as quickly as you can and, if you are breastfeeding, it's well worth cutting out both dairy and soya straight away as these seem to be the most common problems sitting behind reflux.

Reflux and its various associated problems is horrible, horrible, horrible, particularly if it drags on without effective treatment; however, by way of consolation, our baby is now ten months old and off all of his medications. He still has a hypoallergenic formula, Neocate (we stopped breastfeeding a few months ago), but is reflux-free and now able to tolerate dairy and soya. So it may take a bit longer than six weeks to get through, but for most babies it DOES end!

All the best and, as others have said, feel free to PM me if you want any advice.

[midivydale]

Thank You so much all of you. It sure is a lonely and isolated road especially when you are surronded by mums whose babies sleep through and are thriving in every way. Its easy to feel rather useless.

We have had a rough time since birth and are amongst everything else no longer bf. This is for medical reasons so no judgement please- i feel v emotional about it. I do feel that i have failed somehow but try not to think like that.

You have all made me feel better so from the bottom of my heart i thank you for taking the time to respond.

[clarebells]

I recently read someone swearing by Bowen therapy for curing reflux... might be worth checking out.

This link has a search engine of UK therapists - http://www.bowen-technique.co.uk/bowen_nutshell.php

This one has more information about how it works for babies - http://naturalcolicrelief.com/baby-bowen/

Best of luck.

[Yellow Sardine]

Don't beat yourself up about not breastfeeding, feeding a baby formula really isn't a big deal!

[Belle]

i also think life is so hard with a refluxy baby you need all the help you can get, and if that can extend to your partner/family members/friends giving baby a bottle so you can rest, then fantastic!

Wanhope - that's so encouraging about yr little one being off meds and able to tolerate dairy and soya. And agree with everything you say re medication and being seen quickly. Midivydale, if you do see the doctor I mentioned then I think you'll find he will take you seriously and sort you out with the appropriate meds/formula straight away.

[clarebells]

You mentioned you are not breastfeeding, I thought I would pass on this really helpful link about bottle feeding.

http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/

You didn't say if you were using formula - or other, perhaps you have access to a milk bank?

I would like to mention that gastric reflux is a reported gastrointestinal symptom of formula consumption... so IF you are using formula it might be worth considering other options.

I am sure the La Leche League hotline will be able to advise on 'other milks' that would be best for a reflux situation - 0845 120 2918

[susyp]

also look at the thread on here about breastfeeding - bit of a bun fight by those of us who believe it really doesn't matter if you formula feed - even purely by choice.

i still get upset by those whose babies are easy peasy and are smug about it - my sis in law sent me a thank you card for our present when her baby was 3 months and gleefully wrote in it how her son now slept through every night - i still resent her deeply for it!

but there are plenty of people who have/are suffering like you - they just don't speak up about it so much - too exhausted!

it will get much better, hang on in there,

susypx

[midivydale]

Thank you so much! Another rough night. Cant wait for monday morning as i am planning to be at gp surgery by opening time and refusing to leave without a referal letter. If i get the same gp who told me he will grow out of it by by weeks then i may go slightly mad.

This poor child is clearly in agony, how that can not be taken seriously is beyond me.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who have replied to this thread.

[patt1980]

Oh good luck at the Dr. I just read this thread and it brought back going through this with my daughter who is now 11 months so i just wanted to say it does get better. She had reflux bought on by cows milk allergy and after cutting out dairy and bf'ing made no difference we managed to get her on neocate at 12 weeks and she changed overnight. Do push to get referred by your dr as they can do stool tests which whilst can't prove cow's milk allergy conclusively can highlight an overproduction of reducing substances in the stomach that indicate it. I found it helped to have a list of her symptoms written down so i didn't forget to tell the dr. In case you have any of the same, our symptoms were; sandpaper rash on cheeks, yellow/orange frothy poos, explosive poos and some streaks of blood in it plus distended stomach and then the whole reflux not being able to sleep lying down and vomiting side of it.

Other than necoate things that helped my daughter were; she slept in her car seat at night for the first 2 months after the dr said it would be better for her and i found feeding her little and often and propping her quite upright on a bf cushion in corner of the sofa for 30 mins after eating and her day sleeps helped.

Good luck!

[midivydale]

Thank you all! Cant thank you enough

[midivydale]

Ok, after balwing my eyes out at dmc (cried more than baby) we finally got ref and thanks to lovely bupa scheme we are on our way to kings to se dr babu vadumalayan..

Here is to hope!

[Belle]

great - are you seeing him soon? we are seeing him tomorrow at 5.30 so let me know if you end up going around then and i'll look out for you!

[Wanhope]

That's great news re your referral; well done. From my own experience, I found that just feeling like you're doing something constructive about the situation really helps (it's easy otherwise to feel really defeated by it all). I hope things get better soon.

[midivydale]

We saw babu this evening ans got gaviscone and ranitidine prescribed. Was a relief to just speak to someone who took us serioulsy. Let us see how we get on.

C x