Reflux and other problems, anyone got any experience?

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Morning all, sorry not been around much this year so far, as the facebook crowd know this year hasn't been the easiest so far, but thought i'd come here to see what wealth of knowledge can be found.

after 4 long months dylan has finally started being treated for reflux and we have now had just over a week of him hardly being sick, i can count the number on one hand, rather than using both each day, the dr has given him gaviscon but that in turn has made him constipated. So i've gone from having a cheerfull vomiting baby to a grumpy bunged up one.

obviously i'm hoping the dr will change his medication on tuesday, i've currently had to reduce what he is getting, which has helped somewhat but has in turn increased his tummy ache , but was wondering if anyone had an experience of reflux and it's treatment, it doesn't appear to be effected by my diet.

Sorry if garbled but on my phone so can only see bits of the post at a time
sarah x

[thesunflowergal]

So glad you back hun!!

I have told you all that I can really, as neither of the girl reacted like that. I am going to get in touch with Trixie's god mother who is a SCBU nurse and she if she has any ideas. xx

[*stuffed*]

Question...Do you use washable nappies and if so are they fairly bulky?
DS had terrible reflux and when we briefly tried terries they lifted his bum up too high when he was laying down (obviously this only effects things for a few months) even with disposables we had to put things under his matress at the head end when sleeping to ease things. This doesn't help with much of the problem but any little bit of help was a bit more milk that stayed down.
DS has always been quite small but has always grown steadily, it is a real worry though when they are tiny.
The only thing that really sorted the problem was when he got onto solids and didn't need as much milk (we bottle fed by the way) but this is just a question of time I'm afraid.
Not much help sorry. Just wanted to let you know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel even if it is a long way off.

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Cheers nikki x
stuffed, we do use cloth, but have very thin ones luckily, he is actually luck as he doesn't seem to suffer too badly at night, but reading into it thats because he sleeps on his left side, which is meant to help, he also is carried just about all day as he has always hated his seats, although thats also probably due to discomfort.
We've had a really really bad night tonight, as he has spat out his gaviscon most of the day, and that is already reduced so i stink for the first time in 10 days, roll on tuesday x

[Gert]

This is not particularly helpful,but I wanted to say something,I had this as baby too, and as far as I am told by my parents. The only real problem long term was that no-one wanted to hold me as anything off the vertical meant I would show them my lunch I really hope it gets better for you.

Sorry that it was a fairly pointless post , but I get ribbed about this all the time in my family and wanted to stand up and defend fellow reflux children

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Gert i've found that suddenly everyone wants to hold dylan now, believe me it would have been nice to share the love and the smell over the past months :D :D
it was a shock yesterday as he was spitting out his gaviscon yesterday, should have remembered that when i then threw him over my shoulder to carry him on my back :D

[homegrown]

Hi, another cause of reflux can be the gaul bladder maybe check that out.

Also ta;lk to your local herbalist often they are more effective than some modern treeatments

[sortanormalish]

It might be a food allergy/sensitivity. Something that you eat often so you aren't thinking about it. Wheat, soy, corn, diary?

My eldest had the same problem. Just as it started to be some better at about three months, the dr said it was time to start him on food, so I did, and his tummy trouble got worse again. I took him in and had to see a very old dr who said, "If babies were meant to eat strained peas, you would have a breast that excreted them. Don't feed him ANYTHING until he can eat off the table." He did actually scream the word 'anything' then was all smiles again. Problem solved.

My next baby was early, new dr-a premie specialist, same advice, but he told me that sometimes even full term babies don't have a properly matured digestive system so they shouldn't get anything but breastmilk until they are ready for proper solids. He said around 9 months. He said every baby is different so you just have to wait it out.

I took that advice for all my babies and never had randam spew again (except the premie). Still the occassional illness, but not the all day, every day stuff. The premie didn't eat anything but breast milk until he was over a year old, the rest strated eating at about 9 months-with the age adjustment they started eating at the same age the early one did, just like the neonatologist had said. I did some hunting around and turns out that in cultures that don't have 'baby food' most children start eating around 9 months.

I know that doesn't help if you aren't feeding him already, but if you are, maybe you could try longer/more frequent nursing.

[thesunflowergal]

Sarah. Trixie's godmother has come back to me, and she said to give him water. I know that you would not want to bottle feed him, so what about a cup? I used a cup with Trixie when she was about eight weeks old, and was less than three pounds in weight at that point.

What about Massage,or what I call Bicycle legs (I am sure you know what I mean)

Part of the trouble is that every baby is different, so I guess its a matter of trying everything and see what works for Dylan. Both of the girls even though they where so different, where fine once weaned.

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Bloody phone, did long reply and it lost it! But thanks nikki he is back on higher dose of gaviscon and had already been giving water but he is really grumpy poor little mite. Back to dr tomorrow afternoon to try the next thing.

[contadina]

Have you tried making a fennel seed tea? Boil fennel seeds, allow to cool, strain and give to baby. Some people add a natural sweetner, but most babies will drink it without. You could even add it to milk or drink a few cups yourself each day so it comes through your milk.

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Ok just back from docs, she is really old fashioned, and said that she had been to a talk on this last month but i was more interested in the fact that she spoke about her eldest son who had reflux 30 yrs back, she said she wouldn't have used anything except gaviscon if she was in my position and then said reduce his dose by 1/4 and go buy him prune juice or orange juice and brown sugar. Admittedly i'd rather he wasn't uncomfortable, but i also don't want him being sick so if this works then I'll be happy. Of course till the prune juice starts moving and we get the dose of gaviscon right we are dealing with a grumpy baby with brown sticky sick.
oh and he so wasn't impressed with what followed his afternoon feed!

[citizentwiglet]

I have a 'wedge' made by a company called Bebecal, I believe. It's a strip of material with two sort of 'blosters' that velcro onto the strip, allowing baby to be laid safely on their side whilst supervised (although in Europe the whole 'Back to Sleep' thing doesn't exist). They are designed for babies with reflux, but we got ours because Fin has positional brachycephaly, and we needed to relieve the pressure on the back of his head. It's very hard to describe, have a wee google search and see if you can find it. Fin also had a degree of reflux (as did Ellis), not as bad as you describe, but still unpleasant for everyone - especially baby - and the wedge really helped with that as well as taking some of the pressure off the back of his head.

I can't remember how long you can use the wedge for, I wonder if the wee man might be getting a bit too old for it now; but if you Google it and find it, and fancy one, I have one here you are welcome to. It will need a wash - I'll do it here for you, but when it comes to sprogs I find that it's always nice to wash things through with the powder you know they are used to, just in case of allergies, and also so they recognise the scent and that.

I'll try and find it just now and post a link, if I can find one.......

[citizentwiglet]

http://www.babyreflux.co.uk/products/BE ... ioner.html

Here it is.........I have the ivory one. Looks like you could get at least another 2 to 4 months out of it. They call it a 'sleep positioner', but I only used it when he was in the room with me.

Like I say, if you'd like it, just drop me a PM with your name and address and I'll send it out to you. My only charge is a small one - you keep hold of it and give it away, in turn, to someone else who might find it useful. (I know this sounds awful, but I've given things away in the past in 'Freecycle' spirit only to hear through the grapevine that they got sold on eBay at a huge profit to the person I gave it to for free - and I'm not suggesting that you would, but I would ask that - when you pass it on - you ask that the new owner ALSO passes it on free of charge, and doesn't eBay it or anything)..........

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Honey sorry for not getting back to you, got logged out and then the computer broke and the phone wouldn't let me back on, luckily he is ok through the night, he sleeps on his side next to me and as long as he is on his left side he isn't sick, but thank you for the offer.

We have now got to the point where the gaviscon is working wonders and a doctor has prescribed him lactulose which is making for a happy baby, lets hope it continues.

On a side note I am currently wording my letter of compaint for the health visitors who accused me to of neglecting the baby to the doctors due to his poor weight gain, the helath visitors that is who did not spot his tongue tie or his reflux, instead telling me constantly that i was not feeding him properly!!! Grrrr