do reflux babies develop at the same rate as 'normal' babies?

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Permalink Reply by Katie on September 5, 2008 at 18:30

Hi

My son is 8 1/2 months old and suffers from quite bad reflux. He is way ahead of all the other babies his age - he has been crawling for a month and is almost walking now. His development has not been affected at all - this is partly why it is so hard to get help!!! Whenever the dr sees him, he just says 'Look at him - he's fine'!!!!! He only weighs 15lb 14oz!!!

Your little one will come on - I do think the pain caused by reflux interferes a bit, but it shouldn't make too much of a difference.

Katie
xxx

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Permalink Reply by Tricia on September 5, 2008 at 21:29

Hi

I wouldn't worry too much. I was worried like this about my son's deveoplment when he was Joseph's age as he wouldn't lie on a play mat like all my friends babies did at the time. I found he was only happy and content if he was sitting in his swing or in his bouncy chair or was out in the car or pushchair. I was worried that he wouldn't learn to crawl or sit up. He was constantly sick literally from one bottle almost till the time of the next one and I found sitting him still helped the sickness slightly. However he was sitting up at just over 6 months and is now 8 1/2 month and has started rolling around and trying to crawl. I think reflux may affect their development slightly but not to a huge extent. Is your son on may medication for the pain? As touch wood the meds seemed to have helped Nathan with the pain although sadly he is still sick throughout the day but only with milk and liquids and not to the same extent as he was when he was younger.

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Permalink Reply by sharon on September 6, 2008 at 3:29

Hi Zoe was well forward for her age and she suffers severe reflux she was trying to sit up by herself at 4mths was sitting by herself by 5mths was walking around furniture at 7mths and walking by herself at 9mths, she grabbed for things very early, she now trys holding a conversation with me babbling, can say quite a few words, follows commands, she can also jump and actually leaves the floor through copying her older sister. I think with your son he sounds like he may be in too much pain to try and think of anything else, is he on any medication? I think Zoe was sitting up early as i think she found it helped with the reflux being upright. She was also thriving to the extent where she was born on the 50th centile and went up to the 98th centile. She is a very big girl, she was diagnosed by a barium meal at 11mths, she had lots of chest infections and sounded like she had cystic fibrosis she was that bad. She did projectile vomit before she was weaned then she learnt to swallow it down so doing double the damage and this is when she was asspirating it. I think he needs to be given antacids to help with his pain bless him. Zoe is now 18mths old and still has severe reflux and in 2-3yr old clothes and some of them are a little tight, bless. Even now the peadiatricians can't get their heads round how well she is doing to say she has it that bad. Good luck. Sharon x

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Permalink Reply by Nicola on September 6, 2008 at 8:01

Hi thanks for all your replies, its good to know that so many babies are doing well development wise.

Yes he is on meds, gaviscon, which I dont think is doing much actually as he is still very sick, ranitidine 1ml 3 times a day and last tuesday he saw the paed and she put him on domperidone 1.5ml 3 times a day, but we gave him two doses of it and then he screamed even more, he was thrusting his legs out and back in again, almost like colic babies, reading on the forums it looks like it could have given him stomach cramps, as some on here found that it made their babies worse with stomach cramps, it was awful he just screamed and screamed, so I stopped it, and thursday it was so bad that I ended up taking him to the drs, who said that he had had a few adult patients on dom that had had stomach cramps and also said to keep him off the dom and then re start it again at the weekend (which i am dreading because its awful seeing him in extreme pain)

the paed said to ring her next week if the dom hasnt worked and she will refer him to the dieatician who will put him on nutramigin, but it doesnt sound like he has any symptoms for milk protein allergy, he doesnt have blood in his poo, or diarrheoa, or rashes, so im worried that she may go off on this allergy thing rather than the reflux side of it..he is also on emfamil lacto free, which has'nt made a difference..

Sharon, joseph is on the 98th centile as well! he was 7ib 9 when he was born but that was 4 weeks early! so god knows how big he would have been, I am diabetic and was switched to insulin to control my blood sugars but his dad is 6ft 2 and joseph is already showing longer than average and luckily he has a big head as well and looks in proportion!

he is now 14ib 5oz at 11 weeks of age! which originally my gp said he didnt have reflux as he is gaining weight, luckily I have a very good h/v and she said that it is common for reflux babies to gain weight very well.

your babies all sound very advanced for their ages! hopefully joseph will get better too

thanks so much for all your replies, its so nice to know that your not alone on here!

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Permalink Reply by Emma on September 6, 2008 at 20:04

Hello

I thought I would add that I find that Fraya is behind in a few aspects but ahead in others - ie she sat up well at 5 months old and is now very strong on her feet, can stand holding onto things with one hand and will walk actual steps (not shuffling) if you hold her under the arms (she is 8 1/2 months old). However, she has only ever rolled over once and is not crawling yet (although she can go round in circles on her front and can go backwards). I have hardly ever put her on her front (due to her vomiting in this position) so I suppose I have hindered her development in terms of rolling/crawling but in doing this I have tried to ease her discomfort in lessening the vomiting. I would prefer her to walk anyway. My real concern is that she hates to eat solids and can't eat finger foods as she just gags and vomits loads of milk from 3 hours+ ago. My fear is that she will not learn to speak so quickly and also that I will have a child that cannot eat anything other than milk!

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Permalink Reply by Nicola on September 6, 2008 at 22:25

thanks Emily and Emma, from your replies it shows that each child is different I suppose! some will come on in leaps and bounds and others might be a bit slower than the rest.

Emma, no one can critisise you for not putting Fraya on her front too often, none of us want to see our little ones in pain or being sick.

thanks again for all of your replies, I feel a lot more reassured now.
nicola x

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Permalink Reply by sharon on September 7, 2008 at 17:01

Emma, Zoe used to scream if i put her on her front as if it caused her pain so she never rolled or crawled she was an upright baby it was if she knew she had to be like this to stop the pain. It is a lot better now that she is 18mths she doesn't seem as if she is in much pain now. She is still refluxing as she blows bubbles with the acid but it is when she is due a dose of Omeprazole but luckly for all of us she is sleeping a lot better thank god it makes all the difference. Sharon x

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Permalink Reply by Zoe Davies on September 9, 2008 at 9:30

Hi - Isaac's development doesn't seem to have been held back by his reflux. When Isaac's reflux is bad he is worse whenever we lie him down flat or his tummy gets squashed - so I can't leave him on his playmat or changing mat for long as it seems to set off an attack of acid being brought up. When I hold him upright it then seems to get better. Also Isaac really sucks on his dummy when he is bad and the saliva seems to help him get more comfortable. I just hold him when he's having a bad day, talk to him, walk around with him etc. I don't think not playing will hold him back at all. Babies learn from being talked to etc. Hope this helps. x

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Permalink Reply by Nicola on September 11, 2008 at 9:21

thanks Zoe, i know what you mean about the play mat, even though I put a rolled up towel under his head so he isnt as flat, he still wont stay on there for long, he can probably manage about 10 mins and then starts to cry, I always thought it was because he has a short attention span and gets bored easily because he does the same thing when he is in his fisher price chair, which is upright, so he shouldnt have problems with the acid coming up.

Joseph loves his dummy too and I dont feel guilty anymore about him having it as someone said on here that dummies are good for babies with reflux as the saliva neutralises the acid!

The funny thing is he loves being on his change mat, I also have a rolled up towel under it, to try and stop a bit of the acid and sick but quite often he has rivers of sick come up but he still loves being on there, which is strange, you would think that he wouldnt want to, but he chatters away so much, it is so lovely to see him, he is smiling so widely and he giggles and laughs, me and my hubby quite often just stand there for ages just chatting to him and playing with him, so hopefully all the interaction with him will help with his development..

thanks for your reply, and everyones replies, thanks 8)

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Permalink Reply by sarah on September 12, 2008 at 20:29

Hi

My baby son Alex is 19 weeks and we have exacly the same issue as you, when he s happy he is really happy and smiley but he turns within seconds, and the 2 minutes niceness turns to 2 hours bad. I was really worried and i read on a forum that the best time to play with a reflux baby is between 8am-11am, when they are more or less empty with not much food as they have later in the day. This has really worked for me, and within the last 3 weeks he lifts his head. rolls over from the nack and the front and he has started to laugh. it has helped me enjoy him more and cope with what comes later in the day, when he won't play and the sickness really starts.
Hope this helps you.

Sarah

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