Breastfed baby with reflux

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Permalink Reply by Anna on March 1, 2009 at 12:09

Hi Amanda,
Thanks for your reply. It is really good to her that i'm not alone. It is deperately difficult seeing your baby in pain all of the time. We had a terrible night again last night with Harrison barely sleeping and i have had him seen by an out-of-hours service today (Baycall) who have basically admivsed that I get him back to the GP asap and ask to be referred to a paed, just as you say. It was a nurse practitioner hwo I saw and she was very helpful as her little girl had reflux too and was treated at Alderhay which would be our nearest specialist centre (we're in South Cumbria) I have given the gaviscon before every feed and it just doesn't seem to do anything for him....poor thing. I do the whole raised cot/changing mat/play gym stuff already, but thank-you for the suggestion. I will try the feeding on a n angle and winding things, thanks. The only place the lil fella seems settled at the moment is in his car seat....which is where is is now with his Daddy while I go and have a lie down!
Its useful to have this forum to talk to each other and know we're not alone. I just can't help thinking that we have a long road ahead of us.....
Anna.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Thomas on March 1, 2009 at 19:15

HI Anna,

For the time being with the reflux and gaviscon, you could give him half before feeding and the other half after feeding. I dont think you are allowed to give more than 6 sachets in 24 hrs. I try and give my son 3-4 sachets from about 7am -12pm, then another 3 sachets in the afternoon and evening feeds (2pm-10:30pm). If the gaviscon is really making no difference at all, you really need to see someone ASAP so they can give you more harder medication for the pain.. the poor little thing and crying just makes the reflux worse for them!!! Hopefully you will get an urgent appointment this week.. good luck!!

Amanda

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Permalink Reply by Helen on March 1, 2009 at 19:48

Hi Amanda & Anna,
I know that no parent wants to give their child drugs but your babies need to be on stronger stuff than Gaviscon. It makes me furious that the GP's still have so little understanding of reflux. There are no side effects with ranitidine and I am not suggesting it is a magic formula but it will ease the problems. It is very weight sensitive the the dose must be absolutely correct (and increased in fairly regular intervals) in order for it to be effective. Most Paed's don't like GP's prescribing it (as they get the dosage wrong) but GP's are just reacting to desperate Mother's! Domperidone is an anti sickness drug that can often help too. Oh and just to say......Ranitidine can take up to a week to work so hang in there.
Just a couple of comments on managing a reflux baby, we found that by not actually holding him to give him a bottle made his pain slightly better. We either sat him in his bouncy chair (not bouncing!) or in his car seat. It really helped. As for night time sleeping, I remember my H.V recommending that he actually slept in his car seat at night as it really was the only time he was comfortable. I was horrified and I admit I never did it but maybe I wouldn't look so haggard and old now if I had done! I also found the upright baby sling brilliant, most days he would be strapped to me whilst I did the washing, cooking and shopping! Dummies are now recommended for refluxers as the sucking action helps with the acid, our son sucked our finger and it was the only thing that would send him to sleep. Last but not least, Fennel tea, very comforting on digestive system.
Hang in there girls. Helen

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Thomas on March 1, 2009 at 20:24

thanks helen for your reply X

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Permalink Reply by Anna on March 1, 2009 at 21:53

Hi Helen and Amanda,

Thanks so much for the replies. I'm going to the GP first thing and hoping to be referred asap. Harrison is asleep in his cot witht he head elevated and looks to be settled for the moment.....so I best get to bed too. I will let you know how I get on. Night.

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Permalink Reply by Anna on March 2, 2009 at 20:13

Hello again,
Well, I went to he gp again today and felt like a I just about begged for a refferal to paed team but she did agree and thinks there's about a two week list so hoping its sooner rather than later. She was unwilling to prescribed anything other than gaviscon so he's just on that at the moment but she did advise me to give it before every feed, not just 6 sachets in 24 hours which I know it says on the box.....??? I saw my health visitor today too and Harriosn has put on 1lb in 6 days - he's been really unsettled, apined, sick etc so I couldn't believe his weight gain....I have read somewhere that symptoms can get worse during a growth spurt though and wondered about your expereinces??
Harrison has a dummy and does take it but also has his fingers in his mouth constantly....don't know if this is the reflux or just a developmental thing. Helen, when you say fenneal tea, is that for me to drink as i'm breastfeeding??
Harriosn slept the best he has in ages last night - 7pm til midnight then awake every two hours after that wanting to feed and having pain, vicious circle... He has hardly slept today either....
Well, hope to hear form you soon.

Permalink Reply by Kelly on March 31, 2009 at 10:22

Hi Anna, If you look on my profile you may see some advice I have given others. Callum now 19 months is amazing since visiting Dr Shah and having his dietician. Would type it all again but if you look at advice i given before it should help.
Kelly

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Permalink Reply by Rosie on March 3, 2009 at 22:07

Hi Amanda, I have just been pointed in the direction of this group and saw your post and replies etc and our babies are similar in age Poppy is 24 1/2 weeks now. She's my 3rd baby and exclusively BF until 23 weeks. Our reflux wasn't diagnosed until she was about 20 weeks! She has gaviscon which does help a bit but things seem to be a bit random sometimes and I've been wondering if there is a link between diet hers and mine!! I've read comments about dairy irritating babies espec. those with reflux so surely dairy in a BF mother's diet affects the babies?? I drink alot of milk and am following BLW but when I gave Poppy a fromage frais we had no end of puking (oh my god the smell was awfull!) it's really got me thinking! I'm going to avoid dairy and see if it improves. Can I ask why you want to give up BF if that's not being too nosey?! Rx

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Permalink Reply by Anna on March 4, 2009 at 13:09

Hello everyone,
Well I got an early appointment with a paed! Hooray, they rang yesterday and asked me to go today, so we have just got back. He seemed knowledgable and has prescribed ranitidine and domperidone for Harrison so i'm hoping he's symptoms ease a bit.
Rosie, I am breastfeeding and I have cut out milk, garlic, chilli, citrus fruits, fizzy drinks and caffeine, i'm not sure whether it has made a difference or not but my diet is very boring....:-( but if it helps my little man even a bit its worth it. The only thing that I have been having recently which I had changed was barley water instead of normal cordial, i'm now just drinking water and his symptoms have eased up....I would describe reflux as a bit random, Harrison has good days and bad days (which are really bad).
I have been advised by the paed today to wean Harrison at four months (he's 16 weeks) so would appreciate any advice anyone has on weaning with reflux.
I am wanting to try and stop breastfeeding as i'm due back to work soon, Harrison will not take a bottle though at the moment, even of expressed milk.... I've started giving him a cup and he'll take a bit so hopefully weaning and this is the way forward with the meds.....

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Thomas on March 4, 2009 at 19:58

Hi Anna,

Thats great news that you saw your pead and now have some medication, hopefully he will be a much happier baby!! I am going back to the GP tommorow to see if i can get an appointment with a pead. I am so sick of having more bad days than good days as you would probably understand. Anna, i dont really know much about the drugs they give, what are the side effects?? good luck with weaning and the meds.. Amanda :)

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Permalink Reply by Helen on March 4, 2009 at 21:48

Great that you saw the Paed Anna, I really hope that you start to see an improvement in Harrison. What did the Paed think about your restricted diet whilst breastfeeding? Shame he won't take a bottle as when I mentioned Fennel tea I meant it for him! (I did also drink it whilst
breastfeeding though but did not notice a difference.) The Paed got us to wean at 12 weeks just on baby rice - I used to do it at lunch time and it was our happiest time of day! I can't say it made a huge overall difference but at least I had a half hr break from the crying each day! Needless to say, at 16 wks I introduced it at teatime as well!
Amanda, hope you get a referral tomorrow, if you do get prescribed the drugs then ask them to explain how they work and what side effects there are. It will help you make an informed decision. I don't want to worry you but you need to weigh up the effects of acid coming up the oesaphagus and potentially damaging it, compared to a drug that will lesson the acid. My son had an endoscopy at 2yrs and it made me regret the numerous time I had taken him off the drugs (without advice) just because I didn't like him on drugs! His oesaphagus was damaged as the lining is not built to cope with stomach acid. Anyway, he is an extreme case and the irony is that he is now almost 4 yrs old and takes 5 drugs a day! I come on this website to try & support Mum's as I feel so strongly about the lack of advice, information and support out there. I am not suggesting that your babies will still have problems at 4yrs old so please don't panic or worry, they will hopefully grow out of it within their first year. All I will say is stay strong, trust your instinct and ask lots of questions when you finally see the Paed!
All the best. Helen

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Thomas on March 5, 2009 at 20:32

Hi girls, well i went to the GP today and he prescribed me some ranitidine to try and would not refer me to the pead in southampton which i was quite annoyed about.. i asked a few times too!!! He wanted me to try a 'normal' formula and the ranitidine to see my sons reaction. I told him that i have tried numerous different formulas and had the same reflux reaction afterward (screaming in pain). The only one that seemed fine was the Nutramigen (which supports my theory that my son has a cows milk intolerance). While introducing this new medication i think i will continue to breastfeed to make it easier on him (not change too many things at once!!)

Anyway i have to go back and see him on tues, he did give me a low dose of the ranitidine and i note from your email above helen that it is important that the dose is based on the weight so i am not to sure how effective it will be, he did not prescribe the domperidone, will my son feel sick if he does not have this?? I can understand what you are saying helen about the side effects... i suppose i keep thinking is he really that bad to have these meds and can he do without them, as he is not in pain every single day like when he was a young baby prior to the gaviscon. I could give it a try and see what happens. Sorry to hear about your son, you must be such as expert in reflux!!!

Anyway better go, thanks once again for your advice.

Amanda

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