Helen's Page

Hi Giliian,
Thanks for your reply. Certainly interesting about the dairy issues, my son, Sam has to be completely dairy free and you would not believe how many things contain milk powder! Its a nightmare! By the way, a Paediatrician told us that Gaviscon does not work on breast fed babies!! We have had 2 years of conflicting advice and medical OPINION not FACT! Going private does not improve the level of expertise or understanding you get either! Some things that were successful for us though were, the cot wedge (he still has it now), Dr Browns bottles, sitting upright & not being held whilst feeding. This was the hardest thing - I breast fed Sam for 12 weeks and it was a nightmare, he fought me and arched his back & screamed EVERY feed. Once on the bottle, we would put him in his bouncy chair and feed him upright. The baby carrier saved my sanity - again it kept him upright. Once he was 3 months we gave him his daytime naps in the buggy upright - he continued this till he was 18 months! Another thing that seemed to help the discomfort was Fennel tea! (You can get baby version! Hipps I think) We also kept him on new born bottle teats till he was 10 months as he couldn't cope with a faster flow. All of this was trial & error but you may find just one of these ideas helps.
All the best. Helen

Hi Debs, I have just read your story so I can try to understand fully about Archie.
It may or may not be reflux related that he can't take lumps just now (I am also a Nursery Nurse & I have experienced this problem with non-refluxers too). Sam's reflux did get worse during this period but we were made to believe it was because he was crawling and not being kept upright enough after food. We were advised to put him in front of the TV (still in high chair) to keep him still for as long as we could after eating. (Bit of a challenge!) However, if you have weight issues then don't be too hasty with the lumps, just try to get the food inside him, thats the most important thing. You also don't want him to start being frightened of food. Having a reflux baby means you go against many of the "norms" as a parent but its a case of survival! We also found a walker to be very helpful at this stage - Sam was more comfortable upright. Once he was walking (11 months) this problem with lumpy foods and extra meal time sickness improved. I can't promise Archie will follow this pattern but hang in there. Is Archie on dairy free? Maybe for the next couple of wks before your hosp appoint just write a food (and sickness) diary just incase you or the Paed can see a pattern. Does he have much pain? Can't believe you don't have any medication. Let me know how you get on. All the best. Helen

Hi Gillian, glad you all survived Christmas, so did we!
Glad Anna is more settled now, I assume this is the medication kicking in? Sorry to hear about the nappy rash, is she having a lot of dirty nappies? Sam did not have Losec so I am unsure of its side effects. Sam had a lot of dirty nappies (due to his dairy problems) but I don't think it was connected to reflux. Obviously this in turn caused nappy rash.We got a cream from the Dr in the end which I only used when bad. I can only advise to see your GP (Nightmare I know!!) but hopefully you can get cream then it'll become more comfortable for her. What milk are you using to mix with baby rice? Are you expressing or have you added in formula? Could this be a problem? Hope you are soon able to get more rest.
We had some test results back yesterday, Sam had a PH study done over a 19 hr period (a probe was inserted into his stomach and attached to a computer to assess his reflux & acidity. ) He actually undertook this whilst on medication but it seems he still refluxed 43 times during the assessment. The Dr said he would have refluxed at least 100 times if he had not been on meds! Thing is we took him off meds 2 weeks ago as we figured 2 1/2 yrs was long enough. Now I feel bad especially as they recommend he moves onto stronger meds. Not sure what to do now! We see the Paed on Jan 8th!
Happy new yr Gillian, lets hope things look brighter in 2008!
Helen

Hello, can anyone tell me if their child has had a bad reaction to Omeprezole? Sam has been on Ranitidine for 2 1/2 yrs and following a PH probe test he has now been put on 10mg Omeprezole. He has not been sleeping, been in constant discomfort and still been sick. Anyone else experienced this? Helen