Reflux

We have a 10 week old with Silent Reflux. He screams for about 16 hours every day. He is so exhausted that at night he is generally sleeping well but during the day he wakes after half an hour or an hour at best a cries until I feed him next. It does not seem to matter what we do to help comfort him, he cries unless we are walking in the pram.

He has been on zantac and is now on an anti-reflux formula because I gave up breast feeding because we had complete breast refusal, we have been to Tresillian and tried all the passive management techniques to help him but nothing has worked so far. I also have a really sensitive toddler who is really suffering because he is lacking attention and he is really concerned about the baby crying all the time. The doctors keep telling us that he is putting on weight and is otherwise healthy so we are just going to have to ride it out - I don't think that we can ride it out for too much longer. Does anyone else have any ideas on what else may be of help???

My son is on anti reflux formula but doesn't cry like your baby does and I wish I had some first hand advice to give you but do try Tresillian or even ask your health nurse about places you can go to for help, also try another doctor for advice because your baby maybe allergic to cow's milk or he may have colic also try a naturopath for advice a lot of those remideies worked when my friends baby had colic and cried all the time, babies tend to cry for a reason especailly at that age so there must be a reason why and I really do hope you find one soon. Good luck!

We have a 5 week old that suffers from reflux but not all the time. The worst is the projectile vomits that have so far ended up the wall over the floor, the lounge and me while breast feeding. We had friends that have twins and one suffered quite badly with reflux and they took her to a baby chiropractor. After only 2 visits her reflux and pain were gone. That is our next step as we do not wish to put our baby on any medication at such a young age or put him on formula. It can takes up to 2 hours to settle him down after a feed, luckily for us he doesn't cry too much but he will only settle down while being held. Good luck and I hope you find something to work for your baby.

Thanks for your words of advice - I hadn't considered a chiropractor. Fingers and toes crossed that this might be the answer!

Hi Katie A. My 10 week old also has reflux/colic. We tried the anti-reflux formula but that made him worse. We tried Zantac, no go their either. I swapped him from breast to bottle because everyone said it would be better and easier, it made it all worse, so i got my milk back, took two weeks but it worked. He does seem much better on breast milk, however in your situ. i think we just have to hang in there until that little valve in their tummies develops properly. My 15 month old also gets a bit neglected so i take any time i can to cuddle him and talk to him so he knows i still love him, he also has 2 older brothers to take up the slack. Also Alex had a scan of his belly to make sure the food was going through. The docs. tell me as long as he is putting on weight and has lots of wet nappies hes fine. I wonder if the doc. had a reflux baby? Hang in there i have been told it gets better with time.

To all other suffering Mum’s. I am from the UK, having just emigrated here and have a 10 month old son – Henry, who was diagnosed with reflux at 7 months. It was a long battle to get any professionals to admit there was anything wrong as Henry was a big baby and gained weight fast. He is so happy too, you’d never know anything was wrong, however, he didn’t settle easily.

In the early days I breastfed him, we had a couple of very bad screaming episodes (lasting 2/3 hours) but put it down to something I had eaten that passed to him. When I changed to bottle-feeding at 4 months, his crying steadily got worse. It wasn’t every day though, so we assumed it was ‘normal’ baby behaviour – something I was told on many occasion by my GP. We changed the formulas and teats, but I eventually went back to the GP when Henry was 4 ½ months as he had cried one day non-stop for 12 hours. She prescribed Infant Gaviscon and sent me away telling me not to worry.

Again we had good days and bad for a couple of months and I was continually told that it was normal baby behaviour by the Health Visitor and GP (I have since learnt that if there is no significant improvement in a week using Gaviscon, you should go back to your GP). I even remember specifically asking if there was an underlying problem we should be treating and how long Henry would need to be on Gaviscon. ‘He’ll grow out of it’ was all I was told. Eventually when Henry wouldn’t go to sleep without being in a pusher or in the car, and was in pain for 3 hours after every feed, we got a referral to a specialist.

Henry had a barium swallow and reflux was diagnosed. Henry was put on Zantac, but I was concerned that the underlying problem was that he couldn’t get rid of wind easily. Zantac stopped him screaming from the burning in his throat but he was still crying in pain for hours at a time from the wind. We re-visited the specialist who said that Henry had nothing wrong with him, was way ahead developmentally for his age and we should go away and try changing teats, formulas and try charcoal tablets for the wind. I could barely control my anger, I knew there was something wrong and we’d tried everything he suggested (apart from charcoal, which had no effect). He even suggested I should seek psychiatric help if I couldn’t cope with my baby. Well you can imagine being told that as a first time Mum, not what you want to hear especially as I was totally sleep deprived, didn’t look forward to ‘tomorrow’ because Henry was such hard work and was nearing a stage where I thought I’d do something I might regret.

That night I decided to do some of my own research. In the UK it is unheard of to go to a chiropractor, but after looking up colic and reflux on the internet I thought cranial osteopathy may help Henry, it was also basically my last resort. Having lost faith completely in the medical profession, I did not hold out much hope for a chiro being able to help either, but how wrong could I be. You would not have believed the change. After one session where the chiro made three adjustments, Henry was completely pain free. I cried many times over with relief. He was finally a totally happy and healthy baby. We’ve cut the Zantac down to half dose and are currently seeing a chiro in Sydney so we’re just waiting another week to see if we can stop the Zantac altogether. I’m sharing this story because I wish I had known sooner what could’ve been done. There is not a day that goes by when I think that I have lost so much enjoyment from the 1st year because it was so hard. I also feel guilty because of all the pain he’s been in and I didn’t know what to do. You do not have to put up with the sleepless nights and hours spent pushing your baby in the pusher or heaving them into the car at 1am because they can’t get back to sleep. My husband and I spent many weeks doing that and it took our relationship to the limit. You have my utmost sympathy if you’re going through this now, please at least try a chiropractor and see whether they can help. Good luck. Note: a chiro who diagnoses by touch has worked better for us than one who diagnoses by restriction of movement. Best wishes, Fiona xx

Hi Katie
I have a 6 1/2 month old who has severe reflux. She is seeing a paediatrician for it, he started her on Zantac but after a while she got used to that so she was then put on Losec a much stronger drug. She was on a normal formula but now i have her on a lactose free one which seems to help. The best advice i was given was too raise the bed a little. Put a pillow under the mattress. This will cause him to slip down in the bed so roll up a blanket and put this under him in the form of a U shape underneath his bottom. Also i use the Karicare food thickener (found in most chemists)in her bottles as well, this thickens up the formula which doesnt allow the milk to come stait back up. If u have any further questions u want answered there is a really good msn group GastricRefluxSupportforInfantsandChildren@groups.msn.com This group is entirely in aid of helping parents with children who are refluxers

Help and support is available. There are many medications available to help your little one, they should not suffer, and neither should you. For help and information you can find it at http://groups.msn.com/GastricRefluxSupportforInfantsandChildren
Plus all the information for support offline as well. I look forward to seeing you there.

Donna

Hi Katie,

I know this reply is a bit late, but I am new to this website and thought I might respond because I can relate very much to what you have been going through. I have a 4mth old baby boy who has had severe silent reflux since birth. He was put on medication called Losec from about 6 weeks old which made a tremendous difference to all of us. He is much more settled and happy and gets approx 5 hours sleep during the day (2-3 naps) and approx 10 hours sleep at night, since starting Losec. Before Losec he was crying day and night, this was very stressful for both my husband and I as we are first time parents. I ended up with Post natal depression as a result of the endless crying and sleepless nights (at night the only way Jordan would settle is by sleeping in my arms on the sofa). That is all behind us now and I feel it is all due to his medication. Please see your paediatrician and ask about possibly presicribing Losec for your baby it will make your life so much easier. Hope this helps you.

Hi my daughter is now 11 mths but when she was younger she had the same problem with reflux, crying all the time and taking over an hour to drink 120mls of milk. We got a referral to a peadatrition after waiting about 3 months and he put her on Losec, it settled her right down and we had no more problems after that. its worth a try even if you do have to wait awhile for an appointment.
The doctor kept telling us that she was healthyand putting on weight too and we would have to ride it out but we kept asking for a referal until we got one. it was well worth it.

Hi my baby was also given Losec for her reflux, but half the time isnt getting it as I JUST CANNOT DISSOLVE IT PROPERLY, or administer it to her without her spitting it out !!!!! Could someone please tell me how you do it THANKS

*Haley's mum
Hi, I am a very sympathic ear as I have 2 beautiful girls a 3 3/4 yr old and a 20 month old. My eldest is a thriving, energetic and mothering little lady. My youngest is a georgeous little lady who just wants to be well. Since birth she has had her share of adversities. If your happy to hear our journey then read on, if not look at the bottom for our latest way of giving her the losec.

We started life having dusky episodes for the 1st 4 1/2 days. By 7 weeks it was reflux and we were on Zantac, 0.6ml 3 times a day. As others have stated infant Gaviscon only worked once. It seemed to provide enough relief for her to sleep a little, as she was only sleeping on me or for 40 minutes at a time. As you can imagine from the stress I felt like I was walking on eggshells the whole time. The Zantac took 4 weeks to take any effect in her system, and finally at 12 weeks she was sleeping straight thru the night. Apart from every few months upping her dose of Zantac she was great until 9 months and then we began the gradual decline of her condition.

By 13 months she was heading down hill at a greater rate her zantac dose was 1.5ml 3 times a day which was the highaet we could go until finally at 15 months we got into our peadiatrician and he changed her to Losec 10mg , which made no difference. We then did a food dairy to see if there were any links, no result. Next step a barium swallow, it was inconclusive for reflux diagnosis. At 16 1/2 months we had a gastroscopy done which showed in the biopsy's allergic cells. As of novemeber 1st was back on Losec 20 mg daily which was fantastic after being of medication except mylanta for 2 months and on a good day only had 3 symptoms of reflux and on a bad day having 8. ( we had more bad than good days).

Now the immunologist has had her on a non-dairy, non-soy diet since december 15 and it has been the worst christmas. She has dropped 680grams in 3 weeks (She has mostly been in the bottom 25% chart, however now she is the bottom 10%). Was put on neocate which tastes horrible for a child who has had and likes the taste of milk products.

We used to give her her losec in yogurt or ice cream. Since we have been unable to have those it has been very difficult. I dissolve it in 1/2 tsp of water then put it in 1 ml of mylanta and put it in a syringe to give her. We have tried it in her food, drink and even ice blocks but she has this amazing way of knowing its there. Also when she feels her worst she doesn't want to eat. It was 3 weeks in December that she would have had 1/4 to 1/2 her required dose until my husband thought of Mylanta and for us it was her saviour. At least until her next bad cycle starts again or the work out what is wrong with her.

Our peadiatrician recommended trying to put it in jam or honey but your little one sounds too young. How about trying, if you are breast feeding expressing a little then mixing it with the dissolved tablet and putting it in a syringe to give to her or even formula. Then at least the taste is the same.

Last of all keep up the good work it is a tough situation to be in. I found through my journey I had to expose myself to people who would understand my situation and not blow it all off or tell me there were people worse off than me. My response is you live my life and you tell me how bad it is. I have had the joys of parenthood twice now but the second time around there have been far too many lows than anyone would hope for

You are your daughters greatest role model so be strong you can conquer anything you put your heart too. Good luck.