Post Acid Reflux

S

Suv

Registered User
Hello Mummies,
My son is/was a acid reflux baby. First 2 months were quite hard because the baby was a real pain. Thankfully, it started settling down for him around 2.5 months. I would love to hear from mummies who have had babies with reflux and how were you able to change some of the habits that stick- like feeding every 1-2 hours, never being able to sleep for long.

He is still quite a cranky baby (sometimes even after a 2 hour nap and good 10 min, vigorous sucking/swallowing feed and solid burps) and I am never very sure if something is bothering him or not. He is mostly unhappy even after a feed due to wind and wants to be burped right that second. He has been rocked and patted to sleep because burping for him has been so hard.He never feeds more than 10 min and does not want to feed anymore but then again wants a feed in less than 2 hours. The longest he has slept till now is 4 hours from 7pm-11pm. After that he wakes up every hour or 2. I think lack of sleep also makes him very cranky too but he is unable to get enough sleep. The whining/crying, sore boobs and lack of sleep is driving me completely crazy and I am getting really upset/ angry as I am unable to spend any time with my older one.
 
My son had reflux as well when he was born in London. We saw an osteopath there which helped to loosen him up as well as a specialist. We actually weren't sure if it was reflux in the beginning or an allergy so we switched him to hypoallergenic formula. I also cut out a lot of the acidic foods from my diet as I was also nursing him like tomatoes etc...He slept on a wedge and on his side. oundOur specialist perscribed zantac to him at around 2 months old which did wonders!

When we moved to HK, our hypoallergenic formula was not here and we had only brought over about a month's supply so we switched to Cow & Gate's Pepti Junior which was fine. I eventually lowered his dosage of zantac at around 8 months to nothing. I would say he grew out of his reflux by 9/10 months. Its' a hard road for any parent dealing with a reflux baby, but they do grow out of it which is the good news.

Is your baby taking medication?
 
I thought reflux is common in babies under 3 months old. My one month old has always had it. He usually suck fast on my breast, and doesn't like to be burped (he would turn away, looking for my breast).... Actually he doesn't burp a lot either, but he would suddenly spit up, specially during/after a feed, or after he has been crying madly for a while. I don't know if it bother him or not... probably it bothers me more, cause I would have to clean up after his mess.
 
I give Gaviscon and Takeprom (Zantac did not work as well) to my son but have stopped since his reflux got so much better, but reading various articles/ posts/ blogs seems that it can be around for quite some time. I am taking him to an osteopath soon as well as a allergist(he also has bad rash which I am unable to accept has simple eczema) and homeopath. At this point I am willing to try anything to reduce his discomfort. I am exclusively breast feeding but I am getting really tired of feeding every 2 hours through the night- it will be 4 months of sleeping 1-2 hrs at a time this Monday. I am so tempted to try the AR formulas or the ones you suggested, southside. So incredibly torn:(
 
SUV, how funny since zantac is much stronger than Gaviscon. We tried that first as well, but no changes. Reflux is very common in babies who are delivered early. My son was born 2.5 weeks early and as a result his oesophagus was not fully developped. Definitely, try the osteopath - ours in London was great and helped him to sleep longer too. It's tiring and frustrating esp if you are exclusively nursing as you have to watch your diet even more closely.

Ladies, it will get better! :)
 
Osteopathy helped my baby, but we also had her sleep on a slight incline and usually on her side. She's 7 months old now and I think it was around 4 or 5 months when she just stopped spitting up as much. We also don't lay her down after a feed right away and hold her for about 15-20min. Try Jonine Nash at Sutherland-Chan Centre where I work or also Philip Clarke from Balance Health who we saw before Jonine became a colleague :) They're both excellent practitioners. I took my baby to Phillip.
 
suv - my middle son was on takepron until he was 9 months old. many babies do grow out of refulx around 4 months of age but many dont. i would suggest trying the medication again and see if it helps. without meds my son was a terrible sleeper and would comfort feed. both of these things improved with meds, raised cot and cranial osteopath. good luck. i know from experience how exhausting having a reflux baby can be.
 
Thanks, aussie mum. It is a relief to hear of others' experience that it does get over. I did go to the pediatrician today and she has given me takepron as well. He has been such a poor eater that he has slipped from 50 to 20th percentile. After she saw the baby, she thought that the baby might be ready for solid food. I have had the same feeling for a couple of weeks as he makes this funny face with his tongue out all the time. She felt that solids will help him gain weight and also help with reflux. He also has a yeast infection which causes him to be very itchy. I am so mad at the ped who have said its eczema. For days I have been putting hydrocortisone, which I really dislike, to give some relief to the poor baby. I am also trying to go on a yeast/ sugar free diet which I hope will help. Off to cranial osteopathy tomorrow....
 
Ladies, I HAVE to give you an update! I am SO excited!! The baby loves solid food! His mouth always opens for it. It took him a week to figure out the art of "chewing" and swallowing. I also put him on a schedule, saw an osteopath, homeopath and a naturopath, still on takepron too, hired a night nurse, saw a doc for PND just in case (he said it was all sleep deprivation), got new bottles of gripe water and Infacol. Fungal infection has finally gone, he gets infacol before a feed, gripe water after a feed to help him burp, no more swaddling, is sleeping on his tummy- he has been a happier baby for over a week! 3 days ago I also stuck him in with his older brother (22 months) and lo and behold- 2 nights and they are both sleeping through the night inspite of occasional screaming and crying by any one of them!!:D I fill up him up in the afternoon/ evening like nobody's business and he gave up his night feeds/ wakings without too much of a fight. Cross your fingers.... hope it stays this way!
 
fantastic news! we weaned our son on the earlier side b/c less liquid means less reflux. Great news to hear! I am sure your bub is so much happier!
 
my reflux baby was was weaned at 17 weeks (i waited until 6 months with my first). it made such an improvement to the reflux.
glad its all going well for you suv
those early months with reflux are tough. i have an easy baby 3rd time around and what a difference! Im actually enjoying him :o)
 
Good news Suv :) Hope it continues.

Aussie mum, I saw earlier that you mentioned your baby with reflux would wake in the night to comfort feed. My 1 year old (tomorrow hehe) has been doing this every 2 - 3 hours for a few months now. I am sooo tired of it. He doesn't eat solids well, just chews it and spits it out. Lately he has been doing that swallow back thing you hear reflux babies do a lot and he's vomited a few times again in the past weeks. I'm wondering if it's his reflux coming back as he had it when he was younger until about 7 months. Are there any other symptoms you experienced with yours that could help me identify whether it is reflux or something else bothering him??
 
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