How do you know if it's reflux?

[butterfly_warrior]

We've had a really bad night here which has involved lots of screaming and a little boy that just won't settle. The last few feeds have involved a fair bit of spluttering and posseting, even milk coming out of his nose!

When we were still in SCN, one of the nurses said she thought Sam might be a little bit refluxy, but when I asked another she said we'd know if he was because he would be SCREAMING. We don't often have screams, but he does seem to be in pain and it does seem to happen with/after a feed and he's becoming more and more difficult to settle.

It's the milk coming out of his nose that worries me. And now when we burp him during a feed he cries constantly. He's certainly not the happy, calm little boy we brought home from hospital.

The reflux comment in the hospital though has stuck with me. I would imagine that if Sam is a reflux baby it's fortunately not all that severe, but it does seem to be bothering him a bit.

So, how do you know if it's reflux? Is this something I should pursue with his paed/my GP? Or could it just be the simple fact that he's decided he doesn't like his formula (Nan HA gold)?

ETA - looking at a list of symptoms now...

* Irritability/crying/screaming - yes

* Vomiting/regurgitating or posseting - yes, but probably not severe. What's normal?

* Appearing to be in pain - yes

* Repeated hiccups - yes

* Hoarse voice - sometimes.

* Feeding problems, e.g. refusal to feed or only taking a small amount despite being hungry, comfort feeding, feeding frequently, pulling away and arching their back, crying/screaming during or after feeds, gagging/spluttering - we do have the back arching, the crying/screaming during and after feeds and gagging and spluttering has started recently.

* Sleeping issues, e.g. catnapping during the day, frequent night waking (though some refluxers do sleep well at night), easily disturbed from sleep, or restless - yes, but not all the time.

* Respiratory issues, e.g. choking, wheezing/coughing, recurrent chest infections - no, but we're not yet 8 weeks old.

* Failure to thrive - no.

* Recurrent ear, throat or sinus infections - no.

* Congestion, "snuffling" or appearing to have a cold - hell, yes! He's always snuffly and tends to snore a lot. We just thought he was a really snotty kid like his parents.

Help?

BW

[butterfly_warrior]

Anyone?

BW

[hj1981]

im no expert but too me and from my experience with Bianca it does sound like reflux -
she too use to scream uncontrollable, seemed in a bit of pain, would bring her legs up, and was VERY hard to settle - and this would happen after every feed and every time we laid her down.
we took her to GP and yep was told she had silent reflux! Bianca never brought her milk up tho - hence the "silent" part.

[Willow]

It's hard to say BW, he sounds to me like a normal 7 week old baby Often babies are very settled, content and sleep a lot when they come home (esp premmies) but then a few weeks later they 'wake up' are more vocal, harder to settle etc etc.

I think DS was a little reluxy but nothing serious, I think a lot of babies are.

Have you tried something like infant's friend to help settle him? The things you are describing could simply be a bit of wind or an upset tummy?

Snuffles are very common in new babies too, both of mine have been snuffly (probably more so than normal because we had issues with mec both births) and this weather has been crazy too so I wouldn't be overly concerned with that, I remember our midwife telling us it was very normal for babies to be a bit mucusy in the first few weeks.

I'm not sure how much I've helped! Hopefully someone with some experience with reflux will pop in and offer some advice.

[Michelle71]

Not sure BW We think DS was refluxy but we *ignored* it. New parent ignorance mixed with medical background DD has some of those symptoms too but probably not enough for me to seek management yet.

If you are concerned, there is no harm in getting a medical opinion. Especially if he seems to be getting worse.

[Salsa]

I was just prescribed Losec today for my bub, who apparently has reflux - which has lots of screaming!

Has anyone tried it?

[hj1981]

nope havent tried it with Bianca - but have heard of it - We tried Bianca on Infant Gaviscon and that worked a treat!

[Je$$_84]

I have 2 who have/had reflux.

My ds was a happy chicker he had GO Reflux. ... Projectile vomits accross the room, acid smelling breathe, in pain mainly 15-30 mins after a feed or while laying down. Made washing the laundry a BIG JOB...

You can try elevating the bed with a pillow, prop him up when laying down, feed more upright. My Pead prescribed DS with Zantac 15 mons before a feed and he was fine pretty much after that. Once they become more upright (like sitting or standing they usually grown out of it)

My DD has silent reflux. so not so much projectile vomits usually regurgatation. always appears to be eating something (its her swallowing the acid and what not thats come up) hiccups etc etc. she was prescribed zantac also.

After reading about these products like zantac etc i was shocked about what they can do to the liver. Someone recommended brauers and i tried it and its FANTASTIC.... DD was on the stomach calm and the coic relief (she had colic also) they work a treat and there natural. You can buy a pack with colic relief, stomach calm, pain and fever and i think nappy rash cream. its about $16 from the chemist.

[Salsa]

After reading about these products like zantac etc i was shocked about what they can do to the liver. Someone recommended brauers and i tried it and its FANTASTIC.... DD was on the stomach calm and the coic relief (she had colic also) they work a treat and there natural. You can buy a pack with colic relief, stomach calm, pain and fever and i think nappy rash cream. its about $16 from the chemist.

I was given Gaviscon with DS1 (who did not have as much as a problem as DS2 has). I was wary of using it. I dont know much about these treatments, but if its bad for the liver and DS has jaundice then maybe I need to look at brauers? I will check it out tomorrow when I take the perscription in, thanks.

[mummy of many]

Hello BW, It really does sound like a case of reflux to me.i had two bubs with it & I tried to breast feed for up to four months,but they didn`t seem to have the energy to want to feed,always crying didn`t want to sleep & the vomitting was very bad & would projectile from one side of the lounge room to the other or all through our bed, most times they cry because the reflux burns their feeding passages, when it is vomitted back up, kinder like having very bad heart burn in adults,iykwim.Our local Gp,said to try a reflux formula,thay are a thickend type of milk powder which thickens up in their tummies,so therefore,they tend not to want to bring the milk back up.We used Enfalac for DD,7 years ago & 2 years ago our DS was on
( Nutricia- Kari-care HA formula),both worked really well for us. One other thing with the Nan formula I`ve had alot of friends who have had unsettle bubs with there products,not sure what is in the ingredients,your bub could also have an allergy to the cows milk protiens in the formula.Most chemist have a early childhood nurse available to talk to as well,if you need some more advice on formulas. Hope this helps a little,babies are all so very different. , good luck,hun.

[Joderossi]

Hi there

We have a 6 month old baby girl who was diagnosed with severe reflux at 8 weeks. From what you described, it sounds like possible reflux to me. Our little one was the hiccup queen and had the majority of symptoms except she was thriving. She would scream from morning till night. Everybody said it was colic but I instintively knew it was more than just colic. Eventually at 8 weeks, we were referred to a paed (we lived in the UK at the time) and the paed diagnosed reflux. Since then we have been on medication and prescriptive formula as the paed thought she may be lactose intolerant as well. A week after the new formula and meds, our little one was a different baby!
All the best

Jo