anyone chosen not to medicate baby for reflux?

[Razzberry]

I didn't want to as I hated the thought of a baby so young being medicated (however she is almost 2.5 years and has only just come off medication!)

We tried changing my diet, elevation of cradle, breastfeeding positions/timing, keeping her upright after feeds, giving thickener before BF etc and she just continued to get worse. Even with medication it only ever took the edge off. If a baby (and you) can handle no meds then that is great - however, my dd was severe and even with meds developed pain association with my BB's that noone could fix after seeing lactation consultants, the ABA, tresillian, midwives, mchn etc. She also didnt learn to isolate her muscles as was so tense all the time as she knew the pain was coming so had physio for a year to help that. She started losing weight (after putting on heaps at the start due to comfort swallowing) and stopped growing in length too, never slept.

So what I am saying is of course if you can get away without medication that is great, but for some bubs not being medicated can cause more harm than good. Also because so much damage was done to her throat by the time we started the meds it took weeks to work as the damage needed to heal. My DD wasn't a big spewer either, was more silent with extreme pain!

[HotI]

It is good to hear both from those who did and did not medicate, thanks!

Another question for those who breastfed- did you ever try feeding EBM by bottle or cup - to reduce the air and whatever else introduced by feeding directly from the breast? I am wondering if this could help?

[*EJ*]

I had no luck with bottles, mine have never liked them. It could be worth a try though, anything that helps is a step closer to not needing to go down the medication path.

If i hadn't of had the chance to see the varying severities in my children my unexperienced thoughts may have been surely there are ways around not having to give medications to such young ones. But being there now i definately see differently. It's still not a nice thing to do but in some cases it does help.

I should have my book back the end of the week if you want to have a read. If you can find the time to have a read

[onthefly]

Have you read Colic Solved?

All babies have reflux, but some have pathalogic reflux which causes problems - ie, difficulty feeding, not gaining weight/growing, rather than "laundry problems". And some have other problems which may be misdiagnosed. Nearly half of babies with reflux (the problematic kind I mean) also have an intolerance to dairy protein, for eg.

I've also read that sometimes babies with undiagnosed tongue tie (esp posterior tt) are misdiagnosed with reflux because the symptoms of not feeding effectively look very similar to reflux (partic silent reflux).

If babies are getting a lot of air when feeding it can be due to an ineffective feeding style which can be due to the pain associated with swallowing.

In any event, it's probably a good idea to get medical advice from a specialist.

[*EJ*]

I've offered my copy of Colic Solved to HotI if she'd like it MadB

I read it after DD had finished on the zantac Timing wasn't great for us but it put a lot of things into prespective for me still and confirmed that the things i saw DD doing were not just her being a fussy bub. They were for a reason which i always thought anyway but had a hard time with MCHN just bushing it off as 'normal' which made me then question myself.

[BMW]

DS2 had reflux and we chose to medicate and it was a bit mistake. He started sleeping through at 6 weeks but his reflux wasn't resolved. At 10 weeks I saw a pead who prescribed 2 doses of losec a day. Poor DS ended up severely constipated and screamed for a a weekend trying to poo. I made the choice, along with my GP to stop the losec and just modified my diet. After the bowl issues resolved themselves he was a lot happier. Yes it wasn't great for me, but I wanted to breastfeed. So cut out all dairy, eggs and a few other things. He never got back into the great sleep, but he was a lot happier. Also, he ended up severely allergic to dairy, so cutting it out of my diet was a big key to his reflux. You have to be careful to check for milk solids in things too. They affected DS too.

DS1 also had reflux and I medicated him and it worked well for him and us.

Have you tried a naturopath? I have some friends who swear by them for help with reflux. Eliminating food from my diet worked best for DS2. Losec was the wrong direction.

[Eenee]

Yep I didn't medicate DD but I took her to a naturopath and she gave her a couple of things to take which helped heaps.

[Sunny Love]

My GP and MCHN both did not suggest medication, nor did I request or suggest. It was more about techniques do reduce (as mentioned by heaps of other mums on BB) and minimalise mess and discomfort until solids was established and the brain was stimualated to close of the oesophagus (I *think*) My DS Chevy, nearly 8 months old now (and 11.5kg!!!) had terrible reflux until he started solids at 4months(ish). His reflux has now gone and all is clean and comfy
Otherwise, by age 2 it should be settled, thanks to natural human development and growth
xx

[HotI]

DS saw osteo a week or so back who said he was tight from top of his tummy down to his hip on right side. Showed me how to do gentle stretches and said come back in 3 weeks. Regular MCHN said 'yep, that s what babies do'. fill in mchn (who saw DS when he ws unsettled) said 'he is definitely telling us something, looks like reflux see a dr. you can try 1ml mylanta to see if it helps'. Dr said 'i just read a paper sayng reflux is diagnosed too much these days'. and then described how sphincter not fully developed and so milk and acid comes back up (mmm, isn't that reflux?)

i don't necessarily want to medicate, i like the virgin gut theory, but i also don't want him in pain unneccesarily or causing long term problems by not.

EJ- i am checking our ABA library for 'colic solved' but if it' not available, i woud love to borrow your copy if possible.