reflux diagnosis? feeling devastated, having a baby was never meant to be this hard.

GL today! I find the days we stay at home are worse, as he isn't moving about so much. I recommend a Chiro too, it has made a huge difference for us. It fixed his constipation, he pooed right after his first adjustment and he seems calmer. Sitting waiting to see ours now!

Good luck today Delara, let us know how you go ox

DD1 had silent reflux also! and at 4wks we started her on gaviscon before we went on anything stronger and that worked a treat!!!
i really feel for you! i know how hellish it can be! hope all goes well at the docs!

goodluck for today babe :crossfingers:

i can also highly recommend her seeing an osteo. it's amazing how they can help...

delara, hope the GP was helpful. DS was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks, on Zantac from 4 weeks (which we found did nothing) and then Losec (which was brilliant!!). Like the others have said, keeping upright, using the sling etc were very helpful.

Something I found also worked well was holding DS in my arms with his head on my shoulder and bouncing gently on a fitball. Apparently the up and down movements mimic the motion they feel in utero and we found he would pretty much calm down instantly when we did that. He also loved the shower, and a couple of times even fell asleep in there so worth a try!

It's definitely a tough gig having a baby with reflux but you WILL get through it and have your happy baby back. I can also HIGHLY recommend an osteo, they're so gentle and I found it made a huge different to DS in both his sleeping habits and the amount he vomited.

Good luck xx

ETA - meant to say that I know how hard it is to give a tiny baby medicine, I felt so terribly guilty that he was on meds at such a young age, but when you see the difference it makes, well it's certainly worth it to see them free of pain. So don't beat yourself up if you do need to start meds, it's the best thing for reflux.

How did it go Delara??

I feel your pain. my lil darling had issues too, she was 6 months old before she stopped the crying (we were against gonig with the drugs though). It got better 1. after we saw a Chiro at 3 weeks - her neck AND tailbone were out! poor lil mite! and then 2. when I cut out dairy. We have sinced discovered by going to the Allergy Elimination Clinic here in Melbourne that she was intolerant of dairy, wheat, eggs and artificial colourings. She has since been treated and can eat anything now, but even up till 18 months old (when we took her to the clinic) she'd be up till at least 9pm with sore tummy! and up multiple times through the night! now she sleeps from 8pm till at least 7:30am!
Because you mentioned bub has good days and bad days, it suggests to me there may be something in your diet that her tummy isn't liking? the first things to try cutting out are usually dairy and wheat, but it can take a few days for it to get out of both of your systems.

the main thing is to remember you are NOT alone, and this won't last forever. Something I learnt was no matter how hard it was, sometimes I just had to lay her down somewhere she was safe and let her cry for 5 minutes and let myself tune out. *hugs* good luck with it! I can give you the details for the Allergy Clinic if you are interested, they may be able to recommend someone up your way!

2 of my bub's have had reflux. DD2 was my first screamer. Life was impossible for the first 10 weeks.
DD3 started at about 2 weeks. At 5 weeks she started sleeping through the night, but was impossible through the day. She only slept through coz she was so exhausted from being awake all day.
Once I realised what it was though, I could deal with it & make sure she was comfortable. I have taken her little co sleeping bed out of her cot, so she's flat, but will put it back in tonight because she hasn't slept properly since it came out.
Everything has to be elevated. She almost always pukes on the change table, coz she's down flat. The sling was my saviour.
We haven't needed any meds & she's improved alot quicker than DD2 did :)

my Ds had colic and we tried everything he was bottle feed....the gripe water, all of it...and what worked for me was an anti colic formula.....mind you he was a big feeder lol

Del it doesnt get better when they are older cause you worry about different things lol

Hi Delara,

It's me Myboys, finally changed my user name :D

How are the reflux symptoms going for you? I just reread my post to you and oh my how things have changed. Harper too has silent reflux and it got quite bad around the 5 week mark. The wrap stopped working, nothing was working and we were having evenings of screaming and bub writhing in pain/uncomfortableness. She'd fall asleep, swallow and then wake up screaming again. She never vomited and could go barely 2 hours between feeds. I spoke to my health nurse and was told it's 'normal' so i kept putting up with it but after a full week of not settling until 10pm (when she was finally exhausted) i'd had enough, it was so difficult to see my baby so uncomfortable and not be able to do anything about it. So we went to the dr's, i explained the symptoms and he said 'it "sounds" like slilent reflux, we can give her some zantac and see how it goes, it can't halm her' reasuring diagnosis hey???? But i was pretty sure that's what we were dealing with so we begun giving her that, the improvement was slow but it has made an improvement. We've had about 2 whole weeks of no real reflux symptoms at all, wind on the other hand can cause just as much discomfort but that's a whole other thread.

I just wanted to see how you were going and that i really do feel for you, i was confused enough 3rd time around if what bub was doing was 'normal' so i have no idea how you as a first time mum felt trying to figure out how to help your little one. I hope for you things have settled and you have a happy bub. Now we just have to be game enough to wean them soon and hope that they may have grown out of it.

Hope all is good :D

Hey "EJ"!!!
Alexandras doing much better though she is on a higher than normal dose (daily) of the Losec - 15mg - all at once. If she misses it - woooahhh we know about it!!!
On the losec she's a normal baby - and sleeping and feeding much better. Occaisionally waking up due to reflux - so things are not perfect but very much managable.

Zantac (I was told) works for a limited time before the babies develop a tolerance for it. so... if you find her symptoms getting worse, try the losec?

As for me - hey,, im doing heaps better now she can be settled and I dont feel like a loser! Im hoping to wean her off the losec ASAP. Tried this week, not happening! She was awful for 2 days! Within hours after increasing the dose back to 15mg - peace and a smiling baby again.
I think I'll try weaning again at 3 months - as (from what Ive been told) babies tend to grow out of the reflux around 3 or 6 or 9 or then 12 months generally.

Reflux IS awful - im sure going to tell ALL my pregnant girlfriends what to look out for because its so exhausting and depressing if you are living in the dark like we were, huh!!

EJ and Delora

i feel for both of you, my bub is just over 8 weeks old and i swear he has reflux, he screams non stop basically and has done since he was 3 weeks old, he wants to feed so much just about all day everyday and its getting quite hard

I dont understand this pain im going through im getting very very distressed, dad is getting destressed and his big brother is getting cranky with me constantly feeding and not having the time for him :(
I have been to my dr 2 times for some help for reflux and all i keep getting told is he is hungry :| i dont think hes hungry, so last night i spend 2hrs at the hospital seeing a different dr for the reflux and once again i come home with NO HELP
ARGH im going to loose it, its getting to me all the constant screaming, i even started crying at the hospital and they still wouldnt give me anything all they told me was to go home and give him some panadol and i said yeah sure but he cant live off that, the dr replies ive seen babies have it for over 3 weeks YEP SURE i aint dosing my 8 week old up on pain relief for no reason when i KNOW what he needs


Goodluck, im glad things have settled down for u, its quite hard and i could only just imagine how u felt being a first time mum, this is my second bub and OMG its still VERY stressful!

Mizqtie ~ you can buy infant gaviscon over the counter at the chemist if you want to try that, I used a Neurofen syringe to give it to DD2, mix it with about 10ml of boiled water and syringe after the first side, then sit up to burp. That may assist in less coming back up, during the interim. Losec neutralizes the acid in the stomach. DD2 is up to 20mg a day (2 x 10mg a day) in conjunction with the Gav, but it is a prescription, is there another Dr' you can go to?

We have attempted weaning DD2 at 4 months and it failed dismally - we only got as far as a half dose of the Losec and she was a screaming inconsolible non sleeping baby, so will try again at 6 months of age, but I wouldn't be surprised if she is going to be on it for much longer than that due to the severity.

Myztie - apparently it IS hard to find a DR who will help you through the reflux with the right treatment. Try goingt o Parenting Services | Baby Care Products for good advice and contact Sally there - She was the one who helped diagnose and get me on the right path.

I cant imagine surviving it with another child - ahhhhh!!! you poor thing!!

Beema - I thought my baby girls dosage was high at 15mg per day - now i wont worry as much knowing you got away with 20mg! I cant wait to wean her off the losec too...

Hey Delara only just getting back to you sorry. It does sound like your little one has a more severe case of reflux than Harper has experienced. She has .8mg 3 x a day. The last couple of days i have seen a few signs of her reflux again (indication that we're not ready to wean?), i kind of thought it was a diet issue (from me, had some homemade pizza) but i suppose time will tell if the zantac is or isn't working.

I have been told that Zantac's prescribed dosage goes by weight and as bub puts on weight the dosage also needs to be increased, otherwise yes it won't continue to work so well.

It's horrible to hear you say you felt like a looser but i understand where you're coming from. It's so hard when it's clear your little one needs help but you don't know what to do. I'm just glad that you were able to find a dr that would help and that you are getting results.

Mizqtie how is your little one going? I am so sorry you were feeling so helpless and receiving no help. I really hope you've found someone who was willing to help you and bub by now. My little one fed constantly also, up until she was on zantac she would feed every two hours and only sleep for about and hour at a time. Once she was on the zantac things did get gradually better and she began to feed less and sleep longer. I hope things are improving for you.

Big hugs. Crying on top of sleep deprivation is not easy to cope with but it will get better. I don't have many words of advice, but i wanted to ask whether you have heard of Cranial Osteopathy? My friend saw one for her daughters Colic and it made a big improvement. I've read lots of good reviews on the net about this therapy.

Good luck.

Hi Riss10 i had given the osteopath a go in the early weeks, it was around the same time we started on the zantac so hopefully with both i was helping my bub to feel more comfortable. If it wasn't for BB i wouldn't have 'thought outside square' in regards to helping with anything other than medication. It's a great thing when we can all share our thoughts and expereinces.

Around the time of my last post (just before my little one was 3 months) the reflux came back so her dose was increased. We are still on that same dose now 1 month later but last night she was showing a few signs of it returning again :o I don't think we've seen the last of the reflux just yet.

Thanks for the info :)

Delara i hope you guys are well xo