reflux? what do you think?

[tracey*]

I spoke briefly with the community health nurse yesterday and she said to take Jasper to my GP for a diagnosis (which I will) but since there's a few of you in here with reflux bubs, I thought I'd ask your opinion..

He seems to
- grimace in 'pain', his face goes a bright red, his body tenses up, he pulls his legs up and down (we then try to do bicycle legs with him and most times that helps). i have noticed that his tummy goes hard
- his cries seem more urgent and higher pitched - these cries will start out of nowhere, or often wake him up after putting him down for a sleep/nap (usually after 15 minutes)
- he's not hungry
- it's not wind, or at least burping doesn't help. he's been on Infacol for wind for the past couple of weeks and that's helped
- he's bringing up undigested milk, not alot but at least 10mls or so each feed
- he's started to drink less each feed - instead of the full 120mls he might go for 70mls and then stop, then might finish it off 30 mins later
- sometimes he'll cough while feeding, and look really frustrated and grunt while feeding (we're using slow flow teats, and now the vari-flow ones that came with the tommee tippee health check bottles)
- his weight gain and everything else is fine
- these 'episodes' happen at least once a day (maybe twice), but he doesn't cry for hours. it might take us 30-90 mins to get him to sleep, usually we have to hold onto him to get him to sleep
- he doesn't like to sleep during the day (might get in a 5-20 minute nap here and there), sleeps OK during the night (anywhere from 2.5 hours to 6 hours)

i bought Brauer's colic relief a few weeks ago when it first started, but didn't use it because i didn't think it was colic (just thought it was wind)

we've already started changing the way we feed (more upright, with the anti-colic bottles we had in the cupboard) and how we settle him (keep him upright for 30mins after a feed). we've let him sleep in a more upright position also and he seems happier that way. other that the crying spells, he's a really happy lovely boy, already chatting away and smiling

what do you think? he's 6 weeks old tomorrow
should we look at adding thickener to his feeds? he's already on lactose free formula and we don't want to change that

[Feathertop]

Hi Tracey, it could be reflux, but it doesn't sound like he's throwing up much in the way of volume. When Angus was very small he did most of those other things Jasper is doing too, although Angus has struggled more with weight gain. The face stuff may not be pain, but it is so hard to tellwith a little baby. I guess go and see the GP and see what happens. The question I guess is - if he does have reflux, how will having a formal diagnosis improve things? Will you get more medical intervention you don't want? Or will this help you to relax and know you are really caring well for your baby with the best of medical care? It's up to you what suits best. Angus has bad reflux but is completely unmedicated, as we have had success with the sleeping and discomfort aspect with things like the posture feeding, tilted bed, and being upright for 30 mins post feed.

Hope things improve for you.

[~Debbie~]

have you tried the brauers stomach calm? I use that with Aiden with his reflux. It sounds like you are doing everything right. My paed does not recommending thickening formulas as he says it ended up making it harder for bubs to bring up, therefore being more painfull.
I would see your gp. I was prescribed Losec, but, was recommended to try mylanta first, which i did, cause i hated the idea of putting my 7week old (at the time) baby on prescription medicine. The mylanta worked for a couple of days, helped the reflux, stopped the screaming, but, it then started to upset his belly, i used to be able to hear and feel it gurgling. So, i gave losec. And the change was immediate. But, its up to you if you want to go down the medicated path.
Some people say that babies can feed less when they have reflux, cause they start to associate feeding with pain.
Also try infants friend. Simaler i guess to infacol. I tried a couple of different ones, and i found the infants friend better.
Now, Aiden is mostly fine. he is on solids, which helped, and rarely do i give him losec, and mostly now he is just a happy chucker when he does have the need.