Reflux and infant gaviscon

I have some questions for those who have used it. My 5 week old dd2 has I guess it's more silent reflux. It comes to the top of her throat and she generally chokes or coughs on it. She only actually spews occasionally. Anyway the dr told me to try infant gaviscon before anything else. So we gave it to dd last night and omg, she settled like a dream, there was no grunting and squirming when I put her down and she then slept for 7hrs... 7hrs, she was sleeping that much in a 24hr period before let alone all at once. So maybe a coincidence but it seems like a miracle cure but we have reached some problems in regards with it.

How the hec do you administer it to a bf baby. Because I tried the sachet mixed with water and dd was having none of it. I ended up expressing all day to get enough to mix it up in a bottle and give it as a bottle feed. But I can't express all her feeds and it seems a little mean to make her suffer all day to just get one dose at night. So how did you administer it. Can I mix with some breast milk and feed in a bottle before a feed even though it says after a feed. Will that defeat the purpose of it.

The sodium levels in it concern me... It's a lot of sodium for little organs I feel.

I've heard it causes constipation. Is that true?

Should I be demanding the doctor put her Zantac or losec instead? What else can I do for her besides elevated bed and keeping upright after feeds which we already do.

A heap of people have told me I should be cutting out foods in my diet because that's what's causing it. But she has no mucous or blood in her stools which I thought indicated a dairy problem. I have my own food allergies and don't want to be cutting out extras in my diet unless I absolutely have to.

We gave it to DD2 at around a similar age as a last resort before seeing a doctor, she had severe reflux. It did work very well for about a week. I would mix it with expressed BM and administer it via syringe, because I didn't want to introduce a bottle. So only 5ml or so. Yes, it did make her constipated. That and the sodium is why we stopped, her poo was solid. It has thickener to stop vomit coming up so that's what does it. DD2 is now on 5mg of losec once daily and it controls the pain for the most part, but she still throws up very regularly. But I'm not comfortable with giving her thickener, and it's not causing her pain so we deal with it for now.

True reflux babies may get some relief from gaviscon, mylanta etc for a short time, but they arent good to use long term for reflux management of babies. Zantac and losec are th two most common reflux meds that are given to reflux bubs but they do work differently. My daughter was put on zantac first and I found it made little difference, but the difference losec made was massive. Most people do find that Losec is much more effective. Both my kids have been on losec longterm. My son just turned 1 and is on 10mg and my daughter is 3.5yrs and still refluxing (silent) and was on losec before we changed to nexium.

Zantac is made in a syrup for babies and losec can be made up in a suspension or you can dissolve (not crush) the tablets (though I found that method hard) I used the suspension until my babies were old enough to have the dissolved tablet put into their baby cereal.

I am a member and volunteer for Reflux Infants Support Association (RISA) We have a facebook page as well as the website which has lots of articles and information and advice aswell as access to the forums for support if you join.

I would be going back to your doctor (or another for a second opinion) and ask about medication. Alot of GPs knowledge of infant reflux is lacking so a referral to a paediatrician may be warranted.

Reflux can be caused by intolerances, however, there are many causes. The one way to see if your baby is reacting is to cut it out of your diet for up to 3 weeks (it can take this long to be completely out of your system). Do this one at a time eg, dairy, then soy etc so you can tell what my be triggering/contributing to it.
The fact that you have allergies in your family can be an indicator but by no means an answer.

If you have any other questions, please ask. The best advice I was told once when I really wasn't coping with a screaming, crying, non sleeping or settled baby is that I was doing the best I could in a difficult situation and you cant treat a reflux baby the same as other babies as they are reacting to pain, so you need to do whatever feels right and best for you and your baby to get through the difficult months (or years in our case!)

Razz berry has said most of what I would, reflux is caused by the acid either too much bring produced and/or it rises up out of their tummy. Foods don't cause the problem but can irritate the lining of the tummy causing more pain. We ended up using Zantac and then losec until ds was 18 months. His symptoms were unsettled when lying down, coughing, husky voice and it got worse with teething. You should seek help from your gp.

We had dd2 on gaviscon until a paed told us to get her off it because its too dangerous with the sodium levels - she was 3 months at the time.

Dd3 had silent reflux and we had her on zantac.

I am very convinced she definitely has reflux because she has about every symptom. She takes hours and hours to settle and when we do finally settle her she only sleeps for short periods. When I lie her down I can hear the milk coming back up her throat. She often chokes and coughs on it. She makes gulping noises constantly. She grunts and squirms in her sleep. She is badly congested and her voice goes hoarse when crying. She's fussy on the boob and doesn't feed well and she is stiff to hold and arches constantly. I don't want her on the gaviscon long term and it seems relief doesn't last long with it anyway so I think we will have to go back to the doctors. I'll try a different one I think because the doctor we saw was hopeless. I have 4 kids under 6 and I'm finding it really difficult with her barely settling and next to no sleep so I just want her to be pain free.

We started with Mylanta, and then to losec. ds was breastfed and I would give it to him in a syringe. Mylanta was in liquid form and I gave it undiluted. Losec was tablets that I dissolved in water.