Reflux - what can we expect?

Our baby (now 14 weeks) was diagnosed with reflux about 2.5 weeks ago. She's on Zantac (3x a day), plus she's going to an Osteo (totally recommended) as well as having homeopathy treatment (we'll try anything!)

She doesnt scream so much after every meal, but has a big arching-back screaming attack generally every night, and every morning. Can we expect her to be like this potentially until 12 months' rolls around (when they say reflux generally goes) or does it get better to the point that if they are medicated, you don't even notice they have it? (Wishful thinking?!)

Also, she wakes up either hourly during the night, or two-hourly (on a good night) and we are absolutely exhausted! Does this continue, or will this improve? (Is there a light at the end of this long, exhausting, tunnel?!!)

How does reflux generally pan out once all the meds have taken effect?

I dont have any advice to offer, but Christy is going through a rough patch with her little one, she might have the best answers and help alot too.

All the best and i hope your little girl settles down.

Hi NayNay! I can only commiserate atm like kimbaz said we are having a very tough time atm with reflux. My first daughter, Matilda had silent reflux and was diagnosed at 6 weeks. She did heaps of back arching & screaming. She fed every 2 hours until she was 12 weeks old and then went to 3 hourly overnight until she was 8 months. For Matilda, her reflux settled when she started walking at 9 months. As well for Matilda we tried chiropractors but didn't get much relief so mainly went through the medical way of doing things.

With Jovie, I'm trying other options before medicating. So we have been to a Lactation consultant who helped me with finding out Jovie is milk intolerant, so if I have milk it makes Jovie very sick. Through elimination dieting I've also found she's intolerant to soy. ATM we are going to a chinese herbalist on Monday to help with oral thrush that she's had for 5 weeks and hopefully to help with the reflux as well. We are seeing an acupuncturist at the same clinic to see if that can help (as you say, anything for relief). I have an appointment with a paediatrician in 3 weeks, so if I don't see anymore improvement then I will be going the more medical route.

I hope you find some relief!! I have heard fantastic things about osteopaths as well for reflux.

Hi Naynay...
my son went on zantac and losec and didnt experience much relief...then we went on nexium at 8 months which in my view is a "wonderdrug" and it eased it for him completely and we went from a screaming, crying, unhappy child to a lovely happy one. boy that was 8 months of hell and just reading your post brings back horrible memories.

my feeling is that if it definitely is reflux, then the proper medication at the right dose should be able to control it almost completely...so that you should see big differences.

the trouble is of course, especially at 14 weeks is that its hard to absolutely know for sure that it is reflux, it could be "colic" or other unspecified "baby" stuff, which is hard to do anything about until they just get a bit older.

i presume you know about raising the cot,small feeds etc etc?

good luck, i would think that the chances are you will see a light to the end of that tunnel soon...

Hi nay nay,

Archie is a refluxer too, he didn't get diagnosed til 4 months, due to lack of support and understanding i stopped bf at 5 weeks as he would feed every hour then spew most of it up. he is now on losec and mylanta, which has helped a lot. once he started sitting up at 7 months his reflux settled down heaps but we were still having the horrible screaming every night and up every one to two hours. his reflux seems to go in cycles now, he will have a really good week, then he will have a few nights that are horrendous! reading your post bought back a lot of memories of sleepless nights and stressful days but is does get better as they get older, in our experience anyway.

it is really hard work but just try and remember that you are not alone, and we are all here for you. its not nice to see your baby in pain all the time but it will get better. get theresa to tell you about the support group it helped me immensley.

Hi Nay Nay,

I feel for you i really do. Nixon was diagnosed with reflux at 9weeks old, i was still bf and had a terrible time when he would back arch, refuse me and all the rest of it.
We started on Mylanta and ended up on Zantac which i do believe helped the pain assoc with it. he was and still is (and probably always will be ) a spewey boy. Although he went from screaming in pain to happy chucking.
We slowed down then stopped Zantac at about 7months of age and we havent looked back. we stopped putting the cot and everything on an angle which i was releved about!Again he still spews alot (but nothing like he used to) and doesnt seem to be in any pain.

So as Tanya said every baby is different but i just wanted to let you know it can get better, they say it can take up until when they start walking but for Nixon a combo of solids and now he is sitting i think has helped dramatically. I am sure i will find spew puddles everywhere when he starts crawling but atleast if he doesnt mind we can all be happy.
HTH

I know exactly what it's like with a reflux bubba...sooooo much hard work...

My little man was diagnosed around 13 weeks with reflux and was given Losec (the BEST thing EVER invented!!!)...even after a few days of taking it we noticed a difference. He used to cry/scream from early morning to late (midnight or so) at night then wake every couple of hours (he wouldn't sleep at all during the day). His screams were so obviously painful but we couldn't do anything to help. He was also feeding every 2 hours or so day and night for a long while.

But now that he's on the Losec he has become a different boy...it is totally amazing and he's fantastic now. He sleeps for short periods during the day (maybe 3 or 4 times for 20-45 minutes at a time) and at night he sleeps from about 11:30 pm to 8 or 9 am!!! (well, he still has a few nights a week when he wakes up for a feed at 3 or 4 am)

Unfortunately though I have a friend with a little girl who went through the exact same problem and her girl is now 15 months old and still on Losec... I don't expect to get Riley off the Losec any time soon (we can tell the next day if his Losec didn't stay down the night before because he has those painful screams again).

Anyway, I know it's great to try other things but if the drugs work and all of you are happier for it, then I think it's the best thing to do... Anything for a happy baby and more rested/happier parents. :)

Good luck with your bub!

Thanks everyone! My computer has been in getting fixed, so I'm glad I'm back online again now, as we had a particularly bad night last night - so its great to see all these replies here to help me see the light!

Bubs basically woke either every half hour, or every hour last night. We tried giving formula for her 10.30pm feed the past three nights to see if that helps, but no. (But will go and get some goat's milk formula and try that).

After last night too, I think I will give the elimination diet a go to see if that helps. We just want a good night's sleep! (Oh, and we DO want bubs feeling better... but after last night, I can only think about ME! (*yawn*!) ha ha!)

I will also see about getting her on Losec, but will also mention Nexium to my Dr to see what that one is all about, and which she thinks will be best.

Couple more questions, if I may:
- bubs has gone back to being very windy - are reflux babies typically windy babies or is this just something she is dealing with too? (Smelly ones too!)
- with the formula, it said to give her 240mL, but whenever we give her a bottle (of formula or expressed) she only ever takes about 80 to 100mL. Is this normal for a reflux baby?

Thanks for your replies everyone! I appreciate all the support! No-one else seems to understand what we're going through, and I think they just think we are whinging when we say how exhausted we are! I had a girl in mother's group complaining that her baby has stopped sleeping from 7pm to 7am and is now waking up once during that time... oh, if only!

Riley is a very windy baby too...out the top and bottom... ;) He has been right from the start though and I am guessing it is something to do with the reflux.

I know what you mean about getting some sleep...for us, as I said earlier, Losec was the answer to almost everything... We started getting some more sleep almost instantly. :) Hang in there, it will get better.

I also know what you mean about no one understanding what you're going through...it seems everyone just thinks your whinging or not able to cope with your own baby. It's not that at all, it's just that the baby is so distressed and hurting so bad that it makes your lives very hard. Believe me, it WILL get better...as soon as you find the solution to the reflux (and if it's Losec then I can almost guarantee that you'll feel better within a week or two). :)

Good luck!!!! :)

Nixon was a VERY windy baby, i dont know if it was from the reflux or not. He used to fluff ALL the time and a lot of the time very smelly too.... since his reflux has dissapeared he does not fluff no where near as much as he used to, so maybe there is a connection?!

Both my boys were diagnosed with reflux, though Xander was much worse than Baylee. All the girls have covered pretty much what we went through with Xander, and yes he was very windy also. I used to say that he could fart like a man. Maybe there is a connection.

Oh what a relief to see there are others out there up all day and night - not that I wish problems on anyone but it so isolatinng having an unsettled baby. No one offers to hold/look after a screaming child!!

My little boy Logan is 9 weeks old and diagnosed with silent reflux about 10 days ago.
We are currently on Zantac and mylanta. Within 24hrs he slept for a stretch of 4.5 hrs and 3hrs the next day but since then its all gone downhill and back to where we were at
Barely sleeps at all during the day and broken sleep at night.
GP said to try Losec if things were not better this week but wondering if this will make much difference. Anyone had success with Losec after trialling zantac?
Logan is also VERY windy and colicky so given the commen theme amongst others I guess there may well be a connection.

Meredith...our doctor put Riley straight on Losec instead of even trying Zanac because he said it would work better. I'm glad he did...Losec is AMAZING!!! :) (anyone would think I've got shares in the Losec company the way I talk about it...hehe)

Haha, I'm glad I'm not the only one Theresa! :) It's definitely the best thing ever after over 3 months of non stop screaming from bubs... :)

We have a silent refluxer and Jake was put straight onto Losec and it worked a treat! He still only cat naps during the day but sleeps through most nights, maybe waking twice during the week for a 3am feed. Anything is better than having him howling on my shoulder 12 hours a day!