Losec and my baby

[MilaMoo]

Can anyone tell me their experiences with Losec and a very young baby? We have a five week old just diagnosed with reflux, after the Dr watched her feed, and he has prescribed Losec, half a tablet twice a day (20mg). She was having a horrendous time feeding on the breast and would suck for five minutes and pull away after that arching her back, legs straight out, screaming the house down. She's gaining weight but poor thing was having a hard time feeding - not every feed, some were ok. Is Losec safe for young babies? How long can you use if for? Are there any side effects? Is there an easier way of administering it rather than squirting it down her throat with a syringe after it has dissolved in 10ml of breastmilk? (Pharmacist's idea). Please let me know your experiences ... Also I am a little concerned it may not be reflux and might just be stubborn wind? But Dr said, after watching her reaction to the breast, that it wasn't normal. What is normal?

[mariafresnel]

I've written a bunch of stuff on the thread under yours called "Reflux".
(Charlie) posted yesterday.

But yes Losec is safe, as it helps to reduce the acid production in their stomach. It doens't stop them from vomiting, but when they do the intention is that it is more comfortable. My daughter was using it for 14 months straight, until we weaned her off of it. We diluted it in warm water and gave it to her on a small teaspoon. The point of this was (suggestion by our paed) is that in a syringe the important granules that are supposed to reach the stomach, end up as residue in the syringe. We would give her some milk, then the losec, and followed on with the milk feed.

The key with the losec is ideally to give it to the baby whole. unfortunately a baby would choke if we did this. the benefit is the the coating of the losec, as it is designed to go straight to the stomach. Once it is crushed it doesn't lose it's effect, but it's not as strong as leaving the coating on. When SOphia was old enough (6 months) we started to put half the tablets on a spoon with liquid (bit of formula milk), and gave it to her, followed by milk.

What is normal? Well, in the situation of a reflux baby, I would suggest that the opposite would be normal i.e. feeding, happily, without large quantities of vomits. Spit ups are normal, but big vomits, and a lot of them (my bub vomited up to 5 times a day, and mainly at the end of the day. I understand that by the end of the day, there is such a big build up of acid, which promotes the vomiting.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

Maria

[Kim2008]

Maria's comments are great, as are her earlier posts - very very informative.

I'm wondering whether your little one has been diagnosed with silent reflux, as you dont mention vomitting ??? The symptoms you describe are very common to babies with reflux and silent reflux.

My son Oscar was diagnosed with silent reflux at 9 weeks and the paediatrician started him on losec.

At this age, there is no easy way that I've found to administer losec. After using the dissolved tablets, I trialled him on a solution of losec made specially by a pharmacist. This is given via syringe. It is easier to give as it requires far less, but in my experience it was not effective. I reverted back to dissolving the tablet in cooled boiled water and then giving it to him in a syringe. Some granules do stay in the syringe and so I find I have to draw up more water after the first dose is given, shake it around again and then give it again. I sometimes do this a couple of times to make sure he gets the full dose. He is now almost 16 weeks and I've found that I can now dissolve the tablet on a spoonful of water and give it to him that way. It's still not all that easy !!

Like you, I was initially very sceptical about putting my little boy on medication. I also doubted whether he had silent reflux - I'd never heard of it and knew nothing about it. However, after 5 days on the losec (it takes at least that long to start working) I found that the fussiness at the breast reduced remarkably and he changed from being unable to sleep for more than a 30 minute stretch to a baby who will sleep easily during the day and then well at night. He's now a happy little baby - and so is Mum !!!

Having a baby with reflux is not easy. Most people really dont understand what you're goigg through or what it's like to have a baby cry all day. Hopefully you have family and friends around who can give you a break until the losec starts to work. I really hope things improve for you and your little girl - let us know how it goes !

Kim

[Mrs Little]

Hi Kim...

Sorry to hear that the liqiud losec didn't work.

I'm seeing a pead. Tomorrow for my sons silent reflux....zantac doesn't seem to be strong enough. I'm hoping that i can get something stronger and possibly have it diagnosed properly through a barium swallow...which i have been avoiding until now. Enough is enough!

Does your son have any problems with sleeping or eating now that he is on losec? Does it only take 5 days to work?

I might be in contact with you to find out how you administer the losec in tablet form....

Thanks...
Mrs Little.

[Kim2008]

Hi Mrs Little

Yeah - no luck with the liquid unfortunately !!! I kept meaning to update my earlier thread about it and let you know. It took a while for it to happen, but by late last week, the fussiness at the breast had returned to a point where he was crying and whimpering again during a feed. Once that happened consistently at every feed, I put him back on the tablet. It's now day 3 of the tablet and he's getting back to normal.

Sorry to hear the zantac isn't working. It seems that zantac is really good when it works, but doesn't seems to work for all bubs. I've seen a few posts about a new drug Zoton. I've asked around about it - seems to also be an acid supressant but isn't as widely used as losec. I was told that paediatricians still prefer losec as it has been used for so long and has a proven safety record.

Oscar's just waking up, but I'll PM you soon ......

Kim

[Mrs Little]

Thanks Kim that would be great.

I've armed myself with a whole bunch of info. and questions to ask the Dr. tomorrow. I'm hoping for some answers and results. I'll be able to tell you all more tomorrow.....i'm looking forward to having my happy boy back.

Mrs Little & Son.