Reflux issues

[DIANNEKB]

My bubs has been diagnosed with refl;ux and given zantac....
Just wanting to know is symptoms are the same as everyone elses...

He is constantly going red in the face like he is trying to push gas out and he squirms and arks his back with it.. between feeds his bottom lips moves like he is sucking and the CHN has told me that's a classic sign of reflux... he also goes slightly blue around the mouth when he is squirming which indicates gas...

I have started today to do as someone suggested on another post by getting him more hindmilk than foremilk so I am expressing a little before my feeds.

It just seems that bubs has this all the time and I really only have had him on meds for 2 days now I started zantac a week ago and it all seemed fine so I stopped but my CHN told me to keep going with it cause it is back with a vengeance.... also his poos are runny when he finally gets them out and I have read somewhere that this can be cause of too much foremilk and less hindmilk...

Can anyone shed any light on this for me :detective:

Di..xxx

[nemosmum]

Hi Dianne,

My bub wasnt diagnosed with reflux until he was over 7months.....even though I kept asking everyone "whats wrong with this baby????":confused: :eek: :crying:

He had all the symptoms you described but no one picked up on it until I went to an allergy clinic (for his eczema) then the paed. finally listened to me!

It was very frustrating and I had alot of problems trying to settle my poor little guy....if only I had known!

I know my DS had very very runny poos for about the first 4 months and he would only poo once a week and it would fill 5-6 nappies at once!!! Everyone told me his was normal for a bfed bub and not to worry:rolleyes:

I never put him on zantac as he wasnt diagnosed until much later and by then he was getting over it. But I did care for a bub once who had to have zantac and he had it all the time to helpprevent the reflux coming back etc

Good luck with it, as I know just how horrible it can be for both bubs and mum/dad!

[Rell]

Hi Di
If I just read this post I would say it does sound like reflux but having said that having read one of your other posts about your little boy having the problem with his heart made me think. The freind of mine whos baby had a whole in his heart was first diagnosed with silent reflux it wasn't until nothing was working (he was still crying at feeds and not putting on much weight) that she went to the hospital and then they found he had a large hole in his heart. All along the crying during feeds had been caused by his heart problem and not reflux. I am not sure if the condition is the same as your boys's but could him being unsettled at feeds be something to do with his heart? In the end her little boy had so much problems feeding and like your son needed to put on weight before his op, that she had to express and feed him through a nasel gastric tube:(
Sorry to waffel on a bit I just thought I would mention this in case it was of any help.
Hope all goes well with you little man:hugs:

[DIANNEKB]

Hi Narelle,


I too also considered that but the cardiologist said his condition does not affect normal growth and development.. and I know it's not affecting his feeding cause he has put on quite alot of weight he was 3.2 kkd when we left hospital and he is now 5.2 at 7wks... :eek: ... so all is good there.. it really is just the wind he has and I hate him being in pain ... so I am thinking I will take him off the boob and onto formula as I am hoping this will calm him down.

I am going to post in the general sectiono n what wuld be a good formula... do you have any suggstions?

Di.

[nemosmum]

The little boy that I spoke of before was formula fed from the get go and still had reflux. Correct me if Im wrong but both ff and bf bubs get reflux?

[Miss Tazar]

Hi
Please don't take your bub off bf because you think that formula will help with the reflux, it doesn't.
Most reflux in babies is caused by the valve at the top of their stomach not being fully formed yet and milk can get back up into the oesaphugus (sp?). So it doesn't matter what type of milk it is, it can still come back up.

My baby was formula fed from day one and she had horrible reflux, screaming, red in face, arching back, everything except the vomiting - so silent reflux was diagnosed.

We started on Zantac, and waited. It took 2 weeks before it really started to make a difference - but our life changed once it did. Evidently Zantac takes a while to make a difference - hence it may seem futile at first - but don't stop. Talk to your paed about interim measures to help until Zantac is effective. We used Mylanta as required until the Zantac was effective.

Look it up on askdrsears.com - great site for info on bub health.

Wishing you all the best for a quick recovery for both you and your bub :hugs:

[Rell]

Hi Di
thats great that he is putting on lots of weight:thumbsup:
As for formula I would recomend Karecare AR it is thickened so helps some babies with reflux. My DD used this reight up untill 12 mths, DS on the other hand was a little lazy and refused to drink anything that was thickned so he was on the normal Karecare.
Good luck I hope the zantac kicks in and he is a happy little boy soon

[DIANNEKB]

Hey guys, thanks for replying to me ....

I went and saw my doc today and he told me not to stop breastfeeding and to let zantac kick in ... so we will go with the flow and see what happens ... I am glad I went and saw him as I didnt want to give up on breastfeeding...

I really just hate seeing my bubs in pain :crying: ... but I am sure you are all with me on that...

Will let you know how I go...

Di..xxx

[Frazzled]

Am in total agreeance about NOT changing from BF. We weened Elliot a month ago as my milk had run out and his reflux is exactly the same as before. He just brings nearly everything up. I find that by really taking a lot of time and extra care to bring up his wind it helps, and we have about 15-20 minutes 'quiet' time after every feed it helps. During this time we just sit together and I hold him at about 45degree angle. His change table and cot are also both elevated as when he is flat on his back it is worse and he will wake up thru his sleep. The pain and all other things have got better since about 10/12 weeks but he vomits just as much! Got to love those bibs and cloth nappies! His poo was alsways very runny but I am under the impression that this is normal for bfed babies?

Good luck xxx:fingerscrossed:

["whatmorewashing?"]

Hi,

The symptoms you describe a consistent with everything I see in my DS who has been diagnosed (via barium swallow) with silent reflux. I too am still breast feeding but have noticed that he is more comfortable with a formula feed rather than breast milk. I agree with the other posts that say that ff babies still have reflux and it will not necessarily stop the reflux, and my paed also said not to stop bf just in the hope that the reflux will go away on formula.

HOWEVER, I have noticed that my baby is so much more content on formula and not in as much pain. It is not because of the make up of the formula but rather its consistency, being slightly heavier. I have overcome that to a degree by using the Karicare food thickener. I make up a tablespoon of it and give it to my son via syringe/dropper just before or after a breastfeed and that seems to have the same effect as the formula feed. It is a pain to make up and it is not very transportable so it is difficult to do if you are feeding away from home. Unfortunately this means feeding is a performance (Zantac, Losec, Mylanta andthe thickener!) and my kitchen looks like a chemist lab.

I have bf my DS for 3.5 months now and am slowly weaning over onto the formula because he is happier on it and he won't have to look at me coming at himwith the droppers and squirting so much into him before or after a feed. However I intend to wean him very slowly and guess he will be having a combination of breast and formula until he is about 5 or 6 months old. The Karicare food thickener is a great help with continuing the breastfeeding for a while. If it wasn;t for that I would wean him alot quicker as the pain he is in after a breastfeed is too hard to watch.

As to the formula- I use the Karicare Sensicare which is not thickened but then add thickener to it. I use 1 scoop thickener to 150ml formula which is about half as thick as suggested on the side of the thickener tin as I found that if I make it too much thicker my DS is too lazy to suck it out of the bottle!

Hang in there!

[DIANNEKB]

Hey everyone... does all your bubs get really bad gas (farting) with the reflux.. my son hardly throws up alot but his problem really is with the farting this is what hurts him.... I find sitting himup in his oceanwonders swing helps him push them out easier... and once a poo comes out he is good for a while...

Any suggestions as to make him more comfortable...???

Di..xxx