I thought the reflux was bad before!!

[catalicious]

Hey Everyone,

Im just going to have a little cry on here!!:crying:

Jackson has been breastfed since birth (he is now 4 months), he has had reflux since birth, which was just starting to get under control with the help of Losec.

But since he was putting on very small amounts of weight (210grams in a month),
I was advised to put him on formula. So now he gets a 20minute breastfeed ten a bottle of formula (since yesterday) averaging abut 110mls from bottle.

However now his Reflux is worse than I could of ever imagined. I have never seen so much vomit, with one feed the lounge gets covered, he gets covered and I get covered. I dont know what to do, I was already feeling like a huge failue from having to stop Breastfeeding exclusivly and now this.

I really am lost right now and am starting to feel really depressed about it all. I havent felt this way since giving birth...

Anyways thanks for the vent and the little cry, I know I can sook at times but this has helped!! :ecomcity:

[RachWA]

If you have only been giving him formula in the last few days I wonder if he is having some sort of lactose or dairy allergy problem? or I think their stomachs can also take time to get used to the thickness of formula, also they don't have to work for it so if the formula is hitting the stomach at a faster more direct rate then breast milk this could be upsetting his stomach. He might have to get used to the different texture and flow?

The tighter you do they bottle the less flow and also maybe try a different teet. If there is not improvement maybe try Infasoy.

Hope this helps.

[lozzasmum]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your son's reflux - having two DD's with the same I can sympathise. My youngest who is 14 weeks is a real chukka who vomits at least one feed a day - and isn;t a great feeder the rest of the time, but it's not every feed that she's sick.

I would think that if your son is now throwing up violently after every formula feed (poor little thing) then it would likely be a reaction to the formula and you might want to see your paed about changing to something else????

It just seems a little co-incidental that he's only doing this since starting formula - so It would seem that it might be the cause.

In anycase it can't hurt to have it checked out just in case there is something that can help.

I hope you both get some relief and he starts to get better soon. I am only glad I don;t have carpet ;)

Take care.
L

[Kade's Mummy]

Oh Cat, you poor thing! My lil one is suffering it also but I have found he has improved heaps since switching to the bottle - he is on a thickened formula (Karicara HA-AR) and he vomits much less now. Could you try a thickened formula? I know Kade just can't keep down a normal thinner formula, he loses almost the whole feed everytime. But the thickened one really works for him. Good luck!

Lozza's mum: a Q for you, is it normal that a refluxy baby doesn't drink as much? My 11wk olds daily intake can be as much as 750ml but as little as 430ml! 430 was his lowest ever intake which occurred yesterday, and guess what? He slept through! Go figure. He is gaining weight ok so should I be worried about how little he is sometimes drinking?

[Frazzled]

Cat, sorry to hear you are feeling down mate. When Elliot went onto formula at 3.5 months it made no difference to his reflux at all - it was just as bad. He has good days and bad days, maybe J id just having a bad day? Just see how you go? Elliot's reflux is only just starting to get better now he is 6 months and eating 3 meals a day.

Good luck babe xxx

[catalicious]

THanks heaps Everyone,

We are trying a few different things to hopefully make it improve he is on AR formula and the highest ose of Losec but to no avail so far hopefully it will sort itself out soon enough..

Thanks heaps Ill kepp everyone posted,

Kate I hope little elliott is better i saw on another post that he might be a bit sick???

Pm me if you need to talk

[shniks]

I am sorry to hear you are going through this, I know exactly how you feel, I could have written your post myself. I went through the same struggles of giving up BF because my DD was having feeding problems, only to have her reflux get worse. I put her on soy formula and once she started losec all the pain disappeared. She would still vomit a lot but at least there wasnt any crying or feeding problems.
All I can say is that now she is 1 and her reflux has disappeared, all the pain and struggles are a distant memory. At around 8 months she stopped vomiting. I weaned her off losec a few weeks ago (1yrs old) and she was just fine, no signs of reflux at all. Whatever happens just keep in mind that Jackson's reflux will go away too, so its not going to be like this forever. And dont worry about the BF, you did the best you could. Its not easy BF a reflux baby, I almost found it impossible, its not as easy as BF a baby without reflux.

Good luck with it, keep us updated!

[shniks]

Lozza's mum: a Q for you, is it normal that a refluxy baby doesn't drink as much? My 11wk olds daily intake can be as much as 750ml but as little as 430ml! 430 was his lowest ever intake which occurred yesterday, and guess what? He slept through! Go figure. He is gaining weight ok so should I be worried about how little he is sometimes drinking?

I will answer your question if you dont mind. MY DD had reflux and is now 1 and thankfully over it. She had a lot of feeding issues, she would refuse to feed because it caused her pain, and her intake would vary quite a lot day to day. I also found that the less she ate the better she slept, obviously because she would be in less pain when her stomach was empty. When her reflux was cured with Losec she started eating a lot better and a consistent amount every day. I dont know if the same thing is happening with your son, but it sounds similar so keep your eye on it. If he stops gaining weight well then it may help to put him on reflux meds like zantac or losec. Another thing that helped my daughter is to let her food digest for at least 1 hour before putting her down for a nap, so her stomach would be empty when she was laying flat.
Good luck!

[lil monkey]

i can't believe that you were told to put on formula as well!

My DD suffered from reflix badly and colic too. She was 2.5 kg when born and she would only put on around 50gm a week. She now is 15 months and is 9.3kg but eatss like a pig but just doesn't put on much weight.

She has never been a big milk drinker - at most she would drink 80ml a feed from her bottle whether it was EBM or formula down the track if we were lucky.

I was told that even though she wasn't putting on much weight, she was still putting on weight and that was a good thing as I too thought I should go to formula earlier to help with reflux ( her medication was Zoton) and to put on more weight weekly.

To cut a long story short, i tried the top up with AR formula and 1. it constipated her and 2. she would chuck it all back up at me. I switched to NAN HA1 gold and it worked much better.

P.S. I stopped exclusively bf at 4 months too because of this and the fact that DD was too much of a sticky beak to feed properly. I ended up expressing 5 times a day and only bf morning and night for the next 6 weeks. I felt like a failure as I wanted to bf until 6 months and actually from the boobie. But I had to do what a mums gotta do.

[RachWA]

My 2yo DS was a real chucker and suffered reflux until about 8 months. Up until then he vomited after every feed we would go through 3-4 outfits per day (including mine) and numerous bibs but was putting on lots of weight and was still happy so I perservered without medication

My 4 month dd has silent reflux and until one week ago I was trying everything other than medication. She would not sleep during the day and was always irritable so i tried feed play sleep and cc which worked for ds but was not for dd. Have now been on Zoton for almost one week and finally feed play sleep and cc seems to be working (for the last 2 days) she has just put herself to sleep for the 2nd time today which she has not done since birth!!!!!!! I am so happy.

I held of on medication for reflux but will now recommend it for people who have reflux babies, as it would have also made those early months with ds alot easier.

:ecomcity: (probably should of put this in a different thread - sorry):D

[FourAngelKisses]

*hugs* I feel for you. My daughter had reflux and screamed 18hrs a day for 10mths. She would vomit more than she would get fed and in the end would totally refuse to drink anything because she associated the bottles with pain. In the end we had to syringe feed her, squirting it in her mouth while she screamed.......I had DH do it because I couldn't stand seeing her like that. :(

We tried everything, thickened formula, solids (made her worse), keeping her upright, smaller feeds, nothing made a difference. In the end (when she was 10mths old) I begged a Dr to prescribe her something and they gave her Zantac and Prepulsid. I know that Prepulsid has been taken off the market now (I'm showing my age here), but there must be something out there that works as well. If nothing improves, take him back to the Dr and ask for something else. It isn't fair on you or him for him to be like this. I hope things get better, I really do.

[catalicious]

Hi everyone and thanks for replying to my post, It is good to here that everyones babies have stopped, I know too me it does seem like its going on forever but I didnt think forever just some times forgot.

Ok so Jackson is On formula as you now know and I am thinking of stopping the BF completly I dont see the point anymore more breasts are sore form Going down in amount he drinks and i just really cant see the point, I think I was just still doing it for myself.

He is on the biggest dose of Losec he can have.... and on thickened formula, but he is only having huge vomits :barf: 1-2 times a day. I also went and weighed him today, it wasnt on the same scales as last week but they cant be too different. Jack was 5.17 last Wednesday and today he was 5.6!!!:smiliedance: I am so happy his weight on the same scales is being taken this Friday, so I will prob cry to see exactly how much...... I am so proud of my little boy.... He may have to be on alot of stuff to keep it down but as long as he keeps it down that is all that matters at the moment.

[Supermum]

Dear Mummycat - and others who have babies who have suffered or suffer from Reflux :hugs: to you all

Reflux is not just something which affects your baby and their wellbeing. It permeates every space of your world, throws you out, has you at odds with your partner, at odds with yourself and you can sometimes find yourself in the depths of depression. I remember taking Ben for his 6 wk Paed check-up and casually saying ... "is it normal for babies to cry alot?" to which he responded "Babies cry Deborah" ... "But for upwards of 15 hours a day Doc?" was mine.

My son, now 3, was diagnosed with severe Reflux at 11 weeks. He was throwing up blood and after a barium swallow, we found that not only did he have reflux, his gut and oesophagus were ulcerated as a result. So we were prescribed Losec. Losec NEVER stopped the vomiting, just neutralised the acid. Oesophagul reflux is a mechanical problem. A valve (sphincter muscle) which is supposed to stay shut after food goes down, doesn't.

Ben was born 3320gms - fairly average and put on weight very slowly, always in the 5-10th percentile on the charts. He was breastfed. He screamed day in and day out and projectile vomited constantly. B1oody tiring and soul destroying isn't it? You don't go anywhere, you can't do anything and you feel like a cruddy, dysfunctional mother.

Things we found that REALLY helped.

Elevating the cot and keeping bub elevated after a feed. Carry them around in a sling if you can.

Feed small amounts often. Ben fed every 2 hours initially - it was the only time he didn't scream although he was a mighty thrasher at the breast. In the early days if you can, lie bub next to you and let him feed whenever he wants. I know it's hard for you but breast milk really is the best thing for him. If you can't - EVERYONE who has a reflux baby would understand your inability to continue.

Marina Infant Mixture - homeopathic concoction helps to get wind up. When babies cry/scream alot they also swallow alot of air. So they're not only dealing with the discomfort of the rise and fall of food up the oesophagus, they also have wind pains in their little bellies. It's very safe.

When they go onto solids, try steering clear of yoghurt and large amounts of milk ... thickened or otherwise. Cheese was a good provider of much needed calcium and he kept it down. We tried soy and when I was b/fing I went off dairy - it made no difference. My SIL is a paediatric dietitian and told me my son was lactose intolerant - poppycock ... he had a non-functional sphincter muscle in his oesophagus. You could try Soy and see how it goes or if you want to continue b/fing, cut dairy from your diet.

Again when bub is old enough - make your own rusks by baking bread soldiers in the oven. You can add cheese or veg to spice it up a bit. It keeps them occupied, provides nutrition and cereal is nice and heavy. (My son could have eaten granite and he still would have chucked it but occasionally kept this down:o )

At 3, Ben STILL has a very strong gag reflex. I suspect he will always have some form of oesophagul reflux, just like his mum, but it no longer hurts him.

Send me a PM if you just need a shoulder to cry on. It's especially hard when your friends have babies who sleep, eat and giggle on cue. Peace to you and yours.

Deborah

[PhAnToM]

Hi Everyone.
When i saw you were all discussing reflux, i just HAD to butt in.
Both of my children had/have reflux.
My DD (now 3.5 yo) had it from around 4 weeks. She was so bad, they actually risked it and sent us to have xrays done on her. She was weighed EVERY week for 3 months. Thankfully it was nothing seriously wrong with her. She was gaining her weight nicely, so i just wore it really- woops.. pardon the pun.
But i was so adamant about the breastfeeding that i expressed virtually EVERY feed for 5 months, so i could add thickener to it and feed it to her. Of course thickener has its disadvs too.. like the occassional const. Can't win.
But 8 months seems to be the lucky number. she eased when she really started to get into solids, but i know i noticed that she hadn't had it for a while at aroun 8 months.
I think she christined everyone who ever held her. Everyone has a story about how and when she threw up on them. That should be a great topic we will be sure to revisit at her 21st birthday party! :laughing:

DD(5.5 months) was doing great until he got the flu couple months ago. He has since had reflux also. The problem is, he LOVES the real deal. Not keen on the bottle at all and thankfully his reflux isn't as bad as his sister's was, so i can live with it. Like you, i don't want to take him off the breast unless i have to.
I allowed my daughter to wean herself off (she did at 5.5 months) and i'll do the same for my son.

Good Luck!