Waking up at nights and reflux

[Michele Crocker]

Hi,

I just want to ask questions about reflux and my daughter.

My daughter is 12 months old next week and has had reflux since she was a week old. She has been on and off Zantac since she was born and is currently back on it. Ever since she was born she has not slept right through the night, sometimes waking up three or four times a night. She has also got a club foot and has to wear boots and brace at night. I will feed her one time and try and put the dummy in the rest of the times. Could this be part of her Reflux that is contributing to her waking up all the time or is the boots and brace that is causing the problem? I need to find a answer because I have four other kids and I am tired all the time that I have now a cleaner coming in one day a week to clean the house.

Another question is She seems to have constant colds and with the constant colds she has had a couple of ear infections. Her voice is hoarse a lot especially when she has been crying a lot and I am wondering if the reflux has something to do with it.

I have also noticed when she is feeding, that she seems to be gulping a lot and whether this has something to do with her problems I am not so sure. Most of her bottles she seems to leave half a bottle and the only good bottle seems to be in the middle of the night when she finishes the whole bottle.

I am not sure whether to get back on to the paedaetrician because he was going to test for allergies to see if that is her problem. At the moment she is on peptic junior but shortly she will be allowed to have normal milk.

Michele
Mother of Christopher, Luke, Melissa, Jayden and Ashleigh(1 year old next week)

[RISA]

Hi Michele
Sounds like you have your hands full!!! I guess it is difficult to tell what is causing her night waking, as perhaps it is a bit of both contributing. All you know is that she is waking up, and I’m sure you’d be exhausted by now!! Good on you for getting a cleaner in to help. That is at least one thing less you have to do. Are you able to get a break, spend some time for yourself at all though? It is important you look after yourself, and not just everyone else.

Everything you described could be attributed to reflux, so I think it is important that you discuss it all with your paediatrician.
Frequent night waking; congestion, appearing to have a cold; recurrent ear infections; hoarse voice; gulping/spluttering; and feeding difficulties are all common signs of reflux, and it sounds like her reflux is not under control. (if you have a look at our website, at the way reflux presents, it is all listed there. Go to http://www.reflux.org.au/presents.php) It isn’t unusual for bubs to drink their best bottle when they are sleepy or have no other distractions(and some will do so even while asleep!!). A lot of crying can cause reflux, so that is possibly why you are noticing her getting hoarse at that time, and the reflux may be causing a lot of the crying, so it can be quite a vicious cycle!

Zantac is a medication that is based on weight, so if she has put on weight since being restarted on Zantac, the doctor may need to look at that, or he may have started on a low dose initially. Alternatively, she may need to go onto a more effective medication to get it under control, or perhaps a more elemental formula if allergies are still a problem for her.

Reflux can flare at times too, such as teething, with vaccinations, any cold/infection, being over tired or having a change in routine. Even crawling can make it worse (they spend a lot of time horizontal). You may find at these times she does worse as well. It always helped me to at least know why some time was worse than others. It can be cyclic as well, with some days worse than others, for no particular reason.

It is really important to follow your instincts, and her night waking could definitely be a result of her reflux, so please talk to your paediatrician about all this. While I can’t say for sure it is reflux, everything you describe does fit in with the reflux picture.

Hope that helps, and thanks for contacting us,

Glenda