Reflux- It does get better.

**Jax Tellers Old Lady** · 20-03-2011 20:54

It has been nearly 16 months since my daughter was born and I didnt think I would ever be posting a thread like this, but I thought it would give hope to many users who are experiencing similar or worse.

At six weeks of age my daughter started refluxing, at that time I thought she was just a spewey baby but ahh no! Her reflux went from bad to worse and resulted in many many feed refusals and lack of weight gain and one very stressed out mother who felt like a failure.

I cant count how many times I was in the hospital due to feed refusal and the many paed visits having her meds reviewed not to mention the trials wth formula and the thought that she was intolerant ( which gladly she isnt) We were put on losec both suspension and tablet form, gaviscon, mylanta and also a med that tightens the insides to prevent the food from being able to come back up.

It was a nightmare and I spent many hours googling trying to gain understanding and reaching out to others that knew what I was enduring. My daughter went through phases where it was purely silent reflux and then weeks where it was like a volcano erupting.

She was a late crawler and hated being on her tummy etc and was very unsettled and hard to please for a long time, she was never a baby that could be rocked to sleep or just be cuddled contently.

Just as she started crawling at 8 months she was referred to a physio due to being concerned for low muscle tone-( all related to her reflux supposedly) Solids were also a no go she couldnt handle any texture at all and right through to age one she had severe gag reflex even a crumb would make her vomit her entire stomach contents.

We attended a specialist feeding clinic and got some advice but knew it was going to be a long road. They also thought she would develop slowly in many areas.

Anyway fast forward to 12 months and she started progressing in leaps and bounds, she walked two days after turning one and that was a huge change in her alltogether. She started tolerating her finger foods such as crackers etc but still no lumps at all. Up until a month ago I was still pureeing everything but offering finger foods.

We have really turned a corner in the last month, I now can feed her the same meals as us on a plate and she will feed herself ( most ends up on the floor or in her hair but she can eat normally and that in itself is like winning lotto. She is fulll of beans always laughing smiling and talking more and more each day and just a joy.

My concern at the moment is getting her to stop dancing on the coffee table while wearing pants on her head.

Looking back on the first 12 months I never thought I would be at the stage where she is a delight, there were many days where I wanted to walk away and give up and go back to the days when we just had our son.( sounds terrible I know) and everyone told me it does get better and for me there seemed to be no thruth in that. I felt cheated of the whole lovely baby senario and envied all the mothers that took their babies in their stride and raved on how sweet they were and how much they ate and how chubby they were getting, where I had a skinny, whinging up chucker. Walking out in front of a bus somedays sounded soooo appealing.

In the end we stuck it out no buses were harmed nor children and we now can enjoy the toddler years, my house is always trashed but thats the least of my worries. I have a daughter that has devloped in leaps and bounds and is a delight.

So hang in there and there is always someone doing it harder than you.

Big hugs to all the parents that deal with reflux its a tough journey but I hope like me you can look baby and say its a journey worth living to get to where you will be.

Sorry for the ramble xoxoxoxox