Infant Reflux - advice please

I don't know what they have in UAE but I used infacol and infant galviscon with my son. The galviscon seemed to work the best. There is also another product called Coleif. They say they help with colic but they are great with reflux too as long as it's not too sevre. He used to bring up about an ounce of milk after every feed and soak himself...he was a bit unsettled too after a feed and struggled to get his wind out. It kicked in at about 3months old and was gone by 9months =)

Reflux is very common but not necessarily the cause of your sleep issues. My guy refluxed excessively until he was around 5 months, but in the end I decided not to give him meds as he was still quite a settled baby and didn't seem too bothered. At 4 weeks pretty much most babies tend to become quite unsettled, and it peaks at 6 weeks, so I can guarantee that meds or not you'll most likely see an improvement in a few weeks. If your baby is breastfeeding well with no latching/weight gain issues or you are not breastfeeding, then you might like to give a dummy, they do help soothe reflux and may reduce the risk of SIDS. White noise is also really good for calming in general, and as a sleep cue, you can download white noise apps for your iphone or MP3 player, you need to play it quite loud. Swaddling also really helped, we used the miracle blanket swaddles from mothercare, stops them waking themselves up with the startle reflex. As far as preventing the reflux, (silent or not so silent) hands down the biggest thing you can do is feed SMALLER amounts more FREQUENTLY, so like one breast every 1 1/2 hours(ish)instead of 2 breasts every 3 hours (by day obviously). Overeating is one of the most common causes. I really feel quite guilty that I didn't figure this out sooner for my wee guy and stuck at a 3 hourly schedule for so long :(. I found it also helped to try and get a burp out just before beginning a feed if I had time, you don't want to let them get upset though, crying makes them take in a lot of gas. You can also try a dairy free diet yourself, but again it takes up to 3 weeks to work and you need to be really vigilant to cut EVERYTHING out, milk solids are hiding in so many foods. Here are 2 links that might help http://www.parentingscience.com/infant-crying.html http://weissbluthmethod.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/extreme-fussinesscolic/ I know 3 people with 4/5 week old babies at the moment and they are all having the exact same issue and going through the "is it reflux/gas/a hernia/my milk/an allergy????" list at the moment, but I also have 2 nephews who were just plain and simple "colic" babies, and they just had to grow out of it. One last thought, it is really easy as a new parent to not put your baby down to sleep soon enough during the day and babies with colic in particular tend to wind up over-tired and over-stimulated because they find it hard to settle and so miss out on naps which in turn makes them even harder to settle and more wired. I think its worth doing whatever it takes to get your baby sleeping as much as possible, even if it means breaking all the "rules", so buy one of those motorised swings, wear your baby in a sling, push them in the pram all day etc, just to get you through the next few weeks. Sydneygal, maybe some of the reflux tips will help you too, I suspect its not the reflux but if you see a rapid improvement with the meds then keep on them. Some babies are just biologically short nappers and might need you to adjust their schedule to suit them, mine had 45 minute naps until he was around 9 months old and them they suddenly got longer, it did suck, but I was wasting my time trying to extend them and it was much better for him that I just incorporate an extra nap into the day to make up for it. He was a great night sleeper at 12 weeks though, much better than he is now to be honest. Have you recently stopped swaddling? we swaddled until 5 months and if I could have he'd be swaddled until he was a teenager because it made such a difference with his sleeping.

I don't have much to add either except to say I know how you feel! My once fab sleeper is now 11 weeks old and his sleeping has totally deteriorated - first with naps getting shorter and now into his night sleep too. Last night he was practically up all night :( He has also been diagnosed with reflux and although doesn't cry much is obviously uncomfortable at times, gassy, very hard to settle and quite gurgy. We've just started him on meds yesterday which is stressful in itself, I feel awful giving him so many (doc has prescribed Motilium, Nexium and Gaviscon). Our doc said we should see a change in 2-4 days...not 3 weeks ahhh! I already feel like Motilium may not be helping, after giving it with the night feed last night he was up every half hour with gas and I'm wondering if a drug that speeds things through their systems is the right thing for him... Thankfully my mother in law is here at the moment, if she weren't I would just sit and cry I think...sleep deprivation is a killer. Have called up Cecile to see if she can help with the sleep as not sure if this is related to reflux or just sleep issues...really hoping she can help. I hope things improve for you too...x

aww, bless! I haven't got any help for the actual reflux, but just in general, at 4 weeks old, do what you need to do to get her comfy, even if that means cuddling her or having her in a sling all day long. As for you (and hubby), try and get time out, look after yourselves, eat properly and rest when you can. Lastly, if you ever feel that you can't cope, talk about it. If you've got to the stage where you can't bear to be around a screaming baby for even one more minute and can feel yourself losing it, pop bubs down somewhere safe and go into another room for 5 minutes to calm down. Sleep deprivation and incessant crying should be banned by the Geneva Convention because it really can be torture. Good luck... never forget that these weeks pass quickly and before you know it, these dark days will be over.