Reflux suggestions...

Hi Ladies... I've been meaning to write in about my experience with a reflux baby, and how we finally sorted it out. DD is 4 months now...and super happy. To be honest, its like I've almost forgotten all the panic I went through. I was one of the readers here going through all the forums on reflux trying to figure out a way. The doctors I went to weren't much of help. They kept dismissing it as "Oh...its just gas." She got prescribed Infacol., but that didnt help at all. But I just couldn't stand and watch her in distress. She was spitting up after every other feed, and she wanted to feed all the time. She hardly slept, and her little legs were pulled towards her chest most of the time. She had some relief when we placed her on her belly. But it was scary for me to leave her on her belly for long...she was so little! My husband and I have always approached homeopathic doctors for most of our ailments (colds, allergies, etc.) But we never knew homeopathy had treatments for reflux as well. We just happened to go there to get an opinion as we were at our wits end. The doc was very confident that this was an issue that could be sorted out. For those who are not familiar with homeopathic treatment....it takes a bit of time, say abt 2-3 months. You cannot expect immediate results with homeopathy. We started her treatment and in about two weeks, she was spitting up considerably less. The medicines were prescribed for a month. After each month, the doctor would re-evaluate her and give us a new set of medicines. By the time she was three months I could hardly see any traces of reflux in her. She was sleeping well, and no more spitting up. Finally!! :) She is not on homeopathic treatment right now, but I do intend to take her next week, as shes having dry skin issues. I have complete faith that it can be sorted out easily. I was always adamant that I wouldn't pump DD with medicines unless absolutely necessary. So I'm happy that alternative medicine has worked on her. @TanyaR - There are lots of good homeopathic doctors in Dubai. I can give you the contact details of my doc if you are interested. I can also get contact details of the homeo doctors my friends use. Hope your LO feels better soon. Cheers! :)

oh and since you are breastfeeding you might want to talk to a qualified LC about whether your child has reflux from over-supply (on your behalf) if you have tonnes of milk and they over-eat and can't make it to the hindmilk this can cause upset.

as mentioned below feeding "little and often" made the biggest (huge) difference for us and lots of tummy time to help build up the core muscles and encourage earlier sitting/rolling/crawling (once they start moving the reflux lessons a lot). If your baby isn't upset and is just spilling a lot (happy spitter) then don't kill yourself carrying them non-stop and just be prepared to do a lot of laundry for the first few months. The hunched car seat position is one of the worst, avoid too much carseat time. Elevating the cot hasn't been shown to make that much difference but some people feel it helps. Look at taking wheat, oats, dairy spicy food out of your diet if you can manage. We managed DS's without meds but he wasn't crying, just plastering my house with baby puke ;)

With respect to babies slipping down the wedges - we had this problem and DD also would turn in the night and end up parallel to the wedge as well We overcame it by moving the wedge to half way along the cot so DD did not have as far to slide and then rolling two cloth nappies up into sausages and putting these under the sheet on top of the wedge either side of her body. It did the trick and flattened so did not get in the way of her face etc.

With respect to babies slipping down the wedges - we had this problem and DD also would turn in the night and end up parallel to the wedge as well We overcame it by moving the wedge to half way along the cot so DD did not have as far to slide and then rolling two cloth nappies up into sausages and putting these under the sheet on top of the wedge either side of her body. It did the trick and flattened so did not get in the way of her face etc.

For putting baby to sleep at an angle... we used the books as well as the wedge but found often she slid down to the bottom of the bed (especially with he books and post about 8 weeks or so when she had some movement). Later found something like this http://www.babystayasleep.com/products/ in baby shop which a friend used and recommends - its about AED 60. But my daughter was nearly 4 months then and it would've been small. May be worth a shot.

Hi My DS was exactly the same. Infant Gaviscon helped a lot (only used the half dosage as this helped. I have a full box if you would like if?) also held him upright for 15 minutes after a feed. Infacol did nothing and full of E colourants which I was not happy about. Colic Calm (from UK order online and they ship here) completely natural and worked wonders! Ended up sleeping on tummy as that was the only way he would settle!! It totally freaked me out but honestly he would not sleep any other way so we ended up getting the angelcare monitor. We tried the colic pad but that did not help. Also cot was elevated really high - about 4 books height. If breast feeding watch your dairy intake and take a good probiotic (organics cafe) every morning. Hope you find a solution

Tummy sleeping helped mine. Of course, when she was very young, we didn't put her down on her tummy, I'd just put her on a feeding pillow on my lap and leave her there for as long as she would sleep (which wasn't much). She hated tummy time otherwise though. :\: The other thing that worked, especially after she went on the bottle, was little and often (though now that's still the only way she can feed which is a bit of a pain). When I was BFing her I'd feed her for shorter periods of time.

I know that premaman sell two products that are meant to help with reflux although i cannot recommend from a personal POV: one is called cocoonababy and the other is a wedge to create an angle for baby... You will get through this, you sound very strong xxx

I see you mentioned already that you're keeping the baby upright a lot, but what is working for us is being very strict about keeping our 4 week old completely upright for 20-30 mins after meals and burping him a lot after, during and in-between meals. Additionally, although I know pacifiers are controversial -- they are really helping our little one (but he's also an excellent eater so I don't need to worry about nipple confusion and the like). Good luck! I find the reflux cries/screams one of the worst things ever ...

PS - there are heaps of discussions on this topic on this forum - I remember typing my first plea for help when DD was 3 weeks old too and got lots of good assistance from the helpful ladies here.

Hi Tanya Have you had your LO diagnosed by a doc yet to determine the severity of the condition? Our DD had severe problems and was even hospitalised twice each time for monitoring and altering medication. Some babies grow out of it and other babies require medication. She is 9 months old and still on the Losec. Infacol and gripe water are for gas and digestion but not really for reflux. Doctors tend to prescribe meds like Gasviscon, Zantac, Motillium and in severe cases, Losec. Some babies find relief sleeping on their left side as it is difficult for stomach contents and acid to make their way back up from this position. I'd really recommend though you get an expert opinion as reflux can pose dangers when it is a severe case and left untreated. A good book on the topic is "The Sensational Baby Sleep Plan" by Alison Scott Wright who devotes a chapter specifically to helping reflux babies sleep. All the best xx