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Reflux Help

I had exactly the same problem with my baby and to be honest just battled on and it did get better although I had no issues with the Gaviscon. A friend of mine a few years ago tried cranial osteopathy for her baby with reflux and she had an amazing response. Perhaps as your baby was breech a few sessions might be a good path? I'll ask her who she saw and pass on the details if you like. Best of luck though and hope things improve. It does all seem very scary with your first I know

I had this with both of my babies.. I wasn't breast feeding so I switched to SMA LF and used Infant Gaviscon but we did also get some ranitidine from our GP and although it didnt work for L I know a lot of people it did work for.

My first baby was three weeks early and had dreadful reflux – so it sounds quite familiar. Gaviscon is really the best thing – even with the constipation – is it definitely that which has caused it? I also had to give my little girl another slightly stronger medicine which we got from the paediatrician – will ask my sister what it was called (as she is a paediatrician!) as she still was sick a lot even with the gaviscon.

I did try cranial osteopathy – but am not sure it really helped. The main thing that helped was her starting solid food – it made a huge difference and we didn’t really have much trouble after that. She liked stodge rather than runny stuff right from an early age – though I’m sure that seems ages off to you. At the time that I had her we could wean at 4 months – and I did! I know they recommend nearer six months – but maybe you need to talk to your health visitor nearer the time about doing it nearer the four month date.
I know that I did feel very anxious as she was my first and instead of having this lovely sweet smelling baby both she & I always seemed to smell of sick! I promise it does pass.

Your email reminded me about being in the same situation with my son (now 9!). We found cranial osteopathy (use one trained for baby therapy) really helpful. We had to go to Amersham for the nearest one but I am sure there will be more local therapists now. It is very gentle, non invasive and empathic. You may also wish to discuss with your Health Visitor and GP just to rule out any 'structural' conditions that may explain the reflux. Some babies have weaker stomach valves and this rectifies itself (and did for my son) but you need to find ways to cope with the here and now. We also had our son in bed with us and found various ways he was happy sleeping - probably would have horrified the health professionals - even letting him sleep on a baby reclining chair between us which worked well until he was on the move. We have also propped up the head end of his mattress using a maternity wedge and and the cot with raisers as he grew. We let him sleep in his car seat too (in the bedroom). The slings work well in the day. Amazingly he is very rarely sick now and often avoids the stomach bugs!!!

You've probably had loads of advice but....I had twins (now 15 months) and my daughter had reflux at around 6-8 weeks. Took her to doctors who were very supportive and also gave her gaviscon which worked initially but not after. They then gave her randitidine which she stayed on with the gaviscon for a few months (it improved and eventually went at around 6 months). The best thing that helped was cow and gate caribel (a powder which acts as a thickening agent in the milk which you can get from the chemist - they may have to order it. It is very similar to SMA staydown which is a thicker milk).

The link below maybe helpful too....http://www.babyreflux.co.uk/knowledge/questions/25/%22What+comes+Up!%22+-+The+Guardian

When my 2nd son was born he had a little touble with relux but other problems which was making mine and his life unbearable. I was recommended the Redgraves Osteopathy Clinic in Bourne End. She was fantastic, sorted the relux and other issues that he had. Go along, as she is brilliant and hopely still may help. It worked for me. Should have had 6 sessions but she told me after the 4th that he was doing fine, so they won't rip you off and entend sessions.

I'm not an expert on reflux but my second baby D has silent reflux (the same thing but without the volumes of vomit). He will be six months old next week. I spoke to many people about the condition as I could not ever put him down without him crying. We gave up on the Gaviscon as it caused constipation which was also causing pain. My health visitor encouraged me to go back to the GP for alternatives but in the end I discovered a number of things that helped (but didn't cure)

I cannot recommend anything other than for her cot/crib- place books under one end so that she is not lying flat (my son didn't have reflux but was often sick after feeds/in bed).

knowing what I know now (my twins are now 3), if you are anxious, esp re meds giving her constipation, then do speak with your Health visitors/re-visit your GP.

Some 1st time mums go to the Dr at the smallest thing and others (like me and probably you by the sounds of it) do everything and then go - not querying meds given etc. In hindsight there are a couple of occasions when I should have gone back to my GP sooner. Nothing major but problems would have been resolved quicker. It is always difficult to know when to go but given she has reflux and now constipation, they may be able to suggest some alternatives. Remember it's not just for your little baby, but for you too- you need the energy to deal with her and I suspect your sleep is very disturbed......

My daughter also suffered what the doctors called "reflux" i was unconvinced she was 4 weeks early and very tiny.... (she's 12yrs now) i stopped breastfeeding due to very poor weight gain (think it was too much hard work for her) once on the bottle the sickness got much, much worse, she was also given gavisgon by the gp (which didn't help!) so we gave her soya milk which sorted her out, much to our relief (no more panicking when she slept), we let her sleep in her car seat most of the time as this kept her upright, and she seemed much more settled, moved on the the moses basket when she was 3mths, with no more sickness, not sure any of this will help, as you probably want to continue breastfeeding, but just to let you know your not alone.... and it does get better as they get older, (she was my first baby too!)

Try not to feed her all the time - try to space her feeds out if possible. If she feeds too often it exacerbates the reflux. I'm afraid we resorted to a dummy as I am told that this alleviates the pain and it also helped Daniel to go longer between feeds.
I'm sure you know this already, but don't feed her just before you go out in the car seat or pram (we gave up on the pram in the end and just used a sling)
Keep her upright as long as possible after feeding.

I also slept regularly with D on my chest. I don't know anyone who has had an easy time of sleeping with a reflux baby. We used to persevere with getting him to sleep upright and then swaddling him and propping him on his side in his moses basket (which is propped up at an angle) but as soon as he could roll we let him sleep on his front because that is the only way he stays comfortable. I have spoken to someone who got a special sleep wedge for a reflux baby which strapped the baby up at a 45 degree angle but haven't used one myself.

I wish I could wave a magic wand for you but I can't. All I can say is that it gets easier. As soon as I started to wean D (and we started at 20 weeks -earlier than our firstborn) he started to improve. Also at four months he went into a buggy in a semi-upright position and he now travels happily in that. He will even go in his carseat with a dummy! I still can't put him down until half an hour after eating/feeding because he just rolls onto his tummy and then vomits, but he isn't in pain like he was before and I am told that as soon as they can sit up, life will change dramatically.

One thing that the health visitor recommended was Cranial Osteopathy. We tried it - not sure whether it helped or not, and you do have to pay for it, but some people are convinced that it helps.

Also one lady who's little boy had terrible reflux was going to lend me a special seat designed for reflux babies, but D improved before she got it to me so I didn't use it in the end but it might be worth investigating.

I’m so sorry to hear that. I really feel for you. I’m not sure I can help much, but I just wanted to respond as I had a very similar experience and found it very hard. My baby had an operation to remove a blockage from his bowel when he was born and once he was allowed milk, he soon developed reflux. I believe he still has a mild version of it, but it doesn’t bother him any more (at 8 months). I really found Gaviscon to be the best thing, but even then it didn’t seem to cure it 100%. I also found that it gave Archie constipation, so I reduced the dosage. It stopped the constipation, but maybe that was why it didn’t 100% work. I also tried a cot wedge and a bouncy chair (both of which I would be willing to sell), which helped, but didn’t stop it. The only thing I know to have worked is time, I’m afraid. By 3 months things settled down and we were able to establish a better feeding routine without fear of screaming.

I really hope the homeopathy works. Have you tried the baby reflux website, by the way? It’s basically a shop selling products that supposedly help (where I bought the wedge), but there’s also lots of advice on there too. www.babyreflux.co.uk

When my baby had reflux I was in a whirlpool of anxiety and stress, especially as she was slow to put weigh on anyway, to top it off any milk I did get into her - she was bringing back up! I emailed all my friends and support groups and these are the replies I got back. nice to know we're not alone. There are also suggestions in the 'Reflux' section under 'Babies'

Not sure if this is the right thing for reflux but I used Gillian when my son was 6/8 weeks old for colic http://gillianbowers.co.uk/index.html.
I've heard mixed reports on whether it works, but I was willing to give anything a go to help (as you do!). Gillian's really lovely too and can recommend her. Hope your daughter gets better soon, my son was constantly a sickie baby and he had a bib on all the time until he was 9 months, I still don't know whether it was reflux or not, but I got used to it in the end! :0)

CranioSacral Therapy for babies. For birth trauma