Hi,

I know you have been asked this question in previous posts....I am wondering if my 6 week old has silent reflux. I was unable to breastfeed. My little one was going great guns on the formula and then when he hit 3 weeks things changed. He started to become fussy at the odd feed which increased to more feeds. He would squirm turn red and wimper. Other than that he would sleep on a 4hr routine and not cry. My doc said he had a blocked nose so gave me saline, but it started to get worse and by 5 weeks he was dropping a feed or reducing the amount he was drinking. He also spills a little bit while he is up and when he is asleep. He also projectile vomits maybe once a day or so and its always in his bed. After having feeding issues with my other son ( he didn't want to BF or take the bottle) which was never resolved he just went onto solids and we never looked back. I just want to get on top of it before it becomes something more than it needed to.

Hiya,

It does sound like a touch of reflux to me - everyone's symptoms are different.
I would suggest going to your gp, and telling them your thoughts and get it diagnosed properly. If it is and you need to get meds, then you will be in te right place

Does it help if you keep the wee button upright after a feed or place the head of the bed on blocks? Especially if your wee one is vomiting in bed, it may help.

I wonder if it is an allergy or intolerance to the formula type because it is mostly around feeding. Give Nutricia a call and ask their opinion.

I agree if you haven't seen the GP recently a review there may be in order too.

I took my little on off to the GP and he gave me some Losec suspension to try. We are on day four and he now does not move a muscle when being fed. Hopefully its just a mild dose of it and he outgrows it quickly. It still doesn't stop him vomiting in his bed once a day. The doc reckons he will "outgrow" it when the valve starts to strengthen. Fingers crossed it all stays calm.

Omeprazole doesn't stop vomiting/spilling/reflux. It just reduces the pain associated with it.

It is great it has worked so quickly.

Not sure what is going on. My wee one started vomiting more frequently in bed up to 3 x a day. I was advised to change forumla as apparently this person had experienced lots of issues with babies on this particular formula. I have changed and I haven't had a vomit yet (its only been one day)but my question is he has now started to grizzle immediately after the feed and seems hard to settle to sleep. The first three feeds were fine and the last three feeds have been a pain. On the last one I thought maybe he was still hungry so gave him some more and he vomited straight away - so I assume he was overfed. Would acid reflux flair up that quickly causing the grizzling if he is on losec?

Which formula was he on and which one did you change to? Its best that you speak to Nutricia (or the formula company) about this.

Yes, it could flare up that quickly, particularily if this formula contains a protein they are allergic to or more of the protein that they are allergic to than the previous.

Also if the feed isn't being vomited there is more in the stomach to be refluxed into the throat in small amounts for longer causing pain. It may be that he adjusts to it over time or it may be that it isn't an appropriate formula for him.

Gosh this is just so confusing for me. I was advised to change from Karicare Gold to S26 Gold as apparently the fish oil in the Karicare Gold can make the silent reflux worse. She also thought this is why he might be randomly vomiting as she said reflux babies usually vomit and every feed not once a day or three times a day?

We were going great guns yesterday he drank every bottle and was hungry at every feed. Then today started off well then by the third feed today he drank half then refused the rest. He went off to sleep no problems. But woke and hour and a half later. He then drank again half then refused the rest went off to sleep no probs but was awake an hour and a half later. I left it for alittle while then fed him bathed him and he drank the rest. Then he woke for this feed and he and his bed were covered in vomit! I don't know what to do, is it reflux or something else?

I think they are both whey based so that shouldn't be the problem. I would honestly phone and talk to Nutricia (the people who make Karicare) as they have access to all the formula types and have dieticians you can talk to.

I took him off to the docs yesterday morning as after that half feed he wouldn't go to sleep. Turns out he is constipated. The doc did a quick massage and it got him going. But he is now trying to go again and can't. The good news it he has stopped vomiting.

http://www.nutriciababy.co.nz/userdata/attachments/Guide_to_Constipation.pdf

Glad things are improving. Constipation does often co-exist with reflux.

Thanks Roz. I was told that its due to changing formula and to give it 2 weeks. I am also allowed to introduce boiled water between feeds. He is drinking more than he was on the other formula so I think he is getting enough. I still have him on the Losec as well as I do think he has silent reflux. Fingers Crossed its all okay at 2 weeks.

Well I have now changed to the granules and what a difference it is to give to him. He loves the little bit of puree pear I give it with. He started to get fussy again so i told my doc I wanted to see a ped. As I had told my doc that I thought the suspension didn't have a very long shelf life so wasn't as effective and that surely the doseage would go up as he gains weight. The doc kind of dismissed me so after a few days of fussy feeding and not really drinking alot I demanded a ped. He has swapped me to the tablets as yes I was right about the suspension.

The thing I have noticed though and unfortunatley it was after the ped visit is that he his fussiness also seems to coincide with a bowel motion. He hadn't been for a couple of days as he is still slightly constipated. He finally went today and after that he has been very calm on feeding, would that be his digestion system still getting used to the formula I swapped to. Which he still hasn't vomitted on so am happy about that.

We don't recommend the suspension so it is good you now have the granules. What did the constipation info i posted above say about changing formulas? (i can't view it on my phone.)

Thanks Roz, all it says is that it can happen with costant swapping of formula. I have only changed once maybe it will just take a little bit of time. He does go every couple of days but they are hard.

I also had him weighed at plunket and in 3 weeks he only gained 230grams. She told him he should be gaining more and that means drinking more. I can't get him to drink more he doesn't want to. He is having the amount if not more (on a good day) thats on the back of the tin. Not sure what do about that.

The gp said to give it two weeks? have you tried the brown sugar? i think that was the recommendation after water. Other that that you might need to see gp for lactulose maybe.
Re weight gain: didn't he have some bad days with not drinking as much and before that was vomiting feeds? i would just get a weight done again in a week or few and offer another feed if you can. When did they suggest another weigh?
You are doing a great job.

The peadiactric Nurse said two weeks. Which will be this Monday. the Pedatrician gave me some Lactulose and it worked yesterday but what I noticed leading up to that was drop in volume of milk and he also had a little vomit which I guess just meant he was full and is probably pretty normal with constipation.

Hopefully when the losec tabs start working and the constipation gets better he will start drinking more as he hasn't increased his volume that much since he was born.

Are you giving a regular dose of Lactulose every day? How was it prescribed?

Hi Roz, yes everyday at the moment, Dr told me to wean him off by reducing the dosage over the week. He is now going more regularly and we think the whole fidgeting windy thing was because the doseage of Losec wasn't strong enough and it was making him uncomfortable while feeding so he would get windy. Dr told us to up the dose to 1 1/3 capsules and over the last two days we haven't had any problems. Fingers crossed.