hi

I've suspected reflux on and off with my 3 month old since the early weeks (colic, trapped wind - these improved about 11 weeks of age). She's also had a cough for weeks but no sign of a cold, sometimes gags on the breast or after feeding, and prefers being held upright / sleeping on me, but rarely spills.

In the last few days she has gotten much worse. She is now dry retching after most feeds and in between as well - sometimes 2 hours after a feed. She gurgles and swallows and then her whole body heaves repeatedly but she doesn't bring anything up. It is worst at night; sometimes it takes an hour or more after a feed before I can get her back down in her bed to sleep. She continues to cough and dry retch in her sleep and it often wakes her up. Does this sound like reflux?

She started taking Omeprazole suspension 2 days ago. I talked to my GP again yesterday after reading the info on the crying over spilt milk website and he is going to prescribe the capsules instead. How long might this take to work?

She is exclusively breastfed and my diet is already cows milk free (just in case, as my 3 year old has food allergies).

What else can I do to help her?

Thanks in advance.
Emma

The Omeprazole can take up to three weeks to reach its full effect. Have you tried Gaviscon? It can be used as well as Omeprazole and helps keep the feed in the stomach. Discuss with your doctor before trying it.

You are doing a great job.

If you are concerned, seek medical help.

Thanks heaps Roz. It's really helped to read through your posts and replies.

The Omeprazole seems to be working - she is not dry retching as much as before. Next time I'm at the GP I'll ask about Gaviscon. She is still waking every 1-2 hours at night, but I guess we'll work on that later on...!

How is it going?

Thanks for your query. We're doing much better thanks. Amelia's been on the omeprazole a month now and is only refluxing occasionally between feeds and after the 10pm ish feed but for a much shorter time than before. We tried Gaviscon for a few days and I think it may have helped the bad reflux episodes a bit but the GP has increased the omeprazole dose instead.

She got much worse just after Christmas for a week or 2 (reflux worse, very fussy feeding/reduced feeding, very hard to get to sleep and waking very frequently at night, green poos). This coincided with me eating some dairy treats on holiday (I had been dairy free) so I think she is also intolerant or allergic to cows milk. Do you think that sounds likely?

Her sleeping is still not good (can only get her to sleep by rocking/feeding her to sleep but it can take an hour to get her to sleep). She is 4 months old but sleeps 3 X 20 min naps a day, one 3-4 hour block at night and thereafter wakes every 1-2 hours. So we are all tired but at least she is not in as much pain as before.

Glad to hear Amelia was feeling better. Yes, it does sound like a dairy allergy - often a delayed allergy (a lot of people call this an intolerance) which presents as a gut reaction.

I hope things have improved further and you are all getting more sleep. It can take up to three weeks after a change in dose to see the full effects.