Reflux

My LO has had silent reflux from about 3wks old (she's now 9wks), she's EBF. I've really wanted to avoid going down the medicine route (Gaviscon, Omeprazole) because of all the side effects, high sodium etc. So we've been trying all the different tips and advice, feeding upright, frequent burping, keeping upright for at least 30mins start feeds, not overeating, slightly tilted bed, cutting certain food out of my diet. Some days she's better and some days are really bad. Over the last week it's been consistently bad, her breath stinks of acid, she's vomitting up and swallowing loads, crying loads. At a point now where I want to accept the Gaviscon or Omeprazole as I don't want her to be in pain and I know the acid could be causing damage too. Just wanted to hear your thoughts and if anyone has any advice on what else we can try to do or give? Also on Gaviscon and Omeprazole, which has worked better for your LO, what side effects you've seen etc. Thanks

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What’s your diet like? Maybe research common food allergies and adjust your diet, or pay attention to what you’ve eaten on the days it’s really bad. I think you can get them tested for food allergies too

Wait I’m so sorry I didn’t see that you already tried diet!

Hi @Mali yup so I thought it may be CMPA but the GP said it's very likely not and told me to not eliminate milk from my diet. I did reduce my milk intake though incase it's not an allergy but still heavy on her tummy. I'm also avoiding citrus fruits, apples, tomatoes, no caffeine, fizzy drinks etc. for over 4 weeks now and haven't noticed an improvement.

My first baby vomited one pumped bottle almost every single night from like 5 weeks to 5 months old. It was a routine of changing clothes and bed sheets several nights a week, other times all over the floor. I assumed it was acid reflux... my second has been blessed not to even "require" burping after 10 weeks. The main difference in my diet is I'm not drinking carbonated beverages and I'm eating a lot of salad and less fast food for lunch. Your baby should grow out of it as mine did with time... I, like you, did everything suggested and it would still happen.. most frequently happened in the evening for her last feed before bedtime, she was usually drinking very fast because very hungry. Then after vomiting refused a second bottle sometimes. Sleep feeds were always the most successful for her to not have issues. I personally use gaviscon.. I never gave her any because I didn't know how a baby could take it..I did try the gas/burping stuff on my baby but didn't find it "obviously" effective so I stopped.

Gaviscon made my little one soooo constipated. He was screaming crying just trying to pass wind. We stopped after 3 days. It was cruel to watch. We didn’t move onto omeprazole as he has CMPA rather than reflux. But I’ve heard good things about it!

We tried omeprazole with our oldest. He projectile vomited after every feeding from basically birth until we started solids at 6 months. We did the medicine, changed my diet, tried different formulas, had him checked for pyloric stenosis, checked his esophagus checked, basically lived in the Ibclc office doing weighted feeds…. No doctor ever could or did figure out what was wrong with him. He was deemed failure to thrive from 2 months to 6 months - only based on weight, he still hit all his milestones. I did find that I had an over active let down - and have with all 4 of our kids - and that was partially causing issues. I started pumping a little before I nursed and making sure all our bottle nipples were the slowest flow. Burping made our guy spit up more so we stopped burping him pretty much all together. Like I said nothing ever helped til we started solids. All that to say, if you’ve tried everything, a medicine would be my next go to, especially if baby is in discomfort.