Infant gaviscon and tough breathing..

miseian

Hi everybody, have a few questions here. Our two month old (who was 7 weeks premature) has been having a tough time lately. We thought she had colic but don't really think so anymore, think it's more of a reflux issue. We got the infant gaviscon but i'm pretty she's figured out we're giving her something strange and isn't having it. She'll take about 50-70mls of the milk mixed with the gaviscon but than just stops and pretends to suck on the bottle. You'd think she was full, which she shouldn't be but we give her normal formula after that and she loves it. Anyone else have a baby that isn't taking the gaviscon? Maybe she just needs to get used to it? Is it the taste?

Another thing! She has a little cold, very stuffed up and you can really hear it in her breathing, especially when she's sleeping. She has a pretty nasty cough too. I hate hearing it. Any tips on trying to decongest her? Humidifier maybe? Some kind of herbal bath I think i've seen mentioned?

Thanks for any help.

Victor

I wouldn't use anything like that without medical advice, especially for a premature baby at that age.

crazy cat lady

From what I remember of working in the NICU, the amounts of gaviscon given to babies is miniscule, so could you not just pop it into her mouth with a baby medicine syringe? Saying that, I would recommend going to see your doctor to have her checked over before giving her anything. You can't really go around guessing what is wrong with your baby. It could be something simple, but at the same time it could be something more serious and unless you are a doctor yourself I don't think you have the expertise to take any chances. I'm not trying to be smart or anything, I just really think you're better to ba safe than sorry, especially with an infant.

As for her cold, sniffles always sound alot worse on a baby as they are nose breathers and obviously with a cold, the nose is usually congested. Some other posters on here recommend bringing a baby into the bathroom with the shower running as the steam will help ease the congestion. Saline nasal drops should be safe, as should using a Karvol capsule to vapourise a room. You can check with your pharmacist anyway, they have a wealth of knowlegde and will know what will be most appropriate for your little one

liamo

Our 5 week-old has bad snuffles at the moment. We found that the nasal saline drops help enormously in loosening everything up so that she can sneeze it out.

Additionally, the air in most homes is very dry at the moment with heating being on so much. We got the following humidifier from Argos : http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/0432245/Trail/searchtext%3EHUMIDIFIER.htm . We have been using it in the bedroom at night and are going to start using it during the day as well in the living room. It has also made a difference to her breathing.

A note of caution however - daily cleaning of the humidifier is a big must!

ElleEm

Something that's supposed to help with respritory issues is garlic. I once read that if you crush garlic into olive oil and leave it to steep for a while, it works well when massaged into babies' feet. Apparently you can even get the smell of garlic off the baby's breath!

miseian

Thanks for the advice. We didn't give her the gaviscon before bringing her to the GP yesterday. She suggested it and gave us a prescription. I wouldn't have given her that before getting her checked out. She's a funny little girl and I think we'll just keep giving it to her like we are, half a sachet and just get her to take what we can.

And the coughing and sniffles do probably sound worse than they actually are, she's still in good form and sleeping lots so we're hoping it'll go away in a few days. What a nice first Christmas for her, reflux and a cold!
Thanks again.

crazy cat lady

The sniffles could be why she isn't taking her bottles as well as she usually might. babies breathe through their noses so they can't breathe and get tired easily when they are trying to coordinate feeding and breathing with a blocked nose. Maybe try one of the remedies to ease the congestion before starting a feed, it might help

wmpdd3

My daughter def too the galviscon bottles differently. I think the milk was slightly thicker. At that time she was only taking 1.5oz and this was taking 40 mins, even a slight thickness just made her sooo tired and she gave up. Then 2 hrs later, she'd be starving again!

I tried a slightly faster teats, she nearly drowned! just not ready, we just kept giving her little breaks during the bottle

January

There are multi flow teats from avent... they have a little 1-2-3 mark around the teat if you put the number you want under the nose it changes the teat so if the 1 is too slow you can put the 2 mark under the nose and try that...

http://www.philips.co.uk/c/avent-baby-bottle-feeding/variable-flow-3m-plus-scf635_27/prd/

edellc

you cant give gaviscon to a baby under 1 read the side of the box
i bought it for my little fella when he was two months and read it so never gave it to him
i too though he had silent reflux but i think its just something most babies go through although some may have it you will find it difficult for a doctor to diagnose
you can give infocol which is great and they can have as much of it as possible also in supervalue they sell gripe juice both really helped me
as for the cold im putting carvol on a bid attached to the side of his cot to help clear him up i also bought a saline solution from chemist that you squirt up their nose then you get a sucker that sucks out the snots however i find it very hard to use but it may help you
but most of all however hard it is on you it is just your little ones senses and insides getting used to the world my fella is just over four months and your post sounds exactly like what i went through its only the last month that things have calmed down
best of luck with everything

crazy cat lady

edellc wrote: »

you cant give gaviscon to a baby under 1

Yes you can. This poster has said that it was prescribed by her doctor and half the babies in NICU are being given gaviscon for reflux.

Calpol isn't for babies under 2 months but if prescribed by a doctor I'm sure it's been given to babies before this age.

I've certainly seen babies being given paracetamol (calpol) from birth, and in some cases even stronger stuff

wmpdd3

adrieanne__x wrote: »

There are multi flow teats from avent... they have a little 1-2-3 mark around the teat if you put the number you want under the nose it changes the teat so if the 1 is too slow you can put the 2 mark under the nose and try that...

http://www.philips.co.uk/c/avent-baby-bottle-feeding/variable-flow-3m-plus-scf635_27/prd/

Those are the ones I tried. I would say the I setting is like the size 3 avent teat and the II and III are much faster. On the box it said I was 1 drop setting but it was much faster.

neonman

Our daughter was born premature as well and was on gaviscon while she was still in the NICU. Adding gaviscon to her feed causes the milk to thicken and will cause her to take longer to feed sometimes we had to change the teeth on the bottle as it gets blocked from it. So if you think this might be happening take the bottle out and check if anything is coming out of it by shaking it if nothing comes out change the teeth.

We now use Nuk teeth and the flow is great with gaviscon added to her milk. No real problems with it now.

But saying all of that I would always check with your doctor or the NICU team.

keano_afc

Our 5 week old has been on infant gaviscon for the past week. She seems to be taking it ok, we give it to her off a small spoon. She has been sleeping better so I think its having an effect. I find it pretty hard to mix properly though, takes ages of stirring to get it to dissolve. She has the sniffles too at the moment so might try the dehumidifier in the room. It does get wuite warm at dry at night.

Dades

Infant Gaviscon was a huge help for our fella at about 7 weeks (and sooner if we'd known about it).
He used to be in a terrible way for at least an hour in the evening and it all but sorted him out completely.

hairyfairy00

Why not try a Tucker Sling, it's an elevated pillow that you can strap the baby into. I'm sure Mothercare or Smyths stock them. I wish i saw had one for my daughter when she came home from SCBU.