Breastfeeding, reflux and expressing

SaucySue

Hi my baby is nearly ten weeks old and I am exclusively breastfeesing her but she has issues with silent reflux and colic (on zantac for reflux with mixed results so far). As result of the reflux she feeds very frequently,maybe every hour and half or more often, and is also a very poor sleeper - wont sleep in crib during day even with it raised at one end, she'll only sleep on someone and wakes if put down. In total she might nap 1.5 hrs most days,split over half hour here and there. At night she'll sleep maybe 4 hrs at one go then wake about 4am and quite often not go back to sleep after this,sometimes will sleep again til 6. Obviously she is not getting anywhere near enough sleep and she is overtired but nothing seems to help her sleep more and a lot of this seems to be due to reflux.

If zantac doesnt work then next option is Losec, which I believe is easiest to give in a bottle (currently give zantac with syringe,she HATES it). The problem is she will not take a bottle. She'll either refuse to close her mouth around teat at all, or else just keep pushing it out with her tongue. She has no problems sucking in breastfeeding and has put on more than enough weight in healthy range since birth but we've tried on and off for few weeks now and no luck with bottle. Its frustrating as the frequent feeding means I can't leave her at all except for maybe an hour if she is settled, and of course if we nees to change to Losec I'm not sure how we will manage that. I have tried bottle feeding her myself with expressed milk, as has my husband with me upstairs so I'm not around. Tried it when she is hungry, when shes not, at different times of day, different bottles, slipping teat in during breastfeed etc but no luck. Also feel like I'm "wasting" breastmilk trying it and then having to dump it

Anyone have any advice on how to get her to take bottle? And anyone with experience of breastfeeding and reflux baby, did you have to give up breastfeeding altogether and change to thicker formula? I really don't want to do this but GP mentioned as possibility.

Thabks for reading and sorry its so long

liliq

Sounds like you're having a really tough time
For during the day, a sling might help with sleeping as she would be upright?
Would cup feeding be an option? Sometimes when supplementary feeding or meds like that are needed, a baby will drink from a cup held for them more happily than a bottle. It takes away the risk of nipple confusion as well.
I tend to agree with the philosophy that for every Breastfeeding problem there is a breastfeeding solution.
A cuidiu Breastfeeding counsellor or la leche league leader might be a good idea to contact as well, they would have specific training and experience.
Hope you find something that works for you

Pugins

My first had reflux and I exclusively breasted for 6 months. Like you we had the issues with napping and sleeping. I used to let her sleep in a bouncer during the day which was a lot easier on her. As your baby gets bigger the reflux should improve.

But for us the biggest thing was medication. We were initially prescribed Zantac and found it a pain (have you tasted it yourself- its vile too!). Anyway we switched to zoton at about 7 weeks and like a different child! Much less crying and easier napping. Still a lot of spewing up. The good thing is it was only once a day medication we used to give half a tab dissolved in boiled water. I think some doctors are reluctant to prescribe it for babies. But I found it really worked much better for us than Zantac.

I remember the frustration of having a reflux baby. It's bad enough to have the normal tiredness and anxiety of a newborn but add in reflux and its heartbreaking at times. People can be very dismissive, even medical professions. But getting her onto the right medication worked for us. Hang in there it will get better as she grows.

Hobbitfeet

I would be inclined to try and find the cause of the problem and hopefully relieve the symptoms this way. I found this article on kellmom http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/reflux/