Reflux - and so the story goes on...

[midivydale]

Ladies (and gents)

We are back to reflux hell with a vengance and it is weaning that has turned out to be the cause. Poor baby ivydale is now 6mnths and has taken a turn for the worse. Weaning is proving to be a nightmare and his made his reflux so much worse (rather than being the miracle cure i was told).

As he is severly cmpi it is logical to assume that other allergies would follow and i was prepared for that. But he seems to react to most foods i give him that are supposedly safe such as banana and carrot.

Does anyone have any advice on weaning a baby with allergies.

HV told me he should be on protein such as fish by now. Yea right, the poor boy can hardly keep down baby rice.

I just dont know what is allergies and what is reflux anymore and have had no option but to stop weaning for a few days to stabilise him then start again. Then inevitably he reacts, it all flares up and we need to stop again.

I worry that he is falling behind weaning wise and that he should be eating this that and the other by now (the message i got from hv). Basically she said that i need to crack on and that he is just being fussy but i feel it is so much more to it. I know he is in pain and not just fussing. I can hear him refluxing and excema shows me that there are allergies involved.

Any tips? Are there such a thing as a dietician for weaning babies who could give me some

guidance?

I really wanted to give him a positive start with the weaning and lay strong foundations for healthy eating habits and i am lost.

Any advice and recommendations would be much appreciated.

[simonethebeaver]

You poor things. Sorry to ask an obvious question but have you seen the GP?

[Mum2be]

Same thing happening here but riley (5months) doesnt seem to be in any kind of discompfort he just cant keep anything down , we have been precribed milk called lipil from the GP and it seems to be helping although i can hear a clucking like sound in his chest that im going to get checked out he is still being sick but his putting on weight

i hope you manage to get some more help i no its really hard and sad to see them suffering not to mention the pilles of washing

i found phoneing aptimel help line quite useful

good luck

hollie

[Convex]

Hi, I'm so sorry he is still struggling. Are you seeing a specialist still from the reflux? Cold you ask to be referred to a childrens dietician via your gp?

[midivydale]

Thank you everyone! I have had some recommendations via PM's so will try and get my insurance to cover it to speed things up. Thank you so much for the PM's i received. Very reassuring and great advice. I have spoken to gp but he was locum and not very keen to refer. Have now stalked dmc until they gave me an appointment with my favourite gp which feels like winning the lottery. I have a shortlist of very helpful gp's at dmc and this one is at the top of my list. I love her and know she will listen and help with referal, she always does.

Again thank you for your recommendations of dieticians - i am on it!

In the meantime please keep any tips or advice you may have comming.

[SebsC]

Hi there. My son who is now nearly 16 months, suffered dreadfully from reflux when he was little. Feeding just became a nightmare as I used to dread seeing his little body writhing in pain. GP was so unhelpful and just prescribed baby Gaviscon which only served to give him constipation, making him even more uncomfortable. I was then given this horrid, synthetic baby formula which was so thick and gloopy it was almost impossible for him to drink and didn't seem to reduce the reflux. At the end of my tether, I went to see Lizzie Lomax, a Paediatric Cranial Osteopath at Dulwich Therapy Rooms on Lordship Lane. It was such a relief to at last have someone who really listened and didn't dismiss my worries. After working on my son, she advised me to move him on to goats milk. The change in him was instantaneous. Almost overnight, he became settled, happy and content. I appreciate that your little one has allergies which further complicates things but I would strongly recommend Lizzie for a different perspective on things. Good luck - I know full well how awful it is to see your little one in such discomfort. I hope you manage to find a way of making your son better whichever route you go down.

[midivydale]

Hi sebsc, thank you for your post. We have been to see lizzie several times who was lovely and i know she is very highly regarded and has helped many of our friends. Unfortunately in our case cranial oseopathy didnt help but then baby ivydales case is severe.

I just thought we were past the reflux days and i was so happy to embark on the weaning journey and finally being able to give him nice tasting food. He is on Neocate which is vile so i was so excited to be able to give him nice food.

Maybe i got too carried away and trying to many things in too large quantities? I have tried to stay on safe foods but he is so far reacting to everything pretty much.

I am researching and trying to read up - i will crack this.

X

[Bouncy]

You poor things.

A couple of things:

You SHOULD be referred to a hospital consultant. Mine had reflux and was referred by our GP. They can do it really easily. MAKE your GP! Similarly, a friend's baby has allergies, and was referred to St Thomas', where they have some kind of special allergy clinic. (My consultant was at Lewisham and was excellent). We were very lucky because weaning did start to 'cure' the reflux. But the fact that weaning is going as it is for you, and that your little one has reflux AND allergies means that you should definitely be seeing a hospital consultant who knows what they are talking about and is supportive. They are out there! Is it possible to self-refer?

Having said that weaning started to 'cure' things, we did have several spectacular instances when I thought the food had gone down and it came out again in unfortunate places (mega ectoplasm green sick in a restaurant was good). We also had several reversions back to just milk or just yoghurt, as late as 10 / 11 months. Until my baby was about one it felt like one step forward, two back, a lot of the time.

But this was also the case for friends with babies with no known issues. I think the linear progress through weaning presented in books, by health visitors, etc, is for many people an utterly misleading myth. By about one year, things were okay for us (mostly eating 'normal' toddler food) - but it didn't feel like that was going to be the case in the lead-up! So please don't let people mislead you with the idea that if your baby isn't progressing neatly through the rather arbitrarily prescribed stages you are somehow failing. You are certainly not!

Lastly, you would never know all the things that went on in the first year looking at my toddler now. He's bright and energetic and (mostly!) happy and eats lots! I hope that for you it will be the same. You will get through all this, however impossible it all feels at times!

[Belle]

Great post Bouncy. So true!

Midivydale - not sure if I've said this to you in the past, but weaning was tricky with T too. I'll get in touch & we can meet up and talk about it, but agree the main thing is get some specialist advice as in this case I'd suggest the HV is wrong...it's def a case of taking it slowly with the little reflux babes!