How are you coping with reflux?

[JoEngland]

I'm doing all of the things I told myself I'd work hard to avoid. Our pediatrician prescribed Prevacid for Cooper's reflux, but I'm hesitant to use it. But every time he breastfeeds he's arching his back in pain and screaming at times. It really hurts my heart.

Right now I'm also dealing with milk supply issues and tongue tie, so we're running on fumes here. 

I guess I just want to see if I'm not the only one with a problem baby. :(

[greenmama66]

No reflux here but my baby did have tongue tie and i had it snipped when he was 4 days old- i suggest snipping as it does create pain nursing and can affect weight gain etc;

[AnnieA]

DD was born w/a CHD so she has to take 1/4 of a baby aspirin daily. That combined with reflux created a very unhappy baby. We're doing the liquid meds that the doc prescribed and it's made a big difference.

[stellabluz]

oooh no suggestions, but that has got to be so hard for you ALL. I would feel reluctant to medicate, have you visited the breastfeeding forums here? There seems to be a lot of good things to learn there...hope you and him get some relief soon, that has got to be rough.

[mugglesmom]

Have you thought about eliminating wheat and dairy for a week or so to see if that makes any difference?  I did that about 2 weeks ago as a last resort.  Fosston was crying (screaming) all the time and arching his back.  It seems to have helped, I noticed a difference after a few days.  I feel your pain, this is one of the many problems I've had with breastfeeding since my c/s.  Yes I like to blame everything on the c/s

I also had a low supply in the beginning because he had such a bad latch.  I've been taking fennel oil about 3 drops a few times a day.  It tastes like shots of Jagermeister but it helped!

[JoEngland]

Originally Posted by mugglesmom 

Have you thought about eliminating wheat and dairy for a week or so to see if that makes any difference?  I did that about 2 weeks ago as a last resort.  Fosston was crying (screaming) all the time and arching his back.  It seems to have helped, I noticed a difference after a few days.  I feel your pain, this is one of the many problems I've had with breastfeeding since my c/s.  Yes I like to blame everything on the c/s

I also had a low supply in the beginning because he had such a bad latch.  I've been taking fennel oil about 3 drops a few times a day.  It tastes like shots of Jagermeister but it helped!

I've already eliminated dairy and soy, but not wheat yet. I'm in wait-and-see mode for that.

I saw a Lactation Consultant yesterday and she recommended Motherlove's More Milk Plus herbal tonic. It's got fenugreek, blessed thistle, nettle, and fennel, but tastes more like moldy butt and less like Jagermeister.

I'm waiting for the LC to send me a referral to get his frenulum clipped. He also has a crazy high palate.

Oh, and I'm totally blaming the low supply issues on my C/S. :(
 

[greenmama66]

Yeah- good idea to ditch wheat but gluten is still present in non wheat grains as well. Soy and dairy- great idea to ditch as well, i think dairy creates a lot of issues for most people, same with gluten and non traditional soy.

I had breast surgery a few years back and was afraid I wouldn't have enough milk this time around so have been using More Milk plus special blend and Go Lacta . http://www.golacta.com/

Go-Lacta is a plant-based supplement that has scientifically shown to increase mom’s breast milk supply. Mothers who ate Malunggay produced almost 200% more milk than mothers who didn’t.

Both are working because i have a ton of milk and am having letdowns every hour when he doesn't nurse and he's gained 4 pounds since birth.

[mugglesmom]

Holy crap!  3 pounds??  My guy was 9 lbs at birth and is just now at 5 weeks 2 days 9lbs 12oz.  Granted he was down to 8;bs 5oz 3 days after birth and had a hard time gaining because of all the breastfeeding issues but 3 pounds?  I'm getting that stuff right now! 

You're right about the gluten, I've found gluten in a few things I thought were safe so now I have to read all ingredients to make sure it's wheat gluten and dairy free.  eating pretty much sucks for me these days I have to admit but he's a lot more mellow.  Not completely easy, but I think that has to do with his personality.  Mom and Dad aren't exactly easygoing people so I don't know why I expect him to be.

JoEngland-glad I'm not the only one blaming the c/s for everything. I hope I start to feel better about it someday but right now I'm just bitter and angry about it. grrrr.

 

Originally Posted by greenmama66 

Yeah- good idea to ditch wheat but gluten is still present in non wheat grains as well. Soy and dairy- great idea to ditch as well, i think dairy creates a lot of issues for most people, same with gluten and non traditional soy.

I had breast surgery a few years back and was afraid I wouldn't have enough milk this time around so have been using More Milk plus special blend and Go Lacta . http://www.golacta.com/

Go-Lacta is a plant-based supplement that has scientifically shown to increase mom’s breast milk supply. Mothers who ate Malunggay produced almost 200% more milk than mothers who didn’t.

Both are working because i have a ton of milk and am having letdowns every hour when he doesn't nurse and he's gained 4 pounds since birth.

[greenmama66]

He weighed 8.9 at birth before the huge mec incident- went down to 8 so we recorded him as weighing 8 pounds. But by a week he had gown down to 7 .2 and that worried me because he was the first of my babies to lose weight after birth ( last 3 single babies weighed between 6.14 and 7.3 at birth) and by 5-6 weeks were 12 pounds and over so it had me concerned.

At 2 weeks he was 8.4 pounds and then over 9 pounds by 3 weeks and week four he had gained  almost 2 pounds in a week which put him at almost 11 pounds but it's been a week since i weighed him and he turned 5 weeks yesterday so if i really do the math he's gained around 5 pounds since birth which is normal for my babies. Have to go back to lactation consults scale and weigh him but both those products have worked well for me. I notice if i skip a day supply is not as abundant.

Also being gluten/dairy free gets easier with time- I have been gluten free for years (and only eat goat dairy when I'm pregnant) and I've never looked back (but I also have autoimmune Hashimoto's so have to be gluten/dairy free as well as grain free although I've been cheating and eating some non gluten treats I make). There are so many great books, cookbooks, websites/resources these days and it helps if the entire family is on board as well so there's nothing in the house that gets cross contaminated etc;

Glad to hear baby is more mellow- I do think gluten free/dairy free babies are mellow (and of course tweaking other things that may cause intestinal distress for little one's).

Edited by greenmama66 - 8/28/11 at 10:35am

[JoEngland]

Originally Posted by greenmama66 

Yeah- good idea to ditch wheat but gluten is still present in non wheat grains as well. Soy and dairy- great idea to ditch as well, i think dairy creates a lot of issues for most people, same with gluten and non traditional soy.

I had breast surgery a few years back and was afraid I wouldn't have enough milk this time around so have been using More Milk plus special blend and Go Lacta . http://www.golacta.com/

Go-Lacta is a plant-based supplement that has scientifically shown to increase mom’s breast milk supply. Mothers who ate Malunggay produced almost 200% more milk than mothers who didn’t.

Both are working because i have a ton of milk and am having letdowns every hour when he doesn't nurse and he's gained 4 pounds since birth.

My boy has been slow to gain due to breastfeeding issues, so I'm definitely going to look into that supplement!

[greenmama66]

Originally Posted by JoEngland 

My boy has been slow to gain due to breastfeeding issues, so I'm definitely going to look into that supplement!

I'm not sure if it's the Go Lacta or the Motherlove Mother's milk special blend  combo of both (reason I like special blend over the More milk plus is that it contains goat's rue which stimulates a letdown and the combo of blessed thistle and goat's rue is very effective IMO- we used to suggest it to mom's back when I was an LLL leader).

Oh and am also drinking Wishgarden's loose leaf lactation tea too daily!

[Curlyfry7]

I also have a "problem" baby, lol. This is my 3rd baby w/ reflux, and 2nd (that I know of-maybe #1 had it too) with a posterior tongue tie. So far I have cut dairy, might have seen some improvement so far. I had to cut soy as well w/my last one, including soybean oil and soy lecithin, which was super hard, and it took about 6 weeks to have an improvement. I am hoping to not have to cut soy this time.

I am using prevacid, and did with the other 2. I had a friend who had some reflux and said she thought she was having a heart attack it hurt so bad. Although i'd love to not give any meds, for that much pain I will. Maddox screamed and arched his back for 5 hour episodes before we started it. Now even when he has a flare-up it's usually only about 30 minutes at a time.

Good luck-I know it's hard!!!

[matty02]

I decided to use the medication. I have over active let down and over supply. I did a lot of the things suggested on kellysmom.com for over supply and that has helped. I block feed, cut out dairy, nurse with baby up higher to lesson flow etc. In the end I realized that this baby is a gulper and since I can't get her to nurse without gulping air I can help her tummy feel better. The medication is helping and I know she won't be on it forever. I think as moms we get a feel for when our babies truly need medication and if your little one does don't feel bad. 

[gardenofsimple]

We decided to go ahead and do meds for reflux. We were all miserable and for about a month being his mama was no fun. I hated every second he was awake cause he just screamed.

The meds have helped a lot, I've also cut out dairy (very sadly).