Reflux Tricks and tips

My god send was a rocker that had a step incline. He lived in that when he was little.

We also side slept, tightly wrapped & in a sleep wedge.

We didn't have a spilly reflux baby & wasn't diagnosed til 12 months so it's interesting to read your list.

Elevate change table, and have a tri pillow for baby to lie on so they not lying flat when playing.

Tummy sleeping. Secure warpping to sleep.

Baby wearing- so wish I had known about this with my first. Aiden would fall straight to sleep as soon as I wrpaped him to me.

If needing to administer meds, use a large size medicine dropper available for a around $3 from chemists. You can suck the meication up into in, slie it down the inside of baby's cheek and slowly administer- much easier than other methods!

They dont need to lie flat on the floor to have tummy time, they can still be on an angle- use a try pillow, or you lie reclined on a tri pillow and have baby on you chest looking up at you, still tummy time without ling flat!

www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz

Cool... so Ive added these to the list... keep them coming.... copy paste.

General all the time tips

Kids Calm This is the best, I wish Id found it earlier. We use it in the night, or if he is refluxy... works a treat! Its chamomile tincture, and tastes yummy, like blackcurrent. Its really soothing on the throat, and has really calming effects both on the nerves and the digestive system. Awesome stuff!

-Raising the cot- head end

-Avoid tight elastic round the waist, go for drawstring, or foldover soft elastic. I used to snip the elastic in pants. Too constricting for a sore tum.

-Lavender essential oil in a nice deep bath with
DP or me. Calming effect, helps sleep.

-Baby carriers... I wish we had discovered the ergo carrier earlier too... The only carrier he has ever slept in, and I could have him on my back, so could do stuff!! amazing.

-Badjelly the Witch DVD. We dont watch tv or let Locks watch stuff, actually he isnt interested anyways... BUT- Bad Jelly the Witch was amazing, its really cool, great music, not patronising, and he zoned out to it.... which allowed time to make his dinner/have a cuppa etc. A saviour.

-The car was a godsend for sleep (for him) and distraction (for us both).

-Dont let them CIO. I say this not because I dont agree with the method (I dont like CIO personally), thats a personal thing, but purely because if you do, itll only get worse. They get more refluxy which will either result in more shrill screams and more acid burning the throat, or they will throwup everywhere and you then need to clean it up. In the long run its just much easier and nicer for everyone to just put them in a carrier or snuggle with them on a comfy chair or in bed then slip them into the cot when theyre asleep- hopefully.

-music does work as a distraction. Something for them to focus on thats not a sore tummy.

-Thickened formula, if you’re FF. Or perhaps a thickener for after BF? I don’t have exp with BF.

-If FF- Getting the right bottle/teet is essential. We tried most of them and ended up using the Avent ones as they have a vent system which minimizes air being swallowed.

-god send was a rocker that had a step incline. He lived in that when he was little.

-In the first few weeks we did a lot of co-sleeping, which allowed DS to feed off me whenever he needed. This seemed to be the only thing that helped calm him for a long time. He just wouldn't sleep anywhere but on me for ages.

-Tummy sleeping. (not everyones cup of tea I know, but when I finally got him to sleep in the cot or in my bed this was the only position he would actually stay asleep in - I did only ever do it for day sleeps and constantly checked on him).

-Small feeds frequently (if BF). I would feed him when he woke, feed him again about 30mins later and then again before going to bed.

-Dairy free diet when BF (this has been our saviour).

-Keep him upright for 10mins or so after a feed or keep holding him in the BF position (generally just not in a horizontal position and definately not on his tummy). In fact, we generally on did 5mins (at the most) of tummy time playing a day. He hated it and would scream after 10sec of being layed on his tum to play.

(I found 40 min after a feed for us was about right)

-Elevate change table, and have a tri pillow for baby to lie on so they not lying flat when playing.

-Tummy sleeping. Secure warpping to sleep.

-Baby wearing- so wish I had known about this with my first. Aiden would fall straight to sleep as soon as I wrpaped him to me.

-If needing to administer meds, use a large size medicine dropper available for a around $3 from chemists. You can suck the meication up into in, slie it down the inside of baby's cheek and slowly administer- much easier than other methods!

-Or if FF, we used a teet. Sucked a bit of the formula into the serynge after measuring, then gave it to him from the teet. hed suck it back before he knew it was laced! lol

-They dont need to lie flat on the floor to have tummy time, they can still be on an angle- use a try pillow, or you lie reclined on a tri pillow and have baby on you chest looking up at you, still tummy time without ling flat!

Helpful Websites:
-www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz
-RISA Reflux Infant Support Ass http://www.reflux.org.au/


When weaning/weaned

- Millet porridge is the least reactive and non acid forming nutritious food.... mixed with pear and some cinnamon. We still start the day with it.

-Pears are the first fruit to try due to their least reactive nature.

-Avoid the high allergy foods, wheat, egg, dairy etc.

-Apples were a big no go for us. It seems to vary from child to child, what triggers it. For us we have pretty much stuck to pears.

-We weaned early (4 months) as solids were much much better for Locks. The weight of the food made it stay down, he seemed much happier on it. Thicker the better. We thickened anything with farex.

-Water sips only between meals, not too much at mealtime, it dilutes the stomach juices and makes things more swishy... and more prone to reflux.

-Once we'd started a balanced nutritional diet, we cut right back on formula (we didnt BF). At 12months he was down to 1 scoop in 100ml twice per day. Obviously this is something you wanna check with your doc etc, but we found it helped HEAPS for us. He was drinking water in the day, and he didnt need the nutrition from the milk anymore, its just a comfort. Ideally we'd get rid of the formula fullstop. He was a great eater (scary really) We tried Rice milk, which he loved, but it went straight through him!

-Spices. In the food as soon as possible introduce small amounts of ground up fennel (esp), or ginger or cinnamon or mild curry powders.... it may sound backwards, but spices (not chilli-stay away from that!) are actually really good for the digestion. Not too much, just small amounts.

-Corn Cruskits!!!!!!

Edited by KitKat

the losac should be stoping it, not the spilling but the pain... if not then is it not enough, am on my second reflux baby but amelia was the first and she was the chucker hehehe could get across the room some days, dont know how she grew so big! but the losac stopped the pain, her valve was not developed, she had the barrem swallow. I still gave her gaviscon on bad days as it was an instant pain stop, is this not the done thing anymore? jack has silent and i had no idea till he was 14mths old and biopsy so severe damage he is on losac and we also give him gaviscon when he is having a burny day. good luck with the feeding, sounds like you are gettng there and doing a great job, great those exersaucers for puky babies and the little often feeds worked for me too, keep it up it will get better xoxo

Thanks ladies, will look for that millet porridge/cereal in the supermarket next time I'm there AandCsmum.

The losec has stopped the pain drumstx, but we still have our days and have to be careful with certain things. I stick to a certain routine with feeding and playing to make sure the reflux doesn't take over and ruin the day. It seems when ever she is sick or just having a slightly off day she will still have the attacks and cannot go a day with out the losec. It's given first thing in the morning otherwise things get bad.

Another thing I learnt today. Beans are reflux culprits.

No wonder C avoids them like the plague!