mummies with babies with GERD (reflux)

[uddermummy]

hello hello... wow midnight mummy club? been reading your postings.. my baby pukes a lot too.. and i mean a lot! and the merlion thingy its a routine every afternoon.. i'm also wondering wats wrong with her.. but she is putting on weight .. and LOTS of weight too... and no pain.. but she just keep puking even hours after feed... mummy and baby like doing fashion show the whole day....i ;m wondering if shes too greedy and drink too much??

epicurean hows your baby? hey wats your babies names btw? mine is netanya....

mine's ****. I hope she grows up pretty so that she can model to earn her school fees! hahaha

I bring extra clothes only for dd. For myself, I just stare at whoever stares at the wet patches on my clothes... :tlaugh:
I try not to change so much cos can die from doing the laundry!

 

[uddermummy]

hey i like the name sebastien..... my baby name actually lots ppl complain doesnt sounds nice but its actually the meaning that made me chose it... its a hebrew name bear meaning... Gift of God. I pray sebastien will be HAPPY EVERYDAY!!!! hope you'll have a sweet night tonight!!

what's wrong with netanya? It's nice and sounds unusual!

 

[uddermummy]

hihi.. i m new in mummysg.. i would lyk to ask you.. reflux and colic gt what difference? hw cum baby so small hab to encounter so painful experience?

colic is usually limited to the evenings, whereas reflux can strike at all times of the day.

bbs have reflux cos there's a flap at the top of the stomach that is still not v strong so food comes up v easily.

usually, it gets better when bb is older, but some have it even when they are adults!

 

[epicurean]

I pray sebastien will be HAPPY EVERYDAY!!!! hope you'll have a sweet night tonight!!

jojoki,
Thanks! Sebastien's in a good mood today ... didn't want to take his usual early afternoon nap, wanted to play instead.

Btw, how come vom'd breast milk is oily?

 

[jojoki]

not oily meh? oily leh like .... i also dunno y? but bm suppose to be fatty anyway huh? haha watever issit its making my bb fat!! hey epicurean.. do u take sebastien to any play sessions? i mean do u socialize him with other kids? or expose him to play,music eg kindermusik sort of stuffs? I'm just curious..whether it would help him? playgroups? Sorry i dun expect him to jump around sort of stuffs but listening to stories, maybe watching puppet plays, getting massages while listening to nice music..? is there like support group for mummies with special angels like sebas? like some really nice activities that is specially tailored to make special angels have fun n be happy?

 

[jojoki]

what's wrong with netanya? It's nice and sounds unusual!

thank thanks.. i like eva too. Well lets hope ur lil girl grow up n look like EVA LONGORIA... stunning woman!!!

 

[epicurean]

i think i'm used to the lack of sleep...

yeah, laundry sometimes will have that stale milk smell when we dont't wash it properly.

Where to get baking soda? the normal type for baking? Are you using a toploader or front loader? Must figure out how to stop the machine during the rinse cycle.

I'm using country wash and napisan, and most of the times they work quite well.

uddermummy,
Yeah, sleep deprivation is a cornerstone of parenthood! :001_302:

Can get baking soda from supermarkets (Sheng Siong, NTUC). I found it in the cleaning/detergent section after failing to locate it in the baking stuff section. Dunno if it's used in baking coz my baking skills are non-existent

My washing machine is a top-loader. Our baby laundry SOP is (yeah, it's that much baby laundry that we do!)
1. Wet the milk-stained piece of clothing and scrub out milk stain gently (dunno why but wetting it makes the stain comes out easily when we use those plastic scrub thingy)
2. After hand-rinsing once, laundry goes into washing machine with baby laundry detergent
3. During rinse cycle, we add 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda (depending if it's a large load that day)

It all comes out smelling fresh! Even on days when there's not much sunshine to sun the clothes. When he voms in his stroller, I use dissolved baking soda to wipe it down to get rid of the smell coz don't want it to linger around.

Whatever that works for you

 

[epicurean]

do you take sebastien to any play sessions? i mean do you socialize him with other kids? or expose him to play,music eg kindermusik sort of stuffs? I'm just curious..whether it would help him? playgroups? Sorry i dont expect him to jump around sort of stuffs but listening to stories, maybe watching puppet plays, getting massages while listening to nice music..? is there like support group for mummies with special angels like sebas? like some really nice activities that is specially tailored to make special angels have fun and be happy?

jojoki,
Nope Seb's not in any playgroup. Partly coz he's not vaccinated except for BCG and his immune system isn't that strong. He caught a few viral infections with fever ... fever's a particular concern coz fevers lower the seizure threshold. He has ongoing sub-clincial seizures (ie. the seizures are not manifested physically but can be seen in his brain wave activity). His med keeps them from breaking thru the threshold.

The other reason is that his level of responsiveness is erratic & inconsistent so it's better for him to have personalised attention & specific stimulus that varies, depending on his condition, mood and responsiveness that day. It's a bit like going with the flow with him ... what got a response from him today may not get response tomorrow. His one-on-one physio has been good for him coz of all these reasons.

I haven't heard of any playgroups for special needs children. But then again, special needs children come from a very wide spectrum of conditions so it could be challenging to establish playgroups. That's my theory anyway

 

[Angelmum]

.. reflux and colic gt what difference?

Colic
Colic can be defined as uncontrollable, extended crying in babies who are otherwise healthy and well-fed. All babies cry, but when they cry for more than three hours a day, three to four days a week, they are said to have colic.

Symptoms of Colic
The main symptom is continuous crying for long periods of time. This crying can occur at any time of day but it usually gets worse at night. It’s not believed that colic is caused by pain although a colicky baby may look uncomfortable or appear to be in pain. They may lift their head, draw their legs up to their abdomen, pass gas and become red-faced. Poor sleep habits is also common.


Reflux
The term reflux is a shorter way of referring to GER (Gastro Esophageal Reflux) and is simply defined as the backward flow of stomach contents up the esophagus. GER is a physiological process that happens to everyone—young and old—from time to time, particularly after meals and many times we are not even aware it is happening. In babies it generally occurs from immaturity of the LES (Lower Esophageal Sphincter) which is the muscle between the stomach and esophagus.

Some common symptoms of uncomplicated reflux can include:

• constant or sudden crying or colic like symptoms
• irritability and pain
• poor sleep habits typically with frequent waking
• arching their necks and back during or after eating spitting- up or vomiting
• wet burp or frequent hiccups
• frequent ear infections or sinus congestionYour child does not need to exhibit all of these symptoms, in fact, only having one of the above could mean they have reflux. It does not; however, mean they need treatment. If your child is showing one or more of the above symptoms but is otherwise happy and healthy then some simple lifestyle modifications will likely make life better until they outgrow it.

GERD
In contrast, GER (Gastro Esophageal Reflux) is referred to as GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease) when complications arise. GERD is a pathological process and the complications can be typical (failure to thrive, feeding and oral aversions, esophagitis, etc) or atypical (wheezing, pneumonia, chronic sinusitis, etc). Patients with GERD have complications arising from their GER that necessitate medical intervention. GERD is also referred to as “Pathogenic GER”. It is estimated that approximately one in three hundred children will present symptoms of GERD and is more common in children with neurological impairments.

Symptoms indicative of Reflux Disease or GERD:

• areefusing food or accepting only a few bites despite being hungry or the exact opposite requiring constant
• small meals or liquid
• food/oral aversions
• anemia
• excessive drooling
• running nose, sinus infections
• swallowing problems, gagging, choking
• chronic hoarse voice
• frequent red, sore throat without infection present
• apnea
• chronic ear infections
• respiratory problems—pneumonia, bronchitis, wheezing, asthma, night-time cough, aspiration
• gagging themselves with their fingers or fist (sign of esophagitis)
• poor weight gain, weight loss, failure to thrive
• erosion of dental enamel
• neck arching (Sandifer’s Syndrome)
• bad breath

 

[Angelmum]

uddermummy,
Yeah, sleep deprivation is a cornerstone of parenthood! :001_302:

Felt we, special needs parents are more deprived!
Normal child will soon 'wean' off but we either got long way to go or it became part of our lives.

 

[epicurean]

Felt we, special needs parents are more deprived!
Normal child will soon 'wean' off but we either got long way to go or it became part of our lives.

angelmum,
Yeah, my bb still isn't sleeping thru' the night ... actually if he sleeps for 4-5 hours straight, I'm already thrilled! But I remain hopeful Coz there've been nights that he slept much longer. So the crusade to help him sleep better & longer continues ...

 

[paigemummy]

Hi epicurean,

how old is sebastien now?

i understand what you mean abt not having them go to playgroups, etc.. in fear of contracting more germs which worsens the symptoms of gerd. everyone else keeps thinking that i'm overprotective and not wanting to expose paige to external stimuli, pple and kids.. They can't understand the difficulty of raising a child with gerd and the many constraints we have.. it's not easy huh.

btw, paige has been on zantac for 4 days now... its doing her good and she seem happier too. i'm happy to see good response to zantac.

i wanted to ask you how long has sebastien been on zantac? how long did Dr Aw say she intend to put him on zantac? cos i've only been to one consultation with Dr Aw so far, so i'm not sure what comes after this course of zantac (3 wks before our next appt).

thanks again for everyone's sharing... it certainly makes our load lighter to bear!

 

[epicurean]

Hello paigemummy,

Yeah, as mummies of gerdlings, we got a lot more factors to consider when it comes to activities for our little ones. Seb also has a lot of barang-barang for his playtime coz we're teaching him to rewire his brain-body connections ... makes it challenging to lug them to play-groups.

So glad to hear that zantac is working well for Paige ancing_wub:
The easing of pain is always a sure sign that the med is suitable & effective. Seb is coming to 14 months old and he's been on zantac since around 4 months.

Dr Aw's take is that if his weight increases and his dosage stays the same and he's ok, it's a sign that he's ready for med to be reduced. But if weight goes up and he shows signs of GERD getting to him (pain, extreme sour'sh vom, merlion etc), then we need to up the dose in porportion to new weight. So he still needs to continue zantac to keep GERD under control.

Dr Aw usually only recommends other courses of action if zantac isn't working. At a really bad point when Seb was losing weight, she explored with us doing a few things to determine the extent of his GERD and to intervene.
1. ph probe to see the level of acidity in his tummy
2. barium scan to check for any anatomical deformities that are contributing to GERD
3. changing zantac (acid reducer) to omerprazole (acid blocker)
4. combine zantac with domperidone (motility drug to move food faster thru' his gut so less to vom)
5. fundoplication - surgery to close the opening flap of his tummy

Seb started to gain weight after that consultation so she was quite happy to shelve those suggestions. She'll put him on zantac as long as his GERD is around and she has warned us that it'll be around for a long time as his stiff muscles also reflect stiff muscles on the inside, affecting his ability to close his tummy properly.

 

[uddermummy]

Dr Aw really sounds like she knows what she's doing.

Her plan for GERD really is sensible and reasurring. I tried asking Prof Quek how long dd's going to be on meds and he just told me she had to be on them for a long time.

I really can't wait to see Dr Aw. I'm quite worried about the omeprazole cos dd seems to be fussier and in more pain towards the evening time than she was before.

But I don't dare to stop the meds now cos I'm worried abt the backlash.

 

[paigemummy]

hi epicurean,

thanks for your very insightful reply.. i can see you are very thoroughly researched and are meticulous in your observations as well.. i cant imagine your challenge of having to help seb to get better each day.. you are a great mum, truly.

paige was doing well on zantac but the last 2 days, she started to throw up a little again... should i be worried or is it normal still to throw up even on zantac. i was a little discouraged and start to wonder if the medication is helping after all. she's been on it now for a week exactly.

hang in there, all of us!

 

[jojoki]

fyi

GD Baby's Programs (S) Pte Ltd

 

[uddermummy]

hi epicurean,

thanks for your very insightful reply.. i can see you are very thoroughly researched and are meticulous in your observations as well.. i cant imagine your challenge of having to help seb to get better each day.. you are a great mum, truly.

paige was doing well on zantac but the last 2 days, she started to throw up a little again... should i be worried or is it normal still to throw up even on zantac. i was a little discouraged and start to wonder if the medication is helping after all. she's been on it now for a week exactly.

hang in there, all of us!

hi paigemummy,

meds like zantac won't stop the spit up cos they only help to reduce the acid. I think to stop the spit up, we have to observe things like burping thoroughly, letting bb sit upright etc.

 

[epicurean]

fyi

good Baby's Programs (S) Pte Ltd

Hi jojoki,
Thanks for surfacing the programme but I think I should highlight that the GD programme of patterning is not approved by the American Association of Paeds. In fact, they're highly critical of it, finding it harmful in the way the exercises are imposed on brain-damaged babies and that the facilitators question the adequacy & motivation of parents if parents choose to withdraw from the programme. The programme actually advocates putting a plastic bag over the baby's head to make him/her take in more oxygen!

 

[epicurean]

paige was doing well on zantac but the last 2 days, she started to throw up a little again... should i be worried or is it normal still to throw up even on zantac. i was a little discouraged and start to wonder if the medication is helping after all. she's been on it now for a week exactly.

hang in there, all of us!

Hi paigemummy,
You're welcome

uddermummy is right ... zantac doesn't stop or prevent vom directly. It allows the esophageus to heal and to strengthen itself to close the tummy opening by reducing the amount of acid produced, hence amount of acid that spills over into the esophageus during vom.

Is your dd in pain when she throws up? If not, then zantac is working and you can try to avoid or minimise vom by positioning herself in ways that do not put pressure on her tummy as well as avoiding sudden, jerky movements post-feed. If my bb poops within an hour of his post-feed, we won't put him on the diaper table to change him. Instead, one person would clean him while the other person continues to carry him upright. It's somewhat of a balancing act but it avoids triggering vom!

 

[epicurean]

Hi jojoki,
Thanks for surfacing the programme but I think I should highlight that the good programme of patterning is not approved by the American Association of Paeds. In fact, they're highly critical of it, finding it harmful in the way the exercises are imposed on brain-damaged babies and that the facilitators question the adequacy & motivation of parents if parents choose to withdraw from the programme. The programme actually advocates putting a plastic bag over the baby's head to make him/her take in more oxygen!

Sorry! I meant to type GD programme but it appeared as good programme instead