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Infant feeding

gaviscon,comfort milk and constipation

8 replies

BecAndAlex · 24/02/2013 17:42

okay, so after many weeks of fussy feeding, colic remedies, comfort milk and colief on prescription for suspected lactose intolerance (secondary), i found myself back at the gp as DD (11wks old) was still getting worked up and showing discomfort during feeding. She suspected silent reflux and prescribed gaviscon. I have been using it with the comfort milk (gp said this was fine) and have seen an improvement. However, now I have another problem.....constipation!!!! I have been giving dd cool boiled water between feeds (arond 70ms) but havent seen any effect yet....she has only been on gaviscon for 3 days!!! I tried feeding her today without the gaviscon in some of her bottles and she has fussed again. I was told by a friend that gaviscon and comfort milk is too thick hence the constipation, but comfort milk is meant to help constipation so noy sure what to do.

I seem to have swapped one problem for another an now dd is still uncomfortable!! Has anyone got similar experiences and what did you do???

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Amelia0 · 24/02/2013 18:12

My baby didnt poo for 3 days when she was on gaviscon and it caused her so much pain. I stopped giving it her and got renitadine and domperidone instead but I think they can only be used if reflux is severe? Not sure.

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katiecubs · 24/02/2013 18:35

Yes I had this with DS - Gaviscon made his poo solid like play-doh. He screamed for a couple of days trying to push them out and then got used to it and it was fine.

We found Gaviacon mixed with comfort milk really helped with his reflux. Hope it works for you too.

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BecAndAlex · 24/02/2013 18:46

Thanks Katiecubs. Did his poo remain like play-doh though or did they get softer. She has poohed 3 times today and all like play-doh, but she was very distessed getting them out. Before gaviscon her pooh was very watery.

Don't want to stop the gaviscon if it is helping make feeds comfortable, but equally don't want to continue giving her something that could potentially cause another longer term discomfort. I have decided I may leave the gaviscon out of her morning bottle as she always seemed okay on that one and see if that helps. Everytime I think I have found the answer something else comes up......arghh!!!!

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bonzo77 · 24/02/2013 19:11

We had the same. The poo situation improved after a couple of weeks. In the mean time I gave prune juice via syringe, 2ml each feed.

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Amelia0 · 24/02/2013 19:32

Sorry just remembered: When we had that problem, the GP advised that we only give half a sachet/dose (didnt work for us). You could see if that helps.

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bettybyebye · 25/02/2013 15:16

Are you putting gaviscon in every bottle? If so might be worth trying to only use it in very other bottle. I have been doing this for my DS for the last 5 weeks - GP said to only use it in every other. It has helped with the reflux and he's had no problems with constipation.

Good luck, it's so frustrating trying to work out the right solution but hopefully things should improve quickly when you do.

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katiecubs · 25/02/2013 15:26

The poo stayed like that, maybe fot a little softer but definitely still solid. DS really didn't mind though and totally got used to it after a few days.

One other positive was the nappies were so much easier to clean. No more exploding poos!

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BecAndAlex · 25/02/2013 20:13

Thanks, she has poohed about 3 times today but straining a lot. They are all quite solid. She strained so hard this afternoon that she was sick and it all came out of her nose bless her. She did get a pooh out though.

HV said to give 2 t spoons of orange in 1 oz of water, so will see if that works. If not will try prune juice, but HV said she wouldn't recommend it...Don't know why?

I tried doing every other feed today, but she really fussed. Hopefully I'll find a solution that works, or DD will just get used to working harder when pooing....bless her.

Thanks for the input x

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