Possetting at night wakes baby

[Ummah]

Hello,

I am hoping someone can help me out. I have a lovely but very sicky baby boy. He is 13 weeks old today and is still continuing to bring his milk up ALOT with no signs of slowing down. I would describe him as a "happy puker", he does not appear to be in discomfort or pain, seems entirely unfazed by it even though alot comes out often with force.

During the day, its an inconvenience but manageable. However the night is a problem! He is constantly bringing back his milk in the night and this wakes him up (and me). He is then not able to soothe himself back to sleep and either wants to feed again or be rocked to sleep. I hold him upright for at least 30 minutes after each night feed and make sure he is winded, but often as soon as I lay him on his back that's it the milk comes up and he is awake again! The resettling takes ages and he wants to suckle to sleep each time (he is ebf). Sometimes we get lucky and manage to lay him down, but an hour or two later he will bring up milk and consequently wake up again.

I am not sleeping in more than 2 hour bursts at the moment and its starting to get me down. Sometimes he wakes after an hour from last feed. I just wish he would not bring up his milk during the night so that we both could sleep a bit longer between feeds! I have tried given one sachet of infant gaviscon before sleep, which does seem to help keep it down for a while during the beginning of the night and he also sleeps on an incline.

Had anyone experienced this? And does anyone have any bright ideas or is this something that we just have to wait out while his digestive system matures? I have so many other questions regarding his sleep but will start with this one for now!

Thank you in advance,
Ummah

[Lindsay27]

It absolutely sounds like your LO has reflux - I would book and appointment with your doctor ASAP as there are several medications that can be prescribed for this that can help and will greatly reduce symptoms. 

I have so many other questions regarding his sleep but will start with this one for now!

Yes, first things first   The best thing for now is to get the reflux controlled and then we can help establish a routine etc.

Here is some great information to look over in the meantime:
Reflux 101 - General reflux information
Doctors and reflux - Things to keep in mind
Approach to treating and investigating Reflux

[Ummah]

Thank you for your reply Lindsay.

We did take him to the GP a while back who suggested reflux when I told him that our son brings up milk no matter how much time has elapsed since his last feed and he prescribed infant gaviscon for us with a recommendation we try 2 sachets per day to begin with and to increase if necessary. The thing is, I know all babies reflux to an extent and he does have a few symptoms from the "reflux 101" list,  however I am not convinced our baby has true acid reflux as he is not in pain, nor does he cry inconsolably. He is also growing and gaining weight so I am reluctant to up the gaviscon dose or go back and get something stronger.

I have been on a dairy free diet for 2 weeks and have not seen any decrease in the amount of milk he brings up so I think I can rule out intolerance to cows milk protein. My gut feeling is that he has no medical condition and he is just a "happy puker".  Or do others think otherwise if he continues to bring up milk throughout the night and wakes up between every 1.5-2hrs?

[Lolly]

I would use the full dose of gaviscon at night to be honest.

Infant gaviscon isn't a med like the adult stuff, it isn't absorbed by the body. It's a stomach stabiliser and it separates from the milk to create a "raft" which stops the stomach contents being refluxed up. It just passes through the digestive system so the side effect can be constipation as it can turn their poo to a play doh consistency.

If you are happy with the laundry during the day it's fine, but as it is disturbing his sleep it would be worth using at night. You are right to think that as he's not in pain you don't need meds and it is normal for most babies to have a degree of reflux. Neither of mine responded to infant gaviscon, they needed meds, gaviscon is horrible stuff but much less invasive than meds!

Laura

[lolsyb1982]

Whilst I agree that he is a happy puker and can understand your reluctance to get any stronger meds it is affecting his sleep and he's not going to be well rested if he's waking so often so I would probably get something else if it were me.

Have you tried elevating his mattress?

[Ummah]

Thanks ladies,

Neither elevating mattress nor a wedge under sheet made any difference. We just keep him flat now because he moves around so much while asleep, he was rolling over onto his face. He spends part of the night flat on his back and part of it laid propped up on my shoulder after a feed. Thats his favourite position and he sleeps peacefully, unfortunately we have created a bad sleep habit because we struggle to put him down on his back for daytime naps.

So i will up the gaviscon to at least 2 sachets per night, possibly 3. I was avoiding giving the full dose of 6 sachets for fear of constipation and kidney damage due to its high sodium content.

I thought by three months his sick up and startle reflex would settle down and he would sleep peacefully and for longer stretches...no such luck!

[Lolly]

Giving the full dosage on the box in 24 hours is fine, they have to put the warnings, but if that level was an issue it would be lower IYSWIM.

With the mattress elevating we found the best way was to put the wedge under the mattress and then we created a "nest" to stop them rolling. I did it by putting rolled towels into a 'U' shape so it went from armpit to armpit with their feet in the bottom of the U shape. I put a fitted sheet on the mattress, then placed the towels and secured them with a flat sheet tucked over the towels and under the mattress sides and pushed down in the middle of the U. It worked well to keep them in place and if the rolled the towels were well below face level.

I think though that even though he is happy and gaining weight (as both mine were) if you can't lie him down flat and he won't sleep in that position then that really is a sign that it's more than just bringing up milk.

Give the gaviscon a go at the dose he is allowed to have and if it's not making a difference then I would go back to to Dr. Given they have prescribed the gaviscon they would be unlikely to look further without you giving it  good go.

Laura