OUR REFLUX JOURNEY

Written by Diana Martins

Being a Mom with a reflux baby means it’s still clean unless there’s spit up on it.

When your baby has reflux, back up outfits are so key.

During the first three weeks of Jasmine's life, we didn't have any issues. When we fed her formula, she had some spit-ups so we thought it was the formula that was causing the issue. As a solution, we decided to breastfeed exclusively. Unfortunately around the 1-month mark, we noticed the issues with spit-up (not just the quantity and frequency) had not resolved, but it was causing obvious discomfort in our precious baby girl. 

I remember the continuous nights of holding her upright until the minute we would lay her down we could hear the milk flow back up. Our routine would be essential to hold her for half the night, and my husband would hold her for the other half of the night. I would feed her when she woke up, burp her and then pass her to my husband so I could lie down. A few times my husband would sleep on the couch until 4 AM just so I could get some rest. Jasmine was barely getting any rest – I felt powerless.

Parents of babies who suffered from reflux understand the fear of waking up to the sounds of their baby choking, to rush to their side to hold them upright. It jolts us awake in sheer panic! Heart racing! Eyes burning from lack of sleep trying to focus your vision, the feeling of stress and confusion rushes in.

I remember when she would spit up all over herself (and me!). The change of clothes was constant. When this happened, I knew it was going to be a minimum of 1.5 hours to get her back to sleep. We’ve had many nights where I was awake from 1-3 AM after all the changing and feeding. The changes were necessary, but they also really woke her up.

Our sleep was a mess. I would have to walk her to get her to sleep as an infant. Not rock or hold but walking outside in her stroller. Nursing to sleep was not an option, because of the reflux, as she would spit up inevitably. We had to feed her upon waking up always, nap by walking and then when she woke up again, I would feed her. This was our pattern.

I tried to eliminate a lot of things from my diet that Google suggested such as milk, caffeine, orange juice, tomatoes and tomato sauce – the list goes on and on. As a parent, you feel so overwhelmed with what to eat and what not to eat while also being a hungry nursing mom.  I didn’t see the results I wanted and doing so restricted whatever foods I had left that I didn’t feel the enjoyment in food that I once did.

At Jasmine’s 2-month check-up, I decided to ask about reflux medication. The doctor said that because she was gaining weight, it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t agree with this as I truly felt the quality of life was impacted and when I brought this up, our doctor agreed to give us a prescription for Omeprazole. My husband didn’t think it was working, but I did see a small improvement. We also became very consistent with giving her probiotics (BioGaia) each day.

By 3 months we weaned her off the medication as we were able to lay her down flat on her back – no spitting up! Occasionally spit-up does happen, but it felt more normal than what we saw with our other babies.

However, even almost 9 months later she does still have the rare spit-ups that require a wardrobe change but it’s not nearly as bad as it was before. Thankfully, I am still breastfeeding, and my diet isn't restricted anymore.

After we weaned her off her meds at 3 months, I started the sleep training process with her. My mantra throughout the whole process was “It gets better, it gets better, it gets better!”

My wish for all parents going through this rollercoaster is “it will get better!”

I have supported many families in sleep training after reflux has been cleared up.

To my past self:

Hey Diana, - save some time and don’t wash it unless there’s spit up on it – and that includes your hair.

Love, your future self – Diana

Disclaimer

The information presented in this blog post is my personal experience and opinion and does not constitute any health or medical advice. The content of this blog post is for informational purposes of my personal experience only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition or disease.

Diana Martins

https://dianamartins.ca