How I Cured My Baby's Reflux: Sophie's Story
Imagine being able to turn even the most traumatic reflux experience around and start enjoying family life with your little one... The 'Reflux Free Baby Workshop was created to make this dream a reality! Read how one parent did just that and was able to cure her baby's reflux...
Sophie's Story
"How do I start this...?
Well, I have had a really rough 6 months with my son to the point where it began to affect my whole family unit. my confidence as a mother, anxiety and pure fear was just rattling me to the core. It also came to the point where my other child was becoming so anxious and worried about her little brother - it was heartbreaking.
Reflux is exactly what Áine Homer states reflux is “A symptom of an underlying condition.”
So, I will start from the beginning.
My son was born in August 2018. He was brought into the world quite quickly. It took him a long time to feed after his birth, which worried me (bottle-fed).
He began to feed but very slowly and not taking in anywhere near as much as he should have. He was also spitting up quite a lot; the midwife reassured me it was mucus from his birth and it would all calm down in the coming days and not to worry; he would adopt a normal feeding routine.
And like that, I was sent home. The next couple of days were hard with a newborn and a 3-year-old, but we got through it. Only for my family's support, I would have crumbled.
On day nine, my son had a violent vomiting experience - the noise of the vomiting alone would frighten any parent. It came from his nose and mouth, and these vomits didn’t stop.
The vomiting became so frequent it happened after most feeds.
Seeking Medical Advice for Reflux
I then had my two-week checkup with my doctor, who told me to either go back to the maternity hospital or to the children’s hospital. The maternity hospital I attended said they didn’t deal with these cases, and I was best to go to the hospital where they could do the tests needed.
I suspected my son might have had pyloric stenosis or a possible tongue tie. I brought him to the children’s hospital, and they did all the necessary checks and ruled out pyloric stenosis and a tongue tie but told me my son had reflux. They offered medication as the solution. I was relieved - I had an answer, and there was nothing seriously wrong.
Two weeks to the date he started the medication, which was very hard to get my son to take, he began to vomit again; to the point where he turned blue, and we needed to call an ambulance.
He was only 4 weeks old. His oxygen levels had dropped, so they took him back to the children’s hospital, and he was admitted for 4 nights and 5 days.
Receiving a Diagnosis of Stridor
He was diagnosed with stridor, and his medication dose was doubled.
His oxygen levels returned up, and he was showing great signs of recovery. I was reassured that this would all stop once he began to solids and he was sitting up.
They told me things would become better for him in 6 months.
He was feeding, but because his centiles had dropped so much and his weight gain wasn’t coming up to where it was meant to be quick enough, he was put on special milk via a tube. He was on this feed for 8 weeks.
While it worked, giving him a much-needed boost in weight, I felt it was filling him up too much, and it was time to try to get him back on a more normal feeding regime. We were assigned a dietician from the children’s hospital who recommended he go back on his original milk. We did this and also stopped the meds (my choice) as it just became impossible to get him to take them.
He had a very bad reaction to this milk (his original one), and he once again ended up in A&E with a combination of vomiting and a viral infection. He was discharged a couple of hours later. I was told to “leave things well enough alone and go back on the medication” and the specialist milk.
Following my Gut Instinct
My gut instinct told me this problem was more than just reflux. There had to be something wrong, something causing all this suffering.
Only then was I told about anti-reflux milks. I started him on this around 4 months. He was like a new child, no vomiting, no fussing. He became a pleasure to have, but all good things come to an end…
2 weeks after the anti-reflux milk, we started solids. He was really enjoying his food. it took him time to get used to it, but he was really enjoying it.
Then the vomiting started again, except this time it was like a hose pipe. It didn’t stop. He didn’t want his bottles, his solids, nothing. He became so fussy it was like having a newborn all over again.
I knew he wasn’t unwell, e.g. a viral infection or other illness; it was all the signs of the reflux starting again, almost like a flare-up.
Contacting Áine, The Baby Reflux Lady
This is when I discovered Áine, The Baby Reflux Lady. In our house, she is now known as a real-life angel.
I got in contact with Áine through Instagram. She was so supportive and informative from the start she recommended I do the online workshop.
I can honestly say that I left the workshop feeling so hopeful, feeling like I knew there were answers: I could help my son to get my family life and unit back together and start enjoying my son again. To allow him to be the happy, healthy baby he wants to be, through all this, he always gave us smiles, so it did make it a bit easier.
We’re still on this journey, but I can honestly say that Aine gave me this stepping stone, gave me the advice I needed and not only that, she listened to me and made me feel that things were going to be ok.
I cannot recommend this lady enough. I can finally rest easy knowing my son is going to be okay.
I just want other mothers to know that there is support out there other than medications. In my son's case, I knew medication was not going to fix his problem; that’s not to say it doesn’t work for other children. It did work for my son, but not to the point where I felt he was fully happy and comfortable and everything was under control.
Once again, thank you, Áine. I will never go a day without being grateful for your help and support. And my son will know all about this someday. Thank you from all my family."
Thank you so much to Kathii for sharing her experience!
So, how can I help you?
In the 'Reflux Free Baby' Workshop, I walk you through all the symptoms you need to observe and record for your baby, what they mean, and how to use them as clues. This is the same course that allowed Sophie to get some answers about her son's reflux finally.
I tell you what the clues mean individually and when they occur with other groups of symptoms.
And this leads us to be able to say what is causing each baby's reflux with much more confidence.
Based on this, I tell you what specific action to take for them.
Áine x
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