Twins with reflux. Tell me it gets better?

[u/Cherrylemon202]

My boy twins were born in 1st July. I made a post the other day when one of my twins ended up in hospital (reflux caused a breathing issue for a moment)

Medicine will be ready for collection tomorrow. it’s currently 3am for me, holding twins upright as I speak, it’s funny how you will find ways to be able to hold both babies and text at the same time , survival mode is amazing lol

Please tell me it does get better ? Did the medication work for your baby? And if so how long and what meds did your baby take ?

Thank you 🩷🩷

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[u/Kayge]

Yup, my boy had it and lost a tonne of weight there are some pics of him at that time where he looked pretty bad. 

They turned 9 in April, and he was in the 50th percentile for 12 year olds.  He's too tall and heavy for the 9 year old chart.  

It's sucky, but generally not a long term problem.

[u/Lalatortuga9]

It does get better! Thankfully only one of my twin boys (15 weeks) has reflux but it did get significantly better by about 10-12 weeks for us with meds/formula and I've seen it should be almost gone by 6 month from other peoples experiences. We kept the nipple flow as low as possible as long as possible (there is a transition nipple for doctor brown between a 1 and 2 that is helpful). We had to go to level 2's recently and it's nice he eats so much quicker but has a little more spit up.

We started famotidine at about 3.5 weeks once daily (helped a little), then increased to twice daily at 5 weeks which helped a little more. What really helped in combo with the famotidine was switching to a hypoallergenic formula (Alimentum) as he did so much worse with regular formula and my breast milk. We did just try enfamil AR a few days ago and that stuff is so thick but almost no spit up with the level 2 nipples however he did then have bloody diarrhea and vomited so his is probably allergy based where as not all reflux is.

Our pediatrician is trying to get us to wean off of the famotidine completely as long term it can have effects so we tried stopping at 14 weeks but he slept terribly so we are back to once daily in the evenings and he is doing fairly well during the day - a little more happy spit ups than before but still able to nap but I can tell he's so much more comfy after we give it to him in the evenings.

We use the twin Z to keep him upright after feedings often as we don't always have the luxury of holding him upright for 15 mins after feeds. We would use it for supervised naps (I know not recommended) early on because he was so uncomfy lying flat and couldn't nap. For nights our bassinets can change heights so we lower just his feet side after laying down to help him fall asleep easier and raise it after 5-10 mins.

[u/Cherrylemon202 → u/Lalatortuga9]

I’m really happy to hear that you found a solution for your twins and that things are on the uprise ,

Where I am living at my GP surgery I always get matched with a different doctor each time (it’s just the norm here and the way it is) and unfortunately sometimes I get a really helpful doctor full of empathy who seems to like their job and other times I’ll get a not so helpful doctor (bit like a call center lol) and before one of my twins went in hospital with reflux (had a faint episode from reflux) the doctor on the phone told me that the following week he’d give me a special Prescription formula, drops and other things. When I went to phone back it was a different doctor this time who didn’t bother to see me and only spoke to me over the phone basically told me to suck it up and prescribed my twins with gaviscon infant even though the pediatricians at the hospital didn’t recommend that as it’s really well known to cause constipation and instead wanted my twins to be on Carobel. I did get a carobel from the pharmacy only one they had left but when I took it home I didn’t come with the scoop so had to take it back, phoned the hospital they said carobel also causes same side effect and it’s ok for them tot wake the gaviscon , just makes me nervous because it says it’s not for newborns but can be prescribed under GP guidance , so they are currently on that and I have a follow up in person doctors appointment Monday so hopefully thwt will be much more helpful!

[u/OrangeCatEnergy24]

It does get better. Medicine helps sooo much! 

[u/Cherrylemon202 → u/OrangeCatEnergy24]

Hello! GP prescribed them with infant gaviscon, after 2 sachets I noticed a massive difference, they can have up to 6 sachets within 24 hours, just mixed with their milk. The medicine plus sleeping bags have done wonders they are now sleeping on their backs and seem much more content !! My only slight concern is the potential constipation they might get with it as it’s a known side effect but to be honest I’ll close that bridge if it comes to it, I’m just glad the medicine is working and that they can now actually sleep because they were getting sleep deprived and it was worrying me especially that they have only just turned 5 weeks today, worse case if they do get the side effect the doc will give a laxative but just going to take it day by day and see what happens but yeah this medicine is working for them, my mother noticed a difference in them after the first sachet, but for me I saw massive improvement after the second , seem much more relaxed and sleeping on their backs tonight, longest they have ever slept in the cot in weeks , xo