I'm a mother of a 4 month old baby girl. For 2 months, I've been screeming at Drs for help. They said it was colics. She was in the hospital for 3 weeks. Finally, they said, she was allergic to milk, so she's on Alimentum, she was very colicky, and she had reflux. They started her on Zantac, which did nothing, then penicelin, wich made it worst, and then pills, prevecid. Well, giving a 2 month old baby pill that I had to open, then seperate in half, put in a spoon, and make her swallow somehow, wasn't easy, and still isn't.
So, for 4 months, I've been hearing her cry, sometimes for 12 hours straight. In a week, her medications are done with, but her reflux is just getting worst and worst. I don't want her back at the hospital because that means I have to sleep on the floor, and no meals whatsoever. There's no staff there to take care of her. If I go for a bite to eat, she's left there to cry her eyes out!!
I've read everything on the internet about reflux, nothing helped. As I read the stories here, I cried and cried. I'm so tired of sleepless night, having to watch my baby suffer. I don't have any family here, and my friends are all very busy with there lives. I was glad to see I'm not alone.

Hi Chantal and welcome! You're definitely not alone in this. You'll find so many other parents here who understand the daily (and nightly!) struggles of living with a child who has reflux.

It sounds like your little girl's meds. aren't working for her. Perhaps the doctor can prescribe a different kind of med. for her, as not all meds. or combination of meds. work for every child. It's often by trial and error that the right med./meds. is/are found.

I know what it's like to have to live at the hospital with a sick child. Thankfully my husband, my parents, and my in-laws have been able to help out with the hospital stays with both of my kids and also with the trips to the ER. I can only imagine how difficult it is for you to have to survive the reflux roller coaster on your own without any family near by to help. My heart goes out to you!!! Depending on where you live, there should be some sort of relief available to you, whether through something like Extend a Family, Cradle Link, the Red Cross or your church group.

I sincerely hope that things begin to improve for your daughter soon. As an encouragement, I've found that my son has gradually improved over the past 2 1/2 years. Sure we're still dealing with many other issues (he's just starting to walk, to feed himself a bit, and to say a few words, and there are still many appointments with specialists ahead of us), but he has come a long ways, and things sure are better than they were a year ago. It's actually funny in a sad kind of way, but I'm so used to living on less sleep now that I actually feel worse when I get 7 or 8 hours of sleep in a night.

Anyway, I hope that you are able to find someone near you to support you by coming in to relieve you once in a while.

Hang in there. Things will improve.

Hi Chantal,
Your baby sounds like my daughter. I understand the three week hospital stay with the nurse not doing a thing to help no sleep and no meals.I am sorry to hear that your daughter is feeling worse and hope that you can find some support to help you soon.
I am curious and hope you didn't mind me asking but where are you from? The hospital stay you had just sounds so much like the hospital here in Manitoba.

Zapsmom

I can't believe that there isn't a chair or something to sleep in at your hospitals! Here, there's a chair that pulls out into a twin sized bed. It's not very comfortable, but at least there's something a bit softer than the floor. I wondered where you're from too, Chantal, with a hospital like that. Last time Evan was admitted, he was too sick to eat anything, but they often forgot and brought something anyway. So at least we got a few "accidental" meals while we were there. One of the nurses told us to just go ahead and eat them, but one of the others sent it back to the kitchen when she was on duty. Is there a small coffee shop or a cafeteria in the hospital so that you can grab a quick take-out bite when your child is sleeping?