2 Month Old Needs Prevacid????

My only advice is: DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!! If she is happy and thriving, no need to put unnecessary medicine that is hard on her liver into her body!!!!!!!!!!

My youngest had to be put on Prevacid for a the same exact symptoms that you are describing. We put her on it at 2 months and then at 4 months I took her off of it and we haven't had a problem since. I didn't want to continue to medicate her if there was no longer a problem and she didn't seem to need it anymore, so we stopped. Good luck-being a mom is hard someday-there are no "right" answers!

Can't believe that a doctor would prescribe a 2-month-old Pevacid! I certainly would try infant probiotics, purchased at a whole foods' store first. Probiotics inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria which cause digestive stress; they improve digestion and absorption of vitamins; stimulate the immune system, and help make vitamins needed by the body. This explains what probiotics do> http://www.babybites.info/2009/02/24/probiotics-healthy-k...
Oh, one more thing. If you're breastfeeding, then take some probiotics yourself.

My baby (now 13 months) was diagnosed with reflux at 4 months because of some choking / fainting episodes where he turned pale and was hard to wake up. I was so grateful for the medication! He has not outgrown the reflux yet,and I know this because one night I didn't give him the medication because we were trying to wean off of it, and he woke up choking! When he is on the medication he sleeps better, and luckily, the fainting episodes never came back. I was concerned about keeping him on the medication for so long, but my doctor told me that it's better to take the medication than to leave the reflux untreated. You should discuss your concerns about medication with your doctor. Good luck!

You say your daughter is happy, gaining weight, great sleeper, great latch, great eater. The only potential symptom she has of reflux is projectile vomiting 7 times over nine days. The kids I know with reflux are FUSSY, have difficulty sleeping without their head being raised at least thirty degrees, sometimes cry out in pain, have weight gain issues, and if they don't have the "silent" reflux someone mentioned which just involves the above symptoms, they also projectile vomit, but they do it several times a day, every day, not with the infrequency of which your daughter is doing it.

We successfully used probiotics to help my son's silent reflux. You can get baby ones at whole foods or vitamin cottage. Make sure they are dairy free, especially if you are breastfeeding (it sounds like you are), as you are already making sure that your child is not exposed to dairy early, which can cause food sensitivities. If you do happen to be formula feeding, dairy free isn't that important unless you have her on a dairy free formula.

Projectile vomiting is usually more of a laundry and yuck issue, rather than a real issue for a baby, unless there are other symptoms as I described above. If your daughter really is happy, gaining weight, and eating fine, it sounds like this is the normal case of the lining over the stomach not being completely closed - it doesn't fully form until six months, and is just a nuisance more than a severe problem. Good luck in your decision.

You might want to look in to food allergies/sensitivities. My littlest guy had silent reflux and it almost totally went away just a couple days after I pulled milk from my diet. (He's got many other food issues, but dairy alone made a HUGE difference with reflx & other tummy stuff.) All of a sudden all of the refluxy, gagging, arching stuff was just gone. :)

He tested negative on allergy testing so it's an 'intolerance' rather than an allergy...something you might want to think about. You don't need allergy testing to determine if something's a problem, just pull it from your diet for a few weeks (my standard now is 3 weeks or longer) and then reintroduce it and see if there are any changes. I kept a food diary while we were trying to figure things out and it helped a ton!

Probiotics might also be a good idea, and they won't hurt your DD if she doesn't need them. Best of luck to you. I know how hard it is to see your baby hurting!

Hi J.--
If your daughter isn't showing signs of a food allergy (dark or puffy circles under the eyes, a "target" rash or red ring around the rectum, rashes or eczema) then it's likely she has a hiatal hernia. This is when the stomach pushes itself up under the diaphragm. In can happen in anyone, but happens to little ones because their stomach muscles aren't strong enough yet to keep their stomach in place. It is easy to fix....you can have a chiropractor do a simple adjustment of the ribs and diaphragm. You can also do it yourself. Simply push your finger up under her sternum as she exhales and literally pull down the stomach towards the belly button....do this three times or so. You need to use a decent amount of pressure, but it shouldn't be painful. If it is painful then you probably need the chiropractor to help. If it's acid reflux you can get an herbal supplement made for kids that contains peppermint, catnip, fennel, and ginger. This is the natural remedy used instead of prevacid and is perfectly safe for baby. Whole foods or vitamin cottage carries this---it's in liquid form in a dropper. There are two companies I would recommend...wish garden or herbs for kids. I used these techniques with my little one and it stopped the spitting up almost instantly.
Oh, and word to the wise. Prevacid causes the stomach to stop producing acid....you need acid to digest protein. Over time the body will just stop producing acid which may help the spitting up but could have long term health effects for your little one. My doctor tried to put both my kids on an antacid and I went the natural route with total success. Happy to answer any more questions if you have them.
Good luck!
J.

My son was given Leprasol, Prevacid, and Zantac at one month. Each perscribed by the docs at Childrens, but this was after we had the xray done to confirm he actually had reflux. You could see it coming back up but it was not severe. His weight gain was not up to par and he had a rough start (3 weeks at Children.) They all asurred me this would not effect him. I pulled him off the medications, I did not think they made a difference. What did make a difference was Nutramigen (formula) mixed with breast milk. If your gut tells you no I would try some other things before you did the Prevacid. The formula and sloping up his mattress seemed to do it for my little guy but as they say everyone is different. The main concerns for our doctors was the weight gain he did not even hit the chart. He is doing well YEAH! It might ease your mind to request the test either way you do really see how the liquids are absorbed in their stomachs. Good luck.

My dad is a pediatrician, and has long been a big believer in acid reflux - treating it really can help them be less fussy. I actually had my infant son on Prevacid, but I wouldn't do it again if I could help it.

What I didn't think about at the time was that your stomach is DESIGNED to have acid. It needs it. Of course, it isn't supposed to come up and cause pain in the esophagus, but if there was any natural way to help that without totally shutting down acid production, that's what I would do. Try some of the last suggestions first! I did actually hear that chiropractic adjustments can make a big a difference - it would be worth a try.

Good luck! It's a tough decision. You do want to make sure they aren't in pain. But they do grow out of it!

Best to you and your baby! They are such a blessing!

If your daughter is gaining weight well and isn't bothered by it, then I wouldn't worry. My sister had the same problem with her daughter and was nursing; she wound up cutting dairy out of her diet and that seemed to help quite a bit. Might be worth trying. She is still young and her system will mature. Trust your instincts and I think you will be fine.

J.

When my son was 2 months they did the same thing. He was throwing up nearly everything he ate and projectile frequently. It was way more than my daughter which concerned me. I mentioned it and they gave me the reflux medicine after a trip to Children's for an upper GI. I felt like they totally overreacted. I think the medicine only helps to treat the symptoms of acid that cause fussiness,arching the back, and overall discomfort. It did not stop the vomiting (at least for my son). The doctor said it is used to treat the symptoms not stop the spiting up. My son really did not have other symptoms besides the spiting up, so I gave the medicine to him a couple weeks and stopped. He is 6 months old now and still spits up a lot. They say as soon as they sit up on their own and get more vertical it will resolve on its own. If your daughters only symptom is the projectile vomit I would consider not using the medicine. If she is showing other symptoms than I am sure the medicine will help.

Best of luck with your daughters. I think you were also requesting advice on traveling with the 2 of them. I have done one trip with my daughter 3 and son when he was 2 months. I think it depends a lot on the times of your flight. My daughter just watched her DVD and had snacks. I brought lots and lots of snacks and bribe treats. My son pretty much nursed and slept the entire time. I find the hardest part is checking in and getting through security. Sometimes if you ask when you check in they will give your spouse a gate pass to help you through security and wait with you till you get on the plane. That was a huge help to me. The actual plane flight was a breeze and I will be trying it again with my now more moblie 6 month old and 3 year old. Hope it goes well for you!

Hi J.,

I don't agree that your baby needs Prevacid. Both of my kids spit up a lot (projectile) when they were babies... and having had home births and a midwife, I was told that it's normal and it will pass (which it eventually did). I think many times docs are too quick to prescribe meds unneccessarily.

I know it's inconvenient to deal w/ the vomiting (and can be worrysome), but it's just the nature of things for some kids and will smooth out in due time.

Hope this helps...

A.

I'm not sure if I'm repeating anything or not, (haven't had time to go through all the responses) :) but my son was on prevacid as well when he was an infant because he had acid reflux. I believe that the prevacid helped a TON with his acid reflux and I wouldn't have any reserves giving it to another baby if they needed it. It only took a few weeks to a month to get to the point where he didn't need it anymore and his system fixed itself.
But only you know whats best for your child, if you feel the medicine isn't working or doing what you feel it should be doing, that is up to you to stop giving it to him, or even to start giving it to him in the first place.
Good luck in your decision!

I personally was grateful for the medicine for my baby because he hated to eat because the reflux burned so badly. He grew out of the reflux at 9 months, and we discontinued the medicine.

My now nine month old is currently on Prevacid. I delayed putting him on it for months (the reflux issues were present from the very beginning), I tried everything rice in his regular formula, soy formula, keeping him upright after eating, reduced the amounts fed, but in the end I gave in to the medicine because he was not sleeping well and he was just miserable/frequently fussy (it got worse as he got older) - though he was growing just fine, probably a result of feeding him every hour to hour and a half - nothing seemed to stay down with most feedings. My doctor told me it was a very mild choice for treatment. He still spits up on occasion but it seems like more normal amounts vs. his entire bottle.

My son was diagnosed with acid reflux also around 2 months. He did the projectile thing, too, about the same amount as your daughter. He was prescribed Zantac (same idea) which helps soothe and heal the lining of the esophagus mainly, so the stomach acids are not irritating your babies insides. It did help his comfort level (I think) but don't know how much it helped with the acutal ralphing bit (he still spit up quite a bit even while on the medication). The Dr. said that most babies outgrow it by about 6 months when they are sitting up more, so we took our DS off it at exactly 6 months to see. He is now almost 7 months and projectiles now only occasionally. He still spits up an above average amount and I sometimes wonder if we took him off too soon...But to me, it feels good to get him off the drugs. It doesn't seem to bother him too much. Just a note, too, my DS was gaining fine just like your DD, so apparently he was getting enough food.

There's nothing to freak out over that I know of. . . my son had reflux also. Poor little guy was so miserable and uncomfortable and we were stressed. The Prevacid made it much better and he was more comfortable. He did outgrow the reflux at about 8-9 months but do you really want your child so ill for another 4-5 months? I would suggest just sticking with the Prevacid and you can try to go without it in a month or so. If it comes back, then start the meds up again.

As she grows, she'll probably outgrow the reflux. I had no problem medicating my kids for reflux because it made them really fussy. I didn't want them to be in pain! You have to realize that all babies have some degree of reflux, whether or not the doctors treat it is determined by how the baby is responding to the reflux. If they're happy and content the doctors usually choose not to treat. If they're cranky and uncomfortable then they treat. If you've ever had heartburn, you know what it feels like to have reflux. Some babies that I work with at the hospital are in so much pain with their reflux that it breaks my heart. Good luck to you!

Hi,
My son was prescribed a medicine like that. I don't remember because he is almost 3 now, but anyway, it made things worse! So what we did was raise his crib up on one side so that he is sleeping on an angle. Then after he ate, instead of immediately burping him I would sit him upright and rub his back in a gentle circle motion. Also I would make sure that he wasn't swung, he was a stand still kind of baby. You know when you stand and hold your baby you either gently bounce them or swing them back and forth, none of that for him. Within a couple of months it was better...a lot better! What happened was that the little organ that keeps the food in the stomach is not long enough yet and so the food just comes right back up. It will heal very soon. Try these steps first and see if it helps. Once your baby girl stops spitting up so much then you don't have to keep her crib at an angle.

Hi J. - well, as others have said, there are varying degrees of reflux and also various types. My son had what is called "silent reflux" where they don't vomit at all, but stomach acid comes up into the throat and then they swallow it back down. I remember hearing it come up, his little eyes would water, he'd swallow, and start crying. Because it was so painful, my son cried most of the time, could not sleep at all, and suddenly stopped eating. This was all at about two months old. Because he was having difficulty sleeping and eating and seemed to be in so much pain, we decided to try medication. We did Zantac first, which had no effect, and then Prevacid, which changed our lives enormously. BUT, it took about a month of him being on the medication before we saw any difference. So as to your question about wether or not you can have them on it for a month and then stop, you can, but you might not even see a difference for a month.

Some kids with reflux vomit so much and so hard, they have to be put on feeding tubes. It sounds like, to me, though, that your daughter seems to be doing fine. She's happy, is gaining weight, and doesn't have any problems sleeping. If I were you, I'd probably just wait it out. Usually around 4-5 months, the projectile vomiting gets better on it's own.

If for some reason, your daughter did stop eating or sleeping or seemed uncomfortable, then I would certainly recommend Prevacid (skip the Zantac). Like I said, it changed our lives so much for the better! But, I'd also recommend finding a compounding pharmacy (we also use Jolley's). When they are so young, the common Solutab that you were most likely prescribed, is so hard to get down them without them spitting most of it back out - even if you use a medicine syringe.

Anyhow... good luck and it sounds like your daughter is doing just fine!

When my oldest son was a baby he spit up so much I would have to nurse at home and put a towel on the floor after each nursing to catch all that came back up. We also tried Prevacid, but we noticed a change in his sleeping schedule. He stopped sleeping for more than two hours at a time, usually less, and became very fussy. He did stop spitting up so much, but he also stopped eating as much. We only used this for about a month and when we stopped using it, after a few weeks, he went back to his usual sleeping habits, eating habits, and spitting up habits. But we preferred his spitting up to the sleep deprived, grumpy baby. Even though he continued to spit up (projectile) he still grew very quickly and was always very healthy. Eventually, by the time he was one, he stopped and never had another problem.

Personally, if you can live with the returns, I'd skip the meds since she's growing well. That said, our 3yo and our 1 yp are both on Prevacid. The baby since she was younger than your little one. It has really helped both of them grow better. Our oldest was like Old Faithful, but we never medicated since he had no growth problems. The side effects are minimal, but there are still side effects. It's your own decision, but if you don't feel comfortable using medication, it doesn't sound like it's really necessary. GL!

I'm the queen of reflux - suffered with it for 20 years. I don't have much experience with children, but I do with prevacid & all of the other PPI medications. It is absolutely a drug that you can be on for just a small amount of time and then stop. It is also a very mild drug with very few if any side effects. I would have no reservations about trying it out on my kids if they needed it. Chances are, your daughter will outgrow the reflux, and there is no problem just quitting the prevacid when it's the right time.

My daughter was also given prevacid at two months. She has a lot of other things so we tried one thing at a time so we waited on the prevacid. But we did it for about a month. It definitely helped her acid reflux and spitting up. Babies do and can outgrow this but at their own pace. We stopped giving it to her and she doesn't seem to need it now. It is ridiculously expensive. I would try zantac first. Now that she is six months old her doctor said she could use 1/4 of a crushed tums. Way cheaper, not as long lasting and effective but way cheaper and the worst has passed.

Check into the cause of her acid reflux. we discovered that my daughter is allergic to dairy. I went of all dairy and that helped the problem. Also make sure you keep her upright for a while after she eats. Sleep her tilted up at an angle. We propped the ends of her crib up on books and that seemed to help too.
If your daughter is not losing weight then the main worry is that all that vomiting will burn her esaphogus. Watch for signs of pain. Does she fuss a little before she spits up. Will she cry out and pull away arching her back when she is nursing? If she does these things then the acid is hurting her throat and I might suggest that it is worth it to try something for a few months until her little system matures a little more. By four and a half months our daughter was not taking prevacid. Now I give her tums every once and a while if it seems bad.

When my 5 year old son was an infant, he would projectile vomit after every feeding. He would soak blankets with the amount he spit up. I took my son to the chiropractor, and he adjusted him. My son never projectile vomited again after that. I don't know if an adjustment would work for your child, but it might be worth a try if you want to avoid Prevacid.

My son was diagnosed with the acid reflux. I actually give both the Xantac and Prevacid. I think it has helped my little one not being so uncomfortable. He is almost 9 months old and on my next appointment I am going to see if I can try not giving it to him. Yes, sometimes they outgrow the acid reflux. I would make sure the Prevacid is prescribed as a compound (which means a pharmacy that does compounds, mixes the pill into a liquid). When my son first was prescribed it was a 1/2 a pill put in to water and I didn't think he was actually getting any of the pill into him. I say that because they granaules would be all over his face. I am not sure where you are located but in the Salt Lake Valley, Jolley Pharmacy can fill a prescription that requires a compound. I would then give it a month or longer to see how the medicine works for your little one. By taking the medicine I noticed he was projectile vomiting, it was reduced to a little spit up. Good Luck.