Acid Reflux - Pensacola, FL

Hi Adrina, I have a soon to be two year old and I was so worried about Acid Reflux, as two of my girlfriends children had it so bad, I had my daughter sleep in her car seat for a long time, two or three months. I never had a problem and she slept very well. I always kept her upright after feeding for at least 20 mins and that seemed to help as well. Good luck and hang in there!
L.

Hi A.,

This may not be what you want to hear in the least but this is something you are more than likely simply going to have to wait out. My son had this so bad that I had to switch to formula because he was not getting enough food and started to loose weight. We also went through the same steps you did with the Zantac and gas drops to no avail. Basically unless you opt for surgury this is a problem that will likely persist till he is able to walk. This is when my son finally stopped spitting up and a ton of other moms I know had the same thing. Invest in a lot of burp rags and take your time with him...I found however, that feeding him small amounts and burping more frequently did help a bit...I tried sitting him up in a boppie, a high chair, everything and NOTHING worked. I H. you have better luck than me but like I said nothing helped until he was able to get up and walk....for some reason this seemed to help! Perhaps it was simply that by that time the muscle finally developed. Good Luck!!

I also wanted to say that for the first 5 months I had to sleep sitting up with pillows propped and him sleeping on my chest slightly reclined because this was the only position that seemed to work for him. Any other position and he would spit up, cry and not go to sleep!

My experience is that the color should be the color of your milk. Was it the medicine maybe that gave it color? Just let him sleep in his car seat in his crib for now, that way he's propped up. Also, he could be getting too much at any one feeding. But remember, your baby's milk has what you're eating. But I would stay in touch with the doctor. Hopefully you'll get another mom or two with better information.

My daughter, now 20 months old, had the same problem. She always would spit up, sometimes hours after eatting.I did sit her up after eatting and then her doctor suggested an upper g.i. to make sure everything was formed right in her belly and throat; she checked out fine, just a happy spitter. We did have to switch her to soy formula and that helped greatly, sometimes they have trouble digesting breast milk... maybe it could be what you're eatting...watch your dairy intake.Good luck, I'm sure he'll grow out of it.

papaya settles the stomach .... ask you dr if you could try a little fresh for your baby.

My daughter had Acid Reflux and Colic. Here are a few things that worked for us and recommended by our DR. at the time.
Dr. Browns Bottles- you can get them from Babies R US. They are wonderful. You can still breast feed but you would have to pump and then put your milk in the bottle. Our Dr. reccommedned mixing baby rice with the milk to make it thicker and stay down. There is a special nipple you can buy for when you add rice it is either makes a X or Y on the end of nipple.
Our Dr also recommened that the baby stay partially sitting up for 20-30 after feeding. The discomfort comes once you lay them down. It was hard at first but worked. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Hi. My daughter is almost 2 and still has acid reflux, although she no longer spits up. She did for over a year though. It's tough. There's not really much you can do, other than what you're doing. The medicine is great though. It won't stop them from spitting up, but it coats their esphegus so it is not damaged (which can be very dangerous.) Unfortunately all I can tell you is that it get's better with time. The Zantac will also make it less "burning" for the baby over time but it takes time for it to build in the system and really work. The breastfeeding is also good too. Easier on them then formula. Also, when he starts to eat more solid food it will get better. They might suggest you start him on solids sooner (4 or 5 mos) rather than 6 since he has reflux to help with it. My daughter is a rare case, having it so long, but most babies grow out of it by 6 mos. or a year at most. good luck.
E.

I went through the same thing with my son. We finally figured out that he was allergic to peanuts and milk. He was nursing only so the peanut butter sandwiches I ate for lunch were making him sick. We only found out after he broke out in a rash and the doctor decided to check him for allergies. Then once we knew we had restrict my diet and put him on soy formula.

My 10 month old was born 4 weeks early and had severe acid reflux. (Common in preemies.) We had an upper GI done and saw a pediatric gastroentrologist until he was 8 months old.
We tried Zantac initially, but it tastes bad to small babies so they often don't take a full dose (some gets spat back out.) We switched to Axid and it worked wonderfully. We also used Reglan for helping his tummy push things through. (I also was breastfeeding...which is the thing most easy for babies to digest...don't switch to formula if you can avoid it!)
Make sure he sleeps propped up. Use your car seat or swing if he will sleep there, otherwise get a wedge for his crib. My guy slept in his papasan bouncy until he was over 4 months old!
I also learned to avoid dairy. I don't think my baby was lactose intolerant...but dairy aggravated his condition. Dairy, even in healthy people, tends to create extra mucus in the digestive system and I think this just made it harder for us.
Our doctor also suggested a tiny bit of rice cereal in a bottle at bedtime. (Also a great way to let dad participate in feeding the baby when your little one is otherwise being breastfed.) I used two teaspoons to 4oz of breastmilk. It thickens the milk a little and adds a bit of weight to the tummy so things don't flow back upwards quite so easily.
Ultimately the meds were what made the most difference for us. My guy is off his meds now but still spits up a lot. He doesn't have the pain that he had when he was tiny and spitting up though.

Hi!
Do you us a Boppy for nursing? It might help to prop him up some during feedings.
I always had to give my children Mylicon (gas medicine) before, during, and after every feeding.
If you want him to sleep in his crib, you might try pillows to keep him at an angle or you might try elevating his mattress on one end. Our twins slept in their car seats for the first 4 months of life.
You might also try a pacifier for him.
You could also try doing the bicycle leg pump. Google- gas remedies for babies. They will have great suggestions that you can do with him (and it will help with playing and bonding).
Hope this helps.
L.

Just an FYI on the Zantac. It will reduce the acid in his stomach, so it is no longer painful when he spits up, but he will continue to spit up. Zantac (or any other acid reducing medication) does not actually stop the regurgitation, just reduces the amount of acid in it.

there is a condition called piloric stenosis-not sure if I spelled that right-where there is actually a blockage and the baby can be starving. Also, are you feeding the baby at least every 3 hours and do you have good milk production? 4 pounds is not much of a weight gain for a 5 week old baby!!!! I'd be very worried if I were you. Insist on getting some tests done!!! I am a Registered Nurse and work on a Mother/Baby unit.

Hi A.,
You have received lots of advice, some I agree with and some I don't. My son had acid reflux but the silent kind (little spit up but lots of pain which equaled a very unhappy baby who slept very little). Here are some non-medical things you can try now:
1. Breast feed using the football hold where the baby is upright
2. Keep baby vertical for at least 30 minutes after feedings
3. Baby should sleep elevated. If the carseat is working for you, keep using it. A glider could work as well. My son wouldn't sleep in either of these so we ordered a "Tucker Sling" online. It's a wedge that elevates the mattress and a sling that wraps around the mattress and baby (like a burrito) to keep baby from sliding to the bottom of the crib and keep him upright. My son slept in this until he was 12 months old with no problems. Google Tucker Sling and it will come up.
4. I also exclusively breast fed and there's no reason why you should stop. Just be careful of your diet-eliminate all dairy products because they irritate acid reflux babies.

If the Zantac is not working then go back to your doc and ask that your son be given an upper GI (this must be done at a hospital and you may have to see a specialist, such as a pediatric gastroinologist, to have it prescribed like we did). This will determine whether or not he actually has acid reflux. It's not too bad, my son wasn't bothered by it at all.

If he is officially diagnosed with acid reflux then you can get him on some more effective meds. My son was on Prevacid and that worked for him (he was 5 months old before we found the right meds!). Besides Zantac and Prevacid, Axid is also widely prescribed.

I, too, slept many nights upright with my son on my chest or in my lap surrounded with pillows because that was the only way he could sleep. Hopefully you can get the appropriate help for you son before he has to suffer much more.

Best of luck!
S.

A.,
My 3 year old was on Zantac for reflux when he was a baby. I didn't see much of a difference in him with the med either. We kept his bed inclined with some of my husbands books. If he is in a carseat that's the best thing right now. Isaac slept in his for a while. Isaac wasn't gaining weight so we switched to formula and b/c it's thicker than b/m he was able to keep it down better. However if you're patient he will out grow it and you could continue b/f him. I would call my ped about the yellow spit up. Another thing we had to do with him was hold him up for 15 min after every feeding this helped him keep it down. You may also have a strong let down. If your milk is flowing into his mouth too quickly then he'll eat too fast and as a result spit up. Try feeding him about 3 min then burp and check to see if your milk is spraying him in the face. If so hold up a cloth or nursing pad and let it spray until it stops. After that it should flow better. I have a very strong let down and my thrid son is 7 mths. Sometimes he still gets strangled on the milk and I have to let if flow for a while. He may fuss when you take him off after he's only been eating for a few min, but just put a passy in his mouth until you can put him back on. Burping him several times during a feeding will help. And only nurse him on one brest at a time. This way he'll get your hind milk which is thicker and creamier. The hind milk isn't as thin as the foremilk and it should keep him from spitting up as much. If you want more info about hind milk check out the La Leche League's website. They say finish on the first breast. Isaac outgrew his reflux around 6 months. So hang in there it will fly by. I promise!!!!

Read Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. She has techniques to use for a healthy sleeping and eating routine (NOT schedule, but routine) and she swears that if you follow the techniques then you will see little or no reflux. Sometimes the problem is overfeeding because you are not reading the baby's cues correctly, and you think that fussing means he needs to nurse when actually he just needs to settle down and fall asleep. If you follow her techniques, you will be nursing when he wakes up instead of nursing him to sleep, which helps with digestion, among other things

My son went through that. The Dr. told me to feed him a few ounces, stop and burp him, then feed him a few more ounces, stop and burp him and continue this until he is done nursing. Sometimes babies have a hard time, at first, taking in a lot of fluids at once. So doing it this way can help them. And of course if he's not feeling well, he'll be fussy, not sleep well and etc. Hope this helps.

My son had terrible reflux as an infant. At around 3weeks he was admitted into the hospital for 3 days to run tests to see why he was choking after his feedings. Results were that he had reflux and his body was naturally defending itself from the reflux and not letting it get into his lungs. He went thru 2 different types of acid medicine before we found one that worked. We had to feed him upright; stopping to burp him frequently; then leave him upright for 20-30mins after feeding. I was breastfeeding at the time but the stress from the whole ordeal dryed me up so we had to give him formula (one of the most expensive - Nutramagen). Eventually we worked out a great system and today at age 2 he is off all meds and is a strong, well-nurished boy. It's not easy holding them upright to eat - I used a pillow under my arm that was holding him. And then our pediatricians were checking him about every month until we found the right combination of meds. Don't give up. If one doesn't work then try a different kind. For a while he was on gas drops,one acid medicine and one digestive medicine at least 2-4 times a day. It can become stressful, but hang there. Be pursistent with your pediatricians and if you haven't already you might want to consider a pediatric specialist for gastro. Good Luck