More Info on Acid Reflux

DOn't know if anyone said this yet, but try keeping her upright for about 20min after each feeding. This will help keep the formula from coming back up hopefully long enough for it to start digesting! :)

My youngest daughter had acid reflux and she would spit up all day and very forcefully. She slept in her bouncy seat, swing or on my shoulder until almost 3 months. After that she would take short naps laying down but after a few hours she was spitting up again. It took time but eventually my daughter outgrew it and now she is a healthy 3 year old little girl. If you are worrying about her in the night than try to bring the crib into your room or in a portable crib, just until you are more comfortable with her in her own room. Good luck!

Ugh, I know, no fun! We had a premie with reflux, I was so worried about his weight and he'd spit up his feedings! Enfamil AR (added rice) helped my son. Its a little thicker, so think of that when you choose a nipple. I think the thickness helped him keep it down. He was also on Zantac and we did the propping up thing in his crib. Get one of those wedges if you don't already have it. It didn't last too long with my son, a couple of months, but its a hard couple of months. And you know its reflux if she is making that groaning sound after she eats, its the acid that is burning her. I hated that sound, I felt horrible there was nothing I could do! Good luck!

I remember those nights too well. Our daughter had horrible reflux as a newborn. It got better with the prevacid, keeping her head elevated after feedings and she slept in her car seat until she was 6 months old. The other thing that was helpful was waiting at least 3 hours between feedings. I don't know if you are breast feeding or formula feeding. I was breast feeding, and would feed her too often in the beginning because I was worried about the vomiting and constant screaming...but that just made it worse. When I stretched out the feedings she did much better. As long as she is gaining weight and making 6 wet diapers, she is probably ok. If the projectile vomiting continues and she isn't gaining weight, there is a condition called pyloric stenosis that can be serious if not treated. Also, if you are breast feeding, sometimes cutting out dairy products is helpful. Good luck! I hope this wasn't too much info.

Our premie son got reflux the first time his food amount was increased, around 1mo old - he's almost 8mos and still has it. What worked for us: adding cereal to his formula (when he got it supplemented to breast milk) (the peed told us 1 tablespoon per 2oz, but 1 teaspoon per 2oz was easier on his tummy later on), holding him upright (not inclined, not seated, but completely upright - I recommend a Mei Tai) for 30mins after a feeding, inclining his bed, yoga exercises, chiropractic adjustments, probiotics in bottles, Axid medication 3x/day with pear juice (the only way he'll take it), smaller meals more frequently. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what will work for your baby.

Each week, things improve. He used to projectile 5x/day, and now its once every 8 days or so (hopefully, I didn't just jinx him with saying that, haha). Just the other night, he projectiled what seemed to be a full 6oz bottle worth almost 5hours after eating.

Supposedly, once their core strength is up to par, the rest of their digestive system is done growing and the reflux will improve.

He got 90% breastmilk his first 5mos and it made no difference on his pain or vomiting, as opposed to formula. Breastmilk is more quickly passed thru, but only if it gets past the first part, which doesn't happen with reflux. The milk will just sit in their esophagus for ages.

I see that someone mentioned to NOT add rice cereal because it is dangerous (which I think is an irresponsible thing to say/type) - adding rice cereal to bottles is the same (some think better) as pre-thickened formulas which use starches.

Good luck! It will improve, some day :)

Questions for you:

Did the pediatrician say it was acid reflux or are you assuming it is?

Does your daughter act like she's in pain?

Is she gaining weight?

My son was what is commonly called a "happy spitter", which, at first, we thought might be acid reflux. But he had no pain and grew at an appropriate rate.

Happy spitters are interesting babies; his personal best for projectile vomiting was about 7 feet! LOL!

If it really is acid reflux, the pediatrician will offer recommendations and/or medication. If it's happy spitting, just have lots of cloth diapers around for the messes and extra clothes for all. My son outgrew it around 9-10 months.

Good luck!

Hi A.,

Here are some web sites:

http://www.buboo.com.au/products_mat.html

http://www.cdhnf.org/pdf/coping_Reflux_GERD_Guide.pdf

http://www.fussybaby.ca/fussybabieschiropractic.html

Hope this helps. D.

My daughter had the same problem. We actually put her on reflux medication until she was 1.
I elevated her crib on one side and ALWAYS propped her up on her side with rolled receiving blankets to her front and back so she can't roll over in the night.

Congratulations on your new baby girl, A.. My daughter had acid reflux and her son had it the first few months. I switched her to Isomil and that is what my grandson's ped recommended as well. Until my grandson was 3, he needed to drink soy milk. Now he is 9 and can handle any and all dairy. Good luck to you, I know how frustrating it is and how worried you are. As long as she is gaining weight, she is getting the nutrients she needs.

We have an Angelcare monitor from Bebesounds & it have enabled me to sleep quite soundly without worrying about my daughter. The monitor has a sensor pad that detects movement. If she would stop breathing an alarm would sound after 17 seconds. We have had a few false alarms because my daughter loves to sleep across the top of her crib, but the benefits greatly out way any issues.

I remember this all too well. My daughter was diagnosed with reflux when she was about a week old. I can sympathize with your worry when she is sleeping so I'm not going to tell you not to worry because I know that the doctor saying it was okay did not make me feel any better and you can't help but worry (and she's my second so you still worry whether it's your first or second). What you are describing is the same way my daughter was...projectile vomiting, coming out her nose and her screaming her head off from the burning. It is typical of reflux. As long as she is gaining weight she is getting enough nutrients in spite of the spitting up. You may want to switch her formula to something that is for acid reflux. Nutramigen is very expensive but supposedly is the best as far as the spitting up. However we didn't use it. We used Nestle Good Start because we didn't want to spend the money on Nutramigen. She was also on Zantac so it wouldn't burn her when she spit up. I've also heard of people putting a little bit of cereal in their child's bottle but I would ask your doctor because she's still very young. The good news is once she starts sitting up on her own it will get a little better. My daugther outgrew it when she was 9 months old. Good luck.

They did give one of my babies medicine to help with the acid reflux, i think it was liquid zantex?? Maybe you can ask the pediatrician if that would help. I wish you luck, i can understand your worry.

if it has been just the one time then the doctors is right

buy if it keeps happening with such force and about the next the babies feeding is then I would askabout the muscle that lets her stomach empty may have grow to big and it won't let the food digest into intestines.

the only way you detect it is by ultrasound. there is a name for it but I can never remember it and if I did I know I couldn't spell it but I do know that it is an inherented gene. resessive one at

we didn't know about it it happened to my daughter

do mention this to your doctor and see that he thinks because I know my doctor didn't think about until my MIL made A mention of it to my doctor

good luck

A.

Hi, A.! First of all, congrats on your new little girl! I know that being a first time mom is really scarey & that you're always nervous about everything. I was the same way!

Chances are, that if you're breastfeeding, you probably have nothing to worry about. Breastmilk is SO quickly absorbed by the body that even if it seems like she pukes up everything that she just sucked down, she'll still absorb many/most of the nutrients. My LLL Leader's
youngest son had horrible reflux and projectile spit up constantly. But he was a big, healthy baby & eventually, he outgrew it.

If you've never looked on there, I can not recommend www.KellyMom.com highly enough! It is the ULTIMATE online resource for anything breastfeeding related.

Don't worry! It'll pass!!! (In the meantime, you could probably try some Gripe Water. Whatever you do though, do NOT add rice cereal or anything else to her diet--even in the smallest amounts. It is extremely dangerous to do so at this age, for many reasons).
Hang in there!!!!

A.,
My daughter has 2 year old triplets and we discovered on our own that one didn't do well with the breast milk and so we stopped giving it to her, one of the others didn't do well with the formula and so we started to give him soy based formula after seeing that this helped, we then mentioned it to the doctor as he too said not to worry. Also had a wedge (a folded up receiving blanket) under the mattress in the bassinet to elevate it a bit for the other boy. Doctor said all was fine. Good luck whatever you do.
Barbara

Hi A.,

My son was the same way. When he was a newborn he had to actually sleep in a carrying seat. He did not seem to mind this at all. Another solution could be if you put something under the "pillow" end of her mattress to elevate it.

Hope this helps,

L.