My Baby Has Reflux Please Help...

A friend of mine is using nap nanny. its a pillow/holder that is meant for kids with reflux. She says that it is working great for her son.

www.napnanny.com

Hi A.,

Please google reflux and chiropractic care. My understanding is that this is related to the nervous system, and can be corrected relatively quickly with a few visits to a chiropractor who treats infants.

Best wishes,

N.

My son started having the same symptoms at 3-4 wks. Zantac didn't help. Prevacid did help, but not every day. I was only breastfeeding him; I tried cutting out dairy, spicy foods, etc. - nothing ever seemed to help. We kept him on Prevacid until he was almost 6 months old, although his symptoms seemed to improve at about 4 months. I know many babies whose symptoms lasted longer, so I think we were lucky. He still seems to have occasional reflux today, at 20 months, but it doesn't seem to be a big problem. Good luck.

My son has GERD/Acid reflux too. We struggled with it a lot too and saw a few different doctors til we decided to go with a GI specialist. They specilize in that area and know what to do. Pediatricans can be useless sometimes and will waste precious time while your baby is suffering. Our GI specialist was able to change the formula to Enfamil AR LIPIL, which is made for babies who spit up! It has been a life saver. We also had my son on Zantac. It works and we had our concerns but you do what you have to do to make you child feel better. Don't waste a lot of time I would suggest you see a specialist that is an expert in the area and can point you in the right direction instead of changing formulas so much. We had my son on three different types of formulas and it only took one try with the GI specialist to get it right. The peds were wrong and weren't helpful! I still get upset over it and my son is a year old already. Lots of luck to you and your baby! Hope everything works out for you. :) I feel your pain.

If I can respond tomorrow with more information, I will. I spent years with this and it was a nightmare. My daughter had projectile vomits 5 times a day (at least) that were so thick it would block her breathing passages. Every minute of every day for years was a potential life threatening moment. I hardly want to think about it.
The best resource I found (it's now been 7 years since we had to deal with it) was at www.reflux.org but I'm not sure that organization is still around. My daughter outgrew it around 3 years of age. She never ate baby food or any solid food until she started to grow out of it because she was in so much pain. My pediatrician at the time did not believe that I was trying to feed her solid foods, 4 times a day.

Some kids do not outgrow pediatric/adolescent gastroesophogial reflux disease (PAGER) until double digits in age. She was my first child and it was frightening, I knew nothing about babies and even less about this - she vomited and screamed in pain constantly. Seven years ago there was not much out there in literature - I read what I could voraciously, but doctors just gave me books on challenging children, as though she had control over this. We couldn't take her on a plane or anywhere else, really. If you look into Shaken Baby Syndrome you'll find that many of those poor babies had reflux - and parents with little coping skills.
It's not easy, but you'll get through it. I wish you the best of luck.

My son, who is now 8, was diagnosed with reflux as an infant and prescribed zantac, reglan, and mylanta. He even had an upper GI done (for other reasons) and it showed mild reflux. He would projectile vomit and spit up regularly. The medication provided relief, but not 100%. When my daughter, now 5, was born, she was so much worse. She acted like she was colic although she wasn't. I learned with her that she was allergic to the cow proteins in dairy. I nursed her, so I eliminated cow based milk, yogurt, cheeses, etc from my diet. Afterward, she was a whole new child...happy & peaceful. It was amazing. I now think my son might have been allergic to cow proteins as well. I wish I would have eliminated cow based dairy from his diet rather than dosing him up on meds. I'm not saying this is what is wrong with your son, but it's worth a try. You could switch to a soy base formula and see. Who knows. Good luck regardless! BTW...both my children outgrew their issues before they were a year old and my daughter was able to drink cows milk when she turned 1. My son showed symptoms of improvement at around 6 months on the meds.

Snuggle spot...It is a baby bed/pillow that makes a baby feel like it is being held when you cant hold it. www.laneybug.net

I don’t know about you but I had a spoiled baby that only liked to sleep if someone is holding her. I got tired of sleepless nights so I invented this pillow that I call the Snuggle Spot. The pillow snuggles the baby so they feel like some one is holding them and they are safe. Babies love it, the first time I put my daughter in it she slept 9 hours straight and every night since! I put her in the pillow fully awake with a full belly, and swaddled. Since the pillow snuggles them the swaddle stays intact! I recently went out of town and I did not want to pack the portable crib, changing pad, etc. so I just took a chance and only took the pillow. It was amazing, even in a diff environment she slept all night. I just put her in the pillow in the bed next to me or on the floor next to me. It is the perfect Co-sleeper! I changed her diapers in it, She likes to watch colors and lights of the TV so i put it in front of the TV. It fits perfectly in portable cribs and in regular cribs. My Daughter has reflux and has to be elevated so that her formula stays down, The pillow slightly props her up so that she is comfortable and stays clean!!! If you have and questions or concerns or want to place an order feel free to send me a message. The pillow is totally custom, you can pick the fabric, name or saying.

Try Nutramigen formula. It was the only formula that helped my reflux baby. Expensive but worth it!! I have since discovered many reflux babies use it in addition to the meds. My baby just turned 7 months and is finally off of all her meds so no, it doesn't last forever!

Hey A.. My 3.5 month old baby girl also has reflux, my 3 year old son did not. I'm just breastfeeding and we opted not to medicate because she's gaining weight with no problem. My pediatrician said that's how he decides about medicating. However, we are using infant probiotics which you can get at Whole Foods. I pump and put half a teaspoon in with the breastmilk just once a day, and I have to say it works like a charm. (We're doing all the other stuff like burping after 2 ounces and keeping her upright for 15 minutes after each feeding.) She also likes the swaddle/swing combo, and most anything that keeps her in a more upright position. (She likes to be held the best, of course :)) I would also recommend a wedge for the bassinet or crib or co-sleeper that raises your son at a 30 degree angle which prevents milk traveling back up into the esophagus. (you can google reflux pillows, there's one called AR) I hope this helps a little....I can't be of any help with the formula ideas but I do know they can be hard on the tummy...it seems like you've already gotten good advice with those, so maybe just add probiotics to whichever formula you choose...we struggled for a few weeks but things are definitely better now!

You might want to add rice water to his formula that helped my child. Directions: boil half a cup of rice, with three cups of water. once boiled let it cool down and add one once of rice water to his formula. This is something my mother did for me when I was a child since I also suffered from reflux like my son. Do not include the rice on his formula only the rice water. Another thing I did for my son was switch him to soy formula which reduce the colics but I still had to add the rice water. Hope this helps your baby!

Hello A.,

You are not alone! Actually, this topic has been on Mamasource boards several times (I can forward to you previous threads if you send me an email address).

I know exactly what your are going through, since we experienced the same a couple of years ago (I promise it WILL pass!). At first, our child took Prevacid, but we thought it really did not do a whole lot. Than we started using Reglan but we were concerned about all the negative info we gathered about it, so later we switched to Bethanacol, which helped a bit. We also tried Zantac with no success. Meds really didn't help much.

In the end, we decided to focus on ways to make our son more comfortable in terms of feeding. We gave him partially broken-down formulas to make his digestion easier, we figured out a bolus-feeding schedule (small portions, more often), after feedings we took turns holding him in an upright position (which gave him immense relief), we placed his bed in a 45 degree angle, etc.

I found quite useful th reflux section at this parent support website: http://parent-2-parent.com/forum/index.php, though it seems to be down right now...

Good luck!

Reflux is so hard on baby and mommy! My daughter had it pretty bad. The only medication that worked for her was Zegerid. You may want to ask your pediatrician about it. It is similar to Priolosec, but it is an immediate release PPI.

Oh boy! Does your post bring back memories. My daughter had severe reflux along with a condition caused by severe reflux called Sandifer's syndrome. Anyway, we tried Zantac, Prevacid and Reglan and various doses and combinations. She was never symtpom free. I was breastfeeding so I tried food elimination diets, which didn't help. She FINALLY outgrew it at 2 years of age.

We ended up going to UCLA and seeing the guru of pediatric gastroenterology, Dr. Marvin Ament but it takes MONTHS to get into see him. We did the full work-up for reflux (24 pH probe, Upper GI study, and gastric emptying study). Bleh!

Sometimes combining a pH blocker (Zantac) with a proton pump inhibitor (Prevacid) does the trick, though I had to be the one to suggest this to our pediatrician. I went through THREE pediatricians trying to get help for my daughter. None of them were trained enough to deal with reflux. Consider seeing a specialist sooner rather than later so you don't have to go through what I went through. But if you do, go to a large teaching hospital - UCLA, Cedar Sanai, Children's Hospital in LA, CHOC or Miller Children's (not sure where you live). I did lots of research on the specialists at several of these hospitals so if you decide to go this route and you want more info. email me.

Otherwise,take care of yourself. I KNOW how stressful this is. I was a TOTAL reck.

u should try Good Start Supreme Comfort Protein formula..introduce it slowly..one ounce at a time..at first put just a little more water in it..Zantac sucks..there is another med ..i can't remember the name..but your doc will know..sorry i can't remember.. also colic tablets may help..it was the only thing that helped my son w/ his tummy problems..

here is a site for u to check out...

http://infantrefluxdisease.com/infant_acid_reflux/help-in...

Hi A.,

Your son sounds just like mine did. We tried a couple of different meds and the third one (prilosec) worked wonderfully. I don't know about privacid but prilosec takes about 2 weeks to really get into the system. It makes it better right away but you'll see a real difference in time. You also have to make sure to follow the directions carefully. For prilosec, he can't have eaten for an hour before we give it to him and has to wait a half hour afterwards.

Plus put some books under the head of the crib so it's raised about 4 to 6 inches. I know it sounds crazy but it makes a huge difference. The gravity basically helps keep things down.

It's going to be an uphill battle. My first born was a great weight gainer and had no issues. My second born (reflux baby) has always been big, and has always gained but never a lot. Only at his 9 month appointment did he gain the recommended amount. Funny thing is that he's always been high on the curve for weight and he has atypical reflux meaning he doesn't vomit. One of the meds did make him vomit and I spoke with a specialist and switched.

Reflux lasts from 10 months to a year normally. Some kids get better earlier, some later. I've found that things even out around 8 months. I think solids help a lot, along with their physical development.

My 9 month old is great now. He eats wonderfully, takes 8 oz!! The first time he took 6 oz and was happy... I will never forget that day. He also sleeps now. His sleep greatly improved when I put his crib up at an angle.

Is your son gassy? Does he pass stool regularly? My little boy was constipated because of the reflux and that made him worse. I used similac gentle formula and it really made a difference. Between that and the medicine, he started pooping regularly and that eased a lot of his discomfort. You are going to need to be really hands on with him and he'll need a lot of comforting. You can't let reflux babies cry too much because it will cause them to reflux. It'll get better! Good luck!

Our situation was quite similar to yours. My son started on Zantac at 1 month old, and Prevacid at 2 months old. We were seeing a pediatric gastroenterologist on a regular basis. It was a very frustrating experience to watch your little one in pain and feel rather helpless. The doctors told me that most kids outgrow reflux when they eat more solid foods and begin spending more of their time in a vertical position - around 9 months or so. That time came and went for us. The good news is that by this time, we had all the symptoms well under control with the medication, we just wanted to stop the medication as soon as possible. But every time we tried to back off the medication even a little bit, he would have problems again. Then the doctor told us our son would outgrow it at one year, and then at 18 months. Each time we tried to ween him off the medication without success, but again, he was symptom free and a very normal happy kid as long as he was taking his medication. Then, finally at 2 years old we backed off the medication and he did just fine. It was hard for me to believe it actually worked, but now he's almost 3 and he has no symptoms of reflux and takes no medications at all.
My husband and I struggled with the idea of giving such a young baby so much medication, but decided that allowing him to be comfortable was worth it. Hopefully, your son will be one of the kids that outgrows it much earlier than mine, but don't lose hope if he still needs the medication after nine months, or one year.
Find yourself a good specialist who is supportive of all your concerns, and willing to answer any questions you may have. Good luck.

We are going thru the same thing right now. But my baby is 4 weeks old. The screaming in pain is so hard to hear! For us the dr put us on zantac and she is on Gentelease. She started with teh lowest dose and we are slowly increasing as needed. We are on our second increase and I think its going to work at this dose. Also remember as the babies grow it might seem like their medicine is not working because the dose needs to go up as their weight does.

Hi A.,

My daughter had reflux so bad that she spit up at every meal and cried for an hour. The meds didn't work for her and we were desperate for something to help. Our Pediatrician recommended Enfamil AR which is a gentle formula with rice starch. It worked pretty well for us. The other thing that helped was we would lay her down on her back on the bed and "write" on her stomach with our fingers, just draw the letters with your fingertips on his tummy. This massages his tummy without putting a lot of pressure on him.

Good luck!!!

I went through this exact same thing with my daughter, who is now 2 1/2 and has thankfully grown out of it over a year ago! I tried switching formulas, bottles, etc but I think the constant switching was just making it worse. Finally we had her put on Axid twice a day and kept her on Gentlease and it took a few days of patience but she was fine after that. I'm sure she was still not as "fine" as a baby without reflux, but the screaming and drooling and spitting up stopped. We kept her on the meds until about 18 months and weaned her off slowly and she's now fine, happy and healthy. I think if you just stick with one formula and bottle type and give the meds a few days to work you will see results. I didn't realize it at the time but you have to let the meds build up in their system. Good luck, no worries you'll find what works soon.

Hi A.

My daughter, who is 2.5, was on Prevacid for about a year and a half. She also had Zantac first, but one of Zantac's side effects is constipation, which was horrible for her. Like some moms said, Prevacid works on most days, but not all. But the medication helped her for sure. I am very careful about giving my kids medicine in general. My pediatrician told me that the only problem from Prevacid found in studies was for kids that took them for longer than 3 years. And the danger of not giving her any meds is a link between teenage esophagial (sorry if spelling is wrong) cancer and untreated earlier childhood reflux, due to the long term irritation of the lining. So We went with the doc's recommendation and let her stay on Prevacid till she was about 2. Majority of the kids who have reflux, or any kind of digestive problems, outgrew them by age 2. For those that don't outgrow the problems by age 2 I heard that next milestone is age 5.

And yes, kids are different. My older one never had any kind of reflux or problems, and my little one had problem from almost day 1. So don't kick yourself with the question about why this one isn't the same (speaking from my own experience). I suggest you monitor his condition closely, and report to the doctor any concerns you have. Prevacid is a popular medication, but there are other meds that the doc could put him on to help with his symptoms. So stay close with the doc.

Finally, my pediatician recommended Nestle Goodstart formula, and we really liked it. So give it a try if the other formula doesn't work out for you. I heard that it tastes better and it is gentler.

Best of luck. I know how hard it is when the baby is so little and all you want is for them to eat well and not have pain... Trust me, things will get better. I wish you the best.

Hi A.:

Reflux is a very tricky condition because there could be different resons for it. The first thing that comes to mind is the possibility of allergies or sensitivity to dairy based formulas. Babies who have allergies to dairy based formulas may also have an allergy to soy based formulas. If you are breastfeeding or pumping your milk you may want to go on the elimination diet (dairy,soy, nuts, wheat)and in combination with the right medication and dosage your baby may be more comfortable . There are also specialty formulas that are dairy free, hypoallergenic, and predigested.
Best wishes!

REFLUX SUCKS. I have a 3 and a half month old and she has had reflux from just a few days old. It is so bad she is on $50 a can formula and prevacid. The biggest thing noone told me about the prevacid is she has to take it 30 mins before she eats or an hour after she eats or in your case your son. Make sure he is completely upright for 30 mins after he eats and then when you lay him down make sure he is never flat at least a 30 degree angle. If your saying he is spitting up that at least is a good sign, my daughter projectile vomits. I am going thru this too contact me if you have any more questions. ____@____.com you are worried ebough about it ask your peds office for a referral to a GI doc. Kenzees is so bad she's benn hospitalized twice for it and her lips turn blue when it happens. So let me know if I can help!!!
E.

hi A.,
my little girl of 20 months also had bad reflux. was up with her all night sometimes. doctor gave us prevacid, but i didn't want to give it to her all the time. i was looking for a natural solution online and i found siberian pine nut oil. here is the website that i bought from, they export the product. it worked amazingly. i am recommending it to all moms out there. it is safe for little ones and completely natural, and best of all it works!
http://www.theotheroption.co.za/LeftNav/babiespregnancy.aspx
good luck!
S

Hi A. - you are not alone!! We are going through the EXACT same thing...except I am breastfeeding. Our daughter was born 8-9 and right around 5 weeks started the arching, leg pulling, crying in pain. Luckily for her we knew the signs and immediately got her on the medicine (our 2nd child had this...she's our 4th!). She only eats 3-4 ounces every 3 hours too.

She's now on Prevacid too...Zantac worked only like you said for a few days. After being on the Prevacid for about 7 days or so...we had a totally different baby!!! It was amazing. BUT...about 10 days after that...it all started again, and lasted about 4 days until we increased her dosage of Prevacid. I remember we had to adjust our son's dosage of Prevacid every few weeks because he gained weight SO fast, and while our daughter is not gaining weight nearly as fast...it does seem like increasing her dosage did help.

The good news is...babies almost always grow out of it. Our son is now 5...and when he was 9 months old, he was completely off the Prevacid and totally fine!!

It is challenging, frustrating and so hard to hear your baby cry in pain...I know!!! One thing that helps our little girl now is just being held upright either in someone's arms or a vibrating chair/swing (but not swinging) for about 20 minutes after she eats. She's never really spit up more than normal...but she does do better with this. Also, we elevated her crib mattress and that helps too. You can also see a pediatric gastroenterologist...who sometimes is better at working with the Reflux than your normal pediatrician (we are actually seeing one today finally!)

Other than that...it just takes time...but know that it will get better and it will pass!!

Good luck :)

Dear A.,
Im so sorry you're going through this. I'm a Speech Pathologist and Orofacial Myologist, and have had some exposure working with children with feeding disorders. I'm not sure as to whether you're breast feeding at all, or if you're using formula strictly. If you do some breast feeding, I copied some guidelines as per ASHA, (American Speech Hearing Association) for you......
The patient is guided to follow strict behavioral reflux precautions, including:

Avoid ingestion of alcohol, caffeinated beverages, decaf coffee, carbonated beverages, and citrus juices
Eliminate fatty, fried, spicy, and acidic foods from the diet
Avoid acidic medications such as aspirin and vitamin C
Take medications as directed
Avoid chemically filled environments
Avoid mints, chocolates, or nuts
Eat slowly

Having said that, please be sure to take care that your babies ears are elevated above his mouth while feeding. After feeding, please refrain from laying him down for a least an hour. THe swallowing/feeding structures of little ones are so "scrunched" as compared to an adult, or even to that of a child-- so babies will have a higher propensity towards reflux. Hope that helps a bit.

My son had the same issues and Zantac worked for us. I'm adding to the posts you've already received to hopefully put your mind at ease a bit. At my son's six month appointment, he was taken off the meds totally fine. Something else we did which helped immensely - as suggested by our pediatrician - was to lower his crib to its lowest setting and let him sleep inside in his bouncer. Raising one end of the mattress did nothing for him at night, but the bouncer kept his upper body raised just enough to help him sleep despite the reflux. Best of luck!

Has your pediatrician checked to make sure your son isn't lactose intolerant? That's the first thing I'd check.

If he's not lactose intolerant, I'd see if nursing would help. I nursed my son for a long time, and he had no problems with digestion.

I hope this helps!

My child had food allergies with reflux from 0-2 yrs and we used Pepcid which helped. She had projectile vomiting and blood in stool so we got her tested at the allergist. For example if a child is allergic to corn, which is an ingredient in formula as corn syrup, then it would cause a problem as it did with ours. I was on a special diet for a year while nursing too. The special diet helped and now she is fine 4 1/2 and has no food allergies. PS my daughter also only drank/ate a little at a time and more frequently.

Hi A., my baby after stopping breastmilk, was drinking Similac just like the rest of my boys, but she spit it out, had diarrhea when in actuality she was supposed to not have as many stools and she was spitting up and crying. So I just gave it a shot and put her on Goodstart with comfort proteins. She loved it!!! No more loose stools and not as many spit ups. When I gave her some similac a few mos later cause I still had a small powder pack she had diarrhea again. I was happy to know that I didn't need to put her on soy or anything else. It could always be trying different formulas. I never expected to have a problem with the formula I used for two boys, but I guess everyone's digestive system is different. I hope everything works out for your baby!!!