My Son Bryton

Zantac did nothing for us(or both my friends sons) we switched to Previcid(it's one time a day in a tablet form that disolves on the tongue), it has worked wonders for us, he still spits up but it keeps the acid from coming up and making him miserable--ask the dr for a trial of something new and see if it works- will take 4-5 days to build up in his system in order to see if it helps- I know 3 babies so far on it and all are doing much better than with Zantac!

All I will say is CHIROPRACTIC! Give it a try and you will be amazed! It cleared up my daughter's ear infections, my son's "acid reflux" and his asthma!

Good luck!!!

I am a childcare provider and have a 5 month old that has had the same problem. Her parents have me put rice cereal in her bottle, they said when they started doing that it reduced the number of times she spits up. They use Enfamil Lipil and Gerber rice cereal, one scoop of each per 2 oz of water. I also have noticed as she has gotten older that she spits up less. Good luck!

A.-
I would encourage you to consider chiropractic care, which sounds strange to many people. However, I am a chiropractor in Kansas, and I have had success treating babies with "acid reflux". Along with diet and positioning, physical tension can constrict the organs and affect the nerves to the stomach & intestines... all things that chiropractors trained to work with babies know how to deal with.

To find a chiropractor in your area who is specially trained to work with babies, visit www.icpa4kids.org and click on the find a doctor link.

Good luck to you and Bryton.

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa

P.S. I understand the desire to seek out medication, however there is supposed to be acid in the stomach to protect the stomach lining. Giving medication to diminish acid production, while it sooths the pain from acidy vomit, can be detrimental to your child's health.

Sorry to hear your son has reflux, I know it's hard when their poor tummies are so sick! My youngest son also had reflux and we did the following to improve it: small, frequent feedings; keeping him upright for 30 minutes after eating; inclining his mattress (to help keep him upright after his nighttime feedings), and gave him Prevacid once a day. The Zantac didn't work for us, Prevacid is a stronger med. Our son is breastfed and when I tried dairy based formula to suppliment or cow's milk wne he turned one, it caused the reflux to worsen. By 18 months old he was finally able to tolerate some dairy.

Hope all this helps.

Hey A.. I know how hard it can be, and how frustrating it can be for new moms when the baby isn't feeling well. This seems to be a stressful situation. I know the other moms had good results by supplementing the child. That is great. But have you explored natural options?

I know a nutritionist in Chesterfield that swears a little apple cider vinegar will help with digestion.

I also know many many chiropractors that have had great success with infants and this exact problem. If you need a recommendation, just tell me what area of the country you are in and I'll find you a seasoned chiropractor that has worked with this issue.

I do wish you and your little one all the best.

My son had acid reflux as an infant, but good news - he did outgrow it by about 9 months. The tricks we used to control it included: small, frequent feedings; keeping him upright for 30 minutes after eating; inclining his mattress (to help keep him upright after his nighttime feedings), and taking Zantac as well. The ped originally also prescribed Reglin (I forget what for exactly), but we didn't give it to him long b/c we heard about some bad long-term side effects).

I had also heard that it takes a little while for the effects of changing formula to become apparent, so don't be too quick to move on to the next one if the one you're using doesn't seem to be working.

Good luck!

The first question I would ask you is...Did you get a second opinion?
And secondly you say "vomiting" do you mean projectile vomiting, vomiting or just spitting up alot?
I am a mother of 4 children and I have never heard of a baby having acid reflux. I am not saying it isn't but there may be an underlying cause for it. I guess I will wait to hear back from you.

I would get a second opinion. Look up "pyloric stenosis" and see if your little one matches this description. Also, sleeping him in his car seat instead of on his back can help if it is reflux. I had the same problem with my 2nd son. They said it was reflux, then pyloric stenosis, then cystic fibrosis, and it all turned out to be false. He was simply allergic to dairy and that was passing through to him in my milk. (other formulas have dairly in them, and infants can be allergic to soy, so the only one that worked was Allimentum.) Good luck! I know this can be so exausting!!

Have they checked him for milk alergies? My brothers kids had the same problem and had to have soy formula.

Both of my kids had acid reflux and it sure isn't fun. My daughter had a worst case. Nothing stopped the vomitting until she learned to sit up independently. She would still have occasional spats until she was a year! The rice didn't help her at all. We still have my 2 year old son's mattress raised. That never seemed to help as well.

Hi A.,
None of my kids ever had a problem with acid reflux. One of my friends' baby boy did have a problem with vomiting like that though. Has your doctor checked his pyloric valve? The valve at the bottom of the stomach that opens to let the food into the intestines sometimes doesn't work quite right and food is not let out of the stomach at the rate it should be, therefore the baby gets too full and vomits alot. I would run that by your doctor if he hasn't mentioned it, or checked. Other than that, the only thing I can think of is to make sure that your baby is drinking quite a bit of water, to dilute the acid.
Best of luck to you!

A. :)

Oh sweetie! I'm so sorry to hear about that. Have you tried getting a second opinion? Maybe he's allergic to milk, have you tried the lactose free formula...Enfamil has a bunch of "variaties" of formula, and I'm almost sure that there is a soy version that is lactose free. Best of luck to you!

Hi A., Did the DR tell you to give zantac to him? how old is he? when my son was born, he had an underdeveloped esophagus(I am sure this is misspelled) and it caused him to constantly throw up. Also,I was told to hold him upright when I feed him, and only give 1/2 oz-1 oz at a time. Hope your son gets better

Babies can have reflux. It is very rare, so GET A SECOND OPINION. With that being said.....
I did not see how old your son is; however, we had the exact same problem with our child, and he took the Zantac. The Zantac even changed his personality. We gave it to him a year, and I even breastfed him for 13 months trying to help. The irony of it is that he has a milk allergy. I took out the milk products in his diet (not cooked), and I replaced them with all goat milk products. (You do have to give a supplement-multivitamin like Poly-Vi-Sol, because goat milk is low in folate.) He now takes no medication; he is almost three, and he is 44 inches tall and wieghs 43 pounds. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Hi A.!

My son had the same thing and it was his pyloric valve. Ask your doctor about this. They just kept switching his formula and telling me this happens with little boys. At 4 weeks old he was at his birth weight and THEY freaked. That is when they put us in the hospital and ran tests. Keep on them to check him out!
B.

Hi A.,

My first son was born with acid reflux and stomach aches. The best thing to do is make sure they sleep in an upright position. My son slept in his carseat for his first five months of life. He wasn't comfortable in any other position and he cried when I tried laying him down flat.

I didn't give him any prescription medications, because you just don't know what they do to their tiny systems at that age. I simply gave him about a centimeter's worth of Dark Karo Syrup in about three to four bottles a day. Especially one in the morning, one around lunch time, one at dinner, and one before later evening bed. Karo Syrup is an all natural product that older generation Mom's used for this type of thing, and it worked for my child too. It is found in the pancake syrup aisle at the grocery store. You must use the DARK syrup and not the light.

Good luck to you!

My son has the same thing, our pediatrician said to give him 2 or 3 tums every day,
IT WORKED !! Yea, I was so happy for him to stop throwing up all the time, now we just give him one ever once in a while when he seems to be gagging.
I did ask poison control about Tums and she told me that he could eat the whole bottle and it would not hurt him.
So you might as your doctor about trying that,
I understand about the throwing up, we have a carpet shampoo machine and I think I had the cleanest carpet in town LOL

B.

First of all, I know this can be SO difficult. Hang in there, it will get better. The purpose of the Zantac is to reduce the acid production in the stomach which should help with his pain (acid burning esophagus). It will not stop the spitting up. The only thing that will help with the spitting up is positioning (and possibly smaller feedings). It sounds crazy but it's good for him to be on an incline on his tummy after he eats. Also, like others have said raise the head of his bed and even use the car seat (buckle him in) for sleep if necessary. If he's only spitting up and not screaming in pain after eating, the Zantac is probably doing the trick. But, if you suspect he's in pain (arching his back, screaming, pulling away from bottle while feeding) I would definitely try another med. My daughter had a little relief with Zantac for a while but we eventually switched to Prevacid. The Prevacid was amazing!! It it supposed to completely stop the acid production in the stomach. And you only have to give it once a day (so much easier than Zantac).

I can understand why some people are saying to avoid the prescription meds but this can be very serious and these drugs are proven safe. I would venture to say these people have not had a child screaming in pain everytime they tried to eat.
Good luck to you.

Hi A.,

I have a 10-month-old son who used to have reflux and we went through a ton of kinds of formulas and medicines.

They have a meltaway tablet of Prevacid that worked well for Evan. I just put a couple of drops of water in a baby spoon, then dropped a quarter of a meltaway tablet in the water so it would dissolve. Then I just fed it to Evan. maybe ask your pediatrician about Prevacid?

I hope your little man feels better soon!!!

J.

My daughter was 3 1/2 months old when we finally diagnosed here with GERD (pretty much the same thing). She took Zantac twice daily and 1 tsp of Cherry flavored Mylanta after each bottle (Isomil). She continued to vomit for a couple weeks after we started but eventually she settled down. She started the meds in mid-September and quit the Zantac by Christmas that same year. By her 9 mth checkup we quit the Mylanta.
You didn't mention the Mylanta, I would check with your doctor and try that for the vomiting. You could also try propping him up in a bouncy seat.

Hello. My nane is S.. I have 3 kids, and one on the way. My 4 year old son had acid reflux when he was just 1 month old. He also had sleep apnea which was caused by the scid reflux. He could not keep anything down He was loosing weight. By the time he was a months and a half he weighed a little less then 5 lbs. The doctor tried everything from medicine to switching formula. Finually we had decided to get a ph study done on him. That counts the amount of acid in his stomach, by putting a tube down his nose to his stomach. They said that the normal amout of acid for a baby is 60. His was 236. So he had a surgery called laperscopic funoplication. Now he is almost 4 years old, and it better then he was. So if the meds arnt helping, and switching formula isnt helping, i'd ask your doctor about doing a ph study to make sure the acid isnt to hight to cause harmful damage. I hope my advice helps. Let me know how it turns out.

You said you've changed his formula, but to what? Have you tried the soy based formulas? That stopped my daughter from having that problem.

Have you actually taken your child to a Gastroenterologist? My son had the spitting up issue as an infant, and after my pediatrician recommended him have an upper GI done. We found out that it was not reflex. My son actually had a premature esophagus. The flap that opens and closes leading into the stomach. The cause of the spitting up was that the flap would get stuck open and therefore anytime he would eat too much, he would vomit because there was nothing closing his stomach to keep the fluid in. They can do surgery or they can just let time heal it. We chose to let time heal. I didn't want to have to do surgery if it would correct itself over time. One of the things we had to adjust was his eatting. He could drink 2-3 ounces without throwing any up, therefore he ate less, but more often. It took about 6-8 months before he had completely stopped spitting up. Just a thought, I would look into that, or just alter his eating times. Make sure he gets the same amounts of formula as he always has, you will just have to spread it out. Instead of feeding 6oz. at one sitting, give hime 3 oz. now, and 3 oz in an hour. Good Luck. I know how hard it is dealig with the clothing changes, and the feeling you can't help. But you can.

I am a speech pathologist and work with babies birth to three who have feeding problems you are describing. I can't say much as I have not seen your child. You might ask to try Prilosec. Sometimes Zantac will not work for all babies and Prilosec will work for alot more kids. I personally like Prilosec alot better. YOu might also go see a specialist (pediatric gastroenterologist). You might need to have surgery. The surgery is called fundoplication and is used in the most severe reflux cases. That is if your baby is loosing weight, refusing to eat ect ect. It looks like he is only 2 months old and is very young, I would not suspect that the specialist (pediatric gastroenterologist) would consider that as an option but there is always a first. Other things to do, raise head of bed up, have him sleep in his infant carrier, feed him and keep him up for at least 30 minutes, change to a different formula (we ended up using Good Start which reduced the spit up, soy ect), If you are really at a loss, try thickening the formula with a little bit of rice(now most therapist don't recommend it but in my experience it has helped some babies). Also ask for a feeding evaluation by a speech pathologist and/or occupational therapist. Call your local Infant Toddler program (every state has a program that is free and will provide evaluation and treatment of problems such as this by providing a speech therapist or occupational therapist. The therapist can help you try different methods to reduce the acid reflux. There are many other options but you really should consult a therapist that can see your child and recommend accordingly. good Luck

Good Luck

I have a 6 month old and I've worked with infants in daycare for the past 5 years and honestly some babies just spit up alot, a whole lot, no matter what you do. As long as he is gaining weight and not hungry you are fine. He will grow out of it. Just burp him throughout and after each feeding and try putting him in a bouncy so he is upright for about 30 minutes after he eats. Good luck!
B.

My son is now 2.5 but oh, I feel your pain! When he was a little he ended up in the ER then admitted to the hospital because of vomiting blood. They just blew it off and concluded that it was from my breast milk even though they took several samples while I was there and found not one drop of blood or suspicious infection from the samples. We went home and my ped. ordered an upper GI and stool samples. Upper GI result was "marked reflux" and the stool samples were + for blood. Now he had been on multiple formula changes and Zantac before all this but she then added something else that for the life of me I can't remember now. For some reason I'm thinking ranitadine(sp?) but that may be the generic for Zantac. There is something else that definitely, definitely helped so be persistent. He will grow out of it but I can attest that it just seems to take forever so keep lots of cloth diapers everywhere and just walk away when you get too aggravated having to clean up "again". Feeding smaller amounts more often and having him sit up longer or "dance" with me to get the air out seemed to help too. S. in MO.

i would stop stop switching his formula, it will just make it worse, pick one and stick with it, there little bodies are not made for changes in diet. i have never had this problem before but i know that changing there formula several times isn't easy on them. good luck and i hope he feels better soon!!!

All of the other suggestions sound good but I do have one more to add... try putting some baby cereal in his bottles to help thicken the formula up. One of the other moms mentioned projectile vomiting; that is usually a symptom of a pyloric development problem. Both of my boys had to have surgery to correct a overdeveloped pyloris when they were five weeks old. My oldest did develop GERD after that. He tried out several different prescription meds before we finally found one that worked. I also had both the boys on lacto-free formula.

When you say projectile vomiting... I would seriously get that checked... he might have piloric-stinosis... (I dont know how to spell it... but that is how it sounds). Basically it is the stomach vaulve not closing, so food comes right back up....

All three of my brothers had it...

Good Luck!

Not knowing his age, I have a question/comment. Is this "projectile vomiting"? Is your son gaining weight? Is he otherwise healthy? I would get another opinion. There could be something causing the extra acid....I'm NOT a Dr., but I would get another Dr.'s opinion........is it an allergy to formula/milk/food? I know both my sons, when they were infants did best on a soy formula...both could be transitioned to cow's milk/cheese @ a year. Good Luck to you and I hope your son is a fine!

do they think you need the Hypo allergenic kind for sure... Had you tried the gentalease.. It it is very good broke down easy to digest....

and the Enfamil AR is very thick....

I have a friend whos daughter was on meds very early on for reflux.. I dont know much on what all they did for her.. just meds.. just wanted to send hugs!!!! and say I hope things get better for you both!!!!

Make sure to ask dr if they have samples... IF they do keep you on the special formula.. and do contact the maker to see if they have coupons!!!!!

Dont know if you quilfy for WIC... IF it would be covered on that.. but do check.. Lots dont think they can get it... but lots reallly do So maybe check into it.. It might help....

Good luck and lots of hugs!!!!
T.

Give the meds some time to work. If they don't, continue talking to your doctor: Switch formula or meds until things calm down. Continual vomiting can cause food aversions later on down the road.

Make sure that you keep him elevated after feeding. Also being more on the right side than left is better for reflux. You can also add a small amount of cereal to the bottl to thicken it up. This helps it settle in the belly.
Good luck,
M.

He has acid reflux? Now? That is just awful, I am so sorry. First I would get a second opinion, how old is your boy? If it were me I would not give him any more of that medication, depending on his age I would try to find another way to help him, if he is young enough his chemicals may be rebalanced before he gets older and this becomes a permanent condition. Check out some homeopathic sights, herbal remedies, and solutions including diet, like certain foods may help and others may be bad. My prayers go out to you.

My dr told me that my daughter had that as well. But it only happened when I gave her formula...which wasn't often at all because I breatfed her for 10 months. As it turned out she has severe allergy to milk AND soy (along with a long list of other things). But perhaps your son is experiencing a milk or soy allergy. Best of luck to you!! And don't forget, if you don't feel satisfied with your doctors opinion, get another one! You have every right to do what's best for your son.

Hi A.- My son had the very same problem and actually was so bad that he ended up in the hospital. He then had to be put on a monitor while he slept for the first year of his life. We tried everything. What finally helped was putting rice cereal in every bottle. Our nurse told us to do so. We also used soy formula. I think what really helped was just him growing out of it. But, the cereal thing seemed somewhat helpful. You should talk to your pediatrician about trying this.
Hope this is somewhat helpful.
Thanks,
D. s

Have you tried asking the dr. to do a PB probe?

A.,
Does Bryton act upset after he "spits up"? If not, then (and I know you don't want to hear this:) it is what you call a "laundry problem". I know that it is AWFUL as my first son puked like a fountain 24/7 for the first 9 months of his life. Then it slowed down to a small fountain until around 12-14 months. He was also on Zantac.

Zantac only cuts down on the acid in the stomach. It does not help with his immature esophageal spincter which is the muscle at the end of the esophagus that helps keep the stomach contents in the stomach. This will mature with time. So Zantac will not help with the throwing up, but it should help with the pain that the excess acid causes. If you feel he is still in pain, then he needs to be switched to a different medication. My baby (9months) is on Prevacid. It is helping alot with his pain. He doesn't spit up like his brother did, but it seems like his pain is worse.

Also, Zantac dosage is very weight dependant. So in these first few months when they are gaining weight very quickly, the dosage needs to be increased often. My oldest was a very large baby (he over ate which is one reason he puked so much!), we had to increase his Zantac every 2 weeks!!!

I know this is hard. I was scared to even pick my oldest son up as I knew as soon as I moved him he was going to soak me!! Eventually I just accepted that fact that I was going to have to do laundry every day and most of my clothes were going to be stained (especially after he started eating solids:). He eventually stopped and we were both MUCH happier.

Hang in there!

Here is a message board where they discuss acid reflux...

http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/babies/reflux.html

Apparently it can be a serious problem because it can cause apnea. My neice had a problem with spitting up and colic, they ended up using a formula with predigested proteins in it and using lots of gripe water. Good luck!