My 10 week old boy has reflux and is on Zantac since he was approx 5 weeks old. We went on vacation last week and the last 3 days he hasn't been eating cries when you put the bottle in his mouth, doesn't want his pacifier, fussy majority of the time he is awake, and was sleeping through the night now he's not. I hate seeing him like this and feel helpless, because he is hard to console even when holding him. Anyone else experience this? This is just not him! He has a doctors appointment in the next day or so. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you hopefully we can get this figured out! Going to the doctor tomorrow so we'll see! Thank you for all your responses it's comforting to listen to others experiences and know there is hope it will get better!
Do you keep him semi-upright while you're feeding and for at least 30 minutes after. Is his head higher than his bottom when he's lying down? My grandson suffered from reflux and slept much better in his car seat because it did keep him more upright.
What happens when we lie down is the acid is then caused to flow up out of the stomach due to gravity. By being more upright gravity helps keep it in the stomach.
We are going through a similar situation with my 6 week old son. He, too, has been on Zantac for 4 weeks with little improvement. I have done a lot of research (baby center reflux rebels is great) and I would ask your doctor for a PPI. It seems that Zantac is always the first route, but if that doesn't work a PPI my be necessary. Look into Prevacid solutabs or Nexium. Good luck!
With my son we would feed him sitting up with his back against us. He actually really liked being able to see what was going on and not eat lying down. We also had him sleep in his car seat. A nice advantage to that was that once he was settled, he could be moved into any room without being disturbed. He also liked to sleep in his swing. I would use either the swing or car seat during the day and the car seat at night. He's now 2 years old and eventually got used to sleeping in his bed, but this was a lifesaver at the time :-)
Good luck! I feel for you :-)
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My babies had reflux too. Could just be that he's gained enough weight that the dose he takes now isn't big enough. They may increase his dose after they weigh him.
Could also be that that particular medicine isn't that effective for him. We've been through medication changes too.
Hope he feels better soon- poor little guy! I know how you feel- it's so hard to see them suffer like that :(
*Just saw the picture of your LO- what a cutey!
Often reflux can be caused by an allergy, are you breastfeeding or using formula, either way it may be worth it to eliminate dairy wither from your diet or by switching to soy or hypoallergenic formula. My middle son did fine with zantac and soy formula, but had to be sleeping on an incline and upright 30 minutes after eating and we thickened his formula (cause 10 years ago they would still tell you to do that) while my youngest, 6 months old, was also allergic to soy, and was so allergic to whatever was in my milk that we stopped nursing, and he is now on alimentum and doing perfect, no meds or anything anymore.
Try some techniques that may help calm him so he can relax and eat and sleep better. He's still adjusting to life outside the womb, and toward the end of the Fourth Trimester can be a time of peak misery for babe and mom.
Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, explains in these short videos why he calls the first 3 months the Fourth Trimester, and explains why babies run pretty much according to their own needs for the first 3-4 months:
How-to's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ&feature=re...
Enhanced sleep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5MUOMecHI&NR=1
Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu0TtxO-ocY&feature=re...
