Concerned

I completely agree with you on this subject. I think this is such an overmedicated nation and doctors are handing out prescription drugs like they are candy. I have a clso friend whoes son is diagnosed with ADHD and his doctors had prescribed him medication that had him stoned and practically unresponsive. His mother put in in karate took him off all but one of the drugs and now he is totally focused. Plus I think some parents think that doctors know eveything that is best with your own child. Every child is different and only a parent will know what to do in the long run. I hope this nation smartens up real soon.

I'm more troubled by the responses to this comment than the earlier ones.

1) It's critical to distinguish between the diagnosis and the treatment here. Babies' digestive systems ARE immature. It may be that acid reflux really IS that common in babies, just as problems with close-up vision are really that common in older individuals. We don't assume that the need for reading glasses is an indication of some severe illness in the elderly. I don't think we need to jump to the conclusion that the prevalence of acid reflux in babies is an indication of a greater underlying disease, or malpractice by pediatritians.

2) I've grown up hearing the stories of how this was dealt with in previous generations. Either a woman was told, "Your kid has colic. Deal with it." or she was just told she's an incompetant mother. At least the doctors are now TRYING to do something. They know that medicine can help, and that's something they can offer to the poor mom with the miserable child.

3) Which is better, giving a child medicine or letting the first six months of his life be absolute Hell - never getting enough sleep, always being in pain, always crying and hurting - with mom and dad exhausted, stressed-out and disfunctional...Of course, reality may not be a choice between the former and the latter. There may be ways to treat the reflux that don't involve medication. Certainly there are lifestyle changes that a pediatrician should suggest that could potentially help (ie. not eating gaseous foods if breastfeeding). However, if making those changes is insufficient, perhaps medication is better than misery.

I too am a blessed mother of two children and have been married soon to be 18 years PTL! I am also a Christian who is always searching for a deeper relationship with Christ. Remember, "Wise Men Still Seek Him", how true.

As for the children with reflux, I have been into wellness for 18 years now and have gained much knowledge. For your child I would suggest, with the knowledge of your doctor that you want to try a different route first, with his oversight, of course.

I would buy an organic Aloe juice, not drink! Mix 1 0z juice with 2 0z apple juice, upto 3x a day. Try this for 30 -60 days and see if this does not turn this situation around - and no side effects. This will even help an infant with internal issues.

Yes, I'm totally alarmed. Your children are not only being medicated as infants for this so called reflux but also being medicated at school age for ADD for being to active...does anyone think about the long term effects of this? Time to question the doctors and the care they are giving your children...time to find other ways to deal with the problems. Time to turn to the older mothers to find out how they delt with the same problems when these medications didn't exsists for them.

C.,
Everything is being over diagnosed. Look at the myriad of drugs or children are given from birth? It's insane how we have allowed the doctors and pharmaceuitcal companies to dictate how we raise our children. We are setting them up for illness and chronic disease down the road with all these synthetic medications. Nothing synthetic is good. Medicine is meant as a tool to get a chronic condition under control, not a way of controlling our lives and that of our children. Just pick up a magazine, newspaper, listen to the radio or tv...nothing but ads for drugs. We are becoming a society of self-diagnosis...perhaps that is how the doctors will avoid mal-practice in the future: "The Patient came in with an ad and asked for this drug for their child".
I have done a complete change over in the past 5 years. I go the natural alternative route first...my ancestors lived well into their late 90's. I do believe they knew something we don't.
D. K

Hi C.,

I am also concerned! Acid Reflux is just getting a diagnosis in the past few years in children, I believe. My 8 year old daughter has it. However there may be other causes or concerns! My daughter has had a delicate stomach for years ... finally we saw a GI doctor and she had a scope. The results were not great. She has been diagnosed with Eosiniphilic Esophagitis "EE" for short and Gastritis. With EE,the lining of the esophagus is inflamed and hurts and it is hard to swallow. The main cause is allergies, at least that's what I have learned since Christmas. (Food, chemical and environmental) I knew she had environmental allergies as she has Asthma but we have also found that she is allergic to 9 major foods! Dairy, Wheat, Rice, Corn, Eggs, Treenuts, Cashews, Soy and Shellfish! It has been an uphill battle. Although it isn't cureable there are treatments. I am not an advocate of medications but will do what I have to. Because of my journey with her I have discovered a Wellness Company that I have partnered up with to work at home. Our home is now chemical free! Many of the things our children inhale daily have lasting effects! Since we converted our home she has not needed a breathing treatment. She will be going in for anothr scope in 3 months to check her linings in her throat and stomach again.

ABOUT ME:

Because of all this: 1)I have decided to stay at home and 2) I found a great company that allows me to do so and 3) MOST IMPORTANT, I have time with my kids and don't miss out on anything! At 41 years of age I guess I finally realized my children are only young once! I want to enjoy every moment I have with them!

I felt the same way when my daughter was diagnosed with reflux, but from what I've read the difference is that 10 years ago they didn't know how to diagnose reflux. It was simply lumped in with every other "unknown" cause of colics, and the poor babies (and parents!) simply had to suffer through it until they outgrew the symptoms months later. At least now there is a treatment that helps everybody survive this rough period.

I agree that we definately hear more and more children being diagnosed with reflux. My daughter is one of them. For her it made complete sense. Besides the fact that she is a twin born at 37 weeks, she also had bad breath(sour milk), spit up constantly, projectile vomiting, screaming all the time, hated to lie down and always wanted to eat. The doctor said the eating was to push the acid back down, not b/c she was really hungry. I do think that there is more and more research which has led to the increase in diagnosis...and I feel these are appropriate diagnosis. Also, I find myself wondering if the old "colic" was really reflux but the doctors didn't have a real grasp on it. When I speak to parents with older children it seems as if they all had or knew a child with colic. Many of the same symptoms too! Could it be the same thing, new label??? Makes me wonder...

Almost all infants have some form of reflux because their bodies are immature. That is why most grow out of it by the time they are 1. But the prevalence of formula has increased it, I think. Anything but breastmilk is harder for babies to digest and can aggravate reflux - this is just a fact, not a dig against moms who formula feed. Also so many moms put their babies into "things" - swings, bouncers, bumbos, etc. that put babies into a more upright position than they would naturally be in and that contributes to it as well.
I also think that with the internet moms are more aware of WHY their baby is crying, spitting up, etc.

I also agree with you 100%. My daughter was prescribed Zantac but my maternal instincts told me that medicating a 5 week old child didn't feel right so I never gave it to her. This prescription was diagnosed by a doctor who told me my breast milk was hypo-allergenic and that my baby was not reacting to what I was eating. I didn't believe that for one second. ALL of my girlfriends told me that was not true and gave me some wonderful suggestions. First, I eliminated all dairy and eggs from my diet. I noticed a small difference right away so I saw a nutritionist and kept adjusting my diet. After discovering that she was having a reaction when I ate corn - or anything with high fructose corn syrup! - I eliminated that also. It was like someone turned on a light switch inside of her and she stopped screaming and spitting up. My diet had changed so dramatically that I needed to supplement with formula. I found an organic formula at Wild Oats or Whole Foods called "Nature's One" and because it is rice based she never once had a reaction. She gulped it down and thrived.

Nobody wants their baby to suffer, but I do believe that many people rely too much on their doctor's advice and not enough on their maternal (or paternal) instincts. If you don't feel right about medicating your child then spend more time on message boards and go with your instinct!

I think children have suffered from undiagnosed acid reflux for years. If a child didn't eat it was because he/she was picky or being difficult. For years moms have beat themselves up because their kid wouldn't eat.

My grandson is now 3 and was diagnosed at 1 as failure to thrive. I told my daughter that failure to thrive isn't a diagonsis and she pushed the doctor to get to the root cause. A year ago she finally got a referral to a pediatric gi (I think just to shut her up) and after testing he was diagnosed with severe acid reflux.

We've been thru every drug on the market except the last one before surgical intervention. The last drug has so many side effects that could damage my grandson for life that there's no way we can give it to him so consenting to surgery on a 3 yr old is our last option.

From what I've experienced with all this I can tell you that a general doctor does not have the expertise to diagnose acid reflux. Before you accept medication you need to see a GI doctor and let them do all the testing needed. Better to have some tests done than subject your child to unneeded medication that has not been fully tested on young children.

Hi C.. This is news to me. My youngest is 5 years old and I never heard of this before. But I agree with you. During the times when my children were under five my doctor diagnosed them with asthma at 2 and 6. How can this be I said to myself. But I remember them getting a DTP shot a week ago and two days later they sounded like there was a train running through their lungs. I took them to an alternative medicine docter and took it from there. Six months later my children were asthma free and now the are 14 and 10, my younger boys 7 and 5 never had it. I thought to myself as well when I was sitting in the pediatricians office how so many children were there for asthma and treatments with the machine. I said to myself there is no way I am going to have my children depend on this machine to breathe correctly, it just doesn't make any sense. Really I would look at the vaccinations. I believe children are being vaccinated too much and too early. Their little bodies can't take it. Also there are always side affects which happened in my case but the doctors would never agree. Children on medication at a very young age for reflux should alarm parents.

No! Quite honestly :}
GERD is very, very common - consider how many adults have it too. The treatment for acid reflux is pretty harmless - as far as we know today. So, why not give the medication a try - and if it works, you lessen all your stress as a parent and more importantly, your kid feels better two. Relax a bit or you will cause yourself some belly upset :}

I totally agree! I personally think our girls had an underlying dairy protein allergy that caused the reflux. I may be wrong, but when we stopped dairy and got her on meds she got much better.

C.
Mommy to Jessie (9), Katie (7) and Julia (2 ½)
www.TimetoChangetheDiapers.com
Adorable, affordable cloth diapers and reusable items for babies, kids and Moms!

Infants have such imature digestive systems that reflux is a problem for most at some point. I wasn't such a problem back when women wore their Babies 24/7 while they worked because the babies were held more upright. My Daughter had some reflux and instead of medicating her we "wore" her in a sling or Mie Tie carrier which helped her so much! Please try alternatives to medication first to see if they help, use medication as a last resort for serious cases!

my dd was also diagnosed with acid reflux as an infant... despite the fact that a "barium" test showed that it was not an "immediate" reflux. With her, she would spit up about 2 hours after eating/ like clockwork. However she never screamed or yelled in pain... just seemed uncomfortable. We did use medication... however one night we forgot to take it overnite to my inlaws and realized that it wasn't helping her one bit... all of her symptoms were the same. so we stopped medication and i believe that her digestive system matured over time and we haven't had an issue since she got a little older (probably around 4-5 months?)

i think it is mostly an issue with baby's digestive systems not being fully developed yet...

My son, who is now 14, was diagnosed with reflux after spitting up (what seemed to me), everything that he took in. I was concerned that he wasn't taking enough in because it really did look like everything was coming out. The doctor told me to hold a pitcher under his chin everytime I went to burp him and to collect the days "spit up" and assured me that most of it was water & not to worry; he was right. Anyway, he never gave him medicine or changed his diet, however, he explained that some babies aren't completely developed yet in the digestive system (he used technical scientific words which I can't remember). He did assure me, however, that once the baby was able to sit up on his own that this would stop. True to his word, it did.

As the mom of three, my experience tells me that reflux is valid due to immature digestive tracts. I was induced early with my first two children, while my third went full term.

My first born, induced at 37 weeks, was miserable for 3 months. I hesitated to medicate, but finally requested a check up to rule out all options before accepting that my baby had "colic". She was given meds for reflux and it completely changed her overnight. She was much more pleasant and a very happy baby.

My son, induced at 38 weeks, had the same symptoms. I requested the meds immediately (about 3-4 weeks)to avoid the issues I had first time around.

My third came out on her own one day before her due date. She was the best baby ever! No issues with reflux and I can't remember one cranky night (She is now 18 months old now). I strongly believe that since she was given the "extra" time to develop in utero it helped her digestive system.

Of course, each child is different and you need to be your child's advocate.

My son too was diagnosed with acid reflux at a month of age. If you do research you will find that all babies have some form of reflux because their esophageal sphincter isn't fully matured (for lack of a better word). (Usually by 6 months of age the esophageal sphincter is "matured".) Some children it is severe and interupts with their ability to eat etc.
Medications are usually started after a diagnosis----which could be a pH probe study, a barium swallow, or perhaps a scinta scan.....depends on the age of the child. My son had a scinta scan done that showed he had reflux with delayed gastric emptying (his stomach was emptying at a normal rate).
I too tried the whole not eating dairy, thinking maybe it was a food allergy thing....it didn't work, in my case it wasn't the problem.
Reflux can be a serious problem for babies and children, they can have lot of pain, and over time the esophagus can be damaged. Look to your doctor for the need to start medications. My son was vomiting profusely. (pyloric stenosis was ruled out...it really was reflux). I know other children who just scream and cry after eating b/c of the pain and also vomit after eating. Some kids have silent reflux.
I don't think it's over diagnosed and I don't think there is anything else going on in these children. Look at the research. What doctors were once calling Colic they are now realizing is acid reflux.
People need to make sure they are getting some sort of definitive test done before medicating...there may be exceptions to that.
All children are different. My daughter had some mild reflux symptoms that she grew out of and it never interfered with her eating, she wasn't a "colicky" baby, she didn't vomit...like night and day from her brother.
Baby 411 has a decent section on Acid Reflux if anyone is looking for a reference.

First of all, I love your "little about me" blurb! You are adorable and blessed indeed:) I totally know what you mean with the whole reflux thing. Fortunately, I have a doc that is mainly concerned with a natural way of getting babies/kids better rather than slapping a pill or dropper down her throat everytime she coughs:) With that said, the research that my pediatrician has done lead down the path of more and more children/babies with milk allergies. I breast fed and still am breastfeeding my 7 1/2 month old. once I stopped eating and drinking dairy, the reflux stopped, the fussiness stopped (colic) and life became peaceful. I believe that the high diagnosis of reflux as well as high diagnosis of milk allergy is due to the fact that so many hormones are being pumped into these cows and into our dairy like never before. yes, you can buy organic, but unless you eat 24-7 at home and your kids do too, you cannot be sure what type of dair is being put into them.

Sorry for the long-winded response, but I do feel strongly about this especially when you watch your little one suffer so much!

God Bless!

I think the problem is dr's just wanting to get parents out of their office-thus getting a rx for a cold that it wont work on. it is the same with ADD/ADHD. When i was in 4th grade it was myself and another boy with ADD. That was it now its what 2/3 of every class??? its crazy.

thanks for bringing some attention to this problem.

K.

Cristelle, if your child has reflux, it will be obvious when he/she goes an Upper GI. My son had an Upper GI at 2 months after multiple episodes of projectible vomitting. You give the baby barium in a bottle and then the barium will come back up the esophagus and you can actually see it in the doctor's office. The big thing is parents need to see a Pediatric GI Specialist if reflux is suspected. Pediatricians are not equipped to deal with it. Baby Zantac is often not strong enough. My son was on Previcid for over a year, but has outgrown his reflux.

My son had reflux. I believe THAT was the underlying cause. I do not think it is a mystery at all. He screamed and spit up constantly. As soon as we gave him zantac & rice he stopped.

It is a scientific fact that infants have immature gastrointestinal tracts. The medical community also believes that there is a genetic link since it is common in some families & not others. No mystery there.

Sure reflux is common symptom for other medical conditions but what I have read about it indicates that it is very unlikely that a rare disease causes reflux in children.

Maybe it seems like there are too many with it because you are a parent. Honestly, did you pay attention to infant afflictions before motherhood? Also with technology today we are able to communicate with people all over the world readily. Information is shared worldwide instantaneously and therefore we learn that there are many people who share common issues, such as reflux.

Same thing with child abduction. It seems as though there is more and more but if you look at the statistics involved from a reputable organization such as NCMEC it has not increased, we just hear about more incidences because #1 they are reported more and #2 we have this info readily available through a constant media barrage.

A.

I absolutely agree with you about the over diagnosis. My daughter was prescribed medication for acid reflux, but we decided not to give it to her. It turned out she was suffering from colic, which of course passed. I recently read (I wish I could remember where) that in a recent study a Dr. took 50 babies who had been diagnosed with acid reflux and did some sort of test which showed for certain whether the flap to the esophogus (?) had a gap, and it turned out that out of those 50 babies only 8 of them truly had acid reflux. What is going on?

Thanks for bringing this up. My 18-month old was diagnosed with reflux a few months ago, and I didn't think that the meds were helping so I pulled him off of it and didn't even notice a difference, either way.

I am a believer, too! Good for you for pursuing what God has been calling you to be and to do! Blessings to you today!

Absolutely C., I agree 100 percent!!!! I have seen so many cases of "reflux" in many of my friends new babies and I think its crazy. I have an 18 year old and an 11 year old and back then none of the children born were ever diagnosed with "reflux". My daughter had tummy issues but it was all due to her formula, the moment I changed it, problem was solved. She was on regular infamil and I switched her to Soy. I think moms should exhaust all possibilities of formula issues & try a new formula before giving their babies medicines.

I had actually heard that the increase in seeing acid reflux in children is due to the recent change to have babies sleep on their back instead of their tummy to avoid SIDS.

I agree, which is why I made sure to look into alternate diagnoses, and found that my daughter didn't have reflux, she was merely lactose intolerant. It made all the difference in the world and kept her off an unnecessary medication that wouldn't have helped anyway.