Infant Acid Reflux/GERDthat Baby Did NOT Outgrow by Age 9 Months

Hi
Both of my children had reflux (GERD) problems. My first outgrew it and went off his meds at about 6 or 9 months. My second had severe problems and took a high dose of Prevacid until she was almost a year old. She had lots of tests done and was hospitalized (she was seeing a gastro specialist regularly). The Dr. told us to be patient and wait until she was a year old to think about other treatment options. And around 11 months, her symptoms began to go away, and at 13 months we are basically symptom free. So hopefully your child's symptoms will continue to get better over the next few months.

It's important to keep in mind that Axid doesn't prevent the spitting up part associated with GERD, it is working to decrease acid in the stomach, so that when the baby spits up it is not as painful/is not harming the lining of the esophagus. The nightime coughing you describe could be due to reflux. Has your child had any breathing problems or pneumonia? If so, this could be due to the reflux also. If you haven't already, try putting the baby's crib on an incline, and keep the baby upright for ~30 minutes (or more, if you can) before laying him down. The last thing would be that as you begin to introduce more solid foods into your son's diet, you will hopefully begin to see less of the spitting up. I think your son's symptoms sound consistent with GERD, but as long as his spitting up is not that often, and he doesn't get really fussy when he eats or when he spits up, I don't think he needs to see a specialist.

I hope this helps! Hopefully in a few months it won't even be an issue for you any more.

J.

HI there-

You have gotten quite a few responses already but I wanted to give you another example of how some babies don't outgrow it for awhile.

Both of my children have had GERT. My son, who is almost 5 years old, had it until he was about 20 months old. He started refluxing with his very first feeding in the hospital and it never really got better. After many diagnositic tests to rule out Pyloric Stenosis and fissures in his esophogus, he was treated with Zantac and Reglan (a drug no longer recommended). Finally, when it hadn't disappeared at 20 months, the doctor put him in the hospital for a 24-hour pH Test. To do this, he had to go off his meds and thankfully, he never had to go back on them. I swear the tube that they inserted did something because he would start projectile vommiting every time we would try to wean him. But, he was fine...thankfully.

My daughter, who is 13 months, is still suffering with it. We just recently tried to wean her from her meds and she was as crabby as she could be. Additionally, she was spitting up every time I turned around. So, back on the meds she went only the dose wasn't working for her anymore. So, they just recently increased it to 2ml/ twice a day. While she isn't projectile vommiting, she does seem in pain without the meds so I am not sure what to expect. Her symptoms aren't severe enough to put her through the diagnostic tests so we are just going to wait it out.

My advice for you is to keep on the path that you are. If your baby isn't in pain without the meds, keep him off of them. Try to feed him basic foods (things with a low pH) like breads, cereals, pasta, etc. to help him keep away from the acidic foods and/or to help neutralize it. Also, patience is key. He will outgrow it...it's just a matter of time.

Good luck and enjoy those precious babies!
N.

Hi! I am a mom of a 6 mo. old baby boy and am dealing with what was diagnosed as "severe GERD". He is on Pepcid and Previcid and we are thicking everything he takes. (i.e. formula and baby food) We saw a specialist when he was 4 1/2 months old because no medications were making any improvments. He had an upper GI and a swallow test. All were done at the University of Chicago and they were actually quite easy. (surprizingly enough)My son didn't seemed bothered at all. They didn't come up with any finding other then he had severe GERD. But it was nice to know that there wasn't anything else going on. I went to a specialist for peace of mind and got it. Hopefully your son won't need that kind of intervention. I would think that they would put you back on the meds and they mind want to thicked his formula. We started by adding 1/2 teaspoon of rice ceral per once of formula. (Now we are up to a talbespoon per once). I hope this helps with your views of a Gastro specialist.

Katie

Hi Mom,

My son had reflux and although he didnt have the same issues you describe when he went off his meds, I can tell you there are a whole host of other problems when you start introducing 'regular' food.

My son cannot have any citrus yet (16 mo.), that includes mandarin oranges, any regular oranges, certain juices, garlic, tomatoes (really hard because we are an italian family and we eat a lot of tomatoes and garlic!) i have to be careful that his foods are not greasy at all - pizza, salami, etc. if he has just a little taste of these things, he is in pain :(

so, be sure you are following some GERD dietary guidelines, when you start more solids.

he may need to go back on the meds for a little bit longer... he doesnt necessarily need to be in clear distress to have the stomache acids eroding his esophagus.. the coughing is a concern for this in my opinion...

i would try the meds again before taking him to a specialist...those tests can be very invasive... i would hold off on that until he is 2 and still showing problem symptoms... it isnt unheard of to hold onto this for a year or two, so in the end i think your doc may have jumped the gun a bit based on him turning 9 months. call your doctors nurse line and tell them whats been going on. if he were spitting up after vigorous activity i would guess its not GERD, but since its more so after lying down i am guessing its acid trouble.

when i have acid reflux it just barely burns my throat - i dont get that major heartburn feeling some people describe, and there are times i have to fight a "vurp" myself...

good luck! hope your little man feels better soon :(

We took my daughter off Zantac at 10 months. She still did have some reflux symptoms, wet burpsand coughs, throwing up not only formula but baby food too. It wasn't all the time and she didn't seem to be in pain so we kept her off medicine. By the time she was a year she no longer showed any symptoms. As long as your baby isn't in pain and is gaining weight properly, don't worry. Also maybe you could try feeding him avacado, it is great for reducing acid. It is also a common allergen so check with your ped and only give a teeny amount the first time.

My son had reflux, and at 9 months I wondered how he would ever grow out of it by 1 year, as his doctor indicated. He was upright a lot but still "puking" all the time. Amazingly around 11-12 months, it simply disappeared! Hang in there...I think it will be gone by summer.

It doesn't sound serious enough to need a gastro specialist. You probably should just ask your pediatrician about keeping him on some mild medication until he's more on solid foods and less on formula. He might need reglan, which will move food through his stomach faster and give it less chance to back up on him.

Sorry I don't have first hand knowledge but my nephew had GERT and the doc told my sister they usually outgrow it by 1 year old. He was 2 months premature and he outgrew it by around 15 months. Hope everything works out ok for your little guy!

i have a girlfriend who's 12 yr old daughter was diagnosed with acid reflux and was told she'd have to be medicated for the rest of her life. As a last ditch effort she and her husband contacted a homeopathic Dr/chiropractor. After 6 months and 4-5 visits, her acid reflux was gone. My girlfriend said you have to have an open mind to go, but it was better than medicine forever. I know many chiropractors specialize in children and infants.. you might consider giving it a try

My daughter will be 3 years old in April. She spit up from the time she left the hospital. "She'll out grow it" was all the doctor would say. At four months, we went to a different doctor who ran tests and put her on meds. She improved dramatically. We returned to our family doctor. Around 18 or 20 months, we discontinued her medicine and she seemed to do fine. She liked to have her sippy cup with and seemed to want regular snacks and no real meals, but since she had always nursed heavily and been that way from birth, we didn't pay a lot of attention. She started gaining weight, but again we knew she was always a healthy eater and had stayed on top of the charts size wise. This winter, we all went through rounds with the cold and flu bugs that are out there and suddenly every time we turned around, she was throwing up. Mainly at night about 1 hour after going to bed. Intially, I thought her sensitive stomach couldn't handle the sinsus, but then it just continued well past the point of being over the colds. We placed her back on her medicine. She improved, but still did rounds throwing up. The doctor has now doubled her dose (the original one given at 4 months old). She is doing much better, but I can still tell she hurts sometimes. We have to careful with what she eats, when she eats and constantly be on alert. Plus now I'm learning her size may contribute to her reflux problems and I am going to have to help her slim down some! I would strongly recommend keeping your child on the medicine! We only did the one round of testing when she was 4 months old, but I am thinking even now it would be worth it if it helps our day-to-day life. At nine months your son won't remember the tests - you will, but you will also know you have done everything you can to help him feel better and give him a better life! Look up Dr. Sears on the web - he has some great tips, trips, and suggestions for parents of acid reflux babies. If you know there is a problem, please do what you can to make him feel better. I will forever feel guilty that I unknowingly let me daughter suffer till she was 4 months old and again for the year we had her off the medication.

We had to buy receiving blankets to use as burpers when my son was younger. He used to throw up everywhere. We would cover his entire body and ours to try and stay clean. As he got older, he wasn't as bad. Now at almost 15months, he just does a little bit here and there. He will be crawling along, spit up on the floor and either keep going, or play in it. I have read that some babies do hold on to the GERD until somewhere between 1 and 2. It just depends on whether they seem to be having pain or are having respiratory problems. My dtr has it, but not as bad. She recently spent 11 days in the hospital for resp virus of unknown origin. Finally, toward the end, I really put my foot down about her having GERD as she sometimes seemed to be in pain. She is only 3 1/2 months now and had resp problems since first being diagnosed with the flu at 1 month. She was put on Zantac which didn't really seem to help. Of course, I only left her on it for 3-4 days. I started putting rice in her formula, just as I did with my son. For us, that has been the best thing. She still has occassional reflux, but it does not seem to be causing any problems. My son had the rice in his formula until after turning 1 and he switched to regular milk. It doesn't seem to have gotten any worse, only better. Also, try keeping him sitting up for at least 30min after eating. My kids slept in boppy pillows for the first 3months of their lives.

Infant massage works wonderful for this.I teach classes in South Elgin if interested.It also helps with sleeping through the night.If you would like more info please contact me.

Hi I have a 13 month old lil boy who they also told me he would outgrow it and has not. They are sending my son back to the GI Specialist so you might want to contact your doctor again. They done a feeding study and found out it penetrates my son's lungs and he aspirates so he has been on thickened liquids. He has yet to outgrow it at almost 14 months old. I hoe this helps you some. Good Luck