Persistent Reflux

My second son had reflux. We, too, had the zantac and had him sleep elevated. We also had him on soy which helped a lot and I gave him rice cereal early on. I found that when he had something thicker in his stomach, he didn't spit up near as much. I would mix up a tablespoon or so with formula and make it soupy enough that he could take it right off of a spoon. He would suck it off just like from a bottle nipple.

My oldest son had terrible colic and reflux for at least 12-16 months of age. We briefly tried medication (didn't work) then switched to soy milk (Isomil)which helped but what really helped to keep him sleeping through the night was to put him in his car seat, strapped in, on his bedroom floor! He slept in his car seat until he was 1 year old and falling out of his car seat and could finally lay flat and sleep through the night. My youngest son was similiar and also slept in his car seat. My pediatrician told me it was perfectly fine to do and that both my boys needed to sleep upright so as not to have the reflux back up on them and not to worry (many people thought it strange but it worked!) Hope this suggestion helps!

All of my babies had persistent reflux....NOT FUN! Since my littlest was also lactose intolerant we couldn't use the thickened formulas...but the doc said that since they are thickened with rice starch, I could make my own. I used about a Tbs of rice cereal for a 6oz bottle and made the nipple a little bigger. It was messy until he got used to the faster flow, but it worked like a charm. He still spit up a little, but it was 80% less, at least! There is hope, though, all of my boys' reflux ended by 11 months or so...

~L.

Talk to your doctor about Prevacid. It works better than Zantac. If his symptoms are that bad, this should be a good solution. Some pediatricians are hesitant to place babies on it because there really isn't a designated 'safe dose' for babies. My son started on it at around 8 months after having been on Zantac at 6 months. Always had reflux, but aside from going through a ton of burb clothes a day, it didn't seem to bother him until 4 months when we thought it was affecting his sleeping. With the Prevacid he did great! No more spitting up, sleeping better... My advice is to get the solutabs, not the suspension. I think the suspension loses its potency toward the end of the month. They don't make the powder anymore (that was the best). The solutabs you can disolve in water and give to him. Your doctor will probably start with 1/2 tab (15 mg) daily-maybe less because he's so little. If it's not working, they will increase the dose until it's right for him. Good luck!!

I am mom to an 11 mo old boy with pretty severe reflux symptoms (he has gained less than 2 lbs in the past 5 1/2 months). My advice is that if you are still seeing symptoms, go back to your pediatrician and be persistant! Zantac did not work for us and caused nasty constipation. It took several tries to find the right meds to help. Prevacid solu-tabs (they don't make the liquid form anymore) and Reglan are working for us. As some have stated, using reglan should be considered carefully since it can have neurological side effects. My son also sleeps upright in his infant seat which helps. You should also consider going on an elimination diet to see if the baby has food intolerances such as dairy and then to try different formulas. Also, if the symptoms persist insist on seeing a GI specialist who will have more expertise than the pediatrician. Finally, http://www.reflux.org/ has a wonderful forum and a reading room full of helpful articles. Good luck! I know how difficult it can be to have a little refluxer!

Hi R.,

With our son, we had to add rice cereal to his bottle to thicken it enough for him to keep it down (if I recall it was 1tbsp to every 2oz). He was also on Zantac for the hearburn which reflux causes. Our daughter also suffered reflux, and the rice cereal worked for her, however the Zantac didn't. She was given Prilosec in capsule form which we has to break apart and measure half doses. This combined with elevating her crib mattress (simply place a rolled blanket under one end) helped erase her suffering. Once on solid foods, the reflux goes away - so there is light at the end of the tunnel. :o)

L.

Http://www.daisydayscakes.com

Have you tried making changes in your diet? What you eat effects your milk too. Have you tried formula? My niece had reflux really bad and it got better when her Dr. put her on soy formula. They even found that different brands made a difference too. Believe it or not, they are having the best luck with store brand soy formula! Good luck!

My son (who is now 2 1/2) had reflux also. The doctor put him on Zantac at first too, but it did nothing for him. We then tried Previcid. It worked wonderfully! No more screaming, arching, spitting up, etc.! They prescribe it two ways. One is in a pill form that you have to dissolve in water, the other is in liquid form (pre-mixed by the pharmacy). We did the liquid form which was much easier. We always knew when we forgot to give him his medicine because he would spit up. We stopped needing the prevacid at a year old, and he has been fine ever since.

As for the Reglan (which I saw a few people suggest), we chose to stay away from that. In our research we found that in can cause nervous system problems. We did not want to try anything that could mess with our baby's brain! Just an FYI!

We did not try any special formula or cereal because we breastfed, so I don't know anything about those. As for gas problems, you might want to try Gripe Water (can be found at a natural food/ health store). The mylicon/ simethicone drops can cause costipation (they did with our son).

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions!

Hi R., My daughters had reflux who are now 21 and 14. My mother in law gave me an old german recipe and it works and we have used this recipe for upset tummys and all and now my daughter now gives it to her son because the zantac never work for him.
Buy some Fennel seeds, take about 1 tablespoon and boil it with 1 cup of water, (the water will change color to a yellow green)
strain out the seeds, and let cool to room temp, some babies will drink and some wont drink without adding a little sugar, but the fennel tea really works and taste like licorice.
Hope it works for you, this is also great for colic!

I work in a pediatrician's office in Novi, Mi and I would suggest tht you take your child to his pediatrician for a check up, Sometimes the reflux is caused by a medical reason that only the pediatrician would be able to determine. Hope this helps, take care and good luck.

Have you tried a GentleEase formula by Enfamil? That helped my son's spit up.

Hi, My sister's grandson had reflux as well. He was also on the same med. They put a blanket or a small pillow under the mattress to elevate his head. It helped alot. Also your child may need a larger dose...or a different kind of med. Good Luck...cindy, Ionia,Mich.

Speaking from a person in the medical field, I can't believe that your doctor put your son on Zantac! However, my first course of action would be to switch formula's. There may be something that you are eating that is upseting his digestive tract. Try him on some formula for lactose intolerance. If this has a positive affect you may want to consider taking milk products out of your diet.
I hope this helps and good luck!

R.,

My son (now 17 months) also had terrible reflux from very early on. My husband and I tried everything, elevating his matress, eliminating dairy and other foods from my diet since he was breastfed, holding him upright after feeding, starting him on cereal, etc., etc. and nothing worked until we got him on Pepcid. So as long as you are ok with medication, my advice is to stick with it. My son was on 3 different meds that didn't work before Pepcid, and then it took a while to get the right dose. He still takes 2 ml pepcid daily, but has virtually no symptoms now. My heart goes out to you. It is awful to watch your baby suffer, but it will get better. Best of luck to you and your son. -Jennifer M.

Dear R. C,

Your baby is only 11 weeks old! PLEASE only take advice from your pediatrician! I am the mother of seven and grandmother of six. People will give you advice that may seriously harm your baby! I have a son with celiac disease which is severe intestinal problems from eating gluten and you gave your infant barley...who would ever be so nieve to give you an idea like that?? Your little baby is probably just sesitive to the type of formula he is eating. Sometimes it takes many many trials of different formula to find the right one. PLEASE call your pediatrician and if you don't trust his advice find a new pediatrician.

We switched from Zantac to Prevacid Solu-tab for two of my four children that had(has)acid reflux. I would NEVER go back to Zantac again! This pill works wonders! Once in the morning and that's it for the day. My 9mos. old daughter still uses it. She takes 15mg without increase. As she gains weight, she naturally being to ween herself from the medication. Good luck! I know it's so hard to see your baby in pain but there is relief out there!

try diluting the formula just a little extra...my oldest daughter had the problem for awhile when and infant...we just diluted her formula just a little more with water and it seemed to help

Hi R.,
My 9 1/2 mo old has reflux really bad! In the begining we started off with zantac it helped for about 2 weeks than it started to get very bad again he feedings were the worst I was not looking forward to feeding him it was very stressful and upsetting I would end up crying he was crying and not gaining weight. Which in turn the dr's would be telling me he needs to gain more weight which would upset me more. After telling the dr's that the zantac was not working anymore they upped the meds. It still did not work than finally they changed it to childrens prilosec. WORKS GREAT!!! I still feed him on an angle (head higher) he still sleeps an a wedge (which keeps his head higher) we watch for any signs (arching of back, spitting, starting to take the bottle than stopping when he clearly wants it) when he gains weight he out grows the meds they have to up the meds. we keep a close eye on this he is only 12 lbs now (preemee baby born 2 1/2 mos early) so every oz is very important. I have talked to lots of moms with this problem and I have found that different tricks help different babies. Ask your dr about the prilosec and see if that works. Oh and also i found that if you keep the baby vertical after the feeding they do better. Try it good luck I know how stressful it can be.

My son also had the same problem. He had zantac tooo but it didn't seem to help cause u were suppose to give it to him a half hour before he ate. HMMM how do u tell exactly when the baby is goin to eat. lol Anyways... I took it upon myself to start him on rice off a spoon at 2 months old. At first of course make it runny but then mix it thicker as they get use to it. I did it off the spoon because it didn't work with just mixing it in the bottle. This is the way I thought of it... it made the formula seem heavier to his stomach and he could hold it down better. Infact I even took him off the zantac. Now u ask me isn't that early for rice. It seemed right for him. He was still gettin the things he needed with mixing rice and formula together. And he wasn't feeding every hour cause of his tummy being empty from spittin up. Which was wonderful for night cause it meant he slept well and so could I. He is a very heathly average weight little 22 month old. And he loves to eat any thing and has no problems with the reflux now. Good luck and let us know what happens. T.

ask your doctor for Reglan. It's an relux medication used in preemies and is very gentle.

It's also very typical for a baby to spit back up an ounce or two. It seems like a lot when it comes up but if you can, keep a bowl around him after feedings so you can try to catch what comes up. Empty it into a bottle to get an accurate measurement of what he is spitting up.

My baby spit up A LOT!! But we never saught out medication for it simply because he was gaining weight at a good rate and I knew he'd grow out of it. Which, he did- at about 8 months he was done.

But anywhoo---try to measure it so you know how much food he is getting. Under no circumstances give a baby that little barley or any form of grain. All that does is increase the risk of allergy to grains and it also causes gas and constipation. A tummy that young is NOT ready for solids.

Hi :) Reflux is very common - I wouldnt worry at all. Rather than barley though I would start with rice. Barley can be gassy as you experienced and really is more a nine month food. Its probably easier for little ones under 6 months to use the prepared box rice flakes - earths best has a whole grain organic. If you want to make your own PM and I can share what has worked for me as I make all our food. If you are not excited about the rice I would go Millet. Its the other super easy on the system grain and is recommended as a first or second grain. (Then oat then barley)

Not really anything a dr can do - if it persists for many months or involves projectile vomitting then you might want to call.

Oh one more thought - if he is formula fed you could try switching. Some cause more reflux than others.

my peds switched my daughter from zantac to prevacid, and it made all the difference. also, dr. brown bottles seem to help. both my girls had this, so i understand your frustration. it gets better around 6 months once they're sitting up better. for now, i would just try to keep him elevated as much as possible and burp him often. hope that helps! (my youngest slept in the baby papasan in the crib for 4 months. it helped her reflux b/c it kept her elevated!)

I would like to recommend XanGo(natural mangosteen juice) TOTally safe for babies, nursing mothers, etc. The company has a money back guarantee, but if you want to just try a bottle, I will gladly sell it to you at my cost. My husband is a chiropractor and patients have been having amazing results! Mangosteen juice is a natural anti-inflammaory so it helps with all kinds of conditions! GERD is a big one! I sure would try this before drugs if the condition isn't life-threatening. My website is: mershea.com and my e-mail is ____@____.com if you'd like to try a bottle. Just let me know. Good Luck!

Return to your pediatrician and if you don't like the advice, find another pediatrician that can help you.

It could be his stomach is just out of whack and needs to be manipulated back down into place. If you don't know how to do it, I can give you the number of someone who does this as part of her practice.
Let me tell you that for YEARS I dealt with having dinner over and over after eating it, just because of my stomach being out of whack. Mint can help calm the stomach. True. But it was told to me that this is a form of hiatel hernia. I saw someone in Plymouth who manipulated the stomach back into place and BINGO!!! that very night I saw the difference. Spaghetti was a common dinner that always came back to bother me. I had some that evening and it didn't bother me. I was told and shown how to do it myself, so I can often keep it under control. But it was such a relief after years of burping up dinner all the time.
Let me know if you would like to NOT use Zantac on a baby. I'll put you in touch with someone who can help much more naturally.
And you might want to can the cow's milk. It could be part of the problem. Try rice or almond instead. Same requirement of calcium but no hormones in it and it isn't cow's milk.

R.!!
I don't have any advice; but hope Josh is doing good. So funny you're on here too and I saw your message. Wish we lived closer to each other so we could talk in person.
A.

My son was born very premature and a lot of the preemies have terrible reflux. We tried Axid first for it which provided a little relief but have had great success with Pepcid. It is a prescription medicine from his doctor and takes it twice a day. Keep in mind that if your son is on other medications they can effect the reflux medicine and your doctor or pharmacist should be able to tell you if they are interfering.

I second (or fourth as the case is, I believe) Getting back with your Ped about this. Some doctors will try to dismiss it as "Well they're on the zantac the rest is up to you" (mine did at first..), but there are other things they can do, Reglen was mentioned, and made a -huge- difference for my son. Nothing ever took all the symptoms away for him, but the combination of Zantac, Reglen, never sleeping flat, And holding him perfectly upright during flareups while rubbing/patting his back seemed to do the best job. If he's very gassy in general (mine was) you can also ask about employing simethicone drops and if your Ped thinks it will help the situation.

We used Rice ceral in his formula to help keep it down... and Some people have luck switching to soy or specialized formulas with their kids.. My son couldn't tolerate anything other than the Lipil variety.. something to discuss with Mr or Ms BabyDoc.

I JUST went through this same thing with my now 6 month old! I feel your pain totally :)
We tried using Enfamil Lipil AR (anti regurgtation). That worked for us a little bit, but really the only cure was time. I know, you don't want to hear that because I didn't when it was happening to me. It seemed like I always smelled like rotten milk and it looked like she was just puking up her intire bottle. But, I can assure you that they are still getting all they need (she was in the 95th percentile still!). We put a board under her bassinette to put it at a slight incline - that helped too. Once your little guy starts sitting up more and eating more solid foods, it will diminish but that usually isn't until 6 months. If you want to try the Enfamil AR I actually have a sample that you could have. If you want to try it give me an email (____@____.com)

Good luck and I know it's a horrible and very stressful thing to go through! It absolutely drove me nuts and in the meantime I drove my peditrician nuts!

J.

R. -

My firstborn, a boy, suffered from reflux starting at around three months old. His pediatrician prescribed Prevacid for him, which he was on for three months. I found that keeping him propped up for 20-30 minutes after feedings helped prevent the reflux. Also, for the first four months of his life he had nothing but breastmilk, and I started slowly introducing solids at four months. At six months, he was able to come off the Prevacid and is doing relatively well. He may spit up a little bit sometimes after I introduce new foods to him but it's infrequent and nothing bad.

Remember that your baby's pyloric sphincter, the muscle that keeps food from traveling from the stomach backwards to the esophagus, is not strong at birth. It doesn't really start getting strong until your baby is more mobile and able to sit up unaided, which is around five or six months for most babies. Until then, your baby is most at risk of refluxing. Just keep him propped up so his head is above his stomach for about 30 minutes after every feeding and make sure not to give him anything but breastmilk or formula, to avoid irritating his delicate stomach. I wouldn't even offer water until he's routinely eating solids.

Hope this helps you! I've been there, and it's not fun, but I'm pulling for you and your baby! :)

Hello R.,
My daughter had/has the reflux as well, but it doesn't sound like it is as bad as your sons, poor little guy. Our doctor had us put cereal into her bottle to thicken up the formula some, we also switched to Soy and it really helped her a lot. Good luck I know that can be the worse!