Reflux

My son had terrible reflux - we had him tested for allergies at 1 year & once we got his allergies under control the reflux stopped.

I have learned that MOST cases of reflux actually aren't reflux. I had to learn this the hard way the past year. My daughter from a week old on was spitting, and projectile vomiting all the time, they put her on reflux meds, which DID help. However upon MORE examination she had a dairy allergy

MOST babies outgrow them by one year, so it is a common mistake that it is reflux when in fact it is dairy.

I would HIGHLY suggest trying two weeks with out dairy, see if it helps

Especially if she has a stuffy nose at all or her bowels are looser than seemingly should be. Those are a couple signs.

I promise if this is it it will make a WOLRD of difference and be so worth it!

We took our little one to the chiropractor. Her reflux and gassiness totally went away. I highly recommend going that route. We came home with a much happier baby. My only regret is I did not think to take her earlier. Good luck!

We changed his formula to Enfamil AR and kept him propped up and let him sleep on his tummy.

I have two children both had reflux pretty badly while infants to about 2 years old and than it kinda just went away. They were both on liquid Zyntac and it worked very well for them. I am not sure the age of the one or ones with the problem but there is item that you can buy it is called the Tucker Sling. Just look up www.tuckersling.com It attaches to the mattress on the side that you prop up and has like a pouch that holds the baby so that it cant slide down. I did not know they had these when my two had reflux, but I am awaiting baby number three and this one may have it also. I have heard great things about this and how it really helped there baby sleep. Good luck

We used to have our girls sleep in their carseat. We put the carseat in the crib so they would be used to sleeping in their room. Being in a more upright position was very helpful for reflux. Good luck.

I would recommend seeing a Chiropractor for this. I have had a lot of success in my practice treating babies with GERD/Acid reflux. A pediactric chiropractor would not only adjust your baby, but give you advice on things you can change at home. To find a pediatric chiropractor in your area go to www.icpa4kids.org. If you have any other questions feel free to write back or give me a ring.

Good Luck!

Dr. K. K.
Bridge Chiropractic
Shakopee
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I've had a daycare girl with that and I made sure not to lay her flat, especially after she ate. I kept her in a bouncy or her infant chair. It was to painful for her to lay down. I also kept gas drops handy.

my son was born 5 weeks early and had it. I nursed him all the time and he would cry after and spit up alot. It was so hard to go through it. We tried giving him the medication but it was so horrible, I tasted it to see and to me it tasted like alcohol. I felt horrible giving it to him and he would just spit it out, so i began to search for alternatives. I found a holistic remedy at this place on like 35th and grand (mpls) I cant remember the name of it, but they have everything there. If you go in and tell them your problem they will find it for you and tell you how to use it. It worked great for my son, and he eventually grew out if it. just remember that they do grow out of it!

S.,
My son is now 8 months old but when he was around 4 weeks of age the dr. diagnosed him with reflux/colic. They tried putting him on Zantac but instead of pouring meds down our newborn we took some advice from another mom and took him to a chiropractor. My husband and I had never used one personally but thought we would give it a try. It was a miracle! It took four "adjustments" and he was cured. Actually after the second one he wasn't showing signs of discomfort anymore. He did laser therapy on his little tummy as well.

Good luck!

Hello,
both my babies had terrible GERD. My 5 year old is doing well and off meds for 2 years now. My 3 year old still struggling. The Tucker sling was a godsend for my son. He slept in his baby swing until big enough; then the tucker sling until close to age 1. It really helped - along with medications.
J.

Hi I'm Mel
I've been throwing up since 2 weeks B 4 Thanksgiving last yr. I've had all kinds of test there is to take, they can't find anything. They put me on Prevacid, so I must have some kind of acid reflux or gerd. I throw up my food at times but other than that it's thick spit. When I feel heat it makes me do this, or just whenever. Any suggestions?

Hi S.,

We too raised our son's mattress on the one side by putting a board under the mattress. The tricky part was to make sure he kept his head at the higher end!

It helped somewhat.

J.

Both my girls had it and we did not medicate them since they weren't in any pain and were gaining weight. We did switch to soy formula which helped a lot and we also added cereal to the bottles (as the specialist recommended) and that helped the most. And of course, we kept them upright as long as we could after they ate and always had a lot of extra clothes on hand for everyone :) They both outgrew it at 8 months.

Hi Stacy,
My first son had reflux also... not a fun time : (
We did the medication, the raising of the bed walking with him upright all night long (my DH was great about that) and any other advice I could find. There were three things that really worked for us. The first was using pressure points specifically on his stomach, (there is one right below the "bump" at the bottom of the breastbone) and I can see if I can find the sheet for you if you want. The second was switching to soy formula. Apparently lactose is an issue in my family because now my younger son has eczema that gets worse when I drink milk. The last is chiropractic care. I found a really great family chiropractor in my area and the whole family now gets adjusted. My younger son is 7 months and has been going since day one. (well maybe week 1) He hasn't had any reflux problems and I don't know if that was luck or the adjustments, but it makes my life easier!
Good luck and I hope you find some relief. My son was done with reflux by 5 or 6 months so there is hope that it will get better soon. I know that it seems like the longest 4 or 5 months of your life though!

My now 1 year old had reflux problems until he was about 9 months. We did the prevacid, prilosec, rice in the formula, etc. It helped his discomfort, but the reflux we were told he just had to grow out of. And sure enough he did. But in the mean time, I agree it is gross and all you can do is change your and her cloths. The amby baby might help. I also sell this on my website, www.theoopsybaby.com

Good luck :)
J.

My daughter had a little bit of this a while ago. I put one of our flatter pillows under the head of her crib mattress so that she sleeps on a small incline, it seems that when I take the pillow out from under there she starts having trouble sleeping again.

i do what he has had it since he was a month and half old but he was born with a cleft lip and palate to and reflux goes with that. what do you need he has had three medcines for it and he is only 22 months old

We propped our little guy up to sleep at night and for naps. That seemed to help way more than the medication. You can get a pillow from ARPillow.com - or shop ebay or whatever. Or you can prop her up in a corner of the couch with pillows. Or raise the mattress on the bed. We did all that, plus we let him sleep in his swing and bouncy seat a lot.

For older kids, I'd guess along the same lines, making sure they stay upright for AT LEAST 1/2 hour after eating.

Also, going to the chiropractor made my own minor reflux problems completely disappear.

It is most likely not acid but a heital hernia (sorry if I'm spelling this wrong) which sounds worse than it is. A simple manipulation to the tissue at the top of the stomach helps to clear the blockage. Apparently this is true for millions of cases of "acid" reflux in adults as well.

A good Chiropractor will show you how to do this simple manipulation for your child and, I believe, eventually the problem will take care of itself. You'll have to ask though. Anyway, one visit and you will have your answer if this is the problem.

Call ahead and interview the chiropractor to see if they agree that this may be the problem so you don't waste a trip or money. A good chiro will be happy to help you on the phone to determine the cause. Call several of them if you have to until you reach one who is helpful. Some clinics do more work with children than others. Langford Clinic in St. Paul is one that works a lot with children. If you are close, I recommend it.

my son had reflux and we never did the meds because he would then refuse to eat. we elevated his bed so that he wasn't sleeping flat then we just made his bottles a little thicker to help keep it down better. that seemed to help once he started to crawl and sit up on his own it stoppped all together. I hope some of this helps. We also started him on cereal a month sooner than they recommend.

Do you nurse? I ended up avoiding some foods; chocolate, caffine, cucumbers, and garlic and this helped him. It later came back when he wasn't nursing so much and was on mainly solids. He was then throwing up after every meal (except a few bland foods) until he went on zantac. If you bottle feed trying a different formula is also a good idea. Maybe a soy formula that is wheat and dairy free. Our friend was about to do meds but tried the formula first and it helped. If you nurse you may also have to avoid dairy and wheat for a time period to see if that helps.

And rubbing his little tummy after meals always helps.

Good luck!

Hi S.. Out little girl's GERD was so bad that we ended up in the ER one weekend when she spit up some blood with her formula. The best things that worked for us were (in order):

1) Putting 1tsp of rice cereal per 1oz of formula in her bottle each time (helps hold the food down in the tummy - the Children's ER recommended this as did her GI specialist). You will have to get either "cross cut" or "fast flo" nipples or just cut the ones you have open a tiny bit.
2) Once she was in a crib, using a crib wedge under the mattress (you can get them at Babies R Us and they are not very expensive)
3) A bed called the Amby bed. Its a stand-along sling/swing/bed deal and seemed to really help. Of course our little one also had colic to boot so who knows which symptoms the sling/bed treated more. You can only find them online at http://www.ambybaby.com/. They ARE expensive, but the good news is that you can usually sell them on eBay after for almost as much as you bought them for - they are that in demand.

We tried just about everything else (chiropractor from the time she was 4 wks old, medicines, sleeping positions, etc) and these were the things that worked best. Hope this helps you!

I feel your pain! When Gordi was born he screamed instantly and never stopped! He was kicked out of the hospital nursery his first day of life :( Prior to his birth my husband purchased the DVD "The Happiest Baby on the Block". Truly a lifesaver :) The swadling (to include arms) is HUGE. Gordi would get so overwhelmed that there was no calming him down. We also (per the Dr's advice) had him sleep in our room in his car seat so that he didn't reflux. Let me tell you, I freaked when he outgrew the swadling thinking he would revert to his screaming but along with 3 attempts at finding the right medication he is now truly THE HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK!!!

Hope this helps :)