Severe Acid Reflux

My little guy's reflux wasn't this bad, but he did sleep better in his bouncy seat. He could not sleep laying flat. He slept in his bouncy seat (or sometimes his car seat) for the first six months. No kidding.

T.

I'm kind of surprised to see that nobody has mentioned food allergies. My DS2 had reflux symptoms (not severe, but enough to make me think colic & talk to his doc about it) and when he was 5 weeks old I pulled all milk from my diet. It made a huge difference. Huge.

He used to do this gulping, reflux thing (I don't know if that's a typical reflux symptom or not) and it would really freak me out 'cause it was like he couldn't swallow or something. Ugh. Anyway, it mostly went away after I pulled milk (I'm still nursing) and has completely gone away after I pulled some other foods, too.

I'd suggest she take him to see a good peds allergist, and also look into Milk Protein Intolerance (MPI) and Milk-Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI). Those last two won't show up on an allergy test but can definitely have a significant effect.

I can't say it'll fix everything but I know of many, many moms who have found food allergies to cause reflux in their babies. At the very least, it's probably worth talking to the doc about switching formulas again. Not just to soy formula (soy intolerance often goes alongside dairy intolerance) but maybe to a hypoallergenic one like Alimentum or Nutramigen.

Best of luck! I hope the little guy's feeling much better soon!

Zantac didn't work at all for my son, Prevacid was a big help but not a cure. He grew out of it at about 7 months old. I'm afraid your sister is just going to have to put up with it for a while. It is really difficult, I know.

Dear K.,

I have a friend that her premie had bad reflux and the doctors had her add this stuff called...Thick in it.. and it helped tremendously.

tell your sister sorry for what they both have to go threw it is hard but there are things she can do it may take time for her son to grow out of it but till then tell her to hang in there. their is a formula called A.R lipil by Enfamil that is thiker than most and has helped my son a lot also if he is spiting up because of the acid it will help. has she tried renitidine and metoclopramide she sould also try concentrated formula but that is if her son is spiting up. my son is now almost six mounths and is just starting to grow out of it tell your sister not to give up it will get better. i hope the best for them.

I don't know if this will help or if it is even related to what you are going through. I had twins a few years ago and they were a little early. My son had reflux and spit up all the time. (Again, I don't know if it is as bad as what you are going through), but when he was six months we discovered that his head tilted to the side all the time. This happened when he was laying in his car seat, when we were holding him. It was very noticable that he kind of drooped to one side. The doctor said it was torticollis - a condition where their neck muscles aren't developed enough and they lean to one side. She said it happens more often in boys and more often in preemies. She sent us to a physical therapist and we learned some exercises to do with him at home to strengthen his neck. At the therapist she told us how this was completely related to the reflux and the digestive system was all out of wack because of it. She said as soon as we got this problem corrected it would help immensely. It was so interesting and so amazing to see how quickly this worked. He stopped spitting up almost all together. You could check into this and see if it is something that can be helped that way. Good luck!

My first response is a bit more unconventional that medications and switching formula brands. Has she tried breastmilk? I would suggest seeing an IBCLC about increasing her milk supply or relactation (which is absolutely doable), or going to the Milk Bank for supplemental milk. http://www.bestfedbabies.org/

my daughter when through this same thing...they put her on acid reflux medicine...and she was so colicy and spit up all the time...finally we convinced the doctor it could be lactose intolerance (i am lactose intolerance) so he wrote a note so we were able to get her formula switched (through the WIC program) once we got her on a lactose free formula...it was like night and day...and the supposed "acid reflux problem" went completely away along with her colicyness as well.

Best wishes

We have two with reflux, one doing okay, one looking at surgery yet this summer. One thing that's good to know is that Zantac was originally formulated to be given three times a day, not two. If it's working, but not well, the 3rd dose a day can make a huge difference. It did for our daughter. i.e. Instead of 1.5 ml 2x a day, we did 1 ml 3x a day. Also, you can do Prevacid in the morning and Zantac at night or Prevacid and Zantac in the A.M. and Zantac at night. Just some of the things possible for meds. The Nissen Fundopliction can rip out in such little people. A friend of our's son had it done close to birth and it has ripped out twice. Granted, they're not the kind who follow doctor's orders, and I think it's largely due to how they treat the kid, causing him to gag and vomit a lot on foods he's not ready for. Also, there is up to a 6 month recovery time before feeding is back to normal. I have a friend who had it done as an adult who said that, not my research. In Denver, there is a study being done for an alternative, "non-invasive" surgery. I'll know more about it tomorrow as we'll find out if our son has been accepted into the program then. There are also 270 degree fundoplications (I don't know the specific name of the procedures) that are less restrictive and less likely to rip out. Our son will most likely need the Nissen, but the doctors are trying to put if off until he's around 7 or 8, if possible, as it usually rips do to vomiting, and most kids have outgrown most stomach bugs by then. Anyway, that's what comes to mind right now. If you have other questions, I'd love to help out in anyway I can. GL!

She needs to see a peds surgeon. I have twins that were premature and I had to take both in. Also, I had the same issue at birth and I had a major surgery at 2months. Her baby can asperate and potentially drown. Mine was because the flap in my esophogus was too small. The twins had tummies that just drained too slow. Its too risky not to see a specialist. Good Luck.

Hi K.,

I'm sorry to hear about your sister. I have two children, neither were premature, but both had very bad reflux. We did do the sleeping them on an incline thing, but that didn't do much while they were awake. We used Prevacid and that helped to take the edge off it, but did not make it completely better. The thing that helped the most was to put pressure on their tummies. With my daughter it worked to lay her, stomach down, over our forearm and sway with her. My son did not like that, so with him, we had to hold him with his stomach down on one hand while using the other hand on his back side/legs to steady him as we moved him up and down, somewhat like a shoulder press. He absolutely would not go to sleep without pressure on his stomach, and even with it, it would take between 30-90 minutes to get him to sleep. This would happen in the middle of the night as well which makes this a very difficult thing to deal with because of the serious lack of sleep. They do grow out of it though. Both of mine were much better by about 1 year. Some get better earlier, some take longer, but as far as I know it does usually go away. Good luck!

My daughter had reflux and did outgrow it, but not until preschool. Besides the meds, one thing we did was to keep her at an angle as much as possible. That included slanting her crib (we took the wheels off of one end) and later raising the end of her bed. I always fed her at a pretty good angle, sometimes she napped in the bucket car seat, that kind of thing. Let gravity help keep the food where it belongs. We also started her on solids early (cereal only though, for months) at about 5 months with drs approval. She was sitting up well by 4 months. good luck to your sister!

My twins both had reflux and were 6 weeks early. As others have said, try different medications or different dosing schedules. Slanting the bed or bassinette really helped for us. They both had the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders baby swing. It was good for them because they could be inclined while swinging, and they could swing side to side rather than front to back where they were forced to lie more flat. They both grew out of it, also. It took a good year and a half, though before they finally stopped spitting up stuff. Getting them on solid food seemed to help a lot, and when they could sit up and crawl by themselves, they were a lot more comfortable. When they were uncomfortable, they could just move themselves. Anyway... It does get better. Good luck to her.

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Hi K.,

I don't know what she has tried but....Tummy time usually works wonders, if he sleeps better on his tummy have her request a monitor for his breathing. Oh and give her this website http://www.infantreflux.org/tucker_request_info.htm

These slings are expensive but AWESOME!

Oh and nutramigen formula was awesome for both my silent reflux children. Let her know the older/more mobile (sitting and standing) he gets the easier it gets.

Rochelle