I posted earlier with a question about silent reflux, and now, after all your great answers, have ANOTHER question! My 7 week old was diagnosed today with silent reflux. He doesn't seem to have it severely--the only time we have an issue is during his feeds--arching back, crying, pulling away from bottle. He sleeps 7-9 hours/night and is generally content except during feeding time. His ped prescribed Zantac. He is to take 0.7 ml (10 mg) twice a day. He has had one dose so far, and I can't tell that much difference yet.
For those of you with experience with this med...how long did it take to work, and DOES it work? I don't want to waste time waiting for something to work if he could have something else that would keep him from being in so much pain while he eats. She also recommended trying cereal in a bottle (to help the breast milk/formula stay down), but I'm a little bit reluctant to do that since he's just around 2 months...so any experiences there would help, too!
Edit to add...for those of you who've used cereal, how much and how often? Thanks!
Wow--thanks so much for all the helpful input! We have been on Zantac for 3 days, no difference, really. Yesterday, though, I finally tried the cereal. I put a tablespoon in a 4 oz. bottle. He did SO MUCH BETTER! I'm wondering if it IS just his swallowing. Or if it's reflux and the cereal helped. We go back to the doctor next week so I will ask her about the swallow/reflux studies. I just want to know what's going on with him. But, for now, cereal in every bottle is making a big, big difference. Thanks again!
Zantac is good stuff...when it;'s the correct dosage. My son also has to have cereal in his bottle or it's exoricst time. He's been doing that since he was 3 weeks old. But, I think I saw a good improvement with it within 3 doses.
W., I have written about this many times. Your baby does not need drugs for this issue. He/she needs a pro-biotic and an enzyme. It is as easy as that. My little one at 5 days old was to be put on this stuff and I went to a nutritionist who told me about Shaklee and what a miracle it made. All natural and NO SIDE EFFECTS to my child.
Good Luck
S.
My son had horrible "reflux". He was on Zantac for the longest time and to be honest I really don't think it worked. So I stopped giving it to him when he was about 7 or 8 months old. He spit up like crazy until l I finally switched his formula at about 10 months old.
Hello! My ds had a reflux issue and was on zantac from about 2 months. It was great! Like the others said, give it a little more time.
As far as the nasty flavor, my pharmacist was able to "strip it" somehow and made it a pretty decent banana flavor, so check on that!
I stopped ds when he was 1 year. Good luck and hang in there!
I used this for my son when he was a few wks old and I want to say it only took 2-3 days to see a difference-it was not long at all and Boy was he a new baby after we used that. It was like magic-LOL! And he was off it by 1 yr old I believe or shortly after. Hope this helps. L.:)
This stuff help us SO much. It took about two or three doses but we did see a quick result from using it. I used cereal as well and it really helped for us. Helped to keep it down with some weight in it. Sometimes they have a ulcer in their esophagus from the reflux and it might take some time to heal. With the meds, things should be allowed to heal up and feeding time be a good thing. I also used some Cherry Supreme mylanta (it's the only aluminum free one they make) in between feeding for a few days to help get over the hump.
Hoping the best for your sweetie,
C.
I don't have first hand experience but my niece had such bad reflux she was on zantac and another med for it. :( I'd give it some time. It could also be an issue w/ dairy maybe if the meds don't help try eliminating dairy from your diet and trying a dairy free formula to see if there is any difference. My youngest could not tolerate dairy until he was 2.5 yrs old.
I have had 2 children with reflux. With my most recent experience with Zantac, it was close to 2-3 weeks before all of her symptoms went away. But it does work! I started seeing some relief within a few days. Good luck!
At work when we thicken formula with rice cereal, we use 1 tablespoon/2 oz. If it's formula, the longer it stands, the thicker it gets. If it's breastmilk, the longer it stands the thinner it gets since the breastmilk starts digesting the rice cereal. I have seen as little as 1 teaspoon used, but not often. Also, if he is having swallowing problems instead of the reflux, thickened feeds will help that too! You may need to slightly enlarge the nipple if he can't get the thickened feed out of hte nipple. But not too large, or it will come out too fast, causing him more problems!
By chance, have you changed nipples? maybe gone to a faster flow rate, or slower flow rate? My children would get angry the milk wasn't coming fast enough, and we would have to switch to an older baby nipple at about this age. I just thought of this. They would have similar reactions because they were mad the bottle wasn't giving them what they want. didn't have the same problem at the breast though.
R.
It only took about two days to REALLY see the dramatic change. My only problem was giving it to him too soon before the morning feed because it would make him gag and spit up. It tasted HORRIBLE!
For the Zantac it takes about a week to notice a difference or it did for us. We are up to .6 ml three times a day. The twice a day worked great for about 3 weeks then just stopped all together working. We have gone to 3 times a day every 8 hours and it is working again, but I don't see this being a permanent fix for us. I really hope my son out grows this. I just stuck with the medicine. A nurse told me to give my son about 1 oz of enfamil AR after he was done eating and this too has helped. It already has the rice in it to help settle the stomach.
Feel free to send me a PM if you would like. I know exactly how you are feeling.
My daughter had really bad reflux when she was younger and still struggles with it some at 14 months now. She was perscibed Zantac at 6 weeks and it took 3 or 4 days to really see a difference. Give it a few more days and if you still are not seeing improvement they may try changing over to another script.
Hi W.,
When my now 2 1/2 year old was about a month old, he was diagnosed with silent reflux. Our pediatrician, who is kind of old school, told us to add rice cereal to his bottle. I was very reluctant as "they" now tell you to wait on solids. But I will say that it helped him tremendously! We were told to add 1 tsp of rice per oz of formula. So 4 tsp for a 4 oz bottle. We added rice for every bottle. And no...he is not overweight and has no food allergies from starting solids so early.
I now have a three month old who was diagnosed with acid reflux at 1 month old. Nothing "silent" about this one!! He would spit up so much, was in constant pain and he started losing weight. We added the rice cereal to his bottles and it helped...ok. As he started losing more weight, the doctor put him on Zantac (.8ml twice a day). It really took about 4-5 days for it to kick in. He is doing so much better now. Sorry this was so long, but I wanted you to know our experience. Good luck!
