Acid Reflux??

My 4 year old son was born 9 1/2 weeks early and had reflux until he was about 1. They sent us home from NICU on Enfamil AR I believe it was. I have seen a new one on the shelves that is for digestion. He also was on zantac and it worked wonderfully. Good luck!!

Hi J., my oldest daughter who is now almost 6 had severe reflux, she too would spit up through her nose, she lost weight and after the 3rd doctor saw her because the other 2 didn't know what was wrong with her, he told me that she had refulx and to thicken her formula with baby cereal or put her on the Enfamil AR which didn't work. It was so thick that she couldn't get anything out of the nipple so we went back to her regular formula. They will usually out grow this by 6 months I want to say. Now days they have medicine just for reflux, when you take him to the doctor let him know what all he's doing and TELL him you want him on medicine for reflux if that's what you want. I have friends who's babies were on antireflux medicine and they improved a whole lot. I hope this helps. Good luck!! J. A.

Hey J.!
I am a mother of 2 children who suffered with reflux AND a pediatric feeding specialist. Here is some information that I provide parents of my patients who suffer with reflux. I hope it helps you. It will probably vary in severity depending on where they are in development. When they are learning various new gross motor skills you will see that it will increase like with rolling over, getting up on hands and knees, crawling, pulling up, walking etc. Some stop at 6 mos, some at 12 and some go all the way up to 2yr (my daughter!) I so feel for you and you are welcome to fire away if you have any specific questions. We ended up using some reflux medication with my son and soooo wished we had earlier with our older daughter.
Good luck
J. M.
www.jennifermcveyslp.com

Reflux Precautions

Elevation during feedings and after feedings for at least 20 minutes.
No stomach compression- i.e. tight clothing, tight diapers, sitting upright on leg
Avoid compression on left side especially. Can use a rolled up washcloth under left armpit.
Use hand under child’s left armpit when lifting, shifting and holding.
Bouncy seats are a good seating option.
Don’t over-feed. Less is better.
Burp them at shoulder
Don’t forget elevation when changing diapers. Try to change diapers prior to feeding.
Change diapers by rotating them side-to-side vs. lifting legs to stomach (compresses stomach.)
Silent reflux-don’t have to actually see vomit for them to have refluxed

I really feel your pain! My daughter (now 4 1/2) had severe acid reflux when she was born. We were at our doctor's office nonstop and were finally referred to a gastroenerologist at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital after an upper GI showed the severity of her reflux at only 14 days old. We were on Enfamil Nutramigen and Similac Alimentum at that time. The doctor at Vanderbilt took my daughter off of it immediately and put her on plain Carnation Good Starts! The very, very plain kind....no bells and whistles. We were told to add 1 TABLESPOON of rice cereal PER OUNCE of formula to her bottles. You could practically spoon feed it, it was so thick! But, it worked wonders for our baby. They told us that the reflux would "peak" at 6mths and then gradually go away as her diet switched to all solids and they were exactly right. I voluntarily took her off of all the meds at 4mths old because she spit up regardless of being on them. Although, I think those meds played a big part in the inital healing of her totally raw esophagus. Basically, we lived in a world of spit-up for those first 6mths. I mean TONS of spitup. But, it really did get so much better once she began baby food. I totally recommend the carnation good starts. Remember that it takes a full two weeks for a new formula to get in their system and the old formula to totally leave their system. And like I said, this was from our Gastroenerologist at Vanderbilt. I would speak to your ped. about your concerns. They may prescribe a reflux med. As long as you can rid your little one of the pain & heal the esophogus, the spit up shouldn't be a concern as long as weight is still being gained (which our daughter did). It's very hard to deal with though. I remember carrying a bazillion burp cloths and changes of clothes and a kroger sack for soiled stuff everywhere we went........it was awful. But, we lived through it and she's now 4 1/2 and hasn't had a sign of reflux since she starting eating real food. Good luck to you! =0)

Hi J....my daughter had reflux when she was baby also. It was scary, and heart-breaking. She had some x-rays done and the she got put on Zantac. We had her on that until her 1st bday, and by that time she had outgrown it. Our ped. also had us put 1-2 tablespoons of rice cereal in her formula. It helps to thicken the formula, which in turn helps keep it down. We also kept her propped up while we fed her, and for about 20 mins after. All this helped out alot, and we noticed a difference. She'll be 5 next week, and hasnt had a problem is then. Hope this helps, and rememer is keeps lots of extra clothes handy =)

Hey!
I just wanted to throw this out at you. My niece's baby had acid reflux so they said. The doctor put him on med. and she went threw that until he was almost a year old. Then she took it up on herself and changed his formula to silk milk, which is a soy. Then he got better still had some acid reflux. So you might think about that or asked your doctor. I know kids are different but it want hurt to asked.
P.

Just some quick thoughts:
-My little guy had reflux-Axid did not work-Prevacid did.
-Could he have a diary issue?-If so Nutramigen formula-cheapest on Ebay.
-Be leary of soy and lavender oils. My husband is a biomedical research scientist and has read published articles from reputable medical journals that soy and lavender can produce feminine characteristics in males.

Good luck with your little one.
Val

My daughter has silent reflux (it is reflux only they don't spit up, it just gets caught in their throat and chest). Her symptoms began to show at 2 weeks old as well. She was extremely fussy and could not be laid down. She never slept until about 6pm because she was so exhasuted from crying all day and she would just pass out. There was a week where she showed no sypmtoms at all. Later I read something online that said when there is a lot going on a baby can actually be distracted from reflux discomfort and that is one way to determine whether it is colic or reflux.
It sounds to me like your son has reflux. He is 7 weeks now and that is about the time where I started saying "ok, something is definitely wrong here..." At 8 weeks my daughter was put on Zantac and the next day she was a totally different baby! I could actually put her down in her swing for 20 mins!
There are other things you can do to help with the reflux. After you feed your son put him in a front pack for about 20 mins. Samantha loved that! Also after trying many different things to keep her propped up in bed I finally bit the bullet and spent the $12 and bought a crib wedge. It works great and Samantha is very comfortable sleeping on it!
I hope your trip to the doctor's today is successful. I know how awful you must feel for your baby and how exhausted YOU must be! I was having troubles with only one baby and you have 2 more at home with you. Good luck!

Hi J. , yes I know something that a lot of my friends and family have used that is the best thing out there for acid reflux, it is very quick acting. It is called Natural Cellular defense, it balances the bodies acid and ph, and detoxes it from toxins, it also boosts the immune system. My children have been on it for two years and haven't had more than a sniffle since being on it, we don't live without it. You can order it on my website , I am a member, or call me and I will tell you how to become a member , so you can order the product at the wholesale price, this product is being used for hundreds of things right now including very life threating diseases, it is nothing short of a miracle what it is doing, it is drops that you can put in water or drinks and you don't even taste them. you can call me and I will tell you more about it or e-mail me at ____@____.com, phone is ###-###-####, the website for the drops is www.mywaiora.com/740801 I will keep you in my prayers, I too am a stay at home homeschooling mom and I am treasuring this time with my little ones, take care and be blessed,
Sheri M, P.S one of my neighbors said whatever you do don't let them be put on drugs, from the doctor, they have side effects some short term and others long term that may not show up until later in life, the product I told you about is all natural with no side effects and also helps with boosting the immune system

I have been using babies magic tea for my similar baby with extreme fussiness and he became soothed all of a sudden with very first day after getting this tea.

Hi J.~
If the reflux is really bad he may need some meds and your pedi will advise about that. One thing to try if you haven't yet is to elevate his bed. Elevate on end of the bed and let him sleep at an angle with his head at the highest end. You can use pillows, magazines, whatever to put under one end of the mattress. You can also use this trick if he has congestion problems ever or a cold/sinus issues. Good luck!

Paula G.

May daughter is now 13 1/2 months old and has been on medication for reflux since about 8 weeks. At 3 weeks she cried all the time and didn't want to eat. If your son is crying a lot more than normal or is pushing his head away from the bottle it may be reflux. It would also bother him more to lay flat than upright. If this sounds like your son I would check with the doc. If it's just spitting up it very well may be an allergy or intolerance to the formula and they may have you try something like Enfamil Gentlease to help him digest. Either way call the doc. I'm sure he's fine! But it wouldn't hurt to have him checked to make sure he's comfortable and also to take some stress off of you (as if you need any more). Good luck - I'm sure it will work out just fine.

My daughter who is now 5 had acid reflux. We took her and had the GI tube to measure how much acid she had and then had her on the prescribed meds to help. The meds caused her to have seizures, which is a side effect. And since I have heard of three others that it had the same effect (what I am trying to say is DON'T put him on the meds!!). It was amazing as soon as she started to walk it went away. She gained weight and is very healthy now. I know it is a mess to deal with, put it will be a very small period of her live. Good luck

C.

We have been going through pretty much the same thing with our 3 1/2 month old since she was just a few weeks old. She would spit up excessive amounts, sometimes it was so much that it would come out her nose & boy did she get mad when that happened. We started out on Enfamil Lipil, then went to Enfamil Gentlease (for fussiness & gas), then we tried Enfamil AR. The AR helped a little bit, but she was still spitting up excessively. The dr. put her on Zantac. We were supposed to try that for 2 weeks, but we only lasted 5 days. She would scream when we gave it to her. It was spearmint flavored and I think it burned going down. So the dr. told us to go back to regular Enfamil Lipil & to add cereal. We do 4oz. bottles with 2 teaspoons of rice cereal added. Also burp frequently & keep her upright for a while after eating. It has helped tremendously, but she still has days when she spits up a lot. Fortunately, she's never had a problem gaining weight due to the reflux. We've finally decided this is a problem that hopefully she'll outgrow.

My son is 1yr old and he had problems with many formulas. We finally started him on Similar Alimentum which worked wonders. He was a different child almost immediately. Alimentum is a little pricey however some insurance companies will cover this because it is a medical necessity. We have Cigna and through Apria which is part of Cigna is shipped monthly. Good luck.

hello my daughter was diagonsed with acid reflux when she was two weeks old she would shoot her milk out of her nose also. She is now on prevacid once a day and still spits up but no where near what she did she was also four pounds and is now 8 months and weighs twenty pounds so it does help. just thought you might need this if you havent had your doctor about it .

My daughter had some reflux as well. She would spit up a lot and sometimes would come out of her nose. I talked to our pediatrician and we switched formula to Enfamil Gentalease and it helped her a lot. I also kept her upright for about 20-30 minutes after eating. She was on this formula until she was about 3 months old and we switched her back gradually to the regular Enfamil Lipil. I also use the Avent bottles. I hope that you find the solution for your son, good luck!

All the suggestions are good. You may also want to try the Emfamil AR formula. My daughter would only drink the pre-made formula. She also did better when we raise the head of her crib while she slept. She stopped having problem around 8m old. Best luck.
J.

I feel for you and your son. recently my 7y/o was just diagnosed with a hiatal hernia which he has probably had since birth. He never had any problems until the last 2 years. He would have chest and stomach pain and throw up for no reason. His pediatrician refered him to a pediatric gastroenterologist at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, TN. they were all wonderful there and very, very thorough. taking your son to the doctor is very wise. I would suggest that you discuss with the pediatrician the posibility of any severe stomach problems. It could be more than just acid reflux and I wouldn't take that for an answer without extensive testing. We wouldn't have found my son's hernia had I not insisted on further testing being done. Just the upper GI alone didn't show anything. that's when the pediatrician refered us to the specialist. And I thank God for her everyday. Good Luck and God Bless.

Hey J.,

I have three kids and all but the last one I fed soy formula. It cured my first son from gas and spitting up. Ask your doctor, but I can tell you that I loved it. Isomil was the brand that I used.
Hope this helps!
B.

My son is 16 now but he did the same thing as I recall. Turned out he had fluid in his lungs and asthma. When he ate he couldn't breathe and caused him to throw up also. Just take him to the pediatrician and it will all work out. Take care and be encouraged.

Hey J.. I have a son born on March 20, 2008, who does have reflux. Jack is breastfed. I suspected him of having reflux right away, even in the hosp. I could hear fluid coming back up in his mouth and then the would swallow really hard, very audibly and then cry, cry, cry! He also would get really stiff all over and arch his back. Initially, he wasn't spitting up much milk, but clear fluid about and hour or so after feeding. Now, he has started spitting up a little more milk. Still, not as much as it sounds like your son is. Jack does take Axid 3 times a day to help control the acid. I make sure he is propped up at least 30 minutes after each feeding and tilted a bit toward his right side. If he is especially spitty I will give him about 1/2 teaspoon of rice ceral in each 2 ounces of breastmilk, or in your case formula. This was suggested to me by his pediatrician. We also use Playtex Drop-Ins when we need a bottle. I feel for you, especially the baby, because I see what we go through. Good luck and keep me posted. You may get some more ideas that you would like to share!!

Insist on trying zantac or prevacid. If he has reflux, it will make mealtimes much better!

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