Acid Reflux - Santa Rosa, CA

D.--

Not sure how old your little one is, but mine really benefited from Pepcid (proton pump inhibitor--its a little stronger than the Zantac). Different pediatricians have different thresholds for giving it to babies, but mine has been on it now for about 5 or so months and it made all the difference in the world for us.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

I have not tried this myself because I do not have that problem but a friend's doctor said that eating a handful of dry popcorn will act as a buffer and not let the acid come thru it!Of course I do not know the age of your son but I think it might be worth a try unless he is an infant! Good luck to you, N.

Hi D.,

My daughter has severe acid reflux as well. In mid December the combination of acid reflux and sleep apnea caused her to stop breathing long enough to turn her lips blue. after days at Sutter Childrens Hosp in Sacramento, she is now on an apnea monitor (to make sure she stays breathing). We have tried several medications for the reflux (including Zantac which didn't seem to work either)and finally found that 1/4 a 15 mg tablet 2X per day of Prevacid SoluTab seems to really be working for her. The tablet dissolves in water and can be given in a medicine dropper. Additionally, I took it upon my self to try infant GasX after her last feeding before bedtime. That also helps her sleep at night without much of a reflux/gas problem.

Also, she did receive relief when I switched her to Similac Isomil Advanced Soy Formula (Pink and White can). I was breast-feeding at first but with being in and out of the hospital and having tubes and cords attached, it was hopeless and switched to straight formula when she was around 6 weeks.

She is really doing much much better with these changes that I've implemented in the last month.

This is what worked for us: Lactose-free, ready-made, Enfamil formula. The stuff that comes in cans. * Because we didn't have to mix the powder, there were fewer bubbles in the formula.

Now, I also agree with the person who recommended goat's milk based formula. My son drinks goat's milk, no problem, but cannot tolerate cow's milk.

You can try the rice cereal in the bottle thing, but it didn't work for us.

Chiropractic care can also be beneficial. I understand that being adjusted can help the digestion.

I hope this helps!

* Of course, now it comes out that there's BPA in those cans, which is an issue.

D.--

Taking care of a baby with severe acid reflux is exhausting! Our son was in a similar situation, and though the Zantac helped (4x/day), he started to develop seizures as a result--this is extemely rare--even the pediatric neurologist hadn't heard of this reaction, but my sister who is an MD, dug up research that found that Zantac trials pointed to some rare reversible central nervous sytem reactions.

Obviously, we took hime off Zantac and then turned to craniosacral therapy and, most successfully, to homeopathy for help. Our homeopath cured the reflux. I recommend her entirely--Mary Gordon (likewisehomeopathy.com)

best of luck, C.

Hi Dennie,

Looks like you have gotten a few responses. One of my preemies had severe reflux. I strongly recommend a Pediatric GI doctor. Ours in Sacramento is awesome. The treatment for our daughter is Zantac (.8 ml 2x day) and Nexium (20mg 2x day). Nexium is the newest med being used for infants. Also,our GI doc switched her to GoodStart formula as it is the easiest to digest and we mixed it to a higher calorie level. We had weight gaining issues as well. Due to the higher calories, we use Miralax for constipation. Our GI doc told us that most infants out grow reflux around 18 months. As parent who has dealt with in virtro, twin preemies, one with health issues, I can understand and sympathize with your concerns. Again, I recommend getting a Pediatric GI doctor, even it is just to relieve your fears. Good luck!

My baby also had severe constipation and acid reflux - keep up with that zantac, and 3-6 months, he will grow out of it and be just fine.
First of all, put him to sleep in an "upright" position: put him in his infant seat or in a baby swing to nap and even sleep in during the night if he is happy with it. That sitting up position really does wonders as it keeps the acid down in the tummy instead of creeping up the esophagus as he sleeps laying down. My daughter slept in her baby swing for the first 4 months of her life - neither of us would have slept if not for it. And she wanted that swing on the highest speed, so I felt compelled to ask my doctor if all that swing could hurt her, and he assured me that it doesn't harm the baby in any way (and to use it if it worked!).
My daughter also had anal stenosis (where the skin of the anus actually grows back over opening partially) along with sever constipation, so I know just as much about this issue (the reflux and constipation go hand in hand). We tried every silly home remedy in the book, but the baby still couldn't pass her own stool, I would have to remove it for her while she bled and screamed - it was terrible. The ONLY thing that ended up working was suggested by the ped - plain old original Phillips milk of magnesia. We put 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of it (depending on how old she was at the time and how much she weighed) into her bottle once a day..... and POOF. It was like a different child. Since milk of magnesia is not a laxative but a stool softener if just softened the poop enough for it to come out all on its own - saved my LIFE and her's too. Please try this - there is absolutely NOTHING in the milk of magnesia that is harmful to even a newborn, I did my research. Within the same 3-6 months timeframe, my baby also grew out of the constipation as well as the reflux (mainly because of the introduction of solid foods).

Hi D.,

I'm sorry to hear you're going through this. Our son had really bad reflux, too. Our pediatric GI (at UCSF) had us spend a fortune on Alimentum (and stop with breast milk, which he had been taking for four months). Apparantly breast milk is not always better than special formulas designed for digestive problems (I'm begging the breast milk police to please, please not hassle me; it was tough enough as is). Nutramagen (sp?) also works, but it's vile, and our son ate a lot more w/ Alimentum. I was upset to stop with the breat milk, but the Alimentum did help, and my mom found it for a less atrocious price at WalMart, though I hate to promote thst place :(. We switched from Zantac to Prevacid (disolved pill in a little water and then added it to anything he was drinking -- we just had to be we gave him an amount of liquid he would finish!). He didn't have to take the Prevacid as many times per day as the Zantac, btw. To regulate his GI tract, we went from Reglan to milk of magnesia (which might be enough for your child -- add to bottle as previous poster said) and then finally to Miralax powder. That really worked best. I was so bummed to be giving him meds, but they really helped to decrease the spit-up and horrible pain he was experiencing. As the earlier milk of magnesia poster said, getting poops to come out more easily made a huge difference in decreasing spit-up an pain. If he didn't have a solid poop, though, and seemed to be in pain (sometimes poop made liquidy by m.o.m. can seep around a larger stool in the bowel and it seems like you child is pooping), we had to give him a glycerin enema. They make children's ones, and we only gave him half. He did NOT like getting these, but they were totally miraculous. We only used them in the worst situations (under doctor's orders). Our son had to stay on Prevacid until he was almost three and Miralax until about three and a half. He's totally fine now (he's four and a half). We watched his poop carefully (and had to ask his preschool to do so, too -- that was cute!) so that we could adjust his Miralax for the next day. Most kids grow out of GERD by one year old or so, but not our son. Perhaps it was because he was born 11 weeks early. We also had him sleep in his infant car seat on his bedroom floor (strapped in) for months to keep him more upright. His head was pretty pointy from being born so early (vaginally) with such a soft skull, so while the car seat did flatten is head a bit, it only flattened it to a more typical shape. He slept much better in his car seat. He transitioned easily to his crib and his twin sized bed later own. Not to be alarmist, but I highly recommend you brush up on choking procedures for babies or toddlers, depending on how old your child is. My son once aspirated on his own spit-up about a half-hour after finishing his bottle (Dr. Brown's -- great for reflux, but a huge pain to clean and apparently not so much for the plastic; didn't know at the time; worked better for his reflux than Advent). Luckily, after spending so muh time in the pumping room at the NICU, I had seen the CPR/choking video dozens of times (every time a family took their baby home), and I was able to help him quickly, though I also called the paramedics. I was so glad I had seen that video so many times.

I hope some of this helps and that your child's reflux improves soon. As he/she transitions to solids, the reflux should diminish as well. It didn't go away imediately for us, but our son did FINALLY grow out of it. I agree with others that it feels very uncomfortable to give too much in the way of meds. Personally, I'm a huge fan of acupuncture, herbs, etc., and our son did have cranial work done by a fantastic osteopath However, meds were what worked for our son. Good luck and don't feel guilty about the meds. You're doing what you need to do to keep your child comfortable and gaining weight.

Just a thought. I don't know much about the different formula's becasuse I strictly breastfed my son for the first year, but maybe he has a milk allergy. My son was treated for weeks for reflux. We were on one med that worked well and then didn't work after a few weeks. Then we continued with that med along with Reglan four times a day. One day I thought it might be the dairy so I cut all dairy out of my diet (since I was breastfeeding) and no dairy in his diet...........he stopped having symptoms. Maybe it's an avenue you have already explored, but if not see if there is a formula that is NOT milk based.

Good Luck........I know how much it sucks to have to give the meds all day long. Hang in there...I was told it's just a phase!!

There is some great information in a file called Living with Infant Acid Reflux on www.PollywogBaby.com --many things you can do to help your baby rest and eat more easily, to reduce the reflux response.

there was a recipe in the paper....from a doctor....for acid reflux. Mix 2/3 cups of grape juice; 1/3 cup of apple juice and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. A 70 year old woman said it has helped her for years. I don't know, you might give it a try.

Hi D.,

My son also suffers from acid reflux. I believe sometimes it happens because of being over fed. Zantac didn't help at all for us. I also notice if he is fussy or super active before or after he eats he spits up more than normal. Some babies just spit up and others don't at all. Does he seem bothered by it or in pain? If not it is more of a laundry issue. As long as he is gaining weight it isn't a big deal...other than messy =) I would say take him off the zantac and feed him slowly and try keeping him mellow afterward...hope this helps.
E.

Hi D., I'm an acupuncturist & herbalist and have been able to treat acid reflux quite well, even severe cases that Western medicine can't help. You might also try someone who specializes in abdominal massage. good luck -L.

Hi D.,

Sorry to hear about your son's reflux. My son was started on a goat milk formula at 6 weeks old and responded beautifully. He is now 10 months old and is still going strong! The transition allowed his BM's to be more frequent and he had little stomach upset. He was calm and happy! The goat milk molecules are smaller and closer to those of human breast milk. Over the counter cow milk formulas have larger molecules and are pretty poorly made up nutrient wise. If you're interested the formula is as follows:

1 qt goat milk (we use Trader Joes)
1 tsp powder probiotic
1 tsp fish oil (Noridc Naturals is a reputable brand that monitors mercury levels)
4 drops liquid folic acid

It's a pricier way to go but your son will be much happier and will get more superior nutrients than those in the OTC powder formulas. I have had great experience with pediatric naturopathic doctors. They have a different way of looking at things and can help get kids off meds by changing lifestyle and diet. I hope this helps!

my twins had reflux and my mom told me to put rice cereal in their bottle. 1/2 tsp per 2 oz. you will see tons of literature and people who say oh! no, no! but it worked!! even my dr. said, "if it works- do it. rice cereal never hurt anybody!" i also used alimentum formula. (big bucks but you can find decent deals on craigslist and/or ebay.)
i was able to give up zantac and at about 10 months or so- they were pretty much over the reflux saga.
good luck!

Hi,
It's very helpful to keep your baby in an upright position as MUCH as possible. The doctor even had us raise (put it at an incline with the head end higher)the mattress in our son's crib for sleeping. Some dr. suggest surgery. The doctors said it would get better with age, as they sit, walk, etc. things that we do in upright positions. Breast milk is the best. We tried everything,all the formulas,goats milk,etc.and we found our son could tolerate Vita-Mite (dairy section at the store), suggested by the dr. Our son used VitaMite for years. It's not availabe where we live now. Now he is on Rice Dream (in a box in the health food section). I breast fed our son until he was 18 mths. old and the acid reflux was still severe. He never got one full hour of sleep until he was 18 mths old. It help us get through knowing the condition will improve with time, it's not something you'll be dealing with forever. Try to stay relaxed and calm. I understand what you are going through.
Good Luck.
L.

One way to help the baby sleep more comfortably is to have him sleep in their carseat. My daughter would roll around in her crib so raising it did no good. She would only roll down the mattress and end up sideways in the crib. Our daughter slept in her carseat in our bedroom while she had acid reflux. We had her in our room so that we could keep an eye on her if she choked. She was also on Zantac, Metoclopramide and also had Mylacon as well. She also ate smaller meals at a slower pace. Also have friends help take care of the baby when things get crazy. And as always, lots of love patience and prayer.

Hi i don't know where you are or what care you have access to but I would suggest finding someone who does Cranio-Sacral Therapy. It helps with the entire nervous system.

You can contact the Upledged Institute for a referral, they are located in Florida.
Good luck,
L.

Our story is quite long, so I'll stick to what worked for us. Prescription drugs and many alternative methods and remedies didn't work.

What did work?
- time
- chiropractic with a DC that works on a lot of babies and children

A (trumatic) upper GI study actually confirmed that our daughter did not have reflux afterall, so we still don't know what she was spitting up so much. We had never considered chiropractic before our daughter was born. It was new to us, but we were willing to give it a try.

Best,
L.

Our second child had severe reflux. Neither Zantac nor Prilosec helped him. As others have said, sleeping sitting up helps. He slept best in the swing or car seat. You could try putting him to bed in the car seat if it is on the floor or in the crib. (I actually did this with our third, although I wasn't sure if his fussiness was reflux or just colic.)

You could ask your ped for referral to a ped GI doc. They may want to do an upper GI. My son's upper GI showed that there was no physical problem. The GI doc suggested a few things to try but none really helped. It turned out that the reflux (and diarrhea and general fussiness) was caused by food allergies.

You could try switching brands of formula. (Although Good Start is what our allergist recommended for our third.) You could also try switching to soy formula, although soy is highly allergenic too. Our son was very fussy and slept terribly until he was 2.5 yo old, when we finally diagnosed the food allergies and got all the foods he is allergic to out of his diet. I know how hard the sleep deprivation is and do NOT recommend waiting to see if he outgrows it. Push your doc for more suggestions/action. (We actually ended up switching peds several times because they didn't seem to be able to help/figure out what was wrong.)

A food allergy could be causing the constipation too. You could try giving him a fiber supplement. Products like Benefiber come in a powder that totally dissolves in liquid and is tasteless. Not sure it helped our son or not, but it's worth a try. What helps most is diagnosing the cause!!

Good luck!
-D.

Hello D.,
our daughter had acid reflux, part of it was the formula she was taking as a supplement. Out of all the forumlas we tried good start was the hardest on her poor little system. in the end it was enfamil lipil and breast milk.
Is there anyway you can get breast milk from a milk bank?
Also is baby sleeping flat or elevated? elevation works.
could the malt barley and probiotic mixture be excerbating the situation?
again not sure of age of baby, but fresh mushed bananas help too. Also try to relax, remember that baby can feel your stress and stress will make the acid reflux worse.
Good luck!

My physician took my husband off of all refined foods including whole wheat products, soy and soy based products,tropical fruits (bananas especially, no sugar, no high fructose corn syrup or corn based products, high starch vegetables (potatoes & peas). He has almost no symptoms except when he adds something back into his diet that irritates him! He eats whole, real food that is we eat very little food that comes in a package or is processed.

I hope this helps.

Hi D.,
My baby had/has acid reflux (8 months old now). She got better around 7.5 months. I would say first that it is a stressful thing and I feel for you. Second, there is another type of medicine that actually stops the spitting up BUT we tried it and my baby threw it up so we couldn't give it to her (She threw up her whole bottle or what was left in her stomach with it.). So, you should try it. Ask your doctor, I forgot what it is called. Besides that, I'm sure you've heard/read about having him sit up 15-30 minutes after eating (never seemed to help my baby), sleeping at an incline (this did help) and all that other stuff. Good luck!
J.

How old is the child?????

Malt Barley is highly allergenic - you might want to think about prunes instead.

D.,

Have you gotten a second opinion on the acid reflux issue? Sounds to me like it's an extreme amount of Zantac for a little body!

Good luck and God Bless!

I would visit a naturopath and/or homeopathic doc rather than Zantac 4 times a day. If hes taking that much and its not working then its not right for him. The western outlook can be so harsh for babies. Try a natural remedy....
Good luck.

My daughter had to be on Zantac & another stonger Med. to help keep her stomach muscle tightened. I really had to struggle with my doc to give it to her but she wasn't gaining weight and was throwing up all her food. She was also up all night gurgling and choking on her saliva or stomach acid. It was really bad. I heard the only way they prescribe it is if the child is NOT gaining weight. Otherwise, they will just say that he is taking enough food if he is gaining weight. Have you tried all the routine; small feedings frequently, holding baby upright, burping, sleeping on an incline (we put a pillow UNDER the crib mattress so it was inclined) this was recommended by our lactaction consultant. She was more comfortble sleeping and wasn't gurgling anymore. I hope your situation wasn't as bad as mine. All her clothes were ruined as well. If baby is very young he will probably grow out of it pretty quickly.

Stay away from fried, spicy, and acidic foods. Eat more vegetables. Eat carbs, but don't overeat on carbs. Bananas act as a lacxative. Try prunes or prune juice. Look into probiaotics on the internet for information to help your son. Good Luck!

A.

A wet nurse{nanny who has breast milk), or purchased breast milk, which is extreemely expensive.