Acid Reflux - Bellmawr, NJ

Have you tried the crib wedge to raise her head when she's sleeping? We did the zantac too, and added cereal to his bottles (I always wished my breasts had a cereal dispenser, lol). She will grow out of this-- my baby (12 mos) still spits up, but it doesn't cause him any pain or any other symptoms. You are close to the end!

HI K.! I agree w/Melissa W. regarding the dairy. My son was diagnosed w/reflux @ 3 weeks old, same symptoms as your daughter. I cut out dairy never gave him any meds & we saw a complete turn around in his behavior within a few days. (It does take 11 days for dairy to be completely eliminated out of your system.) No more painful feedings or inability to breatfeed. But, you also need to pay attention to other foods that you eat. Acidic food like others have mentioned, both of my children's reflux flared up if I ate fresh pineapple and also spicy foods affected my daughter's reflux.

It's my understanding that when a baby is placed on acid reflux meds it is long term. I wasn't convicned that I wanted to place my child on daily meds, that is why we choose to go w/the diet route & it worked! Most babies outgrow their dairy allergey by 12 months of age. I cut out the dairy for 11 months & then gave into temptation of a slice of pizza, luckily he was fine so I gradually reintroduced dairy. My son is almost 3 years old & has been fine w/all dairy since then.

Good luck & keep up the great work breastfeeding!

Hi K.,
My son was diagonsed with acid reflux when he was four days old. He had all of the symptoms your daughter has now. We were just able to take my son off the medication this month (he is almost 7 months). It is surprising to me that your daughter didn't have it earlier b/c acid reflux in infants typically peaks at 5 months. Anyway I would call your doctor back, as it may just be an instance where she needs a larger dose. We had to adjust my son's dosage several times before he got comfortable. Also make sure she is not sleeping flat at night or for naps - this helps greatly.
An alternative is to take her to a chiropractor that specializes in Bensons.

our son had acid reflux pretty bad too. We were told to hold him up right for 1/2 hour after eating and also to put a brick under the head of the bed to raise it up. It smade a big difference.

Oh and also we thickened his formula with oatmeal cereal.

Hope it helps

I am not familair but have seen shows on tv. I wonder if she has allergies. I listen to dr James Winer. www.painreleaseclinic.com. He has helped alot fo people on the radio. I cant remeber if he was the one talkibng aabout the acid reflux or if it was another dr. What they said is that alot of people with acid reflux have allergies. I am not a fan of rx meds thay all have side affects. he is on kdka radio from 930 am to 1100 pm Saturday . You can call in and ask questions or they give his office number also.
Good luck
B.

Dear K.,

My son (now 3.5 yrs) had acid reflux as an infant. I do not know about the medicine route because we tried preventitive measures before medicine. I discovered his reflux at 6 weeks when he was having belly time & crying and had blood in his phlegm.

It is a very rough road but it does pass when they outgrow the reflux and the throat muscles fully develop to close the opening between the stomach and the esophagus. Be patient with yourself and your daughter.

What we did: we propped his crib mattress higher on one end to elevate his head when he slept, I fed him more frequently with smaller meals, burped him more often (about every 1-2 ounces), he was held upright while nursing and propped up sitting after feeding for at least 2 hours (including carrying upright and bouncy seat upright), my son was introduced to solid food early (4 months) both due to his reflux and the study about introducing cereal to reduce the risk of celiacs in western European genetic families, and my son ate a spoon or two of solids before nursing or having formula.

I am concerned you mentioned problems swallowing. My son never had any difficulty swallowing. I would definitely visit her pediatrician and ask about your DD's swallowing issues and ask for a swallowing test. If therapy is needed to develop her swallowing reflex, the sooner the better.

All my best, ann

K.,
My son had acid reflux and was also one zantac and that started not to work so he was switched to Prilosec. My pediatrician recommended adding one tsp of rice cereal in with his formula. He also is on the gentlease formula. We also had an upper GI done to make sure he did not have pyloric stinosis. Best of luck

My son had it when he was a newborn (he is now 6mos). His was not as severe as your daughter's, but he was on Zantac as well. It tastes absolutely horrible, but it does seem to help. If that is no longer working the way it was, I would suggest getting a crib wedge for the crib or bassinet, as this will keep her head elevated when sleeping, which helps keep the acid down. Also, try and keep her upright after feeding for at least 20min, this will also help to digest and keep the acid from coming up. You could also maybe switch to a formula that is rice based, like Similac RS. She is old enough to start solids, and heavier foods like cereal will help too! Make sure to ask your doc if you haven't given her food yet though. Hope this helps!

My advice and experience is limited, but I just wanted to offer you one perspective. My son was diagnosed with a mild case of this also around the same age. The doctor prescribed Zantac for a week and then wanted to see his progress. He had minor progress and at our second visit, the doctor said, ok "here is your prescription to continue the meds." I was surprised because I thought it was a short term prescription, however, the doctor said "oh no, he'll have to be on this for several years."
I was distraught. I didn't think that was right, so we did not keep him on the meds. Within a couple of months he improved and no longer has the problem.

I guess I'm just encouraging you to remember that medication isn't always the solution. Sometimes babies just go through stages... good luck!

K.,
My son was diagnosed with moderate acid reflux and I actually got to see it on the screen when I was in the room with him during his upper GI. He was 6 weeks when diagnosed. It was a horrible 4 months but we got thru it. He was on Zantac and it really helped. Make sure your daughter is eating cereal, she is old enough for oatmeal which does not cause the constipation... as well as some other #1 foods, such as sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, bananas, squash etc... The cereal really helped my son. I tried the crib wedge and it was a waste of money as he would always end up at the bottom of the crib anyway. Make sure after feeding her that she is upright for at least 15-20 minutes, I know that is hard in the middle of the night but hopefully she is not feeding during that time. My son stopped at 6 months when we realized it was just habit gettingup in the middle of the night (unless he was sick, teething etc...)
Good luck!
Christina

Hi K.,

My son has laryngeal malacia and acid reflux. He was diagnosed at 6 weeks and is currently 4 months. I can attest that it does take a few weeks for the Ranitidine to regulate the system; however, if you feel that it's not working as it should, trust youself and maybe ask the doc if the dosage is appropriate. Our doc also told us to elevate him post feedings for a 1/2 hr and also during sleep. We love our ENT from Dupont Hospital. Happy to share any more info with you if you'd like.

M.

Both of my boys had AR. I remember with my oldest that the Zantac did not work and I think he was put on Prevacid or Prilosec. We also elevated after feeding and added rice cereal to his bottles.

Both my guys also had the gagging. My oldest went to a speech therapist to learn how to chew his food... It took about 8 appointments and he finally stopped gagging and vomiting his food. I lived in DE at the time and all of the cost for those appointments were covered by the state and our health insurance, so there was no out of pocket expense to our family, which was very nice.

You can contact me through Mamasource anytime if you have any questions. My best advice is to watch out for acidic foods, and remind her to take small bites and to chew her food at meal time. Also, do not hesitate to go back to your pediatrician again and again until you feel she is feeling some relief from the meds.

The good thing is that it goes away about the time they start walking, which for me was around 10 1/2 months for both boys. Hopefully your daughter starts walking soon.

FYI - if you have one child with AR, you will likely have another with it...

Good Luck

K.
My daughter had it also and I also kept her head elevated while laying on the bed or for sleep or eating. I also was given Zantac to give to her and it seemed to take a couple days for it work them after a couple months I didnt see any improvement. So I stopped giving it to her. Then she was able to have solids,so I mixed baby food cereal in her bottles and that seemed to do the trick and finally grew out of it!
S.

take her to an acupuncturist who specializes in babies. My son had the exact same thing. It was awful! I took her to Cara Frank in Philadelphia, and she was able to assess what in my breast milk he was reacting to. Don't worry, not with needles. Turns out, it was citrus that was doing it to him. I cut out all orange juice, tomato sauce, etc. Almost immediately he was better.

Good luck!

I am just going to tell you from my own personal experience, which I know everyone has different ones. My 20 month old son was diagnosed with reflux at two months. We tried Zantac for two months and it just did not make a difference. Finally, he suggested Prevacid for Jack and it just made a world of a difference. (we also did other things as well, like thickening his formula, only giving his certain things to eat, ect)!!! It changed our lives dramatically. If Zantac does not seem to be doing the trick, I would talk to your doctor about other options.

K.,

Congratulations on still bf'ing! It may be something you're eating. My son was a heavy spitter-upper, but before placing him on meds, which I reall didn't want to do, I experimented with cutting dairy out of my diet. It did the trick. It took a couple of weeks to notice a true difference. I've been dairy-free since he was 3.5 months old (he's almost 11 months now). When I do lapse with the temptation of cheese pizza, I pay for it! He's up with a belly ache for much of the night. I hope to bf for about 2 years, so being a former "dairy queen", it's taken alot of self control, but it's worth it. I get by with rice milk, non-dairy butter spreads, etc. Best of luck! And no matter what you decide to do - this phase truly is almost over. Hang in there!

My daughter was on meds for acid reflux from 6 weeks on. She eventually grew out of it as most kids do. One thing I did for her was elevate her bed at night. Also after she eats or drinks I never let my daughter lay down for almost a half hour. I don't know if it works for everyone but it did for her. Good luck:)

Consider taking your daughter to a chiropractor. Very often acid reflux along with other common ailments in children/ infants can be avoided or cleared up with out the use of medications.

My son age 5 had acid reflux as a baby and was on the zantac as well, he did really well with it. My 3rd child, a boy is 8 weeks old and has been on zantac since he was 5 weeks old. I am nursing as well and in addition to giving him 1ml twice a day i had to cut out all my dairy and soy products. since doing so he is doing much better, he too would arch his back and not nurse as well. in addition to giving him the zantac, i mix it with a dropper full of mylicon drops, this helps as well, in addition to giving the zantac twice a day i give the mylicon in between. my pediatrician told me that its just sugar water so its not harmful, use as many times as you need to. if your daughter is still arching maybe she is having difficulty digesting your breastmilk, cutting out your dairy and soy intake would let you know if that is the issue. you can also try giving warm baths and doing infant massage on her belly to help. hope this helps.

A.

We had the same issues with my now almost 2 year old. He was on Zantac seemed to work for maybe a month and then stopped. Then they swiched him to another medicine same issue. After that they put him back on Zantac and the second time it worked great. Another big thing to watch for is that every time they gain weight even a little you need to have the dose readjusted. You can tell that is is time to adjust the dose when they start having the symptons again.

My daughter was diagnosed with acid reflux when she was a few days old and was put on Zantac. She outgrew it when she was 9 months old. She was constantly spitting up and then screaming her head off. She would even spit up while laying in her crib. That was scary. I know how stressful this can be. Try changing her formula. We used Nestle Good Start with DHA and ARA. You have to give it time to work and I know how hard that can be when your little one is screaming.

Our son's had it since 2mo (hiatal hernia). Zantac never worked on him, so we do: Axid (which is increased with every 2lbs of weight gain) 3x/day, rice cereal in bottles with every meal, holding upright for 30mins after eating (not reclined or in a swing, totally vertical), inclined mattress, smaller meals more frequently.

He's 5mos and still can't eat more than 4ounces.

Good luck!