Acid Reflux Frustrations

I am a 44 year-old mom of 2 boys, ages 5 and 3. My first son was born 5 wks. early, but not considered a preemie. He had significant acid reflux, which was treated with prevacid and reglan for 1 yr. He grew out of the reflux/spitting up problem. My second son was born 3 wks. early and had the same problem, just worse. He developed esophagitis and would cry and spit up from one feeding to the next. At four months old, I counted the number of times he spit up in one day at my doctor's request. It was 37 times!! He wanted to nurse every 2 hours, which nearly sent me to the insane asylum! Our pediatrician treated him with nexium and we began rice cereal at 6 wks. We just lived with the problem until he grew out of it at about 1 yr. We never went anywhere without a big supply of cloth diapers for the spit up. Only close family members would hold my son, because he spit up constantly! I don't know the magic question. My response is to go to the gastroenterologist and see what they say. Our ped is great, but he assured me that my boys would grow out of the problem (Immature valve that holds stomach contents in.) Things improved drastically at about 1 yr. They are now two sweet, smart, perfectly healthy boys on no meds. and they never spit up!

IMHO reflux is not properly diagnosed. We dealt with ours until the boys were almost a year old. One had it much worse than the other, and when he was 6mo we had an upper GI. We were told he'd grow out of it, but were getting really concerned. They were growing properly (which indicated they were getting more food than we thought they were/the amount they threw up was insane!) so that was the most important thing. Anyway the little guy had an upper GI and it revealed nothing abnormal. And eventually he did grow out of it. Once they started on solids it really helped. He's an even better eater than big brother! (he actually likes food more than milk, and probably drinks only half as much as brother).

You are not alone, and many have experienced the same frustration as you! Thank God we bought leather furniture-wipes clean easily! :)

Hello!

I went through this with my son, who is now turning 2 this month. We went to see Dr. Argao, who is a pediatric gastroenterologist and was great. He really worked with us to find something that worked with my son, and everything he suggested worked for us. My son took Prevacid, which helps with the burning sensation but does not decrease the reflux itself. Dr. Argao put him on a medication called Bethanechol, which is actually a medication for something else but helps move things through your digestive system so that there is not as much to reflux. This really made a world of difference for my son, so you may want to ask about that and see what your dr. thinks.

My son had pretty bad reflux, it would come out his nose, we were changing my clothes and his clothes several times a day, and it was really hard for both of us. We never found a cause in terms of food or anything, and we never did any of the invasive testing that I know is sometimes recommended. Dr. Argao said that many babies outgrow reflux when they start to walk since they are spending most of the day upright, and this was true for us. If at that point there was no improvement, he would have recommended some of that invasive testing, but it was not necessary in our case.

So I guess I don't have any good suggestions on questions, other than asking about Bethanechol. I just want you to know to hang in there and hopefully it will get better as quickly as my son's reflux did.

I highly suggest taking him to a pediatric chiropractor first. An adjustment can take care of a high percentage of reflux cases without having to put your little one on meds. I take my son (who was also born preemie) to Dr. Melissa Shelton in the Plano/Frisco area. She is wonderful!

Hi N..
I know it's a bit late but I have read a wonderful book by a Ped. Gastr. called "Colic Solved" by Dr. Bryan Vartebedian. It is all about reflux and milk protein sensitivity and other aspects of babies and their diets and internal systems. It's a WONDERFUL book and answered so many questions for me, as two of my children had reflux and one had m.p.s. I know it is available at the library. Good luck!

I am an herb specialist and I recommend you rub liquid Catnip Fennel on the babies belly. The skin absorbs what is put on it opposed to you giving it to your baby by mouth. Any air/gas in the body should be expelled by burping or passing gas.

Hope your baby well and happy.

I started to reply with my "story" - have been through this with both children; neither one outgrew it when sitting/standing... It took a while. Anyhow, as for the "question," I'd say to ask for an allergy screen to be done (it is a simple blood draw) so you can find out if he's allergic to anything that you're eating or in his formula (however you're feeding him). This would be very helpful to know. Feel free to PM me with any other questions. We've been through a LOT on this issue. Good luck! :)

My son was also born 4-5 weeks early and spent time in the NICU. Acid Reflux was bad from about 3 weeks old on. He was nursed which helped. I also gave him Mylanta (up to 4 times a day with doctor approval). The Mylanta seemed to work better than the prescription med. Allow him to sit up for at least 15-30 minutes after he eats. Also, if you can, wear him so he's close to you always. My son also would sleep in his bouncy seat or with his bed elevated.
I hope he gets better soon! It usually takes a year for them to outgrow it. It also tended to be worse when he was going through a growth spurt. The rice cereal in the milk did not help my son though.

Hi, N..

My son was 5 weeks early and has suffered from reflux as well as a severe dairy allergy since birth.

Having said that...sometimes their little tummies are underdeveloped and unable to tolerate food. It may be just that simple. Make sure you are sitting him up after feedings as it tends to help.

Our GI doc is Dr. Baker at Plano Presby. Our allergist is Dr. Van Wagoner at Southwest Allergy and Asthma just in case you need names down the line.

Honestly, reflux is painful but if your son is growing a little medication should do the trick. Hopefully he will outgrow it as his stomach matures.

Good luck!

DD was on prevacid for a long time for reflux. She always wanted to be held upright and would cry until 3am every night. She would nurse ALL the time. She would arch her back and sort of pull back while nursing. She would spit up a lot and get hiccups. It was like night and day once the medicine kicked in. hope this helps.

I did the same as Cyndy O. My twins were 6 weeks early. My little girl had reflux.Her reflux was internal 80% of the time. We also ground up boxes of baby cereal (they could be allergic to rice so you may have to check that through to other kinds) and put 2 tablespoons in an 8 oz bottle. It helps to weigh it down in her belly. We also had prevacid in a powder form it was easy to just mix with water. We had also changed her formula to Nestle good start. She was a new child with the change in formula. We did all of these things gradually to test each one at a time. Then we knew if the change in her eating was due to a specific item.
Good Luck.

my daughter was diagnosed and treated for "acid reflux" her first year of life and then we found out that she has multiple food allergies and the "reflux" stopped after that. I am not saying all acid reflux is allergy related but just keep that in mind that it could be.

Well, I don't know that one question you shoud ask but, I will tell you to make sure your baby drinks A LOT of water and juice if he has to drink that chalky stuff for the gastro test. My daughter had the test done when she was an infant and I ended up taking her to the ER because she was constipated!! They had to give her a little baby enema! It broke my heart! Like your baby, she was early and had reflux.