Does My Baby Have Reflux??

Get the zantac for the kid. My doctor fought me on even admitting my son had acid reflux (which he absolutely did) for 2 months. He kept telling me "babies spit up, it's no big deal" and "He's just colicky" because my son would scream for hours on end and nothing we could do would soothe him. Once we got him on the medications (he needed a muscle relaxer as well for a while to stop his stomach and diaphram spasming so much), everything improved a million percent. He was on the Zantac until he was 18 months, but now, at 3, he has no problems at all with any kind of food or drink and no longer bound to meds several times a day.

It could very well be reflux. Usually with reflux there is discomfort and pain so maybe that is why all the groans and grunts. One of my sons had that and took some medicine for a while. The medicine helped with the discomfort, but he still spit up a lot!

One other thing to consider just in case is pyloric stenosis. It is a condition that occurs, more commonly in males, that causes severe vomiting in the first few months of life. "There is narrowing (stenosis) of the opening from the stomach to the intestines, due to enlargement (hypertrophy) of the muscle surrounding this opening (the pylorus, meaning "gate"), which spasms when the stomach empties." Both my brother and my mom had this as infants so it's something that I'm aware of. Projectile vomiting is quite common with this, but of course, there are also other reasons for the excess spit up.

Just thought I'd mention the above. Better ask your Doc and get to the bottom of it soon. Good luck!

Our son was on Similac Alimentum as well! He would stretch his little body backwards like he was arching and he would spit up (that's what we thought it was--although it was a LOT more than just spit up). He would also grunt and groan and it was difficult to feed him. He was hospitalized for 4 days because they found blood in his stool..(long story), but the did an endoscope, an upper GI, and a colonoscopy. Came back that they said he has a milk (possibly soy) allergy. That is when they put him on the Alimentum. Well, we were going through this thing on and off where he would vomit and have bad diarrhea (it smelled the worst smell!). Finally he went back to the GI doc and they did another endoscope and found that he has eosiniphillic esophagitis which means he has an allergy in his esophagus (food tube). They changed his formula to Elecare/Neocate and upped his baby Zantac to 3 times a day. He also had a blood allergy test (the RAST) and it came back positive for a milk allergy. Just recently we gave him a few small bites of a soy ice cream and went through the same vomiting/diarrhea routine and another trip to the GI doctor revealed that he also has a soy allergy. I would encourage you to have an allergist test your baby and/or go see a Gastroenterologist. Your baby could have a severe allergy that affects his GI system and doesn't present like a normal allergy with the hives. Poor thing!

Hello
The grunting and spitting up two hours after a feeding sounds just like my daughter at 4 weeks old 8 weeks ago. She has reflux and the doctor put her on zantac which when i asked the pharmacist is really a low doasge of liquid tumms. She is much better, rarely spits up does not groan and is much happier. She is on soy formula and i nurse her part of time.
At first Iw as nervous about medicine at sucha young age but it has made a world of difference
ggod luck
L.

My baby never had reflux so I am not sure if that could be it or not, it sounds like too much of "spitting up" for that to me though, but this could be another option. After my third was born he started gaining weight like normal but after another week or so starting spitting up, more and more each day. By the time he was four weeks old he was spitting up and projectial vomiting at least 90%, very gradually higher each day. He then of course started losing weight. I had been on the phone with the doctor several times in the week, changing formulas, doing mixtures of half formula, half pedi-light, some water, it was a crazy time. Just when I had enough the doctor told me to go to the ER. He had pyloric stenosis (sp?) a valve between his stomach and intestines had grown too big and wasnt letting him get his food. Simple surgery fixed it and hasn't had a problem snice. Simple ultrasound to diagnois too. My advice is to watch the baby's weight and try to estimate how much goes in compared to what comes out then talk to your doctor. I was surprized to learn about this and that it is very common in boys and in first born boys too, although that was not the case for mine being the third, but he has been my extraordinary boy all around anyway. Good Luck!

N.,

It sounds like reflux but just in case let me give you another unlikely possiblity...it also sounds like something my son had....agiain, I will say it is unlikely but its worth ruling out. My son had those symptoms and it was from something else that didn't get caught. These are the other symptoms my son had....
He stayed dry for a long time... and then flooded his diapers.
I never had the issue of having him "squirt me" while changing his diapers that moms talk about.
He never had that fresh baby smell....even after baths. When he came home form hospital he had a high billirubin (sp)
He was very thirsty as a toddler....

My son had something called posterior urethral valves which didn't allow him to empty his bladder unless he had intense pressure. Therefore. his bladder became distended and eventually backed urine into his kidneys which caused kidney damage. The fix was a simple surgery to remove the valves...unfortunately it didn't get caught until my son was 3 and by that time had permanent kidney damage. The doctor assured me he was fine for three years. If you think something more is wrong but the doctors won't check...switch doctors.

It sounds like reflux to me. I would take him off the similac. I personally hate that brand. If your gonna have to deal with it comming back up get something thats isn't gonna smell as bad. It will smell but gees quit torching yourself. Put him on nutrigamin and see how he does. I have three out of 4 had to be on that. I would go see the pediatrician so he can either recommend something or give you a gasternologist number to see and they will determine reflux and tellyou what you need to do. Number one thing feed him sitting up in a sitting position and let him be like that for almost 2 hrs after he eats will help. He is probably gassy so get the drops that help with it an dgive them through the nutrigamin. Also ask your pediatrician if there is something maybe better or cheaper you can get for him to eat. There was with my last daughter a formula we had given her that wasn't nutrigamin. It was something similar and it was more like breast milk. But it also wasn't milk based. Some babies can't handle milk based stuff its too much. so you might want to check into that tooo maybe switching the baby over to something not milk based. That might work too. Good Luck

Hello,
My name is Jennifer and my daughter at about 4weeks old was diagnosed with reflux/Gerd. She would do the same things as your baby but she would also chock so bad on her own reflux that she would stop breathing. I was absolutly terrified. After running her to the emergency pediatric doctors a couple times, they finally diagnosed her with reflux and did the following. They changed her formula to Enfamil Lipal AR, the AR part of it is inportant as it has added rice starch which weighs down the formula to keep it down. Look it up on the computer. It is a wonderful product. They also put her on liquid Zantac and gave me these following instructions. After feeding wait about 30 minutes before lying her down, after lying her down make sure she was not lying flat. They told me to elevate her mattress by putting something under the mattress or to allow her to sleep in a bouncer. I bought one from K-mart for $20.00 that had an adjuster for different levels of uprighness. It also has the toys that hung above and a music and vibration level.
She grew out of it after about 7mths. But that just varies by child so don't let that scare you.
I hope that this info is some help to you. Good luck with your baby as I know it is a scary experience for any parent to go through.

Definitely sounds like it. My daughter had the same thing. It can certainly add a lot of stress and frustration. It's sad to see a baby struggle when they can't tell you what is wrong. We would easily go through 20 bibs and 20 burp cloths/day but the good news is she grew out of it eventually. We had our daughter on Enfamil A.R. which really helped. It didn't stop the spit up but it did put a dent in the quantity and made it more manageable. We also did the zantac at first but eventually was sent to a gastro doc. at beaumont as that was not helping her out. She was put on prevacid at that time. Same as the others mentioned...keep him upright at least 30 min after a feed. (bouncy seat was our best friend), and elevate the bed. Our doc said to put wood blocks under one side of the feet so that the entire bed was elevated not just the mattress. This worked better for us then just elevating the mattress because she stayed in place better. Other then that, patience : ) It will end! We really tried to make it a funny joke after awhile to aleviate some of the stress/frustration. We used to say she was a diva that just required several "wardrobe changes" throughout the course of a day. Hang in there!

O yes, This sure sounds like reflux, possibly a food intolerance. My Daughter had both. The Dr. Will easly be able to help you out, we ended up using Enfamil AR- and weighing it down with Rice cereal (1 tsp per. oz) and yes at this young age- I think my Daughter was 7 weeks when she first started getting rice cereal in her bottles. Our Dr. said to feed her less more often and that did help. Keep her upright while feeding and for 45 min. after, also we propped up her matress with a pillow underneath, and this did help with nightly spitting up. There were somenights I would have to change her crib sheet 3-4 times. Just keep bibs and burp clothes handy- there were days where we would go through 20 or more! Also a great stain remover for clothes/bibs is totally toddler. My Daughter is now 7 months old and she has almost completly grown out of it.

Good luck!
It will get better :-)

Hi! Sounds like it could be reflux. Our granddaughters had the problem. They got some medicine but were also told to keep the baby upright for 20-30 minutes after they drank their bottle. Good Luck!

My son who is now 10 had this type of problem also when he was 4 weeks old. If he is really vomiting PROJECTILE and like filling his car seat type of vomiting..ask your doctor to check for Pyloric Stenosis. It is a condition found in children where the Pyloric muscle is enlarged and does not allow food to travel properly. My son had this and it is fixable. Do some research on this and ask your doctor for an ultrasound. My doctor told me it was reflux as well and we tried different formula's and even added cereal to his bottle..one ultrasound and we knew what it was. He had surgery the next day and has never had a problem since. He is a very heatky 10 year old boy. I had to push the idea though. But I knew something was not right. And so do you. Good luck!!

Ditto on the Pyloric Stenosis. My son had surgery at 5 weeks. It is a scary thought but they do it laproscopicaly now and same thing... never had a problem after that. He RARELY spit up. Check into it you don't want to wait any longer than neccesary if that is what it is. Good luck!! Please update us.

It sounds like you may have a cross between allergies and reflux. reflux wont go away with a hypoallergenic formula it may need some thickining and if he needs a special formula because of an allergy, you wont be able to go to an AR formula(thickened). However if you can find a hypo. formula that works well for him you can add cereal, yes even at 4 weeks. Good luck I hope you find something quickly, Its horrible to have to watch your baby suffer and do nothing about it :( Good luck and if you need anything further feel free to message me privatly. E.

Hi,
Does he seem to be more at ease when sitting up, NOT laying down? If so keep him up right, because laying down DOES bother reflux. My son had pyloric synosis, and was not dianogois until he was 3 and 1/2 months old. Number one sign is PROJECTILE VOMITING after every meal. His pyloric muscel closes shut and the baby starves to dealth. It is only curable by surgury and happen mainly to the first born males who are permimes, plus it is found in the first 4 to 6 weeks of life.

My son was 5 day early and weigh in at 9 lbs 2 ozs. So he did not fit the definition. Have you son check with a simple barium test and go to a gastorlogist (St Johns Hospital in Detroit on Moross is great and ask for Dr. Rector...has not the best bed side manors but is an EXCELLENT surgen.)

My son is now 14 years old and has no problems at all.

But make sure they treat him for his reflux so his esopicist is not damage from the vomitting.

Good luck and I hope this helps you.
Lisa Jo

My daughter has acid reflux. She pukes constantly! She was also VERY fussy, crying while she was eating and pretty much most of the time. She would also scream when she burped or make aweful faces. It doesn't matter what we feed her though. She has done the same thing with breast milk, and i've tried several of the different formulas. She is currently on the similac isomil. We started giving her Zantac and it has made a WORLD of difference! She still pukes, which the doctors say she will eventually grow out of but should peek around 4 months, but she doesn't cry anymore. She doesn't always seem like she is in pain. I would DEFINITELY talk to your doctor about it.

N., it does sound like your baby has reflux but have you had the doctor do an upper GI? It also sounds like the stomach valve might not be formed all the way and that can cause the projectile vomiting. I would call the doctor.

we didnt have a special formula when my oldest daughter was little...and it wouldn't have helped...reflux she has has to do with the end of the gastric tube into the stomach not staying closed properly ( i cant remember the medical term for the body part) we found if we diluted her formula just a little extra when making it it seemed to help. she was with a gastrointenologist for 3 or 4 yrs...unfortunately when she was finally diagnosed she was older than 4 and we were told if diagnosed before then they may outgrow...so she has to watch what she eats the rest of her life. so you may want to look into seeing a gastro .

M.