Does My Baby Have Reflux?

Your baby sounds totally normal to me. I have a 6 month old and since college I've taken care of several infants including two sets of twins and afternoon/evening crankiness just comes with the territory. I noticed with my daughter that she often needed to eat much more often than I would have ever thought. At 9 weeks it wasn't unusual for her to breastfeed off and on almost constantly from 5pm to 9pm. That said she did spit up a LOT and we had her fully checked out by the doctor who said she had reflux but no acid. It does make babies hungrier when they are losing half their meal. When I started bottle feeding her we used the Dr. Browns' bottles and they seem to help with gassiness which was definitely an issue for us.

p.s. My doctor said colic IS acid reflux. They treat it these days with Pepcid for babies (by perscription). I also found that nothing soothed out little girl like bouncing on an exercise ball. The best $11 I ever spent and good for situps too!

I was told to put gas drops in the bottles and to elevate the mattress.

It worked when my 2 year old had this when she was younger.

Nanc

Hi K., I don't know too much about Reflux except that it is a new term for something we once called Gas or Colic. I think the medical industry had to make it a disease so they could make a medication for it. Anyway, my second son was the same way. He would be OK in the day and then cry all night. I was told he was eating too fast and the Gas would build up. My mom suggested fennel tea and that helped. Yes you should check with your doctor. Have you ruled out milk allergy? Just be grateful he sleeps in the night, I was walking the floors all night and having to wake up to a 15 month old. Best wishes, Grandma Mary

Sounds like a normal baby to me. This is what babies do. It isn't always a medical problem. He is probably tired, or bored, or needs some loving.

A.

It sounds like textbook colic to me. If it were his formula he would be much more upset *all day*...not just at night.

Colic generally presents in the evening and there is nothing you can do but wait. :) It peaks at 6 weeks and will be done by 3 months. Just be sympathetic to him and it will pass.

Talk to the doc, but they will likely tell you there is no need to switch formula. Get one of the sleep books for support (Happiest Baby on the Block or Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child) it will explain all about colic. It has nothing to do with tummy problems although most will tell you that it does. Stick to the experts on this one - if it's just colic switching formula will only make him miserable.

Have his doctor check him for a milk allergy

I am so sorry you are going trough this. I am not 100% sure what is going on, but let me tell you about my children, My youngest had trouble with eating right away, I kept asking the nurses why he was throwing up so much and they gave me a BS line. I Breast fed but in the ICU they bottle fed him, so it was not until I got him home that it got worse. We thought the same thing REFLUX. The doctor told me to put a little of rice cereal to way down the milk in his tummy, and we had an upper GI done to find out that he is lactose intolerant. I was drinking too much milk and that crosses through the milk.

I also wanted to mention that my eldest has what was called a bewitching hour. Between 6-8pm every day he would scream for no reason. I tried gas drops and everything but he just needed to cry. Oddly enough that is still the time of day he acts up and he is 5 yrs old.

K.,
It sounds like Colic to me. My son had Reflux. He would spit up before finishing his bottles. Even excessively burping him throughout the feeding didn't matter. You would definitely know if it were Reflux. Sounds like you should talk to the Pediatrician or an infant Nutritionist to find out the best solution as far as formula and food goes. Maybe baby is lactose intolerant? I remember that whenever my sons had gas or colic, after burping, I'd lay them across my lap on their tummies and rub their back for a while. They loved the view and the massage. It helped to work to air through faster so that they could, ya know...F*R*.(I hate the word). Make sure you burp baby as much as you can during feedings. Good luck. Remember, it doesn't last forever. Don't let baby know you're frustrated. They can sense it and get more upset with you.

I had the same problem whan my daughter was a baby. I used the Similac and the Enfamil Lipil, I thought they were terrible. I finally switched to Nestle's Good Start. I loved it, and she loved it. Don't forget the doctor won't recommend it because its not from a pharmacutical company, its made by a food distributor. Good Luck

My son was the same way. The formula might be gassy for him. I had 2 switch 2 GoodStart and it was wonderful.

Be sure to feed your baby in an upright position and dont lay him down after he eats for an hour or so. Put him in his swing or infant seat. We dont eat laying down and I dont understand why we feed babies in a prone posotion. Make sure his head is above his stomach and let gravity do the work. His little trachea and the other parts of his digestive system arent that strong and the acid from his tummy is most likely backing up on him. It cant if he is upright.

I tend to think it's best if you take your child to the doctor for a check up. That way you will learn exactly what is going on with your child and what proper treatment is needed.
Try not to worry to much and keep us posted....

Sounds like plain old-fashioned colic. If it was reflux, he would be spitting up a lot and it would be constant fussiness, not just in the late afternoon. There is probably not much you can do about it. You will just have to ride it out for the next month or so. It usually starts to go away by 3 months old. By the way, colic is more common in kids on formula. So if there is any way you can try breastfeeding it might make a difference. I started out breastfeeding and supplementing my son with formula. He was really upset and gassy all the time and his poop was coming out green. Eventually we figured out that he had a mild cow's milk protein allergy. So we stopped the formula and I stopped consuming milk and milk products. He became a different kid. I'm not saying that this is your son's problem. (If it was, he would be unhappy all the time, not just in the afternoon). But it's something to think about.

It definitely could be, although usually it hurts sooner than 2 hours after eating. I would check with the doctor. My daughter has horrible reflux at 16 weeks, and only Prevacid helps, thankfully something, her pain was a nightmare I'll never forget.

K.,

You've received so much advice already, and all I can say is that although my son never had formula, this sounds very much like he was as a baby. He is 9 now. It may be hard because you don't have another child to compare him to...neither did I as he was my first...but looking back on it, and learning what some moms taught me here...I have a possible suggestion for you.

If you rule out reflux and other "medical causes" I would just keep an eye on him as he grows for sensory processing disorder. It could not be it, but had I known about it when my baby was an infant and older, I would not be here with him at age 9 and still struggling with sensory issues that could have been handled much sooner. This is a neurological disorder and I have talked to lots of other moms whose children have it and they all report that their child was "colicky" as a baby. There is no such thing as "colick" so I would read up on sensory issues now and be on the lookout for them.

I bought a book called sensational kids and there are checklists with red flags and my child met ALL of the red flags for sensory overresponsitivity...from birth practically...only I didn't know it was a condition until just a couple of months ago. I just thought he was fussy...and as he grew I just wrote it off as him being quirky...but it is definitely worth you spending a little bit of time to familiarize yourself with so you can be on the lookout for it as he grows. Oh, and my son outgrew the "colick" but that didn't mean we were out of the woods so to speak, and I don't think it would in your case either.

I just think that it is worth looking into. I sure wish I had known about it sooner.

Oh, one more thing...and I don't know about this because my babies never had formula...but if it is very recent...is it possible he is just having a growth spurt and needs more formula? Just another thought.

D.

Dear K.:

I remeber this Oh so clearly like it was yesterday. My daughter was the same way. It sounds like your son may be colic. Believe me try switching formula. Many parents don't like to switch formula but that is the only way you will find out. Your baby may be lactose intolerant. Try a soy formula for the baby. Enfamil ProSobee Lipil
Similac Isomil Advance
Nestle Good Start Supreme DHA & ARA Soy
Parent's Choice Soy Infant Formula DHA & ARA (Wal-Mart brand baby formula)
Bright Beginnings Soy Baby Formula (store-brand baby formula)
Earth's Best Organic Soy Infant Formula With DHA & ARA .

Hi K.: My son was the same, worse in the afternoon, evening and early morning hours. I breast feed him. He would spit up quite alot of milk - My husband and I professed more then normal (I had my daughter 2 years earlier so i had some idea of what "normal" spit up was). Is your baby spitting up larger then normal? My pediatrican directed me to start cerel at 3 months, which I really didn't want to do but I was at the point to try almost anything due to my lack of sleep. It seemed to help his tummy. As for the "colic" word, I have read that is a code word for the doctors have no idea why the baby is fussy. Reflux sounds like the culprit. The value in ajoining the tummy to espogus isn't closing proprerly to keep the food in the tummy. My son grew out of it after 7 months. I purchased bounces it helped at times. Kept him off the swing he hated the way it made his tummy feel, and I kept him slightly elevated when awake. As for sleeping I propped him slightly on his side with a sobeekawa pillow (bean pillow) to relieve any gas he might have in his tummy so not to wake while in the sleep which is the only time I have to wind down from all his discomfort. I hope this helps. C.

Hi K.
I am a speech pathologist and deal with infants who have reflux. What you describe could be reflux or cholic (I also had a baby who was cholichy and would start to cry hard at about 7pm every night..I used to dread that time. It eventually stopped but broke my heart to see her go through it). Now the reflux..you can mention it to your doctor. He might do a swallow test to see if there is refluxing or he might try reflux meds to see if it makes any difference. I am not a fan of putting an infant on drugs if not necessary. Sometimes with reflux you can see the formula come back up. Treatment for reflux includes thickening the formula with rice cereal ( 1 teaspoon to 1 oz, run it through the blender otherwise it will clog the nipple), have the baby stay at an incline of at least 30 degrees for 1/2 hour after eating. Hope this helps
A.

It does sound like how my daughter started with reflux. Eventually, she was having the hardest time napping and was fussing throughout her bottles. We switched to Nutramigen formula, put a wedge in her crib and bassinet and eventually had to go on Zantac. All those things worked really well though, and we were much relieved to get our happy baby back. HTH

My baby cried for a few hours a day between 2 and 3 months old. We made sure all the necessities were taken of. His diaper was clean, he wasn't hungry then we would try to comfort him as much as possible. Some people believe don't believe in colic. Stay calm and don't worry too much about his crying. It is his only way to communicate. If he is not hungry and diaper is clean he may just want some attention from you. Since we live in an apartment I would take our son for walks because I felt so bad for the neighbours. This crying lasted less then a week and happens only sporadically now.

Also babies often cluster feed. Our son went through periods where he would feed every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remember you calculate the time from when he starts feeding to when he starts feeding again. I breastfed and sometimes I only had just over an hour of a break.

Sounds like a little of both actually. My son was like that too, he's 11 1/2 weeks and his doctor switched to him to Enfamil A.R. Lipil which is a formula with added rice cereal in it. It makes it heavier and more likely to stay in stomach and not travel up. He was like a different baby when he switched. And he's doing much better. Sometimes he still does get cranky at night (it's honestly mostly at my parents house when I drop him off there before I go to work till when my husband picks the kids up, I have a 3 yr old daughter too!) Colic also for some reason tends to rear it's ugly head more so in the evening. I don't know why though. It sounds like maybe a mixture of both. I would give your doctor a call tomorrow and speak to him about it. Good luck!

Are you sure he is not hungry again after 2 hours? Is he eating enough? If he sleeps well then I really don't think you have a problem with the formula or reflux. The crying time in the afternoon is normal for all babies, they all get a couple hours of cranky time a day. Well, mine did and that is what I read and the doc told us anyway. As far as switching bottles you only need to do that if he can't latch right or gets too much air.

I do not know about other babies but mine ate every 2 hours at that age (and every 1 1/2 when they had a growth spert)And we always had "the witching hours" by the evening time. I know from people who's baby's have colic, it's all day thing and worst at night. Sounds like a normal baby to me.

I would most certainly check with your pediatrician.

sounds like colic. at that age, baby should be eating, playing a bit, then sleeping. he may not be in a good cycle and may be tired, or, as with my daughter, if she fell asleep while eating, then woke up, she would want to eat sooner than if she ate, played, and slept, basically because then she was still sleeping. does that make sense.

i really would think its not the food thing considering he would be in the same amount of discomfort after each feeding no matter where or what you were doing.

the times you give sound exactly like colic. the afternoon or early evening is the most common time. my daughter usually only cried for 2 hours, sometimes 3. she would just scream for no reason. she was fed, changed, burped, held but still screamed. i tried everything and ended up using a white noise machine, swaying side to side in a dimly lit room, with a pacifier, swaddled. it was awful, but that was the only thing that eventually- maybe an hour, would calm her. then right at 3 months, it disappeared.
im not a believer in true colic being better with formula. i lean towards the sensory overload being the cause, however, it really is not known why colic occurs, just guessing. anyway, my daughter happened to be on alimentum for other issues which is for food allergies and colic due to protein sensitivity, so i really am not a believer in the whole "change formula" theory for true colic(unless of course your child actually does have an allergy, but then that is not true colic, rather is crying because of the allergy, kwim).

colic is very common and just a phase. i think the hardest part is that you are just starting out, trying to figure out how to do everything, and are just so tired from sleeping less. i think these things make colic seem even worse than it already is. then you go to your doctor, and they are supposed to have the answers, but they cant explain colic, so they say try this and this, ect. before you know it, 3 months is up and they are fine.

as long as its not every feeding, i wouldnt worry. it does break your heart to seem them so hysterical, but just do the best you can and it shall pass. good luck, its great he sleeps so well!!!

Is your child arching his back? Projectile vommitting right after feeds? These are 2 tell tale signs of reflux. Crying could be so many things - a milk alergy, Colic, gas, etc.

If it is reflux, you need to treat it with medicine asap or you could damage your childs espophogis.

GOOD LUCK!

My daughter had a similar problem. Try a soy formula. She responded well to it and she was a new baby.....

Maybe he has terrible gas after eating? My daughter used the Enfamil with Lipil. We noticed that she was cranky and 'gassy' after eating. We switched her to the Enfamil Gentlease, and it worked wonderfully. We didn't have any trouble switching her from one type to another.

I think 1 and a half hours after eating is probably a bit too long to be reflux. My son would arch his back during eating and right after eating. Burping him was a nightmare because he was so uncomfortable. The vomitting was projectile so I knew before we left the hospital there was a problem. Maybe he is a little colicky or just a fussy baby at times. I know my first sone was. Tell your pediatrician and see if he/she suggest changing his formula perhaps. Good luck!

sounds like a milk allergy. try a formula that is not milk based like enfamil nutramigen. That worked for my son.