Eight Month Old with Terrible Reflux Refusing Bottle

Hi J.....I had a friend that her son was born with reflux like you are descibing and she told me that she took him to a Chiropractor and had the Chiro adjust him and it stopped the reflux....it took like 2 visits and it was cured. Not sure if it is something you would want to try but it won't hurt if it doesn't help.

I have the opposite of acid reflux. My muscle will tighten up and won't let anything pass in the esophagus to my stomach sometimes. The pain is unreal....and the chiropractor adjusting my back has minimized it. It hasn't cured it but it has certainly minimized the issues I was having.

Take care and I hope all gets better soon for you and your little guy.

D.

If it's only been a few days, I don't think it's necessarily his stomach. It sounds like to me it's either his teeth or a possible ear infection. My sis had similar issues with her son at about the same age, she called it a bottle strike, and it turned out to be the beginnings of a cold, ear infection, and teething. If it is teething, you can try teething tablets or letting him chew on a cold (been in the fridge or freezer) washcloth, maybe some infant's tylenol. Since it has been a few days a quick check up with his ped won't hurt, either. Good luck!

My Identical twin girls had digestive tract issues as well when they were born and they are now ten. They were 8 weeks premature. I think it is quite common in premies. We got the girls predigested formula that solved the problems instantaneously. We used nutramegen (sp?) by Enfamil and kept them on it for the first year. You might want to give it a try and see if it helps if you haven't already. i had a couple of friends with similar situations that also had success with it. Good Luck!

My son had terrible reflux (as do his father and myself). Have you tried the "Podee?" It is a bottle that has a long tube from the nipple to the bottle, so he will be able to sit up while eating. With Reflux, lying down and eating will make your esophogus burn because everything comes right back up, so this was a lifesaver for my son!

I found a website that sells them so you can at least see what they look like:
http://www.bonnybabies.com/feedinghf.htm

We found them at Babies R Us for about $8 each.

Good luck.

My son did this. He didn't throw up but he would spit up just a little for probably a couple of hours after you fed him. You had to keep a towel with you when you held him. Out of desperation, and without my pediatrician's knowledge, I switched him to 2% milk. He stopped. The next time I went to the pediatrician I confessed what I had done. To my surprise he wasn't upset with me. He suggested I add vitamins with iron to his diet just to be on the safe side.
He's a strong healthy 20 year old now. He was about the age of your baby when I did this.

As a wellness consultant with Shaklee I have been very frustrated by this and not knowing what I could recomend to help parents and babies alike. I have a dear friend who is going through this with her second child. I got a forward from some coligues just a few weeks ago and my friend hasn't tried this approach yet but I hope she will. So anyway for what it is worth for you or anyone else out there...

In response to a question about a six month old baby experiencing acid reflux, this is what Nedra Sahr, clinical nutritionist has to say.

The baby's digestive system is 'under developed'. We recommend 1 optiflora pearl crushed- pick out the shards of the covering. Mix 1/8 tsp of the Optiflora powder with the powder from the pearl. Put it on mom's finger and let baby suck it off the finger, then nurse. Once a day is usually sufficient. Works well for colicky babies, acid reflux, building immunity et al. there are large scale studies that have been done in Wales with infants from birth to 9 months- giving each a dose of friendly probiotics each day. The increase in immunity has been impressive.

Nedra

These products metioned are Shaklee ones and you can see them in more detail on Shaklee's web site or mine. It is pro and pre biotics. This would be asidophilus and other such friendly bacteria that would be more likely that you have heard of since it is out there a lot in yogurt and chese products and might help you know what it is talking about.
I hope this might be of some benefit to you. I was excited to hear someone approach it from a naturitional point of view as I have not found anyone who has been able to get it under control totally with the meds.

Best wishes! Let me know if I can help you or if you have any quesitons.

K.

I have a friend who went through this with her son several years ago. It took many tests at the hospital to get things resolved. I don;t know her phone or email but will check with her mother and get back to you. she may have some very helpful specifics. S.

HI!
Have you tried chiropractic care? It works wonders for babies with reflux!!! Let me know if you would like more information. Best of luck:)

J.,

I feel your pain. Both of my boys had severe colic. I took them to a doctor of osteopathy who cured them both quickly and safely without meds. I would try taking your boy to a pediatric DO in the area. I have not been to this one but I would give him a try (mine was in Chicago): http://www.osteopathic.org/dir_search_detail.cfm?AutoNum=.... DOs are able to address the cause not simply mask the problem with meds.

All the best,

A.

J.,
My daughter who just turned one also was 6 weeks early, also had reflux, also had a special formula (yay we are now on whole milk) and at one point refused to suck a bottle. Her problem was her ears. She had an infection and the only symptom other than waking up crying every 3 hours was that she refused to suck. maybe that is a problem for your son too.
R.

J.,

Have you considered seeing a naturopath? Sounds like your little one is overmedicated and is feeling the effects. He is obviously in pain and is stressed. Chiropractic care is a good place to start. Aligning the spine helps the rest of the body function properly. What area are you in? I would seek out a more natural approach for your son. Meds only exacerbate the problem in the long run and are rarely a solution. Meds only deal with symptoms, not with fixing the root of the problem. There's a wonderful book called "Perfect Health for Kids" by Dr. John Douillard that would really benefit you and your son. It's a holistic approach to health and this book has been very helpful to our family.

Love
C.
www.LostRiverNaturals.com

Hi J....

My heart goes out to you. I have a 7mth old strictly breastfed that has reflux. Not to the point where he needs meds though. We had issues with him keeping his food down. My mom would always say "your milk is just no good for him anymore". She didn't understand the reflux. I found out that the smaller amount I would give him the better he would keep it down. Also I still use the infant nipple with 1 hold (avent). This works out great. Instead of getting 7-8oz when he takes a bottle, I only give him 4oz at a time and he seems pretty full. And he's not starving at all. He's 25+lbs. Yes I have a whopper. I also noticed the more still he is when he's done eating the more quickly his foods settles. i don;t know what it is with boys and the reflux but it's more common woth them then girls.

I pray this helps.
Good luck to you,
A.

Adrienne has given you some great advice. Also, if you're going by vote here, I vote for you to call your pediatrician and ask his/her advice about calling the GI doctor for an earlier appointment. If your pediatrician thinks this should be seen earlier, you are more likely to get in earlier via a call from the pediatrician directly to the gastro MD than if you call yourself with the hopes that the gal who answers the phone will allow you to see the GI doctor earlier than the appointment you already have. The pediatrician should be able to evaluate the emergent status of what is happening now with your son. BTW, if you are not allowed by the front office people to talk directly to his pediatrician within 24 hours of calling there to discuss this -- be sure to find yourself another pediatrician asap.

You have had some really good responses so far. Good luck with the GI dr. My son had reflux and was on Prevacid for about 11 months. I know it is tough but he will outgrow it.
Just a thought - do you think your son may have a sore throat/ear infection? My son refuses to drink when his throat is inflammed/ when he used to get ear infections, he would still eat though. Good luck.

J.,

I had a 10 week premie twin with strong food aversion and reflux. I'll share some of the things we did with her, many of which I imagine your doctors have already recommended: elevate the head of the crib so the baby is never laying flat on his back, hold him for 30 minutes after he finishes his bottle so the food gets farther down his digestive tract and there is less cause for reflux, and many small meals - feeding as often as every 3 hours.

I think babies develop food aversion because they associate eating with the pain of the reflux. With my daughter, it took the entire first year of her life to overcome but now, at almost 4 yrs. old, she is a great eater! For that first year, it was tough and certain textures were almost impossible to get her to eat.

Hey J.,

My daughter is 17 mths now and when she was smaller from the ages of 4 mths to 11 mths she had bad reflux. I'm not sure if you are breastfeeding but I breastfed our daughter. Through a bunch of trial and error with doctors we ended up finding out that she was allergic to cow's milk.. OH!! and I found out that I wasn't producing enough milk (was pregnant and didn't know it yet). So we switched her to soymilk and the reflux ended what seemed like overnight. At 1 y.o. we took her to a GI doc who confirmed the cow's milk allergy and then we took her to a allergist who found out she's also allergic to eggs.

I definitely understand what it's like dealing with doctors and having to wait for answers. I hate it!!! I'm into natural remedies etc. What I chose to do was take my daughter completely off of the reflux meds and switch her diet. I switched from BM to soy formula and when she turned 1 y.o. I switched to soymilk. I would suggest the same for you. Try a soy based formula if not already. Thickening the formula with cereal makes the reflux worst. Let me know if there are any improvements.