Five Week Old with Reflux

It sounds like the reflux that my daughter had. We use the Prevacid SoluTab 15 mg tablets. She used to get the hiccups and throw up, etc. Then we started her on it last month, one pill a day and she hasn't had any problems since. Granted she is 2 years old, so you may have to find something that is more age appropriate for you, but it's just an idea....

My children also had "silent" reflux. I did all the diet alterations which did help, but still they needed medicine. Sleeping upright helps, and I hear the Amby hammock is great for that, but we never tried it. I suggest following up with your dr. asap because my last two eventually refused to nurse because of the reflux pain. If you can keep baby as upright as possible during nursing, that will help. Our babies started medicine (Prevacid, Omeprazole, Zantac, Tagamet) at 2 months but it often took another 2 months or so to get the right medicines and doses for them. Mine had severe reflux, lasting past age 1, and requiring multiple medications in addition to food eliminations. Great job figuring out to look at this as a possibility.

It sounds like reflux to me. I would see if you can at least try meds or something to clear it up. We did 7.5 mg Prevacid in the morning and Xantac at night (I don't remember the strength). Our son was 11 months, though, when he started. In a few months, if it's not treated, it can lead to other health issues. I wish I had been more active with getting our kids treated. It probably is allergy related, but it's still better to nurse if you can. Weaning and trying to use formula will only lead to frustration on both his part and yours. If reflux is the problem, you'll find he'll become a better sleeper and happier over all. Congratulations on your little guy!

My son had serious problems with reflex from the time he was born. I would strongly suggest that you contact a ears/nose and throat specialist. The best pediatric ENT in the Treasure valley is Jill Beck. We took my son to pediatricians and ENT's only to have them tell us he would out grow the condition. We knew there was more to it and finally was told of Jill Beck. After a careful review in her office she decided we needed a sleep study and discovered that his reflex was due to severe apnea. He was then scheduled at age 16 mouths for a T & A and after the surgery his reflex improved dramatically. He is now eight years old and though he still struggles with apnea he is greatly improved.

There are lots of reasons for reflex and the sooner you discover what is causing it the better for all of you. Best wishes and hope for successful solution. P.

It sounds more like colic to me than reflux, or possibly a bit of both. My twin boys were 6 weeks premature and had reflux problems for a long time, (One occasionally still does). What helped a lot for us was to make sure they were always elevated (head higher than belly). We had them in little bassinettes while they were really small so we just rolled up a towel or blanket and put it under the head of the mattress. When we fed them we always tried to keep their heads higher than their bellies also. This seemed to help a lot. When your son is crying at night, if he's not elevated, it may be that he is having acid pooling in his esophagus and causing burning and pain. If it's colic, I don't know what to tell you because, fortunately, we haven't had that problem yet. If it keeps up, just call your doctor. Good luck.

Hi A.,
This sounds like my oldest child. He was treated for reflux with a medication but I didn't notice a difference. He would only eat small amounts & I would feed him more often during the day. Eventually, it stopped but he was around 6 months old. For burping, I could never get him to burp the "normal" way but instead we would hold him gently by his neck & rock him back & forth. All the way back & then bend him forward, gently pushing on his belly.

I hope you find out what's wrong with your little guy!
T.

Hi A., My daughter had the same thing or so we (ped and I) thought. We put her on meds and it helped for a short time. It turned out to be the food I was eating such as dairy (major culprit) and any processed sugars. I completely cut those out of my diet for 48 hours and noticed a difference. I am slowly re-introducing the foods still and she is 5 months. I also want to recommend a book/dvd The Happiest Baby on the Block. It focuses on this a lot! This may or may not be your baby's issue, just wanted to put it out there. Good luck to you, I know it can be frustrating!

It does sound a lot like reflux. My 1st son had it pretty seriously. Does he also arch his back? This is another sign. If you are breastfeeding, one thing you can do that may help is eliminate dairy from your diet. I know this is a hard thing to do, but reflux is often made worse from a sensitivity to milk protein. When I gave it up, his symptoms improved dramatically. I still had him on zantac, but he kept a lot more food down that way. My youngest started having symptoms when he was just a few weeks old and removing dairy completely resolved it. I try dairy every month or two and so far he still reacts to it. My older son outgrew his sensitivity as well as the reflux by 10 mos. They say they usually grow out of it by one year. Another thing you can do is put a blanket under the head of his mattress to raise his head so it is not so easy for it to reflux up. Although my son spewed most of his food so his reflux was obvious, there is something called silent reflux that sounds more like what your son may have. Best of luck with your new baby!

A.

A.,

My son had "silent" reflux. It's the kind where they DO have acid reflux, but don't spit up frequently, so you don't necessarily know it's reflux. The acid still makes its way out of the stomach and back up the esophogus. They're actually finding that a lot of "colicky" kids have this form of reflux. Reflux meds helped.

As far as the hiccups go, we used probiotics for our son, and the hiccups were gone within a day.

I have a six week old that had the same issue. (Read help with a gassy baby to see the responses I got). I had to cut out dairy and it stopped in 2 days. Also not eating chocolate, onions, or brocolli. Try the 1 tsp apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp honey in water (you drink it) to help with his digestive system.

My kids haven't had reflux but do get cholic like that when I eat spicy or gassy foods. It may be an allergy to something you are eating and passing on to him through your milk. Try cutting out different foods-some common problem foods: chocolate, broccoli, onions, beans, milk, eggs, gravy and creamy soups. Each baby reacts differently to some foods and some babies don't react to any of them. I had a steak the other night and my two month old screamed for an hour that night. I don't know if it was the spices or the mushrooms or what. Sometimes when they have cholic like that and nothing I do soothes them, I put them in the swing and turn on the vacuum. For some reason the loud white noise makes them sleep.

I had a preemie, 7 weeks, and she had reflux. They put her on meds, a form of Zantac that I gave her 2x a day. It ended up that I had to give her formula for anti reflux. I would, and still do, mix the Enfamil in the yellow can with the Enfamil in the pink can that says AR. I do about a 50/50 mix. She burps and doesn't puke anymore. It was a lifesaver for me. It took some trial and error, but it may help.

Hi A.,
You should definately get a professional diagnosis. Unless he's spitting up almost everything he eats, this sounds more like colic to me. I used to boil an herb that comes in the form of a seed called catnip and fennel, let it cool then bottle feed it to my little girl. Put him on top of the clothes dryer on his stomach while it's on or in a "swing" not to fast, any type of movement like that would help. Finally we ended up having to put her on the formula Alimentum. Very expensive, the catnip help alot.
Good Luck, H. G

I have a 3 1/2 year girl and a 5 month old boy BOTH had/have acid reflux. It was no fun. Before going to see your ped you can try gripe water it often works wonders. You can get it at Toys R Us it is safe, natural some doctors and lactation consultants will recommend it before zantac. I used the gripe water early with my 5 month and it helped considerably, he went on zantac at about 2 months though. I breastfed my 3 year old and I am breastfeeding my 5 month.

Some other possibly causes of the colic could be an allergy -milk (for example inability to digest the protein from the dairy I was eating- this happened with my 3 year old so I removed the dairy), a quick 'let-down' causing your baby to inhale a lot of air. My 5 month old is smart enough to pull away and let the flow slow down. If I only knew what was happening with my 3 yr old when she was younger. The stress I could have done without. ;-)

Best of luck figuring things out. My daughter was very colicky, but I got things straightened out and things with my 5 month are so much easier, experience I guess.

** helpful hint if you find yourself getting stressed during these crying episodes (more knowledge I wish I had) put on your iPod or headphones with music so you don't get so stressed out. Dance around with your baby and sing the songs Of course, make sure nothing is majorly wrong though. Besides if you relax, maybe your baby will relax sooner. You can always try and hope.