Gastroesophageal Reflux

Good luck, honey! My son had and still has it -- and he's three. When he was an infant, he was on Similac Lactose Free formula (I think it's called Similac Sensitive now), but it's the only formula that he could half way keep down. He was also on medicine (I don't remember which one) -- now he's on Prevacid and it's working wonders. The thing that made a HUGE difference for us is Dr.Brown's bottles.... they are miracilous. Just google them -- you will see how they help -- with this and colic. We went through a lot of milicon, too .... just hang in there -- it will get better -- :)
Oh, also -- I am expecting again at the beginning of August and I plan on buying something called the nap nanny. Google it. It looks awesome!

My son who is almost 12 weeks was diagnosed at 5 weeks. I am so sorry...it was rough! All I wanted to tell you was it will get so much better. You will have a new baby very soon. And you will be able to enjoy her so much more. Hang in there :)

I feel your pain and tears. Our daughter stopped breathing the first w/e she was home and spent 5days at Cooks while they tried to figure out what was wrong with her. She was on 3 meds: zantac, beaut-something, and Hydroclosime (for tummy pain-only drops of this) but you need to also get ALoe Vera water from the health food store. it is just purified water with aloe vera plant and it can and will work its way into the system and not needing meds. she needs to sleep upright and you need to get her a sling...from babyslings.com (these are the best) if she is really bad then she will be living in the sling like 24/7. do not opt for surgery-you all can make it thru this. and if you can breast feed ...it is the best for her and the most easiest digestible...if not you may end up spending like $20 a formula can but it is all worth it. if you need to request an apnea monitor so when you do have her laying down; if she would asperate the beep would let you know.

Cindy Whittaker sent your request to me. If you are not breast feeding, then change to goat's milk only. Formulas recommended by conventional pediatric doctors are too acid-forming. Dilute 100% pure Apple Cider Vinegar (like Braggs) in reverse osmosis puriified water and give your child 1 teaspoon before feeding. Dilution, for example, 1/2 teaspoon of ACV in 1/2 teaspoon of purified water. If the above does not work, then the problem is more serious and you will need to call me ###-###-####

Donna F. Smith, Ph.D., N.D., C.D.N., C.C.N.
www.AdvancedClinicalNutrition.com
____@____.com

I am an educator for "The Happiest Baby On The Block". Most of the time medicine is not necessary. I can't explain everything here, but if you want to call me, I would be glad to talk to you about it. Most of the time, I can turn baby's cries off like a light switch. It really works! L. at www.dallasmetrodoula.com My number is on the site.

Make sure you use ready to fed instead of the powder. It really does make a big difference.

Did you get nutramigen formula? That is the only thing that would work with Allie. Even with medicine. She cried non-stop for almost 3 days. And that is exactly what the dr. said would happen and the can of formula says it works in 3 days. It was expensive formula but so worth it. Listening to your baby in that much distress is so sad. I feel for you. I remember I cried right along with my daughter.

I held Allie upright for about 30 minutes after she ate. I just learned to feed her in my bed and propped pillows all around me and I could actually fall asleep a little myself holding her on my chest. The bad part is that she learned to fall asleep on me so later that was an issue but it was necessary to keep her from having the burning in her throat.

Also we purchased a wedge which we put under her mattress to keep her raised up a little when I did lay her down.

Good luck! ((((hugs))))

One of my twins had reflux. One thing that really made a difference besides meds was after feeding him, we kept him propt up for 30 minutes after he ate. It's hard to do sometimes, especially at bedtime because everyones tired. But when we didn't do this, there was a signficant difference. Of course make sure you burp your baby often, more than normal. My son napped in his swing the first 6 months. It kept him propt up and also night when it was just bad. We went through alot of batteries! It got much better after6 months and he didn't need medication or anything after that. Hopes this helps!

My daughter had problems when she was about 6 weeks old, but she was 5 weeks early. They gave us medicine and I gave it to her a few times, but I really didn't like the idea of such a little baby being on anything. I started nursing her every 2 hours instead of every 3 hours and I only offered her one side instead of both. It completely stopped then. If you aren't nursing maybe you could feed an ounce or so less but more often and see if that helps.

Hang in there! Both of our children had this. I never found any home remedies to work. We started noticing a difference on the medication at about 3 days of dosing. However, full relief was seen somewhere between 5 to 7 days, if I recall. The medicine made all the difference. I still remember how calm our son was at 7 days of dosing. He was a happy baby. Hopefully you will have the same experience!

I would consider asking the pediatrician about switching formulas. If you are using a cow milk based formula that may just be too tough on her gut (humans aren't actually designed to digest cow's milk). My older son had terrible reflux and it turns out that he was allergic to cow's milk - he was breastfeeding, but even the minute amount in my breastmilk (because I was consuming cow's milk at the time) caused him great GI distress and really bad reflux. There are cow milk based formulas that are easier on the gut, as well. I would personally avoid soy as they are now founding it's not the health food it's touted to be (increased risk of thyroid problems later, etc.). Also, you may need to change nipples to decrease the milk flow. I honestly would avoid the medicine - that's designed to decrease acid but the acid is necessary to properly digest.

I'm so sorry to hear that your little one is suffering. Below, I listed some of the things we did to ease my daughter’s reflux symptoms.

elevated the head of her crib
fed her small amounts at a time at more frequent intervals, some days it seemed like all I did was feed her
fed her in an upright position
diligently burped her
Kept her upright after feedings, she frequently napped in her stroller (without the carrier)
limited time in car seat
often, when she was inconsolable, the best thing I could do for her was place her on her back on her diaper changer pad - I don't know why but that seemed to soothe her
little tummies - gas x for babies
changed bottles - significantly less spitting up with VentAire http://www.playtexbaby.com/Products/Bottles/VentAire.aspx
never warmed her bottles, room temp or cold right out of fridge
ran humidifier when she slept - she was always congested from the spit up
carried her in her Ergo*
swaddled her for bed time and when colicky
when I knew she was hungry but she arched her back and screamed, I just kept offering the bottle (while walking, swaying, singing) until she'd finally take it

I spent some time on www.reflux.org and found some of the information helpful. Unfortunately, the page is not very user friendly and is full of ads. However, you can talk to a volunteer via email or telephone. That was helpful for me because I felt like I finally found someone compassionate and empathetic with some helpful advice.

Once my daughter was prescribed acid suppressers, she only occasionally experienced her reflux symptoms (for example, spending too much time in her car seat). She was on acid suppressers until a little after her second birthday but has been nearly symptom free since. We limit but have not entirely avoided greasy and acidic foods. Oranges are her favorite fruit and she loves Chick-fil-a.

Hope this helps.
I pray that your child quickly outgrows reflux and that God will grant your family peace and rest during this struggle.

*I received an Ergo (without the infant insert) when my daughter was almost 4 months old. My daughter turned 3 in November, and I still use it. It is one of the best gifts I have ever received. http://www.ergobabycarriers.com

You may find other helpful responses under the following mamasource posts:
Sun. Feb. 15, 2009, S. R: Help for friend's baby with Reflux!!!!
Sat. Feb. 21, 2009, Jenny M: Silent Acid Reflux

Hi S.

Sorry to hear that your family is going through this. My son also experienced this until after he could walk. It is a trial! The thing that helped him the very most was to stay upright as much as possible. You can do this by raising one end of the crib or letting her sleep in her car seat. If you do let her sleep in her car seat for more than a few days, make sure you use one of those nifty things that keeps her head positioned *just so*.

After you start the meds if you continue to have problems, we later found out that Jackson was allergic to most formulas - a specific protein in cow's milk. He could only have nutramagin. It was expensive - but after he cried for days straight - I knew he needed it.

At one point, we had to take Jackson to a pulmonolgist because he was aspirating his reflux. It was an unpleasant experience for us all, but since he's had a lot of experience with this type of illness, he was actually quite helpful getting to the right mix of formula + cereal and finding the right sleeping position, etc.

I hope that she feels better soon!

L.

Both of my kids had that..they were put on prevacid and the formula was changed to gentle ease. On top of those changes, I made sure that I always fed them with their head upright and not laying down. I elevated the crib, where the head wouldnt be laying flat. I also gave them the gas drops before they ate and after they ate. Good luck with everything. It was a tough road until we got into a routine.

We had the same problem until we switched to Axid from Prevacid (I don't know what medicine your doctor gave you.) Axid works really well. We also switched to Alimentum formula and literally the next day saw a HUGE improvement in colic and reflux. I also changed my diet as I continue to do some breastfeeding - namely, eliminating dairy and soy and this seemed to help a lot. Someone had recommended Gripe Water (you can get it at Target) but I didn't see much of a difference with this.
Last but not least, have you elevated her crib mattress? We had a newborn care consultant help us get the incline right by stuffing a bunch of pillows under the mattress and that helped tremendously with sleeping.

Hi S.!

Have you tried taking her to a chiropractor? I am a chiropractor and I have worked with infants with that condition on numerous occasions. The nerves come out of the spine that supply the esophagus and the digestive tract. When the vertebrae are out of place, they put pressure on the nerves and the digestive tract can not function properly which can result in reflux, diarrhea, constipation, etc. By gently adjusting the spine it removes that pressure and it can restore normal function. Reflux can also be caused by allergies to something in your breast milk or to formula. At my office I can test for allergies by doing Applied Kinesiology (aka muscle testing). If you have any questions, or would like more information please feel free to call me at ###-###-#### or visit my website at sullivanchiropractic.com. Thank you! Dr. Sandra S.

I always used weak lavender or camimille tea! Helped alot.
BW

My son also has GERD, and it started about the same age as your daughter. Some things I found to be really helpful were:
- feed small feedings more often
- after eating keep her at a 90 degree angle for a while to help the formula have time to settle
- try not to sit up all the way to burp, burp while at a 90 degree angle
- after eating give her the paci the sucking motion will help her keep the food and acid down

Hope these help and that once she is on the medicine it eases her pain!

K.
Helping MOMS work from home!
http://www.stayinghomeandhavingfun.com

This is probably something you should run by your dr. first for his input, but when my son was an infant he was diagnosed as "failure to thrive". He had some other problems too and was also born with a cleft lip and palatte. When he was several months old they sent us to a children's hospital in another town for testing to see why Joshua couldn't gain weight on a consistant basis. We spent a month at Children's Medical Center before they finally found a possible answer. One - he was born without the "cilia" hairlike things in his esophagus that helped to hold down his food when he ate. This was causing him to spit up frequently and irritate his esophagus. To help correct this we started grinding up a half of a "Gaviscon" tablet into each of his bottles and mixed into every solid meal (cereal, fruit). This worked wonders for him. There was no spitting up, no reflux,no discomfort. This was 30 years ago so there may be better ideas that you may get from others but Gaviscon is still on the market as I see it on the shelf so it must still be working good. By the way, he outgrew the need for it by the time he was 1 1/2 years old. Good luck and I'll say a few prayers for you all. D.

I would run it by a Holistic doctor, one of these:

Dr. Bain, MD
www.healthykidspediatrics.com

Dr. Chalmers
http://chalmerswellness.com/

Both of these doctors I use and wish I had known when my daughter had reflux. I know they will have other options for you; just I started our care with them after this phase....

Feel free to contact me for more info.....if I can help.

My heart goes out to you! My first daughter had this and it was so difficult to go through. (Not to mention, she refluxed on almost everyone who met and picked her up!) Keeping her swaddled seem to help a lot with the crying. And also keeping her upright during and after feedings. We also had a pad that elevated her body a little bit while she slept. There are some nice swings out there too that you could look into that helps soothe fussy babies.(Helpful to have when you need to get a couple of things done around the house without upsetting your baby for setting her down) Also, look up on the internet "The Happiest Baby". Had some good advice in calming a baby... particularly The 5 S's. The medicine should help her with the discomfort pretty quickly. And just know that this will pass, and she'll grow to be a sweet happy healthy little girl.