Infant Acid Reflux/GERDthat Baby Did NOT Outgrow by Age 9 Months

HI there-

You have gotten quite a few responses already but I wanted to give you another example of how some babies don't outgrow it for awhile.

Both of my children have had GERT. My son, who is almost 5 years old, had it until he was about 20 months old. He started refluxing with his very first feeding in the hospital and it never really got better. After many diagnositic tests to rule out Pyloric Stenosis and fissures in his esophogus, he was treated with Zantac and Reglan (a drug no longer recommended). Finally, when it hadn't disappeared at 20 months, the doctor put him in the hospital for a 24-hour pH Test. To do this, he had to go off his meds and thankfully, he never had to go back on them. I swear the tube that they inserted did something because he would start projectile vommiting every time we would try to wean him. But, he was fine...thankfully.

My daughter, who is 13 months, is still suffering with it. We just recently tried to wean her from her meds and she was as crabby as she could be. Additionally, she was spitting up every time I turned around. So, back on the meds she went only the dose wasn't working for her anymore. So, they just recently increased it to 2ml/ twice a day. While she isn't projectile vommiting, she does seem in pain without the meds so I am not sure what to expect. Her symptoms aren't severe enough to put her through the diagnostic tests so we are just going to wait it out.

My advice for you is to keep on the path that you are. If your baby isn't in pain without the meds, keep him off of them. Try to feed him basic foods (things with a low pH) like breads, cereals, pasta, etc. to help him keep away from the acidic foods and/or to help neutralize it. Also, patience is key. He will outgrow it...it's just a matter of time.

Good luck and enjoy those precious babies!
N.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi! I am a mom of a 6 mo. old baby boy and am dealing with what was diagnosed as "severe GERD". He is on Pepcid and Previcid and we are thicking everything he takes. (i.e. formula and baby food) We saw a specialist when he was 4 1/2 months old because no medications were making any improvments. He had an upper GI and a swallow test. All were done at the University of Chicago and they were actually quite easy. (surprizingly enough)My son didn't seemed bothered at all. They didn't come up with any finding other then he had severe GERD. But it was nice to know that there wasn't anything else going on. I went to a specialist for peace of mind and got it. Hopefully your son won't need that kind of intervention. I would think that they would put you back on the meds and they mind want to thicked his formula. We started by adding 1/2 teaspoon of rice ceral per once of formula. (Now we are up to a talbespoon per once). I hope this helps with your views of a Gastro specialist.

Katie

1 mom found this helpful

We took my daughter off Zantac at 10 months. She still did have some reflux symptoms, wet burpsand coughs, throwing up not only formula but baby food too. It wasn't all the time and she didn't seem to be in pain so we kept her off medicine. By the time she was a year she no longer showed any symptoms. As long as your baby isn't in pain and is gaining weight properly, don't worry. Also maybe you could try feeding him avacado, it is great for reducing acid. It is also a common allergen so check with your ped and only give a teeny amount the first time.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi
Both of my children had reflux (GERD) problems. My first outgrew it and went off his meds at about 6 or 9 months. My second had severe problems and took a high dose of Prevacid until she was almost a year old. She had lots of tests done and was hospitalized (she was seeing a gastro specialist regularly). The Dr. told us to be patient and wait until she was a year old to think about other treatment options. And around 11 months, her symptoms began to go away, and at 13 months we are basically symptom free. So hopefully your child's symptoms will continue to get better over the next few months.

It's important to keep in mind that Axid doesn't prevent the spitting up part associated with GERD, it is working to decrease acid in the stomach, so that when the baby spits up it is not as painful/is not harming the lining of the esophagus. The nightime coughing you describe could be due to reflux. Has your child had any breathing problems or pneumonia? If so, this could be due to the reflux also. If you haven't already, try putting the baby's crib on an incline, and keep the baby upright for ~30 minutes (or more, if you can) before laying him down. The last thing would be that as you begin to introduce more solid foods into your son's diet, you will hopefully begin to see less of the spitting up. I think your son's symptoms sound consistent with GERD, but as long as his spitting up is not that often, and he doesn't get really fussy when he eats or when he spits up, I don't think he needs to see a specialist.

I hope this helps! Hopefully in a few months it won't even be an issue for you any more.

J.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi Mom,

My son had reflux and although he didnt have the same issues you describe when he went off his meds, I can tell you there are a whole host of other problems when you start introducing 'regular' food.

My son cannot have any citrus yet (16 mo.), that includes mandarin oranges, any regular oranges, certain juices, garlic, tomatoes (really hard because we are an italian family and we eat a lot of tomatoes and garlic!) i have to be careful that his foods are not greasy at all - pizza, salami, etc. if he has just a little taste of these things, he is in pain :(

so, be sure you are following some GERD dietary guidelines, when you start more solids.

he may need to go back on the meds for a little bit longer... he doesnt necessarily need to be in clear distress to have the stomache acids eroding his esophagus.. the coughing is a concern for this in my opinion...

i would try the meds again before taking him to a specialist...those tests can be very invasive... i would hold off on that until he is 2 and still showing problem symptoms... it isnt unheard of to hold onto this for a year or two, so in the end i think your doc may have jumped the gun a bit based on him turning 9 months. call your doctors nurse line and tell them whats been going on. if he were spitting up after vigorous activity i would guess its not GERD, but since its more so after lying down i am guessing its acid trouble.

when i have acid reflux it just barely burns my throat - i dont get that major heartburn feeling some people describe, and there are times i have to fight a "vurp" myself...

good luck! hope your little man feels better soon :(

1 mom found this helpful