Reflux and Sleep

We used a carseat. It could be propped up quite a bit. It was the only thing that worked. It got better around 3 or 4 months so maybe this will end soon. Hang in there!

I had babies with reflux as well. When is the last time her dose has been adjusted? If it's been a while, that's most likely the problem. You might need too bring her in to get weighed, so they know how much she should be taking now.
blessings :)

Which reflux med is she on? It it it's a blocker, it is indeed very weight based for the dosage and believe me even a few ounces of weight gain for baby can make a big difference.

Below is a few things that worked for my son.

Give her a dose of med about 1/2 hour prior to eating. It needs a little while to "kick in". Also, give her her last dose as close to bedtime as possible.

BURP, BURP & BURP some more! Pedi said every 1/2 ounce. It did help with how much he would throw up after eating.

Feed her less more often. The reason why she wants to eat is because the milk soothes her throat going down. It is a temporary fix though cuz of course that is putting food on her tummy to mix with the acid and you know what happens then! lol

Can't tell you why it worked best, but my son slept better in a bouncy chair than anything else I tried.

Lots of people swear by thickening their formula with a little rice cereal. I know you are breastfeeding and she is young for that. Not something I did, but maybe something to discuss with your pedi. Maybe you could just spoon feed her a few bites before she feeds? Don't know about her gag reflex, of course I don't recommend it if she still has it.

It may also be time to talk to pedi about the type of med she is on. She may have a bad enough case of it that she needs a prohibiter (like Reglan) not just a blocker (like Zantac).

I wish I had more encouraging words for you. It just plain sucks to have to watch your child in pain. You are right, it will pass, but there are times at 3:41am that it's just hard to remember that, isn't it? There are quite a few support boards for reflux babies, or there was 3 years ago when I was grasping at every straw available.

I will pray for her and you to get thru this at fast as possible! Good luck, best wishes and congrats on the baby!

Have you looked into allergies. My sons reflux was made much worse by a dairy protein issue.

Our pediatric GI said it peaks around 4 months, and then their little flaps start to mature at a faster rate. This seems to be holding true for my 5 month old. It's not gone by any means, but it is much, much better than it was.

Unfortunately, that's really all I can tell you!

Adding- has she had her meds upped as she's grown? Ds put on weight so fast that we had to up his Zantac twice in less than one month. (Oops! Linda already asked that!)

I'm going with everyone else about the weight. Make sure her dose is correct. DS was put on zantac - he actually had silent reflux, was VERY irritable till after he was put on it for a week or 2. Then he improved, but started getting really fussy again with feeds (esp in the evening). Turns out he had gained almost 2 lb since starting it! At first the pedi didn't want to up the dose, wanted to wait - he had gone for his 2mo check up about 2 1/2 wks after starting zantac. However, we noticed he was getting difficult to console again & like I said trouble with the feedings, so I called him back and we upped the dose. Much better since then (he's just about 3mo old now)! He still gets fussy, but holding him seems to be all he needs...... My little guy is breastfed too and initially I cut out "obvious dairy" (milk, cheese, yogut, etc). It only seemed to help a little, so I'm now trying to reintroduce it.
Good luck with your little girl!

What medication is she on? My son had sever reflux since day one. We tried Zantac at first which did nothing for him. We switched to Prilosec which worked better. He was also prescribed Reglan but I choose not to give that to him after researching it. We tried different bottles and formulas and found that the Dr Browns bottles worked best as well as the Nutramigen (pre digested formula). Very frequent burping and holding him upright after meals for quite a while. I know I felt like the constant throwing up and fussing would never end but after he started walking things got better. i feel for ya. Take time for yourself and get any breaks you can. I was a stay at home M. and it was very wearing on me! Just remember this too shall pass! :) Good luck.

I agree with talking to peed and keep trying things. My son had reflux from a hiatal hernia and never slept more than 40mins his first 20mos, so many hugs!!! For a while he only slept on his right side or belly, which was frowned upon by the peeds to the point of them telling me I was killing my child, so his only time sleeping was upright with me in the rocker. He got motion sick verrrrry easily, so bouncy seats and swings were out. Also, those seats along with carseats have their knees tucked up to their tummies which also aggravates the reflux.

For my son, Axid was the only med that worked and needed to be adjusted every time his meal quantity increased. According to the GI specialists at Children's Hospital, they never give Zantac to infants because it always makes the child sicker. Three days after changing our son from Zantac to Axid made a world of difference. He wasn't 100% for the longest, but definitely felt relief enough to eat and be somewhat happy.

Growth spurts can also be h*** o* the reflux because their bodies need more nutrition, but their tummies and throats can't handle it. Good luck!!!!

Sounds like you may need to make another trip to the pediatrician and try out a differnet med or maybe just a higher dosage. Make sure you try eliminating some foods from your diet and see if that helps. I would start by cutting out milk products since that is a very common allergy. My daughter had severe reflux as an infant and we had to get her dosage changed every few weeks to compensate for even the smallest amount of weight gain (she was tiny and it was a struggle to get her to gain weight for a while). Now at nearly 2 she is a healthy 27lbs and has been off all medications since she was 15 months.

my daughter was like that...start a countdown, worse case scenario the screaming ends around 6 months old when they start to eat solids and sit up all the time....We put thick pillows under the mattress to angle it.nothing worked! it seems far off but 3 months will fly by in no time..my 4 year old still has reflux, it J. doesnt affect her anymore with screaming...

All of mine have had varying degrees. My 9 mo has had the worst and we have done have a tab of prevacid (7.5 mg) 2x a day and 1tsp of ranitadine 2x a day as well. If we miss a dose, we definitely pay for it within a few hours. Definitely talk to the ped and try different combinations to figure out what works for her. Hang in there! It doesn't last forever:)

At 3 months she could be hitting a growth sprit. That would help explain her desire to eat so often. She might be trying to stimulate your milk because she's about to be really hungry. Also, I have acid reflux, and if I don't take my meds eating really helps lesson it.

Can't hurt to mention it to your ped, but if it is a growth sprit she should start eating less often in about a week.

Hang in there! The first 6 months really are the toughest sleepwise. It does get better.

I think it is hard when they have reflux to know if sleep disturbances are caused by the reflux or something else. 3 months is a common growth spurt. I think you are doing the best you can, and just get through another month or two before you can start sleep training. Talk to your doctor about adding rice-- there are times when it is the best option even though she is still young. That's a decison you'll have to make with your doctor-- my son was mostly breastfeed, but we gave him a bottle with rice at night because of the reflux issue and it helped. (My docs are all lactation consultants and that was their advice.) When she's another month or so older, you can start sleep training.

I'd go back to your pediatrician again. There are a lot of dosing schemes for reflux, and getting the right one for your child can be difficult.

For example, over many months, for my son we tried:
Zantac before bed
Zantac in the morning and before bed
7.5mg of prevacid in the morning and zantac before bed
15mg of prevacid in the morning and zantac before bed
7.5mg of prevacid in the morning and 7.5mg of prevacid before bed

It was only the last combination (7.5 twice/day) that really worked for him. My ped said that although some drugs like prevacid work for 24 hours in adults, infants often metabolize them differently, and so finding the right medication and dosing schedule for an individual baby can take some trial and error. Once you hit on the right combination, she should be feeling better within a few days. So if it's been longer than a few days and it's not helping, go back.

If your ped says there aren't any other options, ask for a referral because, as you can see from my experience, there are lots of options but it may take patience and knowledge on your ped's part to work through them and figure out what will work for your baby.

My ped also gave me instructions for using Mylanta when the baby was having a bad reflux episode. You shouldn't use it chronically (ie, every day for months), but if something is going on that aggrevates the reflux for a few days (e.g. a cold, teething), he said that we could use it at night for as long as a week to get through the worst of it. It sounds like your baby is already trying to do this on her own - breastmilk is a natural antacid, but its effects wear off quickly so she wants to eat often. The antacid effects of mylanta last longer than breastmilk.

I know it's tough. Hang in there!