Seeking Advice for Babies Who Have GERD

Updated on July 29, 2008
G.M. asks from Ashburn, VA
5 answers

Anyone out there have any tips or can share experiences with their infant having GERD?

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V.C.

answers from Washington DC on

Keep her on an incline, never flat on her back. My daughter slept in a swing for the first 4 months, then became a tummy sleeper in her crib. Hike up the angle of her crib mattress. If she slides down, try a Tucker Sling to keep her up.

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C.M.

answers from Richmond on

When our daughter was a baby, the Zantac and things like that didn't help - most made is worse. Our pediatricion put her on Carafate Suspension before eating and it made a world of difference - she was a different child. After she got a little older we were able to go to the prevacid in the morning only.

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J.P.

answers from Lynchburg on

Girl I feel your pain. I have a 4 month old with the same problem. He is finally starting to do a little better. He also is on prevacid which I think is a total hit and miss with how well it works. Try to burp after every ounce of milk, and there is also this stuff called colic calm, we found it on the internet it is totally natural and worked great with my son. We checked it out on web md before we ordered. It helps all sorts of things. It was truly my miracle in a bottle, but also it takes time. There little bodies are still developing and it is truly a trying time. Go to coliccalm.com and check it out. Let me know how it goes. Good Luck

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A.N.

answers from Norfolk on

Raise the head of her bed. We did this with my daughter was a newborn and she slept 4 hours straight for the first time in her life! Just put a couple of books or some rolled up receiving blankets under one end and make a slight incline (not to much or she will slide to the end of the bed). What we did was go to Bed Bath and Beyond and got an adult wedge pillow (that is used for adults with reflux or for reading in bed, I guess) and put it under the mattress and it raised it up just enough on one end. Worked like a charm. Oh and we used Prevacid or Zantac (can't remember which) and it was like a miracle drug. It does take like a week to kick in though.

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S.L.

answers from Washington DC on

First, I am so sorry for the discomfort of your poor little one. The same exact thing happened to me when my baby was 4 weeks. Here are some suggestions you are welcome to try:
1) Have her sleep elevated all the time and not in the car seat. The car seat makes them hunch and increases the probability of a spit up. We used an infant seat and you actually want to haver have her elevated as much as you can. My baby is 5 months and still sleeps at night elevated, but sometimes takes a nap flat.
2) Know that Prevacid takes 2 weeks to work and should be given 20-30 minutes before a feeding, if possible.
3) Perhaps use sleep sacs so a diaper change is quicker.
4) Change the diaper before the feeding, that way you don't have to haver flat afterwards, if possible, have someone hold her up during the diaper change or get a wedge for the changing table. During a diaper change, lay the new diaper down, then her (it works best if you just have a bunch ready to go); that way you are reducing the number of times you have to invert her.
5) Find something that comforts her - my baby used a pacifier - I am not sure how you feel about those, but when he was crying his little heart out, it just did not matter.
6) Hold her and just keep telling her that you are there for her and you are going to get through this together - I think this helped both of us.
7) Gradual increase of feedings - at 2 months he was taking in 3-4 oz every 4 hours a feeding and it was just too much. We had to drop back to 2 oz every 2 hours and that was really hard, but his spitting was reduced. Lots of burping - every ounce is also very helpful.
8) Be patient - I am sure you are, but it is really hard when all the other babies her age are eating more and going longer between the feedings and perhaps sleeping through the night - just remember she will get there, but GERD babies take longer.
9) Minimize or no tummy time. I did tummy time on an incline - like on my chest. He is strong and was on track at 4 months (and still is) with his motor skills so don't get worried about it.
10) Another thing I did - with my pediatrician's ok - was add a thickener to the breastmilk/formula. Rice was the first choice and it caused HORRIBLE gas. We eventually moved to Thick It (modified cornstarch) and that worked wonders. It seems the thicker the milk, the better it stays down. Some drs are against it, and you should follow your doctor's advice and check with him/her before using anything.
11) Another note about Prevacid is that I noticed that the refridgerated formulation works best, you need to get the kind that only last 14 days. It is a PAIN, but worth it because on day 16 he was always worse before I started doing that. Village Green Pharmacy is the place I go because they add sucrolose to it - Bradley just mixes it and it takes very salty and bitter.
It is great that you caught this early. That means minimal damage to the lining of her esophagus and as soon as that heals and the prevacid kicks in she might still spit up, but it will not be nearly as painful for her.
My baby is 5 months, when the prevacid kicked it he got dramatically better, sometimes he cried when spat up, but it was not that horrible "I AM IN PAIN!!" cry. Now he hardly ever spits up, that started around 4.5 months. He has been off the Zantac/Mylanta/Pepcid for 2.5 months and is just now on Prevacid.

Also, it will get a little worse when she starts to crawl, but that is just because she is more mobile - just something to remember and not freak out about.
I hope this helps and I wish your baby a speedy recovery. GERD is just no fun, but it does get better. GOOD LUCK!

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