Acid Reflux - Round Lake, IL

My 2 month old has reflux and it's horrible seeing him in so much pain. Listening to him scream and not being able to do anything for him is the worst. We started on Zantac but start Prevacid tomorrow. Zantac wasn't working too well for us. Also, try Dr. Brown's bottles. They're a little bit more expensive, but they do help. We also have him sitting up to feed. Good luck!

A month old is a little young to be taking Prevacid if the symptoms are common among all babies. My daughter had colic until she was 5 months old and the doctor presribed Prevacid (at 4 months)for the symptoms my daughter had.She was very fussy after feedings if you didn't hold her upright for at least 20-40 minutes (which is recommended for most babies colic or not)but she didn't have projectile spitting up or anything.My husband gave our daughter her first dose when i wasn't home needless to say she did projectile after that (it was not sweetened). I read the side effects and wouldn't take it myself.So we did not give it to our daughter again and in a month she outgrew her colic.the pediatrician is not always right . Follow you instincts you know your child best. Good Luck! Oh our daughter had hiccups at least 5 times a days for months.

Hi J. - my daughter was diagnosed with acid reflux at her 2 month check-up. I wish she was diagnosed sooner as she was clearly in pain while she tried to sleep. She didn't spit up too much, but she groaned, grunted, twisted and arched around in her crib. She was also prescribed Prevacid (1/2 of a 15 mg tablet once a day) - she immediately began to feel better and sleep better. She's 7 months now and is still taking the meds. Sometimes when she get's really excited I can see milk spouting up in the back of her throat (she does a good job at keeping it in so not much spits out) so I know she still has some reflux. I plan to keep her on the meds until I'm sure she's outgrown it. The acid could do much more harm to her than the meds.
One other thing I did was try to feed her only when really calm so that she didn't eat too fast.
I saw another poster had problems with too fast milk flow and choking. I also went through this nightmare, I didn't think it was related to the AR, but maybe it was. That cleared up around 4 months. She still gets hiccups all the time especially after laughing.
Good luck and I hope the Prevacid works as well for you as it did for us!

My daughter was placed on Prevacid at 2 weeks old and still takes it at 2 years old. My best advice is to give the meds at least a half hour before feeding, it works best this way. Keep her upright after feedings. How this helps.

You have gotten some great responses. I just posted something on reflux as well you might want to check when someone responds for future reference. My daughter sounds exactly like your daughter and had been on Zantac since 5 weeks. Praise God for that b/c she was MISERABLE!! I would certainly ask why your dr. put her on prevacid as that is really for the worst case scenarios and would hate to see her on something so strong so young. Did you do a swallow test? Like others, we did use probiotics as well which you can find at Polson's in Antioch depending where you live. As she gets older, we started on Happy Bellies cereal which contains probiotics as well since she would no longer take them in a bottle. I also nurse but we would give her 1 oz. of BM with the probiotics. It wouldn't hurt for you to take them additionally as well. If you have any questions, please free to ask. Best of luck!

My 9 month old has had reflux since 3 weeks old. We tried Prevacid, it didn't work well for us. Zantac has worked better. Be sure to keep an eye on the baby as she gains weight, to ensure they increase the dose appropriately. Otherwise you will be back at square 1. Rice cereal in the bottle, if you feed her a bottle at all, helps significantly. Also elevating her bed will help quite a bit too; she may be more comfortable sleeping in her bouncer. Just a few things that worked for us...

Our son had problems with gas and the doctor diagnosed that it was coming from me through my breast milk. I had to be really careful not to eat any chocolate, broccoli, soda, etc. Any foods that could cause gas. If you are drinking alot of milk it could be effecting her. Try switching to goats milk or soy milk.
Our doctor always said what ever you eat the baby eats too.

S.

My son was an acid reflux baby... I knew that he was extremely uncomfortable, and I wanted to do anything to make him feel better. He was darn near 3 months before we got a smile from him... he was not a happy camper :( We used Zantac and he did well on that, though as he grew the dose needed to be adjusted.

My little guy would cry during feedings... he would stop and pull away, arch his back and scream. He could not lay flat for a good 6 months. hiccups all the time, spitting up, though not a lot, just frequent. he would also sputter during feedings, almost like the flow was too fast and it was choking him.

Try the meds... and put all the reflux tips to work for you (lying on a wedge, keeping upright after meals, etc).

We also started a few tsp. of cereal at around 6 weeks... I know, it's early, but we it wasn't to replace any formula, it was for the sheer fact that the weight of the cereal helped him keep things down and wouldn't allow the acid to splash back up into his esophagus. This was doctor recommended.

Don't fret, our boy outgrew his condition, though we are not able to introduce acidic foods for a while (orange, tomato, etc). he's 1 1/2 now and hasn't shown any issues since around 7-9 months and went off the meds.

p.s. - my son also needed to eat more often and took less at each meal. This may mean your baby will be attached to the breast a lot more than a baby without reflux. they simply cannot handle big meals. So be aware of that too...

Good luck J. - may god bless you with the patience of a saint... you're gonna need it :)

I just read this article this past week about putting infants on probiotics who have colic, acid reflux, etc to help their immune system, which 80% lies in our large intestine.

http://bodyecology.com/07/09/20/introduce_babies_probioti...

My doctor suggested probiotics since I had a c-section and they miss out on benefical enzymes that pass through the birth canal. I put my baby on some after she could take a bottle. I got mine at www.smartbomb.com by ReNew Life called FloraBaby. It will definitely help and will not hurt. You may want to take some too to boost your probiotic intake. It is a great article.

Good Luck!

My daughter had acid reflux too....UGH!!! I switched bottles, twice, switched her formula, 3 times! Then she started taking zantac. It worked great!! She took it 3 times a day before she ate. Most babies out grow it, and it's usually by 6mo. (that's what my doctor said anyway) My daughter is 7mo now, and she hasn't taken it since she was 4 1/2 or 5 months. She's eating and taking her bottle like she should at this age. It does clear itself up, but isn't it sad to watch them be so uncomfortable!??! She also slept in her car seat, it kept her upright. That's about the only way their was peace and quiet in the house! It's a battle for sure. Hope this helps, if you need any more information or advice, just ask! Good luck!

My breastfed son is 15 months and outgrew acid reflux a month ago. He was on Axid for a year but now he's fine. Another think that helped a lot was I gave up all dairy products. Whenever I would stray, he would spit up and cry. Even though dairy bothered his acid reflux when he breastfed, he does fine with cow's milk and yoghurt now. We waited longer than most to introduce them at age 13 months.

I've had acid reflux for over 10 years and our daughter was diagnosed with acid reflux at about 2 months. She was on zantac and a special formula (Enfamil Nutramigen). She did however outgrow it by 9 months and was weaned off of the medicine.
B/C you are breastfeeding you'll need to watch what you eat: no caffeine, spicy or acidic foods.
Something else to watch out for...our daughter protested every time we gave her tummy time due to the acid reflux flairing up. As a result she never had the chance to strengthen her back and neck muscles. Because of this she had low tone and has been in physical therapy for 5 months now. So, the point I am trying to make is, if tummy time is difficult for your daughter, have her do tummy time on an incline with her head higher then her heart.
Sorry to be so wordy!

My baby (9 weeks) was diagnosed with this at his 3 week appt and my dr said about 2/3 of babies have problems with this because the muscles in their esophagus are not very strong. She said she didn't like to give medicine like those because of side effects that sometimes are worse than the problem you are treating (I don't know what those are, but I really trust her and I've gone through LOTS of doctors with my 4 year old). She prescribed Zantac, which she said is better tolerated by younger babies and it doesn't stop the reflux, but it does make the acid less acidic so that it doesn't hurt them when they have the reflux. It was helped immensely with my little boy. Maybe ask your dr about trying that first?

Hi J.!
I feel for what you are going through! My daughter was a premie and diagnosed with reflux at 3 weeks old. Watch the medications as she grows the doses will need to be increased. Also go with your gut and if she isn't feeling better keep insisting they find something to help. We ended up putting rice in her bottles to keep the formula down better. It worked for a while. We eventually ended up at a GI specialist who did an upper Gi to rule out malformations(she had none) and then doubled her meds and she was a different baby--HAPPY for the first time in her life. Within 3 days of that she could sleep flat in her bed. Before that we used the Papasan Chair which was perfect at an incline and we put the chair in her crib. It really helped her sleep.

Reflux is a long hard road for us and we are still battling it at 8 months old! Hopefully it will not cause too much pain for your baby(our daughter has a BAD case) and you will have a happy little girl soon!!

There is support group and website for a group called PAGER that has lots of good info.
Good Luck!!

L.