Infant Acid Reflux-to Medicate or Not

We used Reglan. It was wonderful. The milk stayed down and the clothes stayed clean! We also put the gas drops in the water as we made them up for the day, before adding any formula. The whole regimen really helped J to not puke up everything.

My twins were on prevacid for a few months then seemed to out grow it until just recently and they are 5 1/2 and are back on it twice a day. My son has silent reflux and he is on prevacid daily and when I don't give it to him I can tell especially if he eats anything that is remotely greasy (he is 11 1/2 but he has special needs and is nonverbal).

Good Luck!

I'm guessing you don't have reflux. If you did, you would know how painful it can be. Surely you don't want your child to be miserable, screaming and in pain when you can very likely eliminate the problem.

Two out of three of my kids had BAD reflux (one preemie, one not). My first had reglan (we got lucky and didn't get the tics and spasms they now associate with it), the second used Ranitidine (generic zantac- it tasted HORRIBLE, but it worked!) It took about a week and a half or so to show true improvement.. My first stayed on it a whole year, the last baby stayed on it up until solids helped keep the milk down. We also used mylicon drops for gas.

It's a personal decision. Medicating an infant is sometimes a hard choice to make. Me? I wouldn't hesitate for 2 seconds. Just thinking about that firey burn that they can't 'tell' you they feel breaks my heart. I can't imagine dreading eating because I know it's going to hurt.

Giving my child acid-reflux medication was the best thing I ever did. It helped him feel so much better and, consequently, everyone else felt better too. Think about it: we'd never ask an adult to keep suffering through a painful condition like acid reflux when safe medication is available to treat it. It isn't really fair to do that to an infant who can't "tell" us as readily that he is in pain. I noticed a big change in my son when we started giving him the right medication for his reflux. I say talk to your doctor right away!

J.

All 3 of my kids were on zantac for acid reflux. I have them all on Ultimate Aloe juice. It's strawberry kiwi and tastes like a freeze pop. They love it. It's all natural and I think it's so much better than meds.

I think before you do anything else... contact both a local Le Leche League chapter and attend some meetings and then get a referral to an IBCLC from the ladies there.

From what you say, it sounds like he not only has latching issues, but maybe you may have to try the elimination diet for a few months. Usually if you eat a lot of mainstream dairy - instead of a smaller variety of organic dairy - this causes gas and stomach upset. Next step is if it's not the dairy cut out or limited greatly (must be done for 3 weeks to ensure all is as low or completely out of the system) then gluten, eggs and gassy veggies are the ext culprits on the list.

Le Leche League is very helpful, non intimidating and usually have great info about finding local help if it's needed.

My son (who is now 15 months) has been on Rantidine (Zantac) and Prevacid AND Prilosec (periodically) for his acid reflux since he was about a month old. He's been off all three for approximately 3 weeks now. Let me tell you from a mother that had a baby with SEVERE reflux... it IS miserable! If your babies reflux isn't severe, then Zantac is the way to go. My son had all of the symptoms that yours does but the Zantac didn't help, so we had to go to something stronger and inevitably had to do both the Zantac and Prevacid together, which did help some. Inevitably had to switch from Prevacid to Prilosec due to diarrhea. Even with all of these reflux meds, we never really saw any side effects. We thought that the Prevacid was causing him to have diarrhea (which is why we switched to something different) and it turned out to not be the culprit. Reflux can be so miserable for a baby (and momma). Why wouldn't you try to help if you can? That's my philosophy anyway :) Good luck!

Yes, my DS was on Rantidine for several months. Your doc will most likely prescribe it first. It is a blocker. If that doesn't work, they may want to try Reglan or something else that actually inhibits production of the acid.

If you don't want to go the med route, here are some things to try.
--Feed less more often. Less on their stomach can sometimes keep them from as much discomfort and spitting up.
--Burp, Burp and keep Burping. As often as every half ounce. Keep as much air our of his tummy as you can.
--Keep him upright for at least 1/2 hour after feeding. The acid coming up in their throat can be so painful.
--Keep him on an incline as much as you can when he is lying down. Those inclines don't work that well if you have a baby that moves around very much, like mine did. My DS slept in a bouncy chair until he outgrew it. Also, a swing is good at keeping them upright.

My DS gained weight just fine, but was so miserable that we eventually did give him the meds. It was a remarkable difference after about 2 days.

Oh, and if you do give him meds, give it to him at least 1/2 hour before feeding. Not sure why, but my DS would automatically puke it all back up if we gave it to him too close to a feeding.

Good luck and hope your son gets some relief fast!!

Oh wow, my heart really goes out to your first baby, that you didn't give him any Zantac. Have you EVER had acid reflux? It is very uncomfortable and painful. Why would you ever want your baby to suffer through that? I can't understand that...

Yes, please, PLEASE, give your baby the medicine...

We used reflux medicine (I think the same one you are considering) and it helped a LOT. So glad we did it. We tried weaning him off it every few weeks and could definitely tell a difference when he wasn't taking it. I don't remember how long he was on it, but it made a huge difference in his moods!

Our daughter had silent reflux and we didn't know it. Until she got a stomach bug when she was 9 months old that irritated her esophagus and made her gag reflex more sensitive. She would throw up whenever she gagged, which was pretty much at every meal. So we took her in and she was prescribed Ranitidine. We gave it to her until she was a year old when we took her in for her check up and I asked the Dr about it. He said to wean her off of it since she was no longer having problems. So we slowly took her off of it and she's been fine since. I'm so glad we put her on it. She is now 4 years old and we haven't had any problems.

My son had it until just about a month ago (around when he turned 9 months) and we did medicate off and on. He threw up every chance he could get but gained weight like a pro. I felt like some of the medicine made him throw up more, though. I think he's been on 5 or 6 total and the majority of them made my mom freak out when I told her (she's a nurse), she couldn't believe a doctor would give that certain medicine to an infant. In my experience from a medicated child that didn't stop throwing up, don't put any of that stuff in your baby's body if he's gaining weight...I would try to tough it out and see if it gets better on it's own.

Also, I heard that starting on solid foods helps get rid of reflux because you make the stomach work harder to process it and it's like exercising to gain muscle so it works better.

We are currently using it for our 10 month old daughter, who has silent reflux (no spit up, but a TON of discomfort and boy does she let you know!) I am generally not really happy about medicating my children, but if they are in obvious discomfort and natural remedies (no hippie stuff, I just mean propping the end of the bed, upright for 20 minutes after feeding, thickening food, etc) don't work.

She has been using it for about two months (I wish sooner!) and it does work very well for her. If she goes for two days without it (I tried taking her back off of it twice) she all of a sudden is a very fussy, disagreeable baby. I haven't noticed any side effects.

I'll warn you, thought, the stuff tastes AWFUL. Terrible. The worst medication I've ever tasted, and I can't believe they think a baby would take it! It made her so miserable, so I started mixing it with her food...which worked for about a week, and then she began refusing her food. So I tasted the food, and darn right if it didn't just make her food taste terrible! I felt so bad that I had done that! So I had the pharmacy flavor it, and instead of 20 options like normal they only have ONE option to even partially disguise the flavor (grape). She takes it now with no problem, but I personally think it still tastes awful.

Propping the head of her bed didn't work at all...she just slumped down to the bottom (even with just a small incline). She has always tummy slept. I do thicken baby food if it seems very watery, and I make sure I make her cereal with a thicker consistency.

If you want an option to medication, let me know. A lot of people swear by the meds, but others say that getting them down the kids' throats is a huge hassle, and they don't always work. There's also the expense and the concern about getting enough nutrition into kids with problem tummies.

most babies outgrow the reflux by 12 months.

my youngest had reflux. I can't imagine how I would
have made it through the first year without it.

we used the generic for zantac. it was incredible.
the difference between her temperament before and after,
on and off was night and day..... so worth it.

good luck!

my 7mth old son has been on Ranitidine for months now i wanna say he was 3 mths old when he started it maybe alil younger and i could tell a difference that day. He sleeps better after feeding and hardly ever spits up. It saved alot of burp cloth washing lol .....