My daughter is a poor eater and frequently refuses the bottle (screaming) all together even after several hours of not eating, including many mornings after sleeping through the night for 8 hours. She's still gaining weight, but she was small to start with and now feeding is so stressful for both of us. After all of the reading I've done, I hypothesize that she has GERD (reflux) and I've been researching medications . Have any of you found a great prescription or over-the-counter medication to help with this?
Your story sound very much like ours. My daughter had reflux (she might still at 13 months) and her doctor put her first on Zantac. It tasted terrible and she screamed when we squirted it in her mouth. We then switched to Prilosec(suspension) and she took to it much better. We mixed the med with a few cc's formula or breast milk to hide the saltiness of the medicine and she drank it down. You have to get this medicine from a compounding pharmacy. They literally grind up the pills and mix it with liquid so that your teeny tiny can drink it.
As for the stress part of feeding, she can probably sense your stress and it could be part of her reaction. It's a vicious cycle: she doesn't eat and you get stressed. You try to feed her already stressed and she refuses. You get more stressed, she gets more pissed. Etc, etc, etc. If she's big enough (our daughter was 12 lbs when we did this - much bigger than her 4 lb premie birth weight) back off and offer her bottle once when she tells you she's hungry. If she refuses, don't offer again until she's ademant. She'll drink when she's hungry. Before you know it she'll be downing her milk as she should.
My heart goes out to you. I know how absolutely terribly frustrating and sad it can be when such a basic thing as feeding your baby isn't enjoyable.
Hi Jennifer, My son is now 13 months old and we discovered he had GERD when he was about 3 months old. He was almost 7 weeks premature, so I guess it is pretty common for premies. My son has been on omeprazole (prilosec) since he was about 3 months old and it works great. We tired several different medications including zantac, and the omeprazole is the one that worked the best for him. For babies you can only get it at a compound pharmacy, but I am sure your DR will know where one is closest to you. Also it is a bit pricey, around $50 a month, but worth every penny if it gets rid of your babies pain!!! We have tried a few times to take our son off of it, but at 13 months he still has the reflux. Once our son was put on the medication the stress of eating was gone for all of us!! I sypathize with your frustration, I have been there!!! Hang in there, it will get better!!!
I can sympathize with the stress of feeding. I would say go to the doc and have it confirmed. My son is now almost 8 months but for the first two he screamed. I would nurse for about 2-5 min and spend the next 1-2 hours trying to calm him down. The cycle would start all over about every 2 hours. At his 2 month check up I was expalaining to the doc about his "fussiness" and she asked me to show her. I nursed him and he instantly started screaming she said he was not fussy but had acid reflux and he was in pain. I felt horrible. She ordered AXID. It was the cure. The same day I started him on it he started to eat so much better w/o pain. I was worried about dependency on this med and the doc explained that the dose never changes, they don't up it as he gets bigger. His body will naturally take over and the med will no longer be needed in about a year. I was so greatful for the Axid Solution. He is given .6ml in a dropper twice a day. Check it out with your little girls doc ASAP!!
I hope that this helps.
Best of luck and congrats on your new little one.
Candice
PS
It tastes like bubble gum. My son loves it!!!
My daughter is on rantadine (i think thas how it is spelled) I has worked wonders. it is a script so all the more reason to make an appt.
Morning, Your daughter at 3.5 months old, has colick. An old fashioned illness that some babies get. She will probably be fine in just a few months. Do not try to medicate her yourself, please. Take her to the doctor.
Colick is a gaseous condition, that some babies get, when you are done feeding her, lay her on your lap on her stomach, it will help dispell some of the gas.
If she is terribly fussy, you might want to take her to the doctor, but again please don't medicate her yourself, as you might hurt her or worse.
I am the mom of 2 adult children...so been there. Tina
Both of my boys were diagnosed with GERD as babies, my oldest at about 2mo old and my youngest at about a week. The ped said and I knew he had it from birth but didn't want to medicate him until we knew it wasn't just his system adjusting. Benjamin has since out grown it but he was on Zantac and Jonathan had it so bad he sees a gastroenterologist and is on Zantac but as an infant was also on Reglan as well. Talk to your ped. and see what they recommend.
My son has reflux- he's called a happy spitter bc he doesn't cry much but sleeps only 10 hours in 24. My MD put him on Prevacid and now we are trying a probiotics which is really supposed to help. If you can get the book. Colic solved by Bryan Vartabedian MD it is all about Reflux and is amazing. It was our little guy to the tea. We have tried everything, the drops, the gripe water, elevating his and bed holding him for hours he is now 4 months. I would ask your Pedi about the probiotics since they are a natural approach. Good luck hopefully he is like most babys and will get better with time
Lynelle
PS have you tried holding her, sitting on a therapy ball bouncing. My son loves it.
Hi Jennifer!
I was down this road with my almost one year old daughter. Colic IS different from reflux (although medical thought is now maybe reflux may be most of colic). Anyway, they have different symptoms and treatment. So my first advice is to check with your doc. They will look at symptoms, which for colic is periods at certain times a day of screaming/crying with difficulty to console.
Reflux, on the other hand, is present pretty much all day. ALL babies get some kind of reflux, due to their esophageal sphincter being yet fully functional. It's the severity of symptoms caused by the reflux that the pediatrician will assess. We went to our pediatrician then were referred to Mary Bridge GI as she wasn't sleeping more than 1-2 hours around the clock, not eating, crying all the time, arching her back, irritable; given the severity of her symptoms we choose to try medications. We tried other non-medication options: small meals, rice cereal in bottles, wedges, etc with no sucess.
We then tried medications. We tried Zantac, which is an H2 blocker exactly the same as Pepcid and Tagamet. She had about 30% reduction in her symptoms so we tried Prilosec (a proton pump inhibitor) and the difference was amazing. She was a whole different child. We used it for 4 months, as usually they grow out of reflux over time as the sphincter matures. It does have to be compounded, but there are pharmacies that do that in town.
This may or may not the answer for your child, but their doc can help you!
Jennifer
Unless you are a healthcare provider, you probably should get a professional opinion before you start her on medications...
True GERD is an unusual diagnosis in a young infant.
There are no over the counter meds for pediatric GERD, that I know of. Ranitidine is usual first line of treatment, but you need a prescription to get the correct weight-based dose.
Jennifer
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Good Morning! I'm so sorry you are going through this. I so remember the pain I felt for my baby girl when she was going through similar difficulties & I did not know what it was. We even had her tummy exrayed to find out what was going on. A friend of mine had tried some probiotics with her daughter that was similiar. She gave me a powder form probiotic that tastes good & yet is easy to give. I started giving it to my daughter Stephanie at age 2 weeks, we were so desperate to help her feel better. It's so easy, just get your pinkie wet, stick it in the powder & put in her mouth. My daughter did much better within 2 hours & within 1 day her relief was apparent. She began sleeping better, eating better, crying significantly less. I to this day get the probiotcs through a website, you can look it up at https://www.advocare.com/00121544/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=W3821&id=D . I also keep it on hand for my children as well as my friends. Please feel free to call 503 313-8432 with any questions. I am all about treating my children in natural ways & not with unnecessary prescriptions. I'm so thankful my friend shared this product with me & I would love to share it with you. Melanie :)
Go see your Doctor!! My infant had GURD being an infant ICU RN I recognized the symptoms and sought professional help right away. GURD is not only painful for your child, but potentially can cause damage to the lining of her esophagus. Yes there are over the counter treatments for GURD for adults but the children's meds are based on weight, generally come in liquid form and are all prepared by a pharmacist. If you can find a compounding pharmacy, they can even be put in a tasty syrup. My daughter was fond of banana! My daughter was initially on zantac, and then switched to prilosec, because the zantac didn't block the acid sufficiently. One thing to bear in mind, the meds only treat the acid component. My daughter continued to vomit frequently until she was able to sit up independently at 9 months. The meds just make sure she was not in discomfort while refluxing. We did a heck of alot of laundry in those months, for her and me. Anyway, for her sake I urge you to get some professional help. yes she will outgrow it eventually, but she will suffer with acidy discomfort until then, eventually she may become adverse to feeding as she associated it with pain. AS for pro-biotics, and the "natural approach" they may help with encouraging good bacteria in your digestive system, But GURD is a result of ANATOMICAL factors which will not be helped by bacteria, only time and development will "cure" it. pro-biotics will not block the acid (nor the pain associated with that) But don't try and diagnose it yourself from reading boards or books. Message boards and advise from helpful strangers who haven't met or examined your child, or taken a careful history from you CAN NOT replace a Doctor's knowledge and prescribing ability.
My sister had this with both her boys. Think heart burn for little ones, except they grow out of it. Definitely treat it because otherwise it may lead to later problems. She got a prescription for something like zantac (in baby form). I would really question dosage or effectiveness for over-the-counter for that age, so talk to your dr.
HI Jennifer, my daughter is 7 months old and has had really
bad reflux since she was born, the doctors put her on zantac and regaln and they seem to help a ton. We just now weended her off of them. But they if your doctor can prescrip that, it works!! Good Luck!!
I had a baby in my daycare that had this same problem, of course this was 30 years ago and they didn't call it gerd. The mother decided at 3 months that she would switch to formula, and it was a few days into it and he started throwing up everything, and I mean it was bad.
Turns out the baby was allergic to something in the baby formula and breast milk was the only thing he could be given. It stopped immediately.
I think I would totally try breast milk to feed the baby before any medicine.
I think there are too many things we give our children that they don't need as far as medicine goes.
Just a thought!
Our son hated eating as well. This lasted until he was nearly 5 months old. He's 9 months old now, and since he's been eating more and more solid foods, he's been taking his bottle much better. We decided not to medicate after consulting with our doctor, since our baby was also doing just fine gaining weight and didn't actually spit up much after eating. To get through the tough times, I figured out a way to hold him where he would at least eat 2 to 3 ounces at a time without throwing a fit. I call it the "baby goat" position - much like those nature shows where the baby goat or deer tips his head up and drinks the bottle from his caregivers while standing. I hold the baby facing me on my left side so he is in a nearly standing, lengthwise position -- not reclining or laying down at all. The baby's head is just a little bit below mine and the bottle then is tipped up near my face. This is easier with the shorter bottles, but the larger bottles get a little tricky. It sounds really odd, but to this day, he still eats this way and now gets a little excited and happy when he sees his bottle. His legs are getting a little too long for the original "goat" so we're modifying as we go, almost more of a neal now. It works best if you can be on a couch or put your legs up for a little support. I think this worked for our son because he didn't have to be reclined at all and thus the reflux was a little less intense.
Hi, I just read your post and thought I would reply. I don't have the names of prescription medications, but I was talking to a nurse that said in her experience prescription medication has helped babies (and their parent's) with GERD tremendously.
Have you tried an AMBY baby motion bed? (www.ambybaby.com). They are supposed to work wonders for babies with reflux and/or colic! My daughter is 6 weeks and she doesn't have either, but she absolutely loves it. If your baby has trouble sleeping due to GERD you should check out the site.
The beds are a little spendy, but I got mine (almost brand new) on Craigslist for less than half.
Good luck to you both,
Heather
Before you start researching medications that usually have some sort of adverse reaction, try a soy based formula. My daughter did the same thing untill my doctor suggested soy. A lot of children have uncomman symptoms to food alergies, including ADHD. Annie
I just recently discovered a natural remedy that has really helped with my 5 month old daughter's reflux & eczema.
She was covered in red splotches so the doctor said to slather on the petroleum jelly, but that ultimately, there was nothing that could really be done! A friend of mine told me about hazelwood necklaces and ointments that had dramaticaly helped her son's reflux (she was able to take him off Zantac within 2 weeks of him wearing it).
Apparently, the hazelwood (wood from a hazelnut tree) has the property of absorbing excess acid(which is the root cause of many problems including reflux & eczema) in your body when the wood is against your skin.
I was really skeptical but I decided to buy a necklace and give it a try. Within 2 weeks, my daughter's eczema was all but gone. She also doesn't spit up nearly as much anymore (she used to spit up so much that we had to have a pocket bib to catch it all) All she has left are a few dry spots, but nothing like before! I have been so amazed by this product that I decided to make them available to other moms here since they are not commonly available in the US (these necklaces come from Canada) and could help so many people!
I know it's hard to believe that wearing a necklace could help so much, but when you're facing the potential of harsh meds, it's definitely worth a try, especially since they are inexpensive!
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see my baby daughter's skin soft and smooth and not all blotchy and red...there are no words!
If you're interested, check out www.hazelaid.com
I really hope this is as helpful for you as it was for me.
Severine (mom to Kate 3 ½, Ben 22 months, Emma 5 months)
Try Gripe Water. Made by Wellements or Baby's Bliss. That worked better than the prescription the doctor gave my daughter. You can get it at Fred Myer in the natural remedies section.