My four month old son spits up all the time, i've taken him to the dr's office, even specialist can't tell me nothing.......arggggg.....someone please tell me whatelse i can do...the dr told me he is to young for medicines and i'm freaking out.....my baby has suffer enough......:(
Baby Bliss Gripe Water! My son was born at 27 weeks and had reflux - he spit up all the time, several times a day and they gave him two different medicines to take. Neither really helped much. Then I met a nurse who told me about the gripe water and she said just put it in his first bottle of the day. And oddly enough it worked like a charm. It's a natural product. My son is now 7 and healthy and fabulous. I have recommended this to a lot of mothers and they have all said the same thing, it really works. Good luck.
No baby is too young for reflux meds. My 31 week preemie triplets were on meds for reflux from the beginning. Maybe your doctor doesn't think it really is reflux and that is why he or she won't prescribe anything. If that is not the problem, you may need to find another doctor. My boys were on previcid and reglan and something else that I can't remember. I know there are meds to help.
hi sylvia
I had the same issue with my first born and figured out a simple solution and got her well. Email me if you want me to send info about what I did okay? I am confident I can help you and your soon.
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Some babies just spit up more than others--and most reflux is usually much more than spitting up. My breastfed daughter didn't spit up a thing for months from birth and then bam...she spit up after every feeding--from the breast or bottle--for months.
If you are breastfeeding, look at your own diet and consider removing aggravating foods (like dairy...I did and it helped). If you are using formula, then you might consider another formulation.
You might also consider burping more often during the feeding, using a slower or faster nipple, and keeping his head elevated after a feeding.
Have they done a screening where they put him in a tube and get him to drink and then watch if it comes right back up. My son had that screening and that is how they were able to see right away that he had reflux. He was only two months and they put him on prevacid. He still spit up pretty frequently but it took care of any pain associated with the spitting up. I gave it to him until he was about 5 months when I noticed he was no longer spitting up frequently. I say change drs if yours wont help you. Try not to freak out, even though my son spit up like crazy he gained lots of weight and was always in the 90% for height and weight. But I totally agree with you, there is no reason for them to suffer so little like that. If you are anywhere near Katy, I go to Dr. Fransisco Moreno he is in Katy Memorial office bldg next to Katy Memorial Hospital. The number is 281-932-8920. Good luck!!
no baby is too young.
Go with your gut instincts. Trust yourself as a mommy.
Both my kids had relflux. MY dr didn;t want to give it an dhe finally did when I threatened to leave and go to another DR.
Stick to your guns on this.
That's ridiculous. I can't tell you how many tiny babies I know that were put on medication for reflux. Does the dr say it's reflux and won't prescribe or does he not think it's reflux? Regardless, if you're not being helped, you need to switch pediatricians. My baby had reflux and although we were prescribed medication, we wanted to avoid using it. The things that helped us the most were: holding her upright for 15 minutes after every feeding (which allowed her food to digest and not back up on her), having her sleep in an infant seat at an incline, and gripe water. The gripe water we used was Colic Calm (www.coliccalm.com). Hang in there and keep fighting for your baby!
My daughter was the same way, and the doctors said that it was fine because she wasnt losing weight. She would spit up almost her whole feeding EVERYTIME we fed her. So we had lots of clothes changes for her and whoever was feeding her. She was about 5-6 months old when she stopped spitting up. I know this wasnt much help, I just wanted to say "I know the feeling" Good luck with the little one!
Sylvia, my son did the same thing. The doc said it was nothing. It's a somewhat long story, but i finally had to go to the hospital. They did a blood test showing that a certain enzyme was raised indicating that he had allergies. They doctors at Texas Children's Hospital told me that 50% of babies who have allergies are due to milk. I was breastfeeding and, well, my diet consisted of probably 50% milk - milk in cereal, milk at dinner, yogurt for snacks, cheese in food...I completely cut out the dairy and it went away. Don't just assume your baby has reflux and give him meds. Figure out WHY he's having the symptoms. Try cutting out dairy first. IF that doesn't work or help, cut out other stuff - gluten, eggs, corn. See if that helps. I also had this happen to a friend. Her baby was 10months old before she finally mentioned to her doctor could his ear infections and wheezing be due to allergies-after I told her my story. It turned out HE WAS ALLERGIC TO DAIRY!
Please spread the word about food allergies in babies. People just don't think about it normally.
good luck, let us know how it goes.
www.babysfirstsite.com/DamianLuu
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my son at two months old, was curling in a ball in pain with severe spitting up. After a long battle with the Peds. we did a swallow study and found he had a mal rotated bowel and the beginning of a bowel obstruction, he was in surgery the next day. I was told it was colic over and over again and despite being a new mom, I knew it was something more. You can request the barium swallow study where they x-ray the swallow to see if it is reflux and see if there are congenital defects like we had. LImiting your diet sounds like a good place to start as well.
Both my children had reflux from birth...still suffer at times. My doctor gave them Zantac and Reglan (the Reglan has other options...some drs do not like it). Their specialist gave them something else but I cannot remember the name. Had to go to a special compounding pharmacy to get it. My daughter was given Prevacid because hers was more severe and the Zantac did not work enough for her. The Zantac and Prevacid neutralize the acid and the other relaxes the valve between the stomach and esphogus so the acid comes up less.
My dr is with Memorial Pediatrics and the specialist was Dr. Bryan Vaudbedian (probably misspelled). He authored the book, First Foods.
Other things...have them sleep at an incline. Raise the bed 4-6 inches at one end and put their head at the raised in. Try not to lay them down right after eating. Feed smaller meals so the stomach is not overfull.
That is what I can remember off the top of my head. Hope that helps.
find a new pedi... they put my son on reflux meds at 6 weeks so your isn't too young
Both my kids screamed in pain 12 + hrs per day. I was crazy as the screaming wears you down when you have done everything you can. My first one was on Zantac with no help. We then added prevacid, bethanochol, and reglan. She was on those for about 3 weeks with very little relief. We played around with my diet etc with no relief. Finally at 9 weeks of age she underwent an endoscopy. We found that she had a high eosinophil level when they biopsied which indicated a severe allercic process. Basically, she to start on Neocate formula which is like buying gold. Despite this she still had alot if discomfort. My advice to you is to ask your doc for prevacid solutabs. My little girl was about 3-4 weeks and on many meds. She is extremely intelligent and had no Ill effects from them. Prevacid helps many kids. Not mine though. Also, Dr Browns bottles might help.
I know you feel helpless and exhausted. If this is reflux, there is an end in sight. It diesvget better you just have to get through the hours. People who have not experienced this have no idea how awful it can be. I would also suggest you look online. I know there is a support group I think it is reflux.org . Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about more. I would be happy to help you
with suggestions or just listen. Good luck.
Melanie
(I've actually never responded to anyone's questions, so I hope this comes out okay...)
I know it is difficult. All of my 4 kids spit-up and one more than others--she didn't ever burp well enough, so our pediatrician showed us how to sit her on her bottom and gently rock her back and forth after feedings until she gave a good burp (kind of like helping her with sit-ups). Stopping occassionally to just rub her back in circles... Worked like a charm for her...
Here's a part to an article I found that may also help:
References
Hobbie, C., Baker, S., & Bayerl, C. (2000, 2000 Jan-Feb). Parental understanding of basic infant nutrition: misinformed feeding choices. Journal of Pediatric Healthcare, 14(1), 26-31. Retrieved September 6, 2009, from CINAHL database.
Normal spitting up
Spitting up or mild reflux is very common in infants. Twenty-nine percent of mothers surveyed believed that the most common cause of frequent spitting up was a milk allergy, and 37% did not know or did not answer the question. If a baby is gaining weight well, does not have recurrent pneumonia, has no blood in the stool, and does not appear to be in pain while eating, no intervention is necessary. Health care providers can reassure parents that spitting up is normal and that most babies outgrow it by approximately 1 year of age. About half of normal 2-month-olds spit up twice a day or more. This incidence decreases dramatically after children learn to sit up. At 1 year of age, only 1% of infants continue to spit up (Balistreri & Farrell, 1983). A small percentage of babies will have more serious reflux that may cause failure to thrive, aspiration pneumonia, blood loss, or pain with eating. Some babies arch their backs and cry out. Infants who are spitting up and demonstrate any of these symptoms should be evaluated by a pediatrician or gastroenterologist (Colletti et al., 1995). Even when spitting up is normal, it is a frustrating and messy problem for parents, and health care providers need to acknowledge parents' frustration and give them whatever tips they can to help minimize the problem. Some interventions that might help include making sure the infant burps well, handling the baby very gently after feedings, giving smaller, more frequent feedings, putting a folded blanket under the head of the mattress in the baby's bed to elevate it approximately 30 degrees, and thickening the formula with a small amount of rice cereal. Weaning breast-fed infants who have a tendency to spit up is not necessary. Putting the baby in an infant seat where the stomach is compressed is not beneficial (Balistreri & Farrell, 1983). These suggestions will help the parents feel that they are doing something to comfort the baby.
When an infant spits up frequently, the temptation is great for parents and health care professionals to switch from breast-feeding to bottle-feeding or from one type of formula to another. However, it is important not to discontinue breast-feeding or switch formulas. Unnecessary changes are often made to more expensive formulas or to low-iron formula. The unfounded perception of ill health can also cause increased maternal anxiety and contribute to an adverse attitude in the mother toward the child (vulnerable child syndrome). This attitude on the part of the mother can persist as the child grows older (Forsyth, McCarthy, & Leventhal, 1985).
My son had bad acid reflux when he was born. It was so bad it was projectile and he was put on medication. I went into Joe Garret's and talked to his wife. She told me about Acidophulos Bifidous (not positive about the spelling). It didn't take long and he was able to get off the medicine.
Hi Silvia, I know is frustrating and difficult. My baby had reflux the first 8 months, it was hard, but thank God he is completely health, he is 20 months now.
First if you are breastfeeding, you can pump your milk and mix it with baby cereal, give it in a bottle, is not going to stop all the reflux, but is going to be less. You can also do this with formula. How much cereal? enough to make it very thick.
You can also use enfamil AR (AR is special formula for baby with reflux). Also can mix it with cereal.
Also the baby can take medicine, mine started with anti-reflux medicine when he was like 10 days old, and as I said, he is perfectly health now...no secondary problems.
I don't think meds are bad but if you want to try things before going that route: My oldest had this problem and I didn't think there were options and didn't get any ideas from our pedi at the time. So we did the best that we could which was smaller amounts making a huge difference. She was never able to eat more than 6oz without projectile vomiting. She was prob the only baby that ever wore almost all the clothing a first child gets (min of three outfits a day). When our second baby was born she was in NICU for the first days of her life having come a little early. When she finally was able to have food and off the IV she wouldn't hold down her formula. They wouldn't release her till she did. I think they were just trying to overfeed her cause she too never took big amounts and to this day eats like a bird but they did switch us to Enfamil AR. I was never one who liked cereal in a bottle and this is leaning that directiion but It really did help.
M
My daughter had this problem. I do not know if you are breast feeding or not. I did not breast feed. We found switching to a different nipple on the bottle helped. We also did small feedings. You may also check with your doctor about changing formula to a soy based or hypo allergenic formula. I know how hard it is to watch your baby spit up all the time. Jen, our daughter would projectile--so everything got covered with spit up --there were many nights I thought I was going to go insane from lack of sleep. Eventually she out grew this but we still had to watch how much we fed her until she was about 18 months old.
My baby spit up really bad as well. It worried me at first even though people encouraged me that it will pass. I tried everything I could think of and talked to the Dr. about it on several occasions. It has finally passed. She is now healthy and only spits up rarely (maybe once a month or so) She is now 14 months old. I got really good at getting spit up stains out of clothes, furniture and carpet. We could never travel with just one extra outfit. We needed several. We could never get enough burp clothes and we had piles of them. We would use them all and move on to kitchen towels. We used them so much that now my daughters little lovey is burp clothes she wants to carry one everywhere! As long as your baby is gaining weight then he is thriving and will eventually grow out of it. Until then hopefully you can learn to laugh about it. (It is hard but it makes it easier to get through.)