Acid Reflux in infant

[DMickey28]

Any experiences? O.M.G. I wonder if this kid will ever stop crying. It's impossible to get him on any sort of eating schedule or napping schedule. He is miserable and also battling a severe URI which is wrecking havok with his reflux.

I can't wait for him to get to 6 months!

 

[Maleficient]

First of all... This too shall pass. My oldest had reflux and threw up everything all the time - but she also had a heart arrythmia and was on so many meds for that the reflux wasn't even on my radar! All I was concerned about was that the vomiting didn't throw her into tachycardia like everything else did, so....if the med he's on isn't helping talk with your provider and see if there's anything else to try, and believe that it will get better soon. But he shouldn't have to suffer so much if he's not getting relief from the pain (hence all the crying) maybe it is time to try something different in the med department. Good luck and coming your way!

 

[belle&beast]

My DS was dignosed with reflux at 2 weeks. We used reglan at first and then added zantac. The reglan made him digest food faster so he was really hungry all the time, the zantac helped with pain. He did cry a lot and only wanted me (I was exclusively nursing). We waited until 6 months to introduce solids and when we began formula we used soy. I feel for you- it is really hard!!!!!!!! My DH and I feel like those first few months were a blur- he was so fussy all the time. I will say that by 9 months he was much happier and all issues resolved. Good luck!

 

[jparc]

I feel for you!!!! My youngest (14 today) had reflux. Cried and spit up everytime we were in the car. Had a hardtime getting her to sleep. Sorry to say that I really have no advise but hang in there things will get better.

 

[DMickey28]

Thanks ... I am glad I am not alone. He is on a decent dose of Prilosec and he is on Alimentum formula for a milk protien allergy. He eats every few hours for a while and then won't eat for a while, then is starving. Of course the 'breaks' don't come at night and he's up every 2 hours from 11:30 - 7, being next to impossible to console and get down after 5am.

He hates the car. It's impossible to go anywhere ... yesterday we had to go out somewhere that is 1.5 hours from home. I have the worse headache and crick in my neck from reaching back to put the paci in or comfort him the whole freakin' time.

My first was so laid back as a baby and is now challenging as a toddler so times are great at my house right now.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

My first 2 had it. My son had it worse than my daughter. I had to really be vigilant about his food intake and his schedule. He was only allowed to have 4oz every 2 hours. He was 6 weeks by the time I had him diagnosed. The medicine didn't seem to help because he would just throw that up too. It was impossible to get anything done with all the crying and trying to hold to the feeding schedule the Pediatrician gave me. I also had a 2 year old.

I know it seems like it will never end. Hang in there in there. It will get better I promise.

 

[TaraPA]

Ahhh I remember those days! My son turned 13 yesterday & was the most finicky, colicky baby (I thought at the time anyway!) He spit up everything he ate, and was constantly fussy, red & pumping his legs. My pediatrician was 75 & said "ALL babies spit up, this is nothing. Stop going to him whenever he cries & he'll get over it." I KNEW something was wrong, it was more than spitting up. As a toddler he vomited often, and that never got better. He was finally diagnosed with reflux around age 6, once the ped retired & we switched doctors. He still vomits at night if he eats too much right before he goes to bed, and he has all the classic reflux symptoms when he eats certain foods.

But I remember those days, I would sit at the dinner table just crying into supper because I was DONE. I couldn't go one more minute listening to that baby cry! I just needed some sleep. More than 2 hours in a row anyway. All I can say is what others have said, it WILL get better, life will get back to normal soon (and you WILL get to sleep through the night again, I promise!)

One thing we did notice was that when we swtiched him to whole milk around 10 months, he was MUCH better. I know peds these days say to avoid dairy, and especially that young, but I had read somewhere (this was 13 years ago keep in mind) that many reflux babies could digest whole milk easier than formula. I was willing to give ANYTHING a try at that point, and lo & behold, it worked. Maybe it was a coincidence that his reflux just got a little better at that point, but he was much happier & the digestive problems disappeared for months.

 

[bookgirl]

Any experiences? O.M.G. I wonder if this kid will ever stop crying. It's impossible to get him on any sort of eating schedule or napping schedule. He is miserable and also battling a severe URI which is wrecking havok with his reflux.

I can't wait for him to get to 6 months!

Get a baby wedge. It's a foam wedge that has a baby sleeping bag on it. You strap them in and they can sleep in an upright position. Did wonders for my nephew who had reflux.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

(((Hugs))) I have been in your shoes twice. It makes year one like a horror. I hear everyone say I loved the first year and all I can think about is the horror of reflux the first year. The crying, the vomiting, the constant medicine changes. It will pass and things WILL get better. If the medicine that the baby is on right does not help (I think you said Prilosec) then get the doctor to try Prevacid or another one. Also I know the Prilosec dosage is based on the weight of the baby so make sure you keep an eye on the dosage and as the baby grows see if the dosage needs increased. My daughter's formula bottles were so thick they were like semi liquid milkshakes because I had to put cereal in them to help with the reflux. I know someone recommended the wedge. It definitely helps for them to sleep slanted up somewhat. When you are feeding them...It is the same thing it helps to feed them kinda sitting up and take it slow with lots of time for burps. It will get better.

 

[mr.alec]

Ours had it till he was almost 1
We just had to force some liquid prilosec down his gullet and it seemd to work. It was tough to give it to him at times...we couldnt mix it, he wouldnt drink it...so we had to use a syringe and pretty much squirt it in
It is common for kids to have this.
Heck, i take Nexium everyday.

 

[vettechick99]

No advice, just

 

[diz8297]

Been there with youngest ds. We had to keep him upright for a certain amount of time after each feeding-which was delightful for the during the night feedings-he also was taking Zantac. Hang in there-it will get easier and I hope knowing that others have been there helps.

 

[minnie1012]

My daughter had it and my peditrician wasn't real helpful. Stuff that helped when she was younger was not putting her right to sleep after eating (which is sort of impossible when they are that young). Another thing that helped was having her sleep on her stomach and elevating the crib mattress. The second one didn't work after a while because she would slide down when she started moving too much. I slept many nights in the recliner with her so she could sleep upright. Eventually the doctor put her on Zantac but that wasn't until she was like 10 months and then it took a gastroentrologist to get the dosage right for it to work. I also think that now at 21 months it may have returned.

Good luck

 

[DMickey28]

Thanks!

He is a joy, I tell you. He also HATES his carseat. Most kids fall asleep in the car, nope not mine. Screams and screams and screams. I was looking forward to going to the Cape this summer with the boys, my mom decided not to work this summer so she could spend time with them. I have no clue how I am going to make the 2 hour drive ever. I am not sure if it's the seat or what ... he's big already so I am going to give him a test run in ODS's Marathon (facing backwards etc, OF COURSE) and see if that makes a difference.

He is on a v. high dose of Prilosec, it is based on his weight. He also eats very little throughout the day. That's why I feel like I can't get him on a schedule .. I guess he is on one, it's just eating every 1.5 hours not 3-5 like most kids his age!

He is a silent refluxer so we never had to deal with the spitting up or projectile vomiting. He just gets more pain because the acid comes up and then goes back down. He does take the meds fairly well ... The way I have the compounded, I actually mix the actual Prilosec with the flavor and buffering suspension when I am ready to dose and that allows it to be in a bottle. I give him a 1oz bottle with the meds, and then a bigger bottle. I do the little one to make sure he gets all the meds.

He gets the meds 3x a day. I had to FORCE the doctor to ok that ... would have done it anyway but you know. Before when it was 2x a day he would wake up from 1am to 8am every 15 minutes with refluxing.

We have Nap Nanny which he liked for a little while but then that got old. I think he doesn't like that 'sitting' position, like his car seat. Too much pressure on his stomach.

Now he sleeps on his tummy with the hed of the crib elevated and that seems to be working best, just with NO consistancy. He will sleep from 8pm to 11:30-1am. Then it's on and off and I can't figure out why. When I finally get him up after giving up around 7, he eats and conks out for most of the morning.

I DO need to hold him up more after the middle of the night feedings and make sure he gets the Mylicon and Mylanta (if needed) but seriously, sometimes I have NO IDEA what I am doing I am so tired. Last night I went in, picked him up, sat in the rocker and reached for the bottle. Only, I never went downstairs to get the bottle.

When he was first home he was in a co-sleeper in my room next to me. He was on poweder formula after breastfeeding and I just mixed everything in bed. Much easier but it was wearing on my DH, my marriage and my ODS.

I am praying that once he gets over the URI things can get more under control. I HOPE. I know he can sleep longer than 2 hours. He does it first thing at night and first thing in the morning (8am to 11am).

I thougth about getting a Wedge and Tucker sling but DH looked at me like I was crazy. The few times he has projectile vomited it's been either in the bouncer or the swing, so a bit upright. He hasn't been able to clear it from his throat on his own and we needed to help him. There was no way I was letting him sleep on his back at all after that .... Luckily, his head control is very good now (I was surprised at tummy time today how long he held it up!) and we use the Angel Care Monitor.

 

[LaraK]

Just make sure it is reflux. If reflux doesn't respond to medications, ask to see a gastroenterologist and then discuss whether they want him tested for an eosinophilic disorder. These disorders are mis-diangosed for years as irritable bowel or, most commonly, reflux. Unfortunately, the only way to test is to get biopsies, so they will treat for the reflux first.

Hope he feels better soon.

 

[POOHDRMR]

My ds is 5 months and has it.He had the projectile spitting up thing going for a while before they put him on med's.He was always congested sounding and a very noisy breather and sleeper.At his 2 month check up when the doctor walked in and heard him he said okay we are going to start a few things now to try to clear up the congestion(the acid causes it)and he started zantac 3 times a day and started rice cereal in the bottles.Within 3 days he sounded so much better and the spitting up slowly got better.His sleeping was horrible to-up every 20min to an hour but that didn't really get any better untill about 2 and a half weeks ago when he started rolling onto his tummy to sleep.He was doing really well untill the last 2 weeks with the congestion but he has grown alot and I think the dose of medicine is not working as well anymore-he has been spitting up alittle after his bottles but just a mouthful or so-not the whole bottle anymore.I know it is hard-I would have to bring a change of clothes for me when I went out because I would get soaked and he would always do it in the carseat even when it was 2 hours after a bottle and you would put him in it.They will eventually outgrow it so hang in there.My dd had colic but not reflux-I don't know which was better but I think maybe the colic because it only lasted a few months!Oh he was also very hard to feed-he would cry during the bottle and gag and squirm all over but he stopped that all together after the med's and started eating bigger bottles.

 

[SDFgirl]

Sorry you're dealing with all this...No advice, just

Hang in there.

 

[taylor3297]

Just make sure it is reflux. If reflux doesn't respond to medications, ask to see a gastroenterologist and then discuss whether they want him tested for an eosinophilic disorder. These disorders are mis-diangosed for years as irritable bowel or, most commonly, reflux. Unfortunately, the only way to test is to get biopsies, so they will treat for the reflux first.

Hope he feels better soon.

That is exactly what I was thinking. The medicine should be working and he should not be still having so many issues while on the medicine. My son developed acid reflux at the age of 2 months. After being on Zantac for 3 days, I noticed a huge difference in his eating and such. Our pediatrician told us that if the medicine didn't help in 5 days that it could be something else but wanted to rule out reflux first. Luckily for us it was reflux.

Please call the doctor and see if something else can be done.

As to screaming in the carseat, chances are he is not comfortable in the seat. Our dd screamed and screamed in hers, then when we went with a friends somewhere and we put our dd in her dd's carseat, she didn't scream a bit. So we went and bought a new carseat, Britax Marathon, she never screamed again while in her seat.

 

[Nicolepa]

My 2nd would cry and cry in the carseat. Turns out he had a hernia. It presented a lot like reflux (my 1st had severe reflux). Because I was experienced w/reflux I had started treating him w/OTC medication to see if it helped. When I mentioned the problems @ his 2 month checkup and what I had been trying wasn't helped the pediatrician actually looked him over again and discovered the hernia.

Long story short he had surgery the next day was released from the hospital the day after. The car ride home, even with the stitches, was the first cry free ride in his life.

 

[Crystal0608]

Oh, I feel your pain! My ds spit/threw up every bottle from newborn to 6 months. He was on Enfamil AR and I fed him 2oz at a time so he could try and keep it down so I had to feed him a lot. I was told to keep him sitting up for 2hrs after eating, so I rarely remember him laying flat because he was always eating. He'd eat, 10 minutes later get sick, then cry and I had to change his clothes and wash him again. I had a portable bassinet that positioned upright and I could strap him in, so he slept in that beside my bed until he couldn't fit in it anymore. When he got on more solid food it slowed down then went away thank goodness.