How do you know if your baby has reflux?

Shonna - posted on 02/24/2010

My daughter was diagnosed with reflux when she was 10 days old. The night we got home from the hospital I fed her and had her sitting in her bouncy chair and a while later she was turning blue and trying to cry and gasp for air.I called the dr and they didn't seem concerned.I tried mylicon drops but it didnt' help.So after it happened several more times,(the last being in line at the grocery store which scared the cashier) I brought her right to the er and they admitted her and did ct scans,blood work, and a gi series and had all kinds of monitors on her. They couldn't find anything wrong so they sent her to a bigger hospital and she was admitted there for a few days. They put her on Enfamil AR(added rice) formula and Zantac and I have to keep her upright for at least an hour after she eats.After just her first dose of medine it did the trick...it was nice to not be up all hours walking around with a screaming baby. She very rarely spit up so it was hard to determine that it was reflux..The dr. said that it was going up into her nasal cavity instead of going out her mouth which was preventing her from breathing..it was quite scarey.Now she is almost 7 months and is such a happy baby(as long as she gets her medicine) and she still gets hiccups alot..which she did alot when I was pregnant too

Melanie - posted on 02/23/2010

My daughter had reflux when she was little. All our doctor said to do was hold her upright for 20 mins after a feed. A long time! Mum called it our 'compulsory cuddle'. Now, at age 7 she's going through a stage of sore tums again. After analysing her diet for a week, it seems to be the thickness of things - like cream and eating too fast. I'll be seeing the doc about it soon. Perhaps it has always been that way, maybe you'd like to try thinning out the food your baby has.

Allie - posted on 02/20/2010

reflux is when the baby will vomit about an hour after feeding. you can smell the acids in the throwup. if they cry afterwards too is a sign. two of my kids have reflux. my son would eat and right afterwards his whole bottle would come right up and he would cry until i feed him more. i would have to use a baby blanket as a burp rag for him. he got put on soy based milk to eat to help. my daughter now who is 6 months old has reflux. after an hour after she eats she will throw up and it will be curdled and smells like stomach acids she then will cry because it burns she can also soak out my shirts. we changed formulas and add half an oz of cereal to their bottles which helped. there is meds but babies normally grow out of it no later then a year old.

Trae - posted on 02/20/2010

my baby was diagnosed with acid reflux when she was really little and we just had to make sure we kept her upright and not lay her flat for and hour or so after she ate, but when she pukes, its just clear liquid and smells like acid. You can deff. tell thats what it is.

Heather - posted on 02/19/2010

My daughter has acid reflex really bad. She vomited until we got her on meds. She arches her back a lot, got hiccups also. She didn't like to eat because it hurt her when she did. I hope this helps some for you. Good luck with everything:)

Theresa - posted on 02/19/2010

Hi my son was like this, the health visitor thought it was reflux but it turned out to be pyloric stenosis he had keyhole surgery (5 weeks old) and now he is a healthy 5 1/2 month old who weighs 16lb 6oz. If your at all worried see a doctor or health visitor or go to A & E at hospital (that's what we did). hope this has helped.

Kathy - posted on 02/13/2010

My son has reflux and he would have projectile vomit about an hour after he ate and the Dr. change his formula to Similac Sentive RS and put him on Zantac he is doin much better now

Allie - posted on 02/12/2010

two of my children have reflux. my son would throw up everything he ate right after eating and then cry and cry because he was hungry. for my daughter she will eat but an hour or so longer she would throw up but it wont be her milk it is stomach acids and it smells with curdled milk in it. now my oldest daughter is allergic to milk so we switched to soy and she was fine with that but when she drank regular milk she would throw up. she did grow out of the allergy though. it took 8 years.

Angela - posted on 02/12/2010

my son spits up after he eats (breastfead) and sometimes an hour later. I asked the Dr. and he said that as long as he continues to gain weight he doesnt want to give him meds. He recomends that i keep breastfeeding and it will heel when he starts eating more solids. They make formulas with cereal in them, it might be worth a try.

Lori - posted on 02/12/2010

An hour after is a sign of reflux.. Acid reflux meds will definitely help. Mine is on Axid. Also switch formula to a hypoallergenic like Similac Ailmentum (thats what mines on). If your still breast feeding. Cut out all dairy, soy and corn from your diet.. very difficult but will help baby. Also add rice cereal to formula (Beechnut, Dr sears, stay away from Gerber). There digestive systems don't fully develop until they are a about a yr so making the formula thicker with help relieve the symptoms and keep the milk/formula down. Other things to keep in mind keep feed the baby sitting up or at a 30-45 angle when giving a bottle and then keep baby up right for at least 30 minutes after a bottle and when sleeping raise the crib bed (babies r us has a wedge, or use a beach towel)..
Hope that helps.. See your Dr quick as you don't want your little one to start losing weight or refuse to eat..

Amberlee - posted on 02/11/2010

my son has been given medican for acid reflux.. my first son was given it after he had surgery.. the best thing to do is ask your doctor for a upper G I and they can go from there

Claudia - posted on 02/11/2010

my baby had a bad case of acid reflux. her symptoms were as follows... after every feeding she would cry and scream for almost up to an hour and also arch her back. it was awful! she also had excessive hiccups. (that's also a symptom of acid reflux). at first we thought it was bad gas so we gave her mylicon and it didn't help. we knew something was wrong and had a feeling it was acid reflux even though she never spit up. we took her to the doctor and he put her on medication for acid reflux at 2 months until 4 months. she's now 6 months old and is great! the medicine really helped. she never vomited though and i don't remember reading anywhere that that's a symptom of acid reflux. your baby might just be allergic to formula. similac alimentum is the best formula to give to babies with allergies but you should take your baby to the doctor first to make sure. good luck!

Kylee - posted on 02/10/2010

Hi Liz,
I feel like I have the same problem as you! Baby 1 was so easy compared to baby 2. Ella has had problems feeding at the breast and was really fussy so I moved her over to fomula at 3 1/2 - 4 months and since then she has shown signs of eczma and the vomits got worse along with the constipation and irratability. I feel like I made the wrong decision to give up the breastfeeding because she is still just as fussy on the bottle and almost never takes a full feed (all those $ in formula down the drain!). Ella's vomitting is not right after she eats either, she vomits right up until 2-3 hours after the last feed. I discovered that if I keep her upright (in a walker or activity centre thingy) she vomits less and is a little happier and I only give her tummy time right before her feed. I also elevated one end of her cot and it made instant difference at sleep times. Anyway, I hope this helps. Let me know how it works out for you. :)

Bonnie - posted on 02/10/2010

I want sure if my daughters spitting up was normal or not at first, but when she started fussing before and right after she spit up, i began to think it was reflux. I talked to the Dr. about it and after some convincing, she gave her a perscription for Axcid and ever since, she hardly ever spits up and doesnt show signs of pain or discomfort when she does spit up.

Michelle - posted on 02/10/2010

my son has reflux. actually, it's gotten much better. we had to put him on Prevacid and Reglan to help it. he hasn't taken any meds in over a month. we had to have an upper GI done to make sure he had reflux and not something else. he was spitting up a lot after he would eat. sometimes it would even be projectile vomitting. he hasn't had any vomitting in at least 3 weeks. he still spits up occasionally, but not like before. just let your doctor know what your baby is doing and they can tell you.

Tracy - posted on 02/10/2010

My baby has reflux and somtimes she was fussy while eating but somtimes she wasn't I knew because she spit up alot more than the average baby. once i started her on acid reflux medicine she hardly spit up anymore. I know it's the medicine because if I forget to give it to her she spits up alot again! i hope this helps