Moms dealing with reflux w/ their baby?

Arica - posted on 02/08/2010

Thanks for all the stories-- I appreciate it! I still have not noticed too much difference with the Zantac and it's been a few days. He was on Similac Sensitive but I've been trying out the Similac Soy for the past couple of days. His spitting up has decreased but he's still a very unhappy baby and it breaks my heart. Between the reflux (what the doc and I THINK it is-- he never did get xrays), teething, and the little bit of a cold that he has-- it's been a very long last several days. I love seeing him happy. I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I hate not having full control.

Josie - posted on 02/06/2010

The medicine does work my little one was on it for 3 months but I switched my diet around (I was breastfeeding) and cut out milk and soy from what I was eating and the problem corrected itself in a matter of days. It maybe as easy as switching his formula to a more gentle one, like Alimentuim or any other predigested one. His pediatrician will let you know if that may help. But I would keep him on the medicine for the time being for sure. Good luck and I hope he starts to feel better real soon!

Natasha - posted on 02/06/2010

My son was never diagnosed with reflux because my doctor wouldn't believe me but i'm sure that he had it and still does. He is 10 months old now and is a lot better but still cries at least 2 hrs a day where all i can do is rub his tummy to make him feel better and he still spits up way too much for his age. It is really frustrating that my doctor wont do anything but she says he is too happy and isn't loosing any weight so he is just like any other baby. but she doesn't see him at home when all he does is scream in pain. i don't really know any way of dealing with it i think you just learn as you go along as to what helps your baby feel better. A warm bath often helped my son and some days he would get 3 or 4 of them :). Hope it gets better soon for you. All the best!

Angela - posted on 02/06/2010

Hi there!

My first son was diagnosed with GERD (reflux) at 5 months. They found it by doing an upper GI on him. He was prescribed Prilosec twice a day for two years. We would open the capsules and put the contents into his applesauce at breakfast and dinner. It worked great!!!!! We also had to watch out for certain food too like tomatos or anything high in acid. He is now 6 and still cant have lemonade, oranges, red sauce, etc. without tums. Even then he sometimes will throw up if he isnt careful and eats too much at once. But, the Prilosec did work for all those years until he was able to understand a little about the problem. I hope this helps!

Dawn - posted on 02/06/2010

my son was born with the reflux. I was breastfeeding and we could not figure out why he kept spitting it up so we changed him to a bottle. After doing this he was doing better and the spit up slowed ...then it started back up again and at times scared me. The Dr put him on Zantac and changed his formula. The Zantac really helped cut down the fussiness and I noticed when he didn't have it he was more fussy and would spit up so much more. But he did continue to spit up so we have now added rice cereal to the bottle( 1tsp per oz). It has helped so far but he is getting diarrhea with each bottle just about so I dunno what will happen now. i just hope it all goes away cause he is gaining weight and is happy.

Ashley - posted on 02/06/2010

With my son we did the switch to the soy formula and then also added in some of the rice cereal with the formula to thicken it up bc the meds didnt work then when he went to eating more baby food it just started to get better and kept getting better and now he is 18 months and is doing fine. Just hang in there it will get better.

Kelly - posted on 02/06/2010

My son had Reflux when he was born, 2nd day of his life as unable to hold down his milk. Dr. prescribed Prevacid. It helped alot. we also chnged his formula to enfamil: Gentle ease. the combination of the meds and the formula he was able to hold his milk down. He's 3 now and show no sign of reflux. we actually took him off his meds when he was 10 months. Hope all works out.

Rebecca - posted on 02/06/2010

Our son was prescribed it around that age as well and we chose not to fill it and get advice on another formula. He was spitting with breast milk as well, but at the time the Dr figured it was because he didn't know when he was full or just wanted to suck and we were against pacifiers (foolish me!) Anywho, we found a great formula, it was Enfamil thickened and Enfamil gentealease. The thickened worked for about 3 weeks and the gentealease worked for 2 months. At 9 months old we had to change him to whole milk, on the advice of the Dr because he was not keeping any down and she knew we didn't want to medicate. Once he was on the whole milk, he never threw up again. He's 2.5yrs old now. We worried we would have the same issue with our daughter but we used a pacifier with her and she stopped using it on her own around 2 months old. I figured i should have done it with our son because he too probably just wanted to suck on something. Our daughter doesn't have any issues. Our son never lost weight and there was never a time where he wasn't gaining weight. If he is gaining weight still, i would suggest switching formula before using the prescription. It could be an iron intolerance, which is what my son had. Look at the labels on every formula and see which is the lowest. The Enfamil is more pricey but you save in laundry:)
Good luck!

Shaina - posted on 02/06/2010

Hello Arica,

My second son Will (11yrs old now) was hospitalized at 3months old for 2 weeks, 4 months old for 2 weeks & 5 months old for 2 weeks with pnamonia & breathing problems.... FINALLY they found out he had reflux. They put a tube down his nose and into his stomach for 24hours. the tube was attached to a little computer thing, and I had to push a button when he was laying down, sitting up, nursing, and drinking with a bottle. It was a LONG 24 hours but we found out that the fluids were only coming up half way and going into his lungsi. I was so happy they finally found out what was wrong with him . BUT then the medicine started. He was on breathing treatments until age 2 and they triend him on ALL sorts of differnt meds....He is now 11yrs old, still can't eat or drink anthing citrusy or hot but not on any meds...Which I am happy about.



Liam, my fourth is 6 months old and showing signs of reflux (he has spit up since birth) BUT the doctors said that they are not going to worry about it because he is 20lbs and doing good. They said the only way they would put him on meds is if he was loosing weight or showing signs of it getting into his lungs like my older son. We just carry A LOT of birp clothes around (well I have turned several baby blankets into birp clothes because they are bigger and cover more area on our clothes)



It is frustrating to see your child with a sickness but to find out what it is and treat it is weight lifted off your shoulders. I hope all goes well :)

Arica - posted on 02/06/2010

thanks ladies

Julie - posted on 02/06/2010

my youngest daughter ws about 2 months old when she started spitting up really bad ( would spit up a little before that) and would also cry for a couple of hours at night time. I talked to my doctor and he put her on soya forumal. worked great she just couldn't take all the protine form the milk based forumal

Kelsey - posted on 02/05/2010

Same thing happened to my daughter. She is 7 months now, and still on the Zantac. It worked great for a while, but isnt working as well now. They wont up the dosage yet becaused its based on weight, and I dont want to give her other meds. Ive heard prevacid works wonders but my insurance wont cover it and its 300$ a bottle!!! Shes doing ok, not always eating that great, still has tummy aches, and a little spitting up, but shes better than before. Im just hoping she grows out of it soon! There isnt all that much you can do. There are some foods you can avoid that can trigger it, and you can give him smaller, more fequent feedings, and meds, but thats it. Zantac is weight sensitive, so youll have to go back in in a few weeks to get him weighed. It doesnt work great, but it helped her alot. At least shes eating more now and isnt sleep deprived! Good luck!