reflux questions

Shannon - posted on 03/10/2009

Both of my children, now 7 and 4 had reflux (GERD). Both kids slept better in an upright position...car seat, bouncy seat and swing. We also had to put them on Alimentum formula. My daughter had pyloric stenosis and the formula switch mixed with rice cereal was a success! We persisted with her pediatrician and he referred us to a specialist. Mommy knows best! More than likely what you think is probably correct. Trust your God-given instincts! Good luck, it gets easier!

Lissa - posted on 03/10/2009

Have you checked to see if your baby is tongue tied? Sometimes when they are they can't latch on properly and they suck a lot of air in as well as milk. This causes wind pocket that when they pop can cause babies to spill. It can present like reflux. It's easy to check the tongue and it would save you giving baby medicines and you guys having drama, with an unsettled treasure.

To check for tongue tie just look and see if baby's tongue is a heart shape the muscle underneath the tongue is attached to the tip of the tongue pulling it in tight. that's what makes the heart shape. All you have to do if it is tongue tie is just get the little muscle cut ansyour good to go. ;) good luck

Linda - posted on 03/10/2009

Don't give up. My little one was like that and the dr keep telling me that I was crazy. I knew something was wrong too. Keep asking if you can try zantac. It won't hurt them if they don't have reflux and you will know within three days. They say 10 but trust me 3 days is all you need. Until then try maalox before feeding I believe it is 1/2 tsp. Last let her sleep in her car seat. Strap her in and put the car seat in the crib. The position really help the reflux. Trust me you will get through this. My little one didn't sleep for the first 3 months of her life.

Sam - posted on 03/10/2009

My baby threw up after every meal until she was 6 months old. It was very painful to watch but I realized after awhile  that she was gaining the right amount of weight. I f that is the case with you , try rocking her to sleep or massaging her tummy while going shhh shhh shhh. That did the trick for me , although it took me a long while to figure out.You could also try to space out her feedings as long as you are comfortable doing that. hope that helps.

Laura - posted on 03/10/2009

DO NOT OVER FEED HER. At 5 weeks old her tummy is still so tiny. She may be eating because that is the only way she knows how to sooth herself. I have no idea how much you should feed her ( it would depend on her weight and frequency of feedings), Both of my babies had reflux and the pedi would not give us meds because they gained weight and were fairly happy, these are some things we did that seemed to help. 

Hold her upright for 30 min after feeding(laying her down makes it flow into her throat)

Be persistant in burping her everytime

After you feed her how much you think she is suppose to have cut her off, Try a paci if she is still fussy and wanting to suck on something. Weight gain for her should be about 1 oz a day.

Use a baby positioning wedge when you lay her down in the bed at night. Tilting her to the left side will keep the food in her tummy. Be SIDS aware, no blankets or anything around her face.

You can place a pillow under the head of her mattress to elevate the head of the bed so she is sleeping on an incline.

Similac makes sensetive formula with added rice starch that makes it thicker and stay down better, it is hard to suck out of a stage 1 nipple may need a 2 if she can't get it out. 

Good luck, and remember, you are the Mommy of your gorgeous baby. No one knows her better than you. If you have a doctor that doesn't listen to you and take your concerns seriously maybe you need to find one that does!

Vanessa - posted on 03/10/2009

My daughter was the same way and so was I when I was an infant. I started putting cereal in her bottles,( as per her doctor) but it didn't help. It didn't stop until she was on solids then I wouldn't give her a bottle until she was going to sleep afterwards

Rachel - posted on 03/10/2009

My youngest had reflux, too. It's awful, isn't it!?!? Our Dr. put her on Zantac, but I was never convinced that she was any better off with it, so we stopped after a couple of weeks. We finally switched to the Enfamil AR, and that helped quite a bit, but it was never perfect. We did everything- towels under the mattress head-end, sleep in the swing or car seat or boppy or boucy seat, upright and still for at least 1/2 hr after eating, burping twice as often... It also seemed to help a lot to keep her really warm, the warmer the better. She slept best if I swaddled her in a blanket that I'd warmed in the dryer. Hang in there, Mom. It does get better.

Dana - posted on 03/10/2009

My son had reflux when he was little. He would arch his back whenever you tried to feed him. When we asked the dr. about it they just said that it was easier to treat it as if it was reflux instead of actually having the baby go through all the testing. She prescribed him Zantac, which he took for one year. And we kept trying formula after formula. We found the best one to be alimentium, which I think is from similac. It's pricey and smells disgusting because it's actually partially digested cow's milk, but it worked. After a while we were able to switch him to isomil, which is the soy formula. And now he drinks soy milk. He's 2 1/2 and loves it.

April - posted on 03/10/2009

Quoting Joy:

My son had reflux as well when he was an infant.  He was taking Enfamil and Nestle Goodstart and then the dr. told us to try Nutramigen.  That milk is way more expensive and it did not smell nor taste good at all.  We did not see a difference after trying it out so we just went back to Goodstart which my son loved.  We were then advised to try Prevacid for babies and it worked wonders!!  For gas, what also worked so well and so miraculously was Gripe Water which we ordered from Amazon.com.  It's all natural so I felt safe using it.  It was also my son's pediatrician that suggested that.

thank GOD for Gripe Water!

April - posted on 03/10/2009

My 11 month old spit up like a fountain multiple times a day until she was 6 months old (on the dot.)  I was so concerned she wasn't getting the nutrients she needed (how could she, if multiple ounces were on my shirt!), although she consistently gained weight... (Dr. had her on Enfamil Prosobee)  

At 5 months he agreed to an upper GI series (barium study and xrays of how it moves through the intestines - this can determine if there is a blockage- blockages often are thought a possibility if your little one has projectile spit up, repeatedly (God knows there will be at least of these anyway) and she'd been on a regular dose of Reglan (metoclopramide- an anti-vomiting med.) for 2+ months by this time... the GI series was normal, and he switched her formula to the Enfamil AR... it resolved itself  shortly thereafter and I still don't know if it's because she outgrew it, which I'd heard she would at 6 months, or if the AR is a miracle worker... it's thicker than molasses though, so I can't imagine it's easy for it to come up... even now I'm too petrified to switch her to a regular formula!!

If your baby girl continues to gain weight appropriately you might just have to "grin and bear it." (this is, I'm aware, the most obnoxious thing to say to a new mom, but there's so little to be done)

here is the short list:

Make sure you use the Dr. Brown bottles... they do help to prevent air buildup which is a cause of both gas and acid reflux.

I also liked the Combi Pod (or anything that inclines really) because she would be strapped in and upwards... (they suggest you keep baby vertical-ish for up to an hour after feeding! - and really, like your baby isn't going to fall asleep in that time, and if you feed every 3-4 hours, and hold upright for an hour after each feeding, you'd never sleep, bathe, eat, etc... not that you're finding any time for these things now anyway!

Check and make sure you're using the correct stage nipple... if your baby is hungry and trying to inhale her bottle she could be sucking in a lot of air in her attempts (I've heard of babies that needed a stage up in nipple because they have a hard time suckling on the newborn one as the hole is very very small), equally, if she's drinking too fast because the hole in the nipple is too big, she could have gas/AR because of that... every baby is different.

 When she takes her bottle make sure to give her a rest every 2-3 mins and burp her at least twice during the bottle.  Also, burp for a LONG time after feeding.  If you feel comfortable, feed every 2 hours if she wants it... they recommend formula fed babies be fed every 3-4 hours but if she's hungry, she's hungry... she's growing like a weed and needs what she can get.  (remember that the concern with feeding formula babies more often is the likelihood of childhood obesity... but your baby is 5 weeks old, not 10 months... and it will taper a bit.)

If you give cold bottles, try warming them, if you give warm bottles, try cold ones.  If you're not sterilizing the bottles, do. - our bodies interact fine with various bacterium, a new babies doesn't -  basically, you try everything that IS in your power, because your power over the situation is so limited... 

above all, remember 2 things that are complete oxymorons...

1. you know your baby best, so if you think something's wrong- you need to push for a remedy, or at least an answer that's acceptable to you.

2. Remember that you're completely new to this, your emotions are on overdrive from your hormones and it's easy to be so scared when you don't know what's "normal." (p.s- what's "normal" medically is NOT necessarily normal to you)  Have some faith in your baby's pediatrician because they do deal day in and day out with babies... but don't have blind faith either -- focus on the fact that with each passing day you'll feel more comfortable in your new skin... you'll see how she's growing and thriving and you'll wear your happiness (and relief) like a badge of honor... but right now, it's just going to be hard... she's going to be fussy if she's prone to spitting up, I would be too if I vomited all the time!  --If she's gaining weight though, it's a CLEAR indicator that she's developing appropriately, and if she's not, your doctor will HAVE to look deeper into it because the writing will be on the wall, so to speak... 

keep us updated :)

Meredith - posted on 03/10/2009

My son acted similarly.  When I would feed him, he would cry and want to eat at the same time.  Try to keep her upright for a bit after feeding her, and while she is sleeping.  That may help keep the acid from coming back up.  My son went through 4 different formulas before finding one that worked.  (nutramigen, enfamil, alimentum and finally neocate)  The neocate worked.  He was also taking both zantac and prilosec.  He's now 7 months old and is now taking just the prilosec, and his very happy and healthy. 

Joy - posted on 03/10/2009

My son had reflux as well when he was an infant.  He was taking Enfamil and Nestle Goodstart and then the dr. told us to try Nutramigen.  That milk is way more expensive and it did not smell nor taste good at all.  We did not see a difference after trying it out so we just went back to Goodstart which my son loved.  We were then advised to try Prevacid for babies and it worked wonders!!  For gas, what also worked so well and so miraculously was Gripe Water which we ordered from Amazon.com.  It's all natural so I felt safe using it.  It was also my son's pediatrician that suggested that.

Jayme - posted on 03/10/2009

My son has Acid Reflux, we switched formulas and he still threw up after eating. His ped told me to switch him back to his regular formula which was Enfamil w/ lipil gentle ease and jus add rice to every bottle. You can put them on the expensive Brands that have added rice and spend a lot more money. The boxes of rice are cheap. Just try adding a little bit to each bottle and see if that helps. My son was a totally different kid after we did this. He stopped throwing up and everything. Hope she gets to feeling better.

Laura - posted on 03/10/2009

We put a pillow under the crib mattress, too. I saw in a magazine that there are now coasters for this that go under the head end of the cribs feet. Our son had heart problems and the reflux didn't help, so at 6 weeks old, we were adding THICK IT (Prescription formula thickener) or small amounts of rice cereal to his bottles as well as prescription medication.
Trust your instinct.

Elaine - posted on 03/10/2009

Hi my kids really suffered from colic and reflux but when the pr changed the milk to soy things couldnt have gone better!

Skylur - posted on 03/10/2009

My daughter had reflux. The Dr put her on meds for it but she would still spit up not as bad but I'm sure it was still painful. The Dr. told me that I could add rice cereal to her bottle. I desided not to be cause if you give them the rice cereal too soon it can lead to allergies and obisity but if you can't get any help from your Dr. that is another way to go. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Shelley - posted on 03/10/2009

I am going through reflux with my baby girl, however she is on medication. Other things you can try is sleeping her on an incline in the crib. I bought a crib wedge from Lawton's Drugs and it works wonders. Another hint I got from other moms was that when you burp her don't pat the back, but rub the back. Apparently patting aggrevates the reflux. I hope this helps!!

Maren - posted on 03/10/2009

First, hang in there! My little girls had/ has terrible reflux and at 7 months she is getting better. Here is what I did to help keep the food down. I went through 6 different formulas which can be frustrating but worth it. The reflux medicine is key and you have to get it from the doctor so keep pushing - the medicine can't hurt the child so it should not be a huge problem for he doctor to give it to you. Eating: I would burp her every 1/2 to 1 oz even though she would cry for more - if she won't stop crying to burp, a soothie pacifier can calm her while you burp her until you give her the bottle again. Then I would hold her upright or at an incline for at least 30 to 45 minutes. this helper her digest at least for a while. Finally, she slept in her car seat (placed in the crib) for the first 4 months. This was key. People looked at me strangely but at least she was sleeping and not spitting up! She slept great in the carrier (10 hours at 3 months). At four months we started having her take her naps flat in the crib and a few weeks later moved her to sleeping in the crib at night. She still spits up a lot while on her tummy but she is growing very well and so happy. It does get better slowly so hang in there. If you need to feel better that she is gaining weight, just take her to the doctor and weight her often. Hope this helps and good luck.

Rachel - posted on 03/10/2009

when my son was born I was breastfeeding him and would get sick alot, so I took him the the ped and she told me I should switch to formula. I did that and he was still puking that up, took him back and she said that I was feeding him too much. I told her no that he would eat a little bit and would puke it up right away.

So I changed his ped and they told me that he had a food allergy and that was due to the eczema that he had. So they had me put him on isomil (soy formula)

and wow what a differance he was eating good, wasn't gasie, wasn't spitting up any formula. so once he was able to start trying other foods, I already knew that he was allergic to dairy, eggs and cheese. So I had to do one food at a time for week then try another. I learned that he would break out to citric acid and some others.

if a baby or child has food allergies the symptoms are not just hives, but mood swings, belly aches, puking, irratablilty and etc. my son is 8yrs old now and still has some food allergies. my daughter also is four and is allergic to peanuts, almonds, oat, wheat, eggs and milk. since I took her to the allergist and got the results for this, she has not had any of these in her diet and now she doesn't have the belly aches still some mood swings because she is a girl...lol. but she is doing much better, I read all of the labels and she is even now before she asks for something she asks me to read the label to make sure it is okay for her.

I would talk to your doctor about her having a food allergy, you can also go to

www.aaaai.org that might help answer some questions.

Cathy - posted on 03/10/2009

My oldest child was diagnosed with colic when he was 1 month old,. He would cry alot and after drinking his formula around 2-3 months he would immediately throw it all up. I was told to put him in the swing feed him sugar water in between bottles of formula. They also switched his formula to soy formula. None of that really worked and since he was my first I let it go on too long. At 4 months I suspected something was wrong but waited until his 6 month checkup. Between the ages of 4-6 months he hadn't gained any weight and my doctor sent me to a specialist to have him tested.We went through having him drink the barium and having I think a mri test to see if it was reflux. When the doctor suspected reflux he even went through scope of his throat overnight at the hospital. At 9 months after all this time, he indeed had reflux and his throat had been burned from all the acid. The doctor put him on 2 medicines and he was not to eat any chocolate, tomatoe sauce of any acidy foods because at this point he was already 9 mos and eating real food. The doctor told me most cases of reflux will slack off around 18 mos and he may not need anymore medicine. The reglan and zantac that the dr prescribed stopped the throwup and he began eating and gaining weight and right around 18 months we weened him off the medicine. After he was taken off the medicine he went back to eating anything he wanted and no longer had to eat a bland diet. He's been happy and can eat all foods without any problems. He's my oldest of 5 children and 17 healthy years old. Being a new mom you want to trust to doctor, but mom's have instincts about their babies. I regret not pushing harder with my peditrician sooner before it became so severe. I'd go to the doctor and ask to have your baby tested or get a new doctor. Why should a child have to suffer, especially if it is reflux the acids do hurt their throats. If it's not at least reflux you did everything possible to make you baby comfortable. Good Luck

Bev - posted on 03/10/2009

Push your doc. You know your baby. Mine had reflux and meds were the only thing that worked the best. Tilting the crib makes it better, my ped had me add rice cereal to her formula after she was admitted to hospital for not gaining any weight in weeks. I too had kept telling the ped doc that she was spitting up and so fussy after feeding, Wasn't until they actually saw it that they listened.You can buy the prethickened formula as well. For sure keep the baby sitting up after eating for at least 30 minutes. I always looked at that time as extra cuddles. They are only small for so long that every minute counts with cuddling anyway. Good luck and hang in there!

Tina - posted on 03/10/2009

Stress to the Doctor that your baby is unhappy all the time (even if it's not all the time, majority rules), and is spitting up everytime he/she eats and then still hungry afterward. Doctors don't worry about babies that spit up and are happy (unless weight become an issue obviously) ussually just the ones that are mostly unhappy. (this is what my pedi. told me)

I have a now 6 month old son who has had reflux since birth (now take meds everyday to help), I've went though everything you are going though right now. He was unhappy most of the time and always seemed hungry. It was because when they are drinking it is soothing the pain they feel from the acids of the reflux,  that is all the know.

You know your baby better then anyone else, trust your gut feeling. Don't give up, your baby depends on you to speak for him/her and you both deserve to be happy.

Judy - posted on 03/10/2009

my son was never diagnosed with reflux but he did spit up a lot more than the average baby. we switched him to a soy formula and than seemed to help. also, make sure that you don't move him around a lot right after feeding and keep her sitting up after you feed her. you also may want to get a second opinion from a doctor. just call the office and see if they have an opening to see a different doc and see what they say. it may help ease your conscience.

Hellsbells2311 - posted on 03/10/2009

Or as Melissa says it could well be an allergy, a friend of mines little girl was born 4 weeks before mine exactly the same weight 8lb 5oz (going back 10yrs now lol) and she was exactly the same colicy, throwing up and wouldn't settle for anything. 9 months later they found out it was a milk intolerance, in the 9 months the little girl had lost so much weight that even to this day she is smaller in height and weight than my daughter! Get it checked out!!

Hellsbells2311 - posted on 03/10/2009

I meant use the drops with the staydown milk I suggested sorry if that wasn't clear lol Luke was demanding his dinner so it was done as quick as I could sorry lol

Mel - posted on 03/10/2009

either that or your looking at an allergy

Mel - posted on 03/10/2009

yes Shell is right there are collic drops but if your daughter has reflux this bad its not going to help her. it does sound like a bad case of reflux which needs to be treated as its unfair on her for them to ignore it. what does your child health nurse say about it (if you have one) i got recommended finally to take my girl to emergency departemnt after 2 months. my daughter didnt have reflux so i cant say that i know everything about it for sure but that is what they thought brianna had due to her symptoms which included crying pulling away from the bottle so hard she would bruise my arm, constantly thrwing up all of her bottles and only drinking about 10 mills every 6-10 hours.

anyway she was diagnosed with aspirating into her lungs after several times in theatre but I think it sounds like they need to look at your girl more carefully and work out what is going on otherwise it could continue to get worse and id hate to see a baby go through what mine has. at the childrens hospital there were many other babies like mine with nasal gastric tubes and i was told that about 90% of the ones admitted were reflux. so its very common but its not common to a really bad extent. do the best job u can and get them to take notice. brianna has breaks in her feeds now so she holds them down she is 11 months and has a 200 mill bottle over an hour and has a 20 min break, but all her milk goes down her tube.

Hellsbells2311 - posted on 03/10/2009

Have you tried colic drops for her, Luke had this along with his reflux. He only had them for a few weeks till we sorted out the staydown milk and then it was all sorted!!

Jennifer - posted on 03/10/2009

she doesnt really pull away during a feed, only here and there, and only for a few seconds, but she grunts and gurgles and sometimes gets red in the face when eating. and afterwards, she is also grunting, gurgrling, clearing her throat, gets red, and will fuss, but not usually cry. last night she was crying though alot...and she hasnt cried more than a little since we have brought her home, so i know something was bothering her. she also does the back arching and neck extending alot. she sleeps in the pack and play because she was extremely noisy sleeping in the cradle ( flat) the pack and play has a little tilt to it and she sleeps better on that and during the day she sleeps in the boppy, because again, flat she is so noisy and seems so uncomfy. she gets hiccups constantly too.

Hellsbells2311 - posted on 03/10/2009

Luke had reflux undiagnosed, for months health care told me it was normal behaviuor for a baby of 2 months to throw over half his bottle back up, by the way Luke is my third so I knew it wasn't normal! We were given infant gaviscon and for a time that worked (3 weeks tops). We done some research of our own and found SMA staydown, it's specially formulated and although is a pain in the backside to make (got to make each bottle seperatly), is slightly more expensive than regular SMA milks (but your child is worth the extra pennies) and is thicker (new teats required) it helped more than anything. Luke was on staydown till he was 9/10 months by which time he was on food and the reflux had stopped. We now have a very healthy non reflux 18 month old pain in the bum who has the cheekiest smile ever and knows it!! lol Give it a go and hopefully you'll soon be back to normal

Rebecca - posted on 03/10/2009

Try Enfamil Lipil AR....this is a formula with added rice that thickens when it hits the stomach. I am a baby nurse in an NICU  and I used it with my son...worked wonderfully. Also elevated the head of her bed by 45 degrees, feed her more upright...Go back to your Dr. say it isn't any better but worse...he may take your word for it & poosibly put her on some zantac &/or ranitidine....he may also want to do a barium swallow which is a special xray to diagnosis reflux.   Do not give water. I hope this heps

Kristie - posted on 03/10/2009

hi you can get infant gaviscon from the pharmacy it will help the buring that she will get after and it will help her to keep it down aswell i have five boys and they all had reflux but my twins had it the worse. try if you are bottle feeding to hold the bubby up verses laying her down as someone told me have you ever tried eating lying down this worked for my last but not for the others if it becomes more and more frequent take her to the ped ward they will help you

Katie - posted on 03/10/2009

My little one had horrible reflux. First of all, my dr. diagnosed at 2 weeks, you might want to switch drs. Secondly, feed her while she is sitting up. keep her propped up for about 20/30 minutes after she eats. also, switch formulas. i went to the Enfamil Gentlease. He could not handle similac at all. also, try to burp her every 1/2 ounce. if you can, find some Acidophilous ( i may have misspelled) it is a white powder that you refrigerate and it helps with the digestive system. you have to find it in a natural store. Hope this helps. Katie

Lisa - posted on 03/10/2009

my daughter hads reflux she got it when she was 2 weeks old i tryed lots of different formuls which some did help you can get reflux formula now. when she layed down it was worse so i put a pillow under her cot maturess which help her to sleep better. give water throw the day that did work a bit

Mel - posted on 03/10/2009

is she pulling away while u feed her or is she ok while she feeds and she just throws up after wards? unfortunately the doctors will keep telling u that she is just fussy etc but a mother knows when something is wrong. is she losing weight or only gaining small amounts? i took my daughter to emergency at a childrens hospital to get seen after going to 4 doctors and they admitted her for 1 and a half months and put in a nasal gastric tube