Acid Reflux

Oh the poor honey! My son had GREAT success with chiropractic treatment. I was sceptical at first but it really worked and he loved it. There is a wonderful pediatric chiropracter in Shorewood named Monica Maroney...at Shorewood Family Chiropractic. Before we found her, my son also took Previcid, which seemed to help too. Once we started the chiropractic stuff, we were able to get him off the meds. He's 7 months now and a very happy little dude. Good luck!

pedatric chiropractor, if you can't find one a regular chiropractor can help too. we never had the "colicy" stage b/c of the chiropractic help we got before they would get to that age. But my 3 y/o didn't poop for days on end after getting a burium x-ray series (at 1 week) until he ended up on an IV at the hospital because he was sick (at 3mo). I hope that chiropractic helps is a solution that you will think about.

I would try a chiropracter. If you've never been to one and are fearful about it, don't be. Find a chiropracter that specializes in children, or atleast has a background in it. for younger children the do more of a massage then anything else. My daughter went to a chiropracter after 3 years of battling dr's on an ear infection. Just give it a try, and worse comes to worse you can keep going to the dr. K.

Try a chiropractor. I know that may sound unreal, but during birth process the vertebrate and other bones can be displaced which in turn can cause various problems as all the nerves come from the backbone. Look for a very good chiropractor that works with infants and children. One of my children cried a lot when she was an infant and he adjusted her back and lo and behold it worked. Her crying ceased. This can not hurt to try. Hope your baby gets better very soon. J. B.

Hi B.! What a hard situation for you and your poor little girl. If medical experts have found no clear mechanical cause, and the reflux is severe and accompanied by constipation, then it's definitely time to put on your investigator's hat and go to work.

Many moms have mentioned allergies, and I highly recommend checking that option out first--even before a chiropractor. These days it seems food allergies and intolerances are playing a larger role in children's behaviors. Considering the severity of the situation, I would have her screened asap, esp. if there's any history of intolerances or allergies on either side of the family.

A second angle you can investigate in the short term is to intensely reflect on your child's situation and temperment and see if you can find answers there. Would you say she is generally easy-going, compliant child who handles new situations and people w/ease? Who lets anyone hold her and isn't picky about her environment? Isn't inclined to fuss? Etc.? If this is the case, allergies may be the more likely answer.

Or would you describe her as sensitive? Like does she take a long time to adjust to new situations or people? Is she one of those babies who doesn't like being held by strangers, doesn't like being in new situations, doesn't like busy environments? How does she do in the car? In the tub? How does she do w/textures--like does she seem picky about her clothing, touch sensations (hates grass, for example) or food? What about movement? Does she hate swinging or being tossed in the air? Or does she crave lots of movement? (She may be a bit too young to tell here.) Does she hate being on her back or hate diaper changes? Does she have clear adversions to certain noises or visual stimuli? How is her sleep? Is she a particularly fussy baby?

If any of these are the case, then you might consider whether her GI issues are stress induced. That is a possibility for a child who is sensitive (ever know anyone who dealt w/anxiety by getting stomachaches?) or who has sensory issues. You may not hear about it from many sources, but it is a real possibility if you feel she is a sensitive child.

If you decide the latter may be the case, you're welcome to email me directly. I have a lot of experience w/this kind of stress/ sensory-induced GI trouble and am happy to talk more.

I can also say that prune juice can be very irritating to a newborn's stomach. If possible, you should check into another laxative option, like mirolax which is available OTC at Walgreen's. Talk to your dr/pharmacist about this option for a newborn and for the best way to get it to her b/c you have to be careful w/the laxative to liquid ratio.

I hope you get some answers soon. J.

To help her spitting up try taking her to a chiropractor for an adjustment. I did for my daughter when she was 3 months old and it worked for her. She didn't have acid reflux but she was spitting up a lot. She hasn't since and she is now 1. As for the constipation she may be getting to much iron in her diet. I know to much iron can make babies constipated. I hopes this helps.

Hello,

I know a family that went through this same thing. Their 6-week-old daughter was diagnosed with acid reflux and nothing seemed to help. Out of desperation, the mother sought the help of a chiropractor that does adjustments on infants. After one chiropractic adjustment, the infant slept thought the night and nursed comfortably, with no recurring signs of acid reflux. Check these links:

http://www.colichelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1741
http://www.chirotips.com/infants_need_chiropractic_care.htm

I am a firm believer in the power of chiropractic. When the spine is in alignment, the nerves and muscles connected to the vertebrae can do their job. When the spine is pinched (in your baby's case -- perhaps from labor and delivery?), the nerves are pinched and the muscles that attach are stretched and forced. It really could be that simple.

Unfortunately, most medical doctors do not admit that chiropractic is a viable health-care alternative. They want to give meds or prescribe surgery. For those of us who have experienced first-hand the benefits of chiropractic care and regular spinal check-ups, we are believers. No drugs, no surgery, just hands-on spinal adjustments.

Good luck!

I feel your pain. When my youngest was 6 weeks, we went through some pretty terrible times as well. She had it so bad that her vocal cords were closing themselves off and she was having trouble breathing. She was rushed by ambulance to Children's Hospital where she spent 4 days to get her breathing under control and diagnose her problem. Turned out acid reflux. So, she was put on medicine, but i also believe it was all the other things we were taught that got her through it. We acutally spent 2 hours with the sleep apnea nurse who gave us a ton of information. Guess they dealt with the ar alot as well. Do not ever lay her flat right now. After feedings, keep her upright for a half an hour at least (not fun in the middle of the night!). Make sure she burps. They gave us a "sling" that we hooked up to her crib mattress and she had to sleep in that for a few months. It allowed us to really raise up her mattress so she wasn't lying flat. Without it she would have ended up in a heap at the bottom! We stopped using the swing only because it looked like it really crunched her up, so anything that looks like she's being crunched shouldn't be used. THe bouncy seat we had worked fine, we still stuck a blanked under her to help raise her bottom up so again she wasn't being bent at the waist. With those things all together, it helped her tremendously and at around 7 months of age, we took her off the meds and she was fine. I really think the lying flat thing is huge, don't do it. Talk to someone about a sling and get that crib up at a big angle. Good luck. We were at Children's in St. Paul and this apnea program was a whole team with a number you could call 24/7 for questions. It was wonderful.

My nephew would get constipated really bad. They found out he had a milk and gluten allergy that was causing all sorts of chaos in his bowels. Is her formula milk or soy based? You have probably already considered this, but if not I would try a soy based formula. My sister-in-law told me that in her research she found that constipation is a sign of a milk allergy.

I haven't read the other responses so some of this might be repeat but here it goes.
I wouldn't use the suppositories that often because she will loose the urge to go on her own because she doesn't have to. I had 2 babies with severe constipation. The first was allergic to milk protein and went on soy and never had any further problems. The second was also allergic to soy and had to go on nutramigen. You have to be really careful about constipation because my younger daughter ended up with a tear in her colon and almost bled to death when she was 10 months old. As she gets older there are other things you can do to help with constipation like adding lots of vitamin C and giving calcium/magnesium liquid (think milk of magnesia). It also helps with sleep.
All 4 of my kids had reflux. They were all helped with Zantac but my oldest continued to be a really bad spitter. What finally helped were the bottles with the liners that I could squeese the air out of. Air in the tummy makes the reflux worse because of the burping and gas. The sooner you can get her upright and drinking out of a cup or sippy cup the better but I know that's a few months off.
Be sure to watch her for congestion and pneumonia because that's common in kids with severe reflux because of aspiration into the lungs.
Best Wishes and hang in there. You're doing a great job getting her the help and yourself the advice that you need.
J.
Mom to 4 and soon one more through another adoption.

I recommend you contact Dr Ron Ledoux at Back to Life Natural Healing Center in Crystal, MN. My son also was diagnosed wiht acid reflux and the western MDs have it a bit mixed up - it's actually a LACK of enough stomach acid to trigger the stomach sphincter to stay closed, shich then allows what acid IS in the stomach to creep up the esphagus, etc. It seems counter intuitive but probably right on in my son's case (my maternal grandmother had a lack of stomach acid to the tune of needing to take hydrochloric acid wiht every meal). You may end up actually giving your little one some apple cider vinegar after each feeding to help her digest the milk and to trigger the sphincter to close. So reducing stomach acid even further with things like prevacid, the common treatment, may actually make it worse. If you start her on this now, early, she might get used to it and you may see a change in her condition. Good news: my son's reflux was not as bad as your daughters (noticed it around 18 months, diagnosed at 4 years old) but now we don't even notice it happening anymore - so it can change.

Good luck to you.

a mom in MN

Oh my god-----I just experienced the same thing. They put my little guy on Zantac and Mylanta but that did not help then they tried pryloseck. That did not work either. So, I talked to the Dr. because I was also breast feeding/pumping. I told her that I did not like the fact that my little one was on all these meds and it was not working. SO, I took it upon myself to take him off. The Dr. told me to add some rice to milk. This worked wonders for me. She said to add the rice to help him sleep but it actually helped with the acid reflex and did nothing to help him sleep. I hope this helps.

I feel so bad for you both! take a look into allergies. Find a practitioner of Allergy Elimination Technique (www.naet.com)....it is a non-invasive technique that works great even for babies to clear up stubborn health issues by remedying the offending cause.

All my best!

Maybe you've already been down this road, but have they thought of a milk allergy? All 3 of my kids have had acid reflux and my last 2 have had allergic colitis (bleeding of the colon). I had to eliminate all dairy, soy and many other things out of my diet. Had I not continued to breastfeed they would have put my son on Nutramigen. I know it's expensive but it is supposed to work wonders with kids who have very sensitive systems. You could also rotate prune and pear juice or mix them together. Also, have you tried Baby's Bliss Gripe Water? I used it with both of my last 2 and it worked wonders. It is supposed to calm and soothe their tummies. I used it with my son (by far my most colicky) until he was 10 months. We also had trouble introducing solids with my first 2 so don't rush it if your baby can't tolerate solids at 4 months. We ended up having to hold my son off until 10 months for solids. I hope this helps. It's very hard to have such a sick baby, especially when it's your first child. Take care of yourself as much as you can because it is very tiring, emotionally and physically.

Hi! I have a friend that had similar problems with her newborn, and also had colic. She bought something from a natural foods store called Gripe Water and she said it was amazing! I really don't know much about it, but she said you can find it at natural foods stores or online.
Hope your little one gets better soon!

I, too, have a baby girl with severe acid reflux and I KNOW how difficult a situation it is. My daughter is now 10 months old, and things are finally starting to get back to normal in our house. My daughter's reflux started at about 4 months and we struggled with even getting her to eat. She was breastfed also, but we had to switch to bottle feeding, like you. To this day, she still have to be asleep to take a bottle and is very finicky about who can feed her. She is just really anxious about eating and it takes a lot of patience. I wish you lots of luck. It is a terrible thing to go through.

Are you elevating the head of her mattress? This often helps. Also, we ended up holding her upright for 30-60 minutes after each feeding to keep her food down. Maybe something like that would help. We ended up giving our daughter Prevacid and Metroproclam - which clears her stomach faster.

Good luck!

Hi B.. My name is J.. My son was diagnosed with AR at 2wks old. He would stop breathing in the middle of the night. I had to do CPR 3 times and they had to put him on a heart monitor. So, I understand what you are dealing with. I was breastfeeding and bottlefeeding. But after 2 months, I put him on just a bottle.

There are different bottles that seemed to work better. Try not using straight bottles or nipples. I had put him on Soy Formula and now he drinks Silk. We havent had as many problems lately.

Hi B.. My son had severe acid reflux (but maybe not quite as bad as your daughter) - we were on both Zantac, prevacid, etc. from 4 weeks to 3.5 months and nothing seemed to work for him. Then I took him to a cranio-sacral massage person (new type esp. for babies) that is so gentle and fabulous! The problem with acid reflux is that it is most often structural (the sphincter muscle at the top of the esophagus is not yet developed enough to keep the acid down and the diaphragm muscles are too tight). Little did I know that this is largely controlled by the fluid (and rhythm thereof) of the cranio sacral path (skull to tailbone). I saw someone who specialized in this and literally had a new child in 3 visits. It took about 10 visits in all to get to the point where he was medicine-free and "normal". I was so desperate and sleep-deprived that I would have tried almost anything - but now I have this type of massage done once a month, too. It's truly wonderful and almost life-changing in the best possible way! Good luck! J.

Call on TJ or Todd at www.biologiquefoods.com

This Clinic works with AR in all natural ways. They are genius! Don't wait - call them today!

I have heard of people who have suffered for years getting help from Todd & TJ practically overnight. They are incredibly knowledgeable health coaches who also do an amazing radio show on a range of health issues. You will definitely get help here.

Good luck!

My daughter had problems with her children, also. She has 3 and each one had worse symptons. Drs. told her she was a nervous mother. She kept telling them she wasn't nervous and that it was her nursing that caused the problem and they said "impossible". To make a long story shorter, after going through pere hell with the second one, she started doing research and found a book "Is This My Child" based on allergies in infants. She took him to a pediatrition allergest in LaCrosse Wi and through treatments, he became a different child. This lady is a certified Doctor specializing in allergies. During her 3rd pregnancy, she ate or drank nothing from a cow. The OB Dr didn't agree, but the allergist helped her get the right vitamins, calcium, etc. The child was born fine and nursed for a year - all the while mom ate or drank nothing from a cow. The belief is that when you crossed the genes from the two parents it causes certain allergies to flare up -neither had known allergies before. I now believe doctors are to eager to diagnose and try to fix with medications instead of finding the root cause. If you want the drs name, I can find it for you. I just remember Dr. M. at an Allergy clinic in LaCrosse. She also treats adults but is the only one in the state of Wisconsin that does pediatric allergies. Good Luck.

We used this for my baby to sleep on while she had reflux, and it helped IMMENSLY:
http://www.tuckersling.com/

Sometimes you can find them on eBay or Craigslist for cheaper prices, just search under Tucker Sling or sleep wedge.

We also would either hold her upright, or put her in the swing or bouncy seat after feeding for at least 1/2 hour, which helped alot....and smaller feedings, but more frequently, every 2 hours till she was 9 months, and she never ate more than 4 oz. at a time, even when she was 9 months.

Best of Luck!

Jess

Bummer. My daughter had significant reflux when she was little and didn't outgrow it until 18 months. Have they done an endoscope to look at the sphincter muscle? You might try a little rice cereal in her bottle to make things a bit "heavier" in her tummy to keep it down. Once she's sitting and standing, that will help after feedings - gravity helps. FYI: watch out for ear infections. The reflux can irritate the eustation tubes and help cause ear infections. This was a big indicator for our daughter - one ear infection after the other. The ENT told us about this one. We ended up putting tubes in her ears which worked wonderfully for the ear infections. Good luck with it all.
K.

A Chiropractor may help - they're so gentle - no "cracks" at all; it's more like a massage. Our little girl (7 weeks) just went and she feels much better, though her spitting-up wasn't nearly as severe as your little one. Maybe something to try! Good luck to you and your babe!

Hi B.,
I've copied a couple of testimonials of what other moms have done for this problem. Hope that helps.

Regarding a newborn with acid reflux: My son had severe acid reflux that began at 1 month old and was giving him a ton of trouble and pain especially at night. He also had a persistant diaper rash then. I was exclusively nursing.

A Shaklee friend who was also a certified nutritionist at the time recommended I give up dairy.

His reflux disappeared within days and the diaper rash went away. He can have dairy now, he is 4 years old now. I recommend trying to cut dairy out of the newborn's diet via non-dairy formula or elimination from the nursing mom's diet, which ever the baby is doing now. - from Kaycee
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Just had a friend/client with a 5 month old a few months ago--after tons of medication, ear infections, etc... was finally willing to try Optiflora, https://www.shaklee.net/helpfromlinda/product/Optiflora
start with capsules only (she softens it a little first in a tsp. with water and then adds to his baby food)--gave him one per day with his Vita-Leapowder for infants https://www.shaklee.net/helpfromlinda/prodNutChild--has been doing that for 3 months.

It was important to let her know this was not a "medication" of any kind and it helped to equate it to yogurt (but lots of it) and explained that there was absolutely nothing in there that would hurt even one cell in the body.

After about a month she decided to add just 1/8 tsp of the powder because he was constipated, also.
No more ear infections, reflux, meds, etc even after the first month...happy baby, happy mom.
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Acid reflux in infant
All babies have reflux. We are concerned if the baby is unable to gain weight. Therefore working with the pediatricians office is very important to tract weight gain. The babies spit up because the stomach muscle at the top of the
stomach is a weak muscle and all babies reflux.

Traditional medicine will use medications. The P meds are not good on children (prevocet, prilosec), They will some times prescribe zantac or tagament for the acid as well, or they will add rice to the milk to thicken the milk so it is
tougher to throw up.

Keys for a more natural treatment are to burp well-if the stomach is over filled it will pop up.

When breast feeding you have to look at the baby-I have worked with some babies whose mommy's milk let down so fast that they throw up every time they eat. The first thing I do is have the moms cut down their feeding time. We try 10 minutes
per side and go down 1 minute per day. One mom had to go down to 5 minutes per side-I don’t recommend this at all, but this baby was gaining weight great-the flow of milk was huge.

We have the moms burp frequently!!!!

They must burp after each breast and at the end of feeding. Most vomitters won’t burp, so they have gas that is trapped and the pressure is just enough to build up and pop that tummy loose so they vomit.

We have tried Gripe water which is fennel and peppermint with some success, but I like the stomach soothing complex https://www.shaklee.net/helpfromlinda/product/20601 as below.

If babies have pain we use mylicon-the generic doesn’t seem to work long term.

If we have colic we have mom take Optiflora and Garlic-they work well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Acid reflux in infant
From: SusanRob@..

Hi Lisa, I had a good friend whose baby had this problem; (newborn); I had read that peppermint helped soothe the gi tract and also has an anti-spasmodic quality; the gas build up in baby's tummy is what causes this problem and/or a valve that doesn't close properly (between the stomach and
esophagus);

; either way, reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus is the result (this also causes breathing problems in very young babies as was the case with my friend's child); it was very frightening for the mother and child; she did not want to use meds

I suggested she put two pep ginger tabs in hot water to break down and then after cooled, using an eyedropper, give baby some of the liquid before and after feeding (she was nursing at the time) I did not have her stir the dregs at the bottom, just take liquid off the top. susanrob@...

I hope some of these tips will helps you and baby----

L. L

The only other option I can think of is to try a chiropractor. It would be a lot better than more medications. My two boys go and they do well with it. They have not had acic reflex however. I'd say it would be worth a shot. Good luck!

both my babies had terrible reflux too. I sympathize. We found the Tucker sling with a foam wedge in crib made a world of difference. Also Carafate helped too (helped give throat time to heal from the irritation) although they can't stay on it a long time.
J.

This may sound a little strange but I have had many mothers tell me that they have taken their children to a chiroprator for treatment. Usually the chiropractor will use accupressure to relieve symptoms. There is one woman I work with who did this 14 years ago and it worked quite well. Now this is not something I have done myself.

B., try goats milk.

My suggestion is to see a pediatric Chiropractor...search for one on www.ICPA4kids.com

This has worked for many, many children...it's safe, effective, and non-evasive.

PM me if you have more questions...
C.
Holistic Moms Network

Good stuff from the other moms. Have you tried a pediatric chiropractor and a craniosacral therapist? Both of these worked wonders on my son when he was that age. He had severe AR also.
Chiropractics worked well for my daughter too but we had to do some meds to help heal the erosions in her esophagus.
I hope you find something that works for you! It's hard to watch our little ones be so miserable!

Have the Doctors ever considered that she might be allergic to milk (possibly soy) proteins? My daughter was, and her reflux was a result of that. Her reflux was not as severe as your little one's, we caught the allergy at about 3 weeks and she is now 15 mos. but, she still takes axid twice a day as we challenge the allergy often. I was able to nurse by cutting out all dairy and soy from my diet. A good friend of mine's little girl is on prescription Neacate formula for her (extreme)reflux and MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance)she also takes MOM daily for constipation from the formula. Maybe this has been explored for your daughter, if not it's just a thought! Good luck, nothing worse than watching your little one in pain.

Most of the little ones that I watch with acid reflux end up to have a food allergy. Have you taken her to an allergist?

I know you have heard about all the meds out there that everyone has tried. I have a son who is now 3yrs old that has reflux. We did all the meds out there and it helped, a little. This is what my doctor told me to do. For the constipation, a little karo syrup to the formula. I have 4 kids and when I had to stop breastfeeding and go to formula they would get really constipated. I did the prune and orange juice to try to help out and it didn't work. Just add a tsp to 4oz of formula. What is going on is that little tummy is just taking a longer time to get used to the new diet. Another thing that my doctor told me to do is add a little rice cereal to the formula. What is going on there is it makes it a little heavy. My son's reflux was so bad that he was loosing weight from it. You don't need a lot, just to thicken it up a little, this way it will stay down. After each feeding keep her in an upright position for about an half hour or so, just to make sure there is no spitup. You will need to do smaller feedings, more offten until she gets some control of the reflux. Some is from the reflux, other is just because valve from the espoguse (sorry misspelled) and the stomach is still immature and it takes some time. Try these things and see if they help. Alot of people will tell you that 3 months old is too early to start on solids, because it can cause allergies and obesity. I started all my kids on solid foods at 2 months and none have these problems. My oldest child is 15yrs and we have another one on the way. But these things have worked for me in the and I hope that they will work for you too. Good luck

My child (now almost 7 mo.) also has severe reflux confirmed through an upper GI series. She was started on Zantac and then moved up to prilosec after the zantac stopped working. This child screamed for the first two months of her life until we started the medication. She is also on Enfamil AR which seems to work the best (we've tried them all). I have heard that while prevacid and prilosec work the same, some babies respond better to one over the other. My child gets 3.5 ml once each day. Perhaps your doctor can switch to see if there is any improvement. Positioning seems to help significantly. Is the head of her crib elevated? Are you able to keep her upright after meals? This will be easier once she is a little older. At four months we got an exer-saucer which keeps them upright but doesn't put pressure on their bellies. Also if your child is willing to be carried in a baby Bjorn --that can help because it keeps them vertical without sqashing the guts. It does seem to get better the older they get. I never tried any herbal supplements and am not opposed to them since I use them frequently myself, but since they are not regulated I always worried about giving them to an infant. My thoughts are the less you give them the better. I keep hearing that they outgrown reflux usually by the time they are 12 months old. I feel your pain. It sucks.

Hi B.--

My daughter too, went through alot of that. Nutramigen formula was the only thing with reflux meds that calmed it down, but never cleared it up.
She is just turning 3 now, and we had a colonoscopy done (it really was not that hard on her) and we finally found out last week that she is lactose intolerant!!! Maybe never had reflux at all! Keep your eye on her as time goes by, she may not be able to handle dairy. As she gets older, if she is still in pain, or uncomfortable, push for the tests you need.

which hospital do you go to? May want to try different doctor. & may want to try Ia. city hospital, they're more equip. to find more solutions/ picking up something else wrong.

Hello B.,

I am so sorry to hear about all of the misery your daughter is going through and unfortunately I know exactly how you feel. When my daughter was born she was crying nonstop, constipated, spitting up nonstop and clearly very uncomfortable. Has your pediatrician suggested that your daughter may have something called "Milk-Soy-Protein Intolerance"(MSPI)? My daugter had it along with severe acid reflux. After miserable weeks of her crying and feeling uncomfortable, our pediatrician told us that she could have MSPI, so she switched her formula to Enfamil Nutramigen. Warning: IT's expensive, but well worth it! You can buy it at the grocery store and is next to all of the other formula. Our daughter was VERY constipated before she was on it and then when she switched formulas she very quickly turned in to a happy baby. Then we tackled the acid reflux(which ALWAYS comes with a baby who has MSPI). We too tried Zantac and Mylanta and it did not work. So then we switched to prevacid and it was much better.
So, my suggestion is to ask your pediatrician about MSPI first. It appears that your daughter may have it since she is very constipated. Constiptaion is not something that comes from acid reflux and unfortutnately cannot be solved through breastfeeding or any medication. Also, do some research on the internet about MSPI so you can find out more about it. Good luck, as I know how you feel.

I don't know if this would work for such a little person, but with my acid reflux I take a generous tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar every day. A homeopathic dr told me that I get acid reflux because my stomach is trying to make acid so by adding acid it stops my body from working so hard to make new and then the churning that causes it to bubble up is controlled. I take mine by using a baby medicine dropper and shooting it down the back of my throat. My husband takes his by making a pitcher of iced tea or cranberry juice and then having a glass with his spoonful.

I have no idea how to dose someone so small, but it might be something to look into with a homeopath.

Does she have a milk protein intolerance? Both of my kids have a milk intolerance and when they were that young they also had acid reflux and were constipated. We tried Zantac and Prevacid but that just caused them to get sick and we tried all sorts of things for the constipation. We finally ended up using Enfamil Nutramegen formula (not sure I spelled that right, it has been a while since we were on it)it is expensive but it did the trick and we had much less acid reflux. I also would prop the mattress of the bed up with a book at night to help keep them elevated a little without putting a pillow in their cribs.

Both my boys still have a milk protein intolerance. They can eat some items with milk in them but not others and each one of them is on a different milk (Soy and Rice). They are now almost 3 and almost 5.

That is my experience......good luck.

My kids all ended up on a super-hypoallergenic formula called Alementum, due to acid reflux. It is expensive, but if you are on wic for lower income families, the doctor can write you a script for it, and the wic people will get her put on it. Also, try sitting her up in her carseat, or swing after she eats. You can also let her sleep in her carseat for now, or elevate the head of her crib by putting a pillow(s) under the entire width of the top of the mattress. For the constipation, it may be the formula she is on, try putting a teaspoon of light Karo corn syrup in each bottle.

If all else fails, she may need a procedure called endoscopy. It is where the doctor puts her to sleep, and looks at her stomach through a tube. (like the way they did the laryngoscopy where they looked at her vocal cords.)

Our thoughts, and prayers are with you.

We have a 22 month old with acid reflux---not nearly as bad as you have it. We used Alimentum (by Similac) formula and it made a difference within 24 hours. It is more costly but you use less powder to make a bottle, too, which probably evens out.

My daughter used to throw up whole bottles until we found a really good chiropractor who adjusted her several times and she finally quit. He has had decent success with acid reflux, too. It might be worth a try. T.

I know of a little girl whom I work with at my job who has severe acid reflux. She, too, had gone to many specialists and what they've had the most success with, besides avoiding trigger foods since she's older, is to use apple cider vinegar after every meal. They put it in a syringe and squirt a certain amount into the back of her mouth for her to swallow. I guess it helps to neutralize her stomach....I don't know the details. They've had a lot more success with this than they have using prescription drugs and herbal supplements. I'm not sure if this is something you could use with someone as little as yours, however, it might be worth asking about. This family buys their vinegar at health food stores.

Give Chiropractic a try. It can work wonders in helping your baby's body work as it should. Of course I have to give my favorite dr. a little plug. Check out Dr. Brian Boyd at www.y-chiropractic.com or find a Dr at www.icpa4kids.org. There is hope.

Hi B.,

I have acid-reflux and Crohns and several other health issues. I have 17 allergies to meds. I found a company that manufactures a product called Florify. It is good Flora for the digestive tract.(pro-biotics) It was just introduced several years back. I have been using it and having a lot of success.

The other thing, and I can't stress enough. Sometimes I feel like a broken record. But, get the chemicals out of your home. Please visit our web-site: http://yourchoice.healthyhometour.com. Click on the Toxins on the right hand side of the page. Educate yourself. I can't tell parents enough of the pain I went through bringing up my children and going through all the health issues that I did, just knowing that by changing my cleaners, soaps, laundry detergents, etc. and going on supplements that worked, that I would enhance my life as much as it has.

If you would like more information please feel free to give me a call or e-mail me at ____@____.com blessings,

J.

B.,
I always feel like if I'm seeing the Dr. that much for my son, it's time to try something completely different. I took my son to a Chiropractor who also does other kinds of alternative therapies. She is amazing and it really helped his reflux which wasn't as severe as what you are talking about. The person we went to is Ginger Dunivan at Acorn Chiropractic http://www.acornchiro.com/
I don't understand everything she does, but I don't understand everything my regular Dr. does either and in my experience things have gotten better after we've seen Ginger when they haven't seeing the regular Docs.
Good luck!

Have you tried taking baby off breast milk, and switch to either Goats milk or soya milk? Years ago my baby girl was having similar problems. The switch to the soya milk was a winner, baby was gradually able to keep her food down and was able to react as a normal little one.
Baby was allergic to moms milk. Good luck!!

I'm not sure what Enfamil AR is based on (soy, dairy) but is it possible that she has a dairy allergy? If you drink milk, and her formula is milk-based, that might explain why she's still having trouble even after you stopped nursing her. If that is it, you could either go back to nursing (if you can) and cut all dairy out of your diet, or else try a formula that is not cow's milk based. If that's not it, I have no idea what to suggest.

I don't want to alarm you,(and I could be way off base) but has she been tested for any enzyme deficientcies? I was just watching a discovery health show last night where the baby was throwing up all the time. She was diganosed with an a enzyme deficiency where her liver couldn't digest proteins. Once found they said it was very easy to treat and modify the diet. It wasn't easy to diagnose because it's a rare deficiency.

B.,
My little guy had acid reflux also. they said that the flap that closes at his stomach was to small, so everything was coming back up. It did eventally grow and now works fine. I don't know if they have looked at that. They had me putting cereal in his formula, changed to soy formula and having him situp in his bouncy seat for an hour after he ate. The other thing was that he was constipated, because he was not eatting enough to empty his stomach. They put him on magnesium citrate(at Walmart over the counter about $2.00 a bottle)about a half onuce once a day we played with this amount to get it just right. He still is on this to help keep things loose, at 3 years old. We just potty trained him going poop on the potty. He really struggled with this, but is doing great. He loves to eat. We are now trying to supplement with yogurt and extra fiber.
Best Wishes,
J.

My friends son had similar problems but was diagnosed with some flap in their stomach that didn't close, supposedly a pretty common ailment. He had to have surgery to correct it. I would think the doctors would have checked this but I guess you never know.