Advice on My Acid Reflux Baby

Updated on June 19, 2012
R.D. asks from Bedminster, NJ
11 answers

My baby is 4mths and 15lbs.. Since she been she was cranky and fussy alot so I take her to her 1mth check up and the doc switched her milk from similac advance to alimentum advance.. She started doin good for a couple of Weeks until she started choking and gasping for air,milk coming out her mouth and nose and she couldNT breath.. She did that like every so often.. When I took her back to the doc she told me my baby has acid reflux and told me to add a tblsp of cereal in her bottles to thicken it up remind you shes only 2 1/2 mths. And the doc also told me to hold her upright after every feedings ann.never lay her on her back. But I notice she does that like an hour n a half after feedings like choking,grasping for air,spitting up, and.milk comi.g out of her nose to. This goes on for like 15seconds of her trying to breath. I dnt think its reflux but im very worried can anybody help me amd give me an advice on this

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J.F.

answers from Bloomington on

Luckily, we never had to deal with this, but I've had friends who have.

They were told a lot of what others have mentioned (not laying flat after eating, etc.). I also remember a friend having a lot of success with giving baby probiotics.

Another friend had to give baby Zantac. That made a WORLD of difference for baby (and everyone else in the house).

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K.C.

answers from Washington DC on

We added cereal to LO's bottle at about the same age. Didn't hurt and seemed to help, but not enough. So the doctor added Zantac and Mylanta if necessary. LO is now 17 mos old; gets stage 2 formula with cereal before bed, still gets Zantac, and we don't leave home without Mylanta. I'd either be on the phone insisting on something to help ASAP OR find another led and get a second opinion. Best wishes ... It's never easy to watch the LOs be in pain.

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J.T.

answers from New York on

Well, I would get a second opinion...

My daughter had reflux and she had to sleep in a semi-upright position, never flat on her back, even if it was an hour after. She also was given medicine to relieve the symptoms, not put on solid food.

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M.O.

answers from New York on

Ditto the poster who recommended Zantac. This sounds like medical-grade acid reflux, and it needs a prescription.

I would also look out for a soy-based or "sensitive" formula.

Oh, and ditto the poster who recommended a pediatric gastroenterologist! That's who helped with my own son's acid reflux, way back when. Our pediatrician didn't diagnose it correctly at all.

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K.L.

answers from Cleveland on

This sounds just like my little guy with his reflux. DEFINITELY get a second opinion. Sounds like she needs meds. My guy was on xanax and then got switched to Prevacid a couple of months back and I cannot believe the difference that makes. In the meantime, after feedings I would give her soem Mylecon Drops or Gripe Water, which will help lessen the gas in her tummy. Good luck!
I also agree with what others have said below; keep her more vertical as much as you can, make sure you aren't feeding her too much at once, make sure she burps. None of that stopped my LO's reflux, but it helped the situation.

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E.T.

answers from Albuquerque on

That sounds exactly like reflux to me. She should be sleeping at an angle, and never flat on her back. You can use a reflux wedge or have her sleep in a swing or baby papasan chair to keep her upright when she's sleeping. Don't have her sleep in her carseat as that puts more pressure on her stomach.

If she's spitting up through her nose then she probably has fairly severe reflux. You need to be feeding her less at every feeding, but more often. So instead of five bottles of six ounces each, feed her 8 bottles of 4.5 ounces. It's a pain but it helps. Is she in any pain? Is she arching her back while eating or pushing the bottle away? If yes, she should also be taking reflux medicine to reduce the amount of acid that's coming back up.

C.P.

answers from Columbia on

Burp, burp, burp.

Longer, firmer, more often.

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A.K.

answers from Bloomington on

I would get a GI referral & watch closely for signs of aspiration.

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T.H.

answers from Kansas City on

Well a second opinion could never hurt. My first child was very similar to this...she would spit up all the time! It was so tiring. Before putting her on meds we wanted to try different options. We put her on a special kind of formula made by Enfamil, I think, that was designed for babies who spit up a lot. It made a huge difference! It was expensive, but it was worth it. She was on that until she was about 9 months and then I tried regular formula again and she was fine. Also, when she started solid foods, which wasn't until 6 months, I also noticed a huge difference! The special formula I think did have cereal in it to make it thicker, but it was ground so small there was no problem getting it through the nipple in the bottle. Honestly, the thicker the liquid the easier it is to keep it down.

What you described does sound a lot like reflux and if you have tried the other methods you may have to give her zantac to see if it helps. Good luck!

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L.H.

answers from New York on

Get a second opinion from another ped., not in the network. They have to be from a different office...completely different building, because doctors tend to talk about their patients to each other and are very supportive of each other. She should not have trouble breathing with GERD. It's very natural; however, for a baby to have GERD since their bodies including their digestive system isn't fully developed yet. My son used to have projectile puke. (We thought he was possessed, it was that bad.) We found out all we had to do was to feed him a little bit at a time, (2 oz.) then sit him on our lap in a straight up right sitting position (Don't forget to support the head.) for 15-20 min., then give him another 2 oz., sit him up, etc. until he drank the amount he was supposed to drink. Sometimes we'd sing and gently bound him on our knee to keep him happy. Took a long time to feed him, but it worked great. No drugs and no puke.

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D.C.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Try feeding your baby half as much at a time, but twice as often. So, for example, instead of 3 ounces every 4 hours, try feeding her 1.5 ounces every 2 hours. Also stop really frequently during feeding to burp. Yes, keeping her vertical as much as possible, and not lying her down, will help. And, as others have said, ask for a referral to a pediatric GI doctor.

Adding cereal to the bottle never helped my baby at all. And, because I had to use a nipple with a bigger hole to keep it from clogging up, may have made him eat faster, making it worse.

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