Eight Month Old with Terrible Reflux Refusing Bottle

HI!
Have you tried chiropractic care? It works wonders for babies with reflux!!! Let me know if you would like more information. Best of luck:)

Hey J.,

My daughter is 17 mths now and when she was smaller from the ages of 4 mths to 11 mths she had bad reflux. I'm not sure if you are breastfeeding but I breastfed our daughter. Through a bunch of trial and error with doctors we ended up finding out that she was allergic to cow's milk.. OH!! and I found out that I wasn't producing enough milk (was pregnant and didn't know it yet). So we switched her to soymilk and the reflux ended what seemed like overnight. At 1 y.o. we took her to a GI doc who confirmed the cow's milk allergy and then we took her to a allergist who found out she's also allergic to eggs.

I definitely understand what it's like dealing with doctors and having to wait for answers. I hate it!!! I'm into natural remedies etc. What I chose to do was take my daughter completely off of the reflux meds and switch her diet. I switched from BM to soy formula and when she turned 1 y.o. I switched to soymilk. I would suggest the same for you. Try a soy based formula if not already. Thickening the formula with cereal makes the reflux worst. Let me know if there are any improvements.

My daughter is 15 months and has been off the bottle for several months now due to the same things you have described. It was my experience that nothing but time is going to REALLY help. When your baby gets a bit older it will seem they simply grow out of it.

In the mean time I'm happy to share the things that helped us.

1) Dr. Browns Bottles. I can not stress how amazing these products are.

2) Earth's Best Organic Formula. Anything made by Enfamil must have come from the devil, because it made our lives hell on earth!

3) It really helped to burp after every ounce fed. At the end of the feeding I sat and held her upright for a solid hour. 1 hour, it gives time for most of the fluid to pass thru.

4) I also to my daughter and got her adjusted by my chiropractor when I got adjusted. She got adjusted once or twice a week and that helped too.

Good luck! My pediatrician told us that something like 70% of babies born now days have reflux. It's awful. Blessings to you and your little one! It's a long road but it will get better. Remember it's just time, time is the only thing that will REALLY help.

J.,

I had a 10 week premie twin with strong food aversion and reflux. I'll share some of the things we did with her, many of which I imagine your doctors have already recommended: elevate the head of the crib so the baby is never laying flat on his back, hold him for 30 minutes after he finishes his bottle so the food gets farther down his digestive tract and there is less cause for reflux, and many small meals - feeding as often as every 3 hours.

I think babies develop food aversion because they associate eating with the pain of the reflux. With my daughter, it took the entire first year of her life to overcome but now, at almost 4 yrs. old, she is a great eater! For that first year, it was tough and certain textures were almost impossible to get her to eat.

You have had some really good responses so far. Good luck with the GI dr. My son had reflux and was on Prevacid for about 11 months. I know it is tough but he will outgrow it.
Just a thought - do you think your son may have a sore throat/ear infection? My son refuses to drink when his throat is inflammed/ when he used to get ear infections, he would still eat though. Good luck.

Hi J.,
Oh I can relate. My reflux baby is 36 years old and I wish I had known then what I know now. I keep my 89 year old father’s system healthy and help kids of all ages. The underdeveloped digestive system is unable to make enough stomach acid to digest the food. Most young people and adults in this country have assaulted systems because of the lack of natural nutrients in our food– it’s the reason there is so much obesity and diabetes and you certainly want to prevent that. Now - to your infant - you need to add intestinal flora – probiotics (the good bacteria) and prebiotics to keep them growing – to start it working. My chiropractor has also had great results with reflux – your baby may have a slight or severe vertebral subluxation especially if you had a difficult delivery or Caesarean or your OB used forceps. You’ve seen the yogurt ads on TV but you need too much yogurt to get a system started. Most people give up on the routine before it works so they don’t qualify for the guarantee. Same principle applies but not safe for an infant. Also stay away from the chain health food stores – not enough standardization for an infant. I’ve found the best product with 5 billion cfu of a proprietary blend of the probiotics lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium lactis to support the upper GI tract and the prebiotic fructooligosaccarides to support the lower GI.

You need a referral to them to order it but it is very safe for babies and easy to give - dissolves in the milk or water from the open capsule. I would be more than happy to help you with that referral. Everything is shipped to you – 2-3 days at the most. The Shaklee products may be just as good – I just trust the research at this company more than any other company I’ve experienced. I know several Moms who have testimonies of great success. I can send you a pdf file through your regular email if you want to write me a private note and send me that address. My cell phone is ###-###-#### as I will be on the road today, Monday, but will accept your call if I’m in network. And I’m praying and crying with you until it’s fixed.

Mylanta and other milk of magnesia products are actually dangerous and are stopping the acid that digests the food. Amazing how the GI has been trained in anatomy and physiology for years and gets it backwards. And we “mere mothers” have the answers. If you report what you’re doing to the GI, however, he will understand why the problem miraculously went away. They’re so used to prescribing but get no perks from the natural food companies. Let me know when it's fixed so I can celebrate with you.

Adrienne has given you some great advice. Also, if you're going by vote here, I vote for you to call your pediatrician and ask his/her advice about calling the GI doctor for an earlier appointment. If your pediatrician thinks this should be seen earlier, you are more likely to get in earlier via a call from the pediatrician directly to the gastro MD than if you call yourself with the hopes that the gal who answers the phone will allow you to see the GI doctor earlier than the appointment you already have. The pediatrician should be able to evaluate the emergent status of what is happening now with your son. BTW, if you are not allowed by the front office people to talk directly to his pediatrician within 24 hours of calling there to discuss this -- be sure to find yourself another pediatrician asap.

Hi J....

My heart goes out to you. I have a 7mth old strictly breastfed that has reflux. Not to the point where he needs meds though. We had issues with him keeping his food down. My mom would always say "your milk is just no good for him anymore". She didn't understand the reflux. I found out that the smaller amount I would give him the better he would keep it down. Also I still use the infant nipple with 1 hold (avent). This works out great. Instead of getting 7-8oz when he takes a bottle, I only give him 4oz at a time and he seems pretty full. And he's not starving at all. He's 25+lbs. Yes I have a whopper. I also noticed the more still he is when he's done eating the more quickly his foods settles. i don;t know what it is with boys and the reflux but it's more common woth them then girls.

I pray this helps.
Good luck to you,
A.

J.,

Have you considered seeing a naturopath? Sounds like your little one is overmedicated and is feeling the effects. He is obviously in pain and is stressed. Chiropractic care is a good place to start. Aligning the spine helps the rest of the body function properly. What area are you in? I would seek out a more natural approach for your son. Meds only exacerbate the problem in the long run and are rarely a solution. Meds only deal with symptoms, not with fixing the root of the problem. There's a wonderful book called "Perfect Health for Kids" by Dr. John Douillard that would really benefit you and your son. It's a holistic approach to health and this book has been very helpful to our family.

Love
C.
www.LostRiverNaturals.com

J.,
My daughter who just turned one also was 6 weeks early, also had reflux, also had a special formula (yay we are now on whole milk) and at one point refused to suck a bottle. Her problem was her ears. She had an infection and the only symptom other than waking up crying every 3 hours was that she refused to suck. maybe that is a problem for your son too.
R.

Dear J.,
My son has had this terrible reflux as well except he refused to feed from the spoon. My doctor sent us to a feeding/speech therapist and this really helped. She did all sorts of things to help. You should ask your peds doctor. My son also had an upper GI done and a swallow test to make sure that when he ate, he's feed was going down correctly. There is a disorder where the food does not correctly go down the esophagus making feeding painful or uncomfortable. That is something I would just ask the GI doctor about. I know this is frustrating! There were times when I really wondered how and when my son was going to eat any! Just hung in there. My son is now ten months old and has just now started eating table food. It will get better, your seeking the right help.

J.,

I feel your pain. Both of my boys had severe colic. I took them to a doctor of osteopathy who cured them both quickly and safely without meds. I would try taking your boy to a pediatric DO in the area. I have not been to this one but I would give him a try (mine was in Chicago): http://www.osteopathic.org/dir_search_detail.cfm?AutoNum=.... DOs are able to address the cause not simply mask the problem with meds.

All the best,

A.

I have a friend who went through this with her son several years ago. It took many tests at the hospital to get things resolved. I don;t know her phone or email but will check with her mother and get back to you. she may have some very helpful specifics. S.

As a wellness consultant with Shaklee I have been very frustrated by this and not knowing what I could recomend to help parents and babies alike. I have a dear friend who is going through this with her second child. I got a forward from some coligues just a few weeks ago and my friend hasn't tried this approach yet but I hope she will. So anyway for what it is worth for you or anyone else out there...

In response to a question about a six month old baby experiencing acid reflux, this is what Nedra Sahr, clinical nutritionist has to say.

The baby's digestive system is 'under developed'. We recommend 1 optiflora pearl crushed- pick out the shards of the covering. Mix 1/8 tsp of the Optiflora powder with the powder from the pearl. Put it on mom's finger and let baby suck it off the finger, then nurse. Once a day is usually sufficient. Works well for colicky babies, acid reflux, building immunity et al. there are large scale studies that have been done in Wales with infants from birth to 9 months- giving each a dose of friendly probiotics each day. The increase in immunity has been impressive.

Nedra

These products metioned are Shaklee ones and you can see them in more detail on Shaklee's web site or mine. It is pro and pre biotics. This would be asidophilus and other such friendly bacteria that would be more likely that you have heard of since it is out there a lot in yogurt and chese products and might help you know what it is talking about.
I hope this might be of some benefit to you. I was excited to hear someone approach it from a naturitional point of view as I have not found anyone who has been able to get it under control totally with the meds.

Best wishes! Let me know if I can help you or if you have any quesitons.

K.

My son did this. He didn't throw up but he would spit up just a little for probably a couple of hours after you fed him. You had to keep a towel with you when you held him. Out of desperation, and without my pediatrician's knowledge, I switched him to 2% milk. He stopped. The next time I went to the pediatrician I confessed what I had done. To my surprise he wasn't upset with me. He suggested I add vitamins with iron to his diet just to be on the safe side.
He's a strong healthy 20 year old now. He was about the age of your baby when I did this.

My son had terrible reflux (as do his father and myself). Have you tried the "Podee?" It is a bottle that has a long tube from the nipple to the bottle, so he will be able to sit up while eating. With Reflux, lying down and eating will make your esophogus burn because everything comes right back up, so this was a lifesaver for my son!

I found a website that sells them so you can at least see what they look like:
http://www.bonnybabies.com/feedinghf.htm

We found them at Babies R Us for about $8 each.

Good luck.

My Identical twin girls had digestive tract issues as well when they were born and they are now ten. They were 8 weeks premature. I think it is quite common in premies. We got the girls predigested formula that solved the problems instantaneously. We used nutramegen (sp?) by Enfamil and kept them on it for the first year. You might want to give it a try and see if it helps if you haven't already. i had a couple of friends with similar situations that also had success with it. Good Luck!

If it's only been a few days, I don't think it's necessarily his stomach. It sounds like to me it's either his teeth or a possible ear infection. My sis had similar issues with her son at about the same age, she called it a bottle strike, and it turned out to be the beginnings of a cold, ear infection, and teething. If it is teething, you can try teething tablets or letting him chew on a cold (been in the fridge or freezer) washcloth, maybe some infant's tylenol. Since it has been a few days a quick check up with his ped won't hurt, either. Good luck!

Hi J.....I had a friend that her son was born with reflux like you are descibing and she told me that she took him to a Chiropractor and had the Chiro adjust him and it stopped the reflux....it took like 2 visits and it was cured. Not sure if it is something you would want to try but it won't hurt if it doesn't help.

I have the opposite of acid reflux. My muscle will tighten up and won't let anything pass in the esophagus to my stomach sometimes. The pain is unreal....and the chiropractor adjusting my back has minimized it. It hasn't cured it but it has certainly minimized the issues I was having.

Take care and I hope all gets better soon for you and your little guy.

D.

Some things that I tried with my daughter were, giving her only small amounts of food at a time, giving her Mylanta before feeding, give her some water before feeding formula. These things work if your child is taking a bottle or nursing but if he refuses then you have to look at other options. It could be a problem that the gastro or the pedi can find and fix but it could also just be your child expressing his independence. I understand that he is "only" 8 months old but he already has a will. As long as he is sitting he can eat anything that he can mush. He may also want to pick things up and eat by himself. You can start with puffs and cheerios for him to feed himself. Be very grateful that your reflux baby will eat from a spoon, this is often times a problem, as reflux causes problems with tongue thrust. Many children who see therapists see them for this issue. Tongue thrust and texture issues can many times be prevented if the proper techniques are used to teach an infant to eat. Good luck to you, this is a problem that most children out grow but it can really shape eating habits through out their lives. Please feel free to contact me if you would like some feeding tips or suggestions.
J.