Infant Reflux

My son had the same problem. We started by adding cereal to his formula and then adding meds. Worked like a charm. The cereal did make him get really fat, but once he started walking at 10-1/2mos he dropped the weight and outgrew the reflux.

My son had reflux. Once we added cereal in his bottle, it really helped. You have to be very careful to hold him upright when you are feeding him to avoid choking. It is scary at first and quite messy, but the cereal will make it much better probably. Hopefully you won't have to do medicine.

My daughter (now 3) was diagnosed with reflux at 9 weeks. She was put on prescription Prevacid (although I know of several friends'children who have been on Zanax). The medicine made a miraculous difference in her as she was not gaining any weight. It helped me as well since I was breastfeeding at the time and eating nothing but dry pasta and toast (no dairy, limited fruits (acid), limited veggies (gas), etc. She was on it until 9 months with a few periods of after that. Otherwise, she seemed to have completely grown out of it. Good luck.

My daughter went through that also. I breastfeed,so I knew it wasn't the formula. She eventually grew out of it. Our ped told us that sometimes the muscle that keeps the food down just isn't quite developed yet. I just kept feeding her and eventually she grew out of it. I hate that so many dr's are so quick to put little babies on meds and cereal. I'm not saying that your son doesn't have reflux, just a personal opinion of mine:-) I would think that as long as he's gaining weight and it's not causing him any discomfort, to just let it go. We always kept plenty of receiving blankets (we used them as burp rags)handy. It was a messy situation for awhile, but now she's just fine. She hardly ever spits up. You may want to try a slow flow nipple (if you haven't already). And make sure to burp really well, one half way through the bottle and again right after. He may just have some air bubbles in his tummy that's causing the food to come back up. Good luck to you!

My son was just past a couple months when I added cereal to his formula and it helped the barfing a ton! As some of the other moms have said, he grew out of it around 6 or 7 months old. Just like yours he gained weight fine, he would just puke up an alarming amount of formula (it seemed like a lot though the doc assured me it wasn't as bad as it looked) and I mean his little face would literally just erupt; it would come out of his nose and his mouth sometimes.
It does get better, I didn't want to put him on meds because he was happy and otherwise healthy, gaining weight just fine (he was chubby too)and I don't believe you should give children medication unless absolutely warranted (FDA studies do not require they test any medication on children or babies even though doctors are allowed to prescribe those drugs to them. PharmCo's do not test on anyone under 18 during experimental phases of drug research; it's too dangerous).
Anyhoo, hang in there and just keep lots of extra lap pads and towels around, get used to doing all the extra laundry for awhile. I promise it'll get better, at some point!

Hi P.,

When my son was 6 weeks old, I was told that my son had infant reflux. We tried the baby cereal, we tried feeding a little food at a time, we tried pretty much everything and nothing seemed to work. My doctor didn't appear to be concerned because my son was maintaining his weight. However, I couldn't take the vomiting anymore.

I had read about Pyloric stenosis (forceful vomiting) on the internet. This is a disorder in which the pylorus, the valve between the stomach and the small intestine, becomes so thick with muscle that it blocks the flow of food. I asked my doctor to send my son to the hospital for the test and guess what? He had Pyloric Stenosis. He went to Riley had minor surgery and he is great now.

I don't want to concern you but just wanted to give you my story with misdiagnosed infant reflux. If you don't find anything that helps with the vomiting, maybe ask your doctor about Pyloric Stenosis.

Hope this helps!

K.

Thisbrings back so many memories. Our daughter at 9 weeks was diagnosed with reflux. She was put on Prilosec. What they did not tell me and that I learned from reading the recommendations for adults was to take the Rx and wait 30 minutes before eating. Once we did this, plus put at tablespoon or two of baby cereal in her bottle it helped tremendously.

We did run into problems as she put on weight. The Rx dose is based on the weight of the child. If you have not been recently, that could also need adjusting.

When my daughter was ill from time to time we had to add the simply Thick to her formula and breast milk.

I have been a daycare provider for 12+ years and several children have had reflux. Has your pediatrician referred you to a G.I. doctor to have them check your little one out? If not, I would put the bug in his/her ear to do so.

My daughter is now 2 and still on Rx and doing wonderfully. 3 of the 6 children that I have had at the daycare are totally off the Rx. At our last check up with our G.I. specialist said that he will keep Samantha on her Rx at the same dose and only increase it if need be. But, if there is no need then as she grows she will gradually wean herself off. I sure hope that all this helps. If you need someone to talk to feel free to contact me. I wish you all the best. K. S.

My son had this also. I recommend Mylanta cherry supreme instead of the mint flavored prescription Zantac. The link below recommends 1/4 tsp. It worked for us until he out grew the problem at around 7 months old.

http://www.colichelp.com/forums/printthread.php?s=d991a2c...

We proped his crib up with books under the matress at one end and just kept tons of burp clothes, lap pads and upholstry covers out. Once you get his pain under control the spit up will still be a big problems for months. You can cope with the spit up as long as he's not hurting. I doubt it's a food allergy since he's gaining weight well.

Our son spent a few nights in his carseat and swing but generally he was more comfortable in his bed. I always kept a lap pad under his head and had to change it frequently.

We never tried the cereal idea because I felt like it would compromise his nutrition.

Don't let the doctor's drag you through the ringer for a simple problem. This is a very common in baby boys and not a medical crisis.

E.

Hi P.. We had the same problem with our daughter. Her dr. ended up putting her on prescription strength zantac. she was on zantac 15 mg and it worked wonders! She was so much happier once she stopped throwing up all the time. I have noticed though even now, she is 3 years old, she will have some burps that smell acidy. Good luck and I hope your dr. can get the problem taken care of!

S.

One of my twin boys had reflux. It was horrible, I just felt so bad for him, so I know what you're going through. I did add cereal to his bottles for quite some time. That seemed to help, but only a little bit. I just couldn't stand to watch him go through it anymore, so I looked to prescription. We tried several before finding one that helped. We had the most luck with Prilosec. It took a smaller amount than the rest, and it seemed to work the best. He still fountained out his formula every once in awhile, but it was not every time like before. And, he eventually grew out of it, sooner than we thought. There is hope!!!!! Ask your pediatrician about it, mine was very helpful with the issue.

Hi P.,
My daughter did not throw up but had all the other symptoms that go with GERD, I don't know if it's a bit different or what but she had stopped eating, would wake up all the time, had bad breath, her throat and esophagus where swollen and irritated... She was put on prevacid and she's doing better. I read up on it and saw that throwing up was one of the main side effects. my daughter spit up a lot the first months but not much more. It still concerns me sometimes bc I notice some side effects again - she's 10 mmonths now...

I feel your pain my first one was a spitter. We propped him up for about 20 minutes after each bottle and it helped a little. He mainly just grew out of it, it got much better by the time he was 5-6 mos. old.

Hello!
Well, I hate to say it, but my daughter had the same problem and it lasted for 6 months! I was breast feeding and the doctor thought it best to continue that since she, too, was gaining weight at a healthy rate. We tried gas drops & it made no difference. When she would spit up it would look like a lot, but since she was still gaining weight, we realized it wasn't as much as it appeared.

After 6 months, it just seemed to stop! But, it was a long 6 months! Lots of bibs, outfit changes for both of us and me not passing her around for everyone to hold, because I was afraid she would erupt on everyone! We had her sleep in a bouncey chair most of the time, too, just to keep her upright. Hope yours doesn't last as long as ours did, but now she is 2 and it is just a memory! She is healthy & happy!

I have a 6 month old son and he had reflux as a newborn. And at first I wasn't sure if that was it or not but then I decided to do some research on the internet and the symptoms sounded the same. He was and is a breatfed baby and as soon as I would finish nursing him he would projectile vomit and begin to scream. He also constantly had the hiccups and was very gassy. I tried all of the sitting positions and nothing worked. His pediatrician suggested a little milk and cereal mixed together to keep something in his stomach and put him on a medication called Zantac. He was like a new baby after that. He finally stopped crying. He never had any trouble gaining weight, but he hadn't stopped crying since he was born. We started the cereal when he was three wks old and the medicine when he was about 6 wks old. If you decide to give hime cereal there is something called an Infafeeder. It ia a kind of bottle with a plunger at the bottom. It was the best invention ever. He finally has outgrown the problem now. It took him about three months to get better and now he is the happiest little man ever. Good luck.

Hi P., I wish i knew about this web sight when my son was going threw this. It is awful and i feel for you, I was a first time mom & the little guy had colic& reflux he didnt sleep good until he was three. They tried him on every formula possible & cereal nothing worked. They tested his esophogus every thing was fine,I finally found this formula that was expensive, It was liquid not powder, I wish i could remember the name it was wonderful, You would think i would not forget it but it was in a white can with purple lettering I cannot remember the name. I took him to a specialist & they put him on Zantac & In about 6 months he was great!!! He is 6years old now & will be in the first grade, he is perfect.It is hard,but hang in there it will be ok. Take care I hope it helped. If I can find out the name of the formula or if they still sell it i will let you know.T.

We dealt with something like this, but the doctor never seemed too concerned, it wasn't every bottle but most for about a two month period....I guess we just didn't worry as long as Grant continued to gain weight...I would say it slowed down once we added rice at three months....I guess I can't really give you any advice, because we kinda just accepted it and went on with our lives and now he is fine and all, but ya as long as he's healrhy and all I wouldn't worry too much

Hi there! My son showed signs of reflux VERY early on and by the time he was 5 weeks he was on Zantac and sleeping in his car seat every night. Both helped a lot!
DON'T ADD CEREAL!! No matter what anyone tells you, research shows that babies' stomachs are not ready to handle it until at least 4 months, and many need to wait until 5 and 6 months. Any doc who suggests cereal as an option for anything (some say it helps babies sleep through the night as well - also proven wrong) is going against their governing board the AAP and the WHO.
Feel free to PM me for more info. I know it's hard, we went through the same stuff, if I fed him too much, Eli would just puke it all back up and I would have to start all over. I learned very early on to only nurse on one side at a time and to never use the breast as a pacifier (which was hard since he wouldn't take a pacifier until he was 3 months!)
Good Luck and hang in there!
~S.

My sister's son had this so bad. This has been quite a long time ago but it was just something he had to go through. It lasted for about 3 mos or so but then gradually stopped. He was gaining weight so at that time the doctors didn't really do anything. She tried different formulas, goats milk and so on, nothing helped.
He was always above normal in the weight class and now is a big handsome boy.
I wish there was something else to share with you. I am sure there is something now that the doctors prescribe.
Good luck with this. Just know that they do outgrow this if you are worried about meds.
C.

Hi! My son had reflux when he was just about a month old. What ended up helping was
*raise the head of crib to make a slight increase for his head (we actually raised the crib instead of using a wedge, he would scoot off the wedge)
*my son was eventually put on reflux medicine, which helped
*changed his formula to no iron formula
*put a little cereal in his formula to help thicken, this made a huge difference
*and we would hold him sitting upright for a while after eating, burp him alot in between every couple ounces.

Good luck, a combination of all these things helped my son and I hope they help yours.

HI P.

When my son was a infant about the age of your son he was having the same problems and he also had a slight weeze with it and for the longest time they were treating it like asthma only to find out that he had really bad reflux. So he was put on a prescription I think it was zantac I can't quite remember but it was the best thing that we ever did the problem was better after the first few doses and after he was on it for a few months there was no more problems at all and by the time he was 18 months he had grown out of it and no longer needs any medicine to this day and he's now 5. I would ask to try a prescription to see if it helps.

Good luck
A.

I hate to tell you this because I know how frustrating it can be, but some kids just spit up a lot. We went through the same thing with my daughter (and a friend of mine when through the same thing with her son). She spit up constantly. It started at the end of a bottle and continued until the next feeding time. We bought a wedge for her crib, kept her at a 30 degree angle almost all the time, gave her acid reflux meds, switched formulas, started her on cereal early...everything you have tried or are about to try and nothing stopped it. Just like your son it didn't seem to bother her. One thing you didn't mention was trying lactose free formula which is different from soy formula. Nothing worked for my daughter. I just had to wait until she grew out of it which was around 11 months, but my friend's son ended up being lactose intolerant. You might try that.

My daughter is almost 5 months now. She also has reflux. Her doctor has her on 2 different types of rx's. One for the reflux and one for her throat. It helps a little but she still has her days when she shoots like a fountain. I don't think there is a cure for it. I do believe they will grow out of it though. She is on cereal now and it doesn't stop it. I think it is just something they will have to grow out of. If you find something out though, I would love to know. I feel bad when it comes out of her nose too.

thicking the formula with cereal helps. it worked with my little boy. we just keep adding a teaspoon of cereal to his formula until he didn't spit up anymore. so usually the thicker the better.

Hello maam ..my name is M.(mom of 3)..my daughter had the same problem and her doctor prescribed her some meds....which were regland and zantac.They also told me to put rice cereal in her bottle and to do smaller feedings.After about a month or so of these medications and cereal she finally got better.So maybe you could ask your doctor about these remidies for your little one.Believe me I understand how you feel.The first few months of my daughters life I didnt think I was ever gonna stop doing laundry.When she was born I tried to tell my nurse that something was wrong with my baby because immediatly after every feeding she would vomit like the exorcist..lol but the nurse informed me that I was wrong and my daughter was fine.It was at her 6wk check up that her doctor told me she was indeed alergic to the milk and she was switched to soy....but what do us "moms" know!!!!I mean that nurse made me feel like an idiot.When I knew I was right all along....so anyway I hope this info helps you alittle.Good luck and have a wonderful day!!! M.

With my daughter she spit up her formula a lot when she was little so we switched to Enfamil A.R.. It has the rice in it so it's a little thicker and she didn't spit up as much. Have you tried that one yet? We tried her on soy milk before this one and it didn't make any difference with her either. The thicker it is the better it stayed down. Plus we give her (she's 7 months old) 5 ounce bottles. She tends to spit up more if she has more than that only because her stomach can't handle that much more than 5 or 6 ounces. Hope you find something that works!

Hi there! My middle daughter, who is now 7, had what doc's termed "projectile vomiting", due to what my pediatrician said was an immature "flap" over the esophogus. She said alot of infants are prone to the projectile vomiting until the "flap" matures and is big enough and strong enough to do it's job correctly...and that is to keep the esophogus covered after the food has been swallowed, so it'll stay in the stomach. Like your son, my daughter was otherwise happy and healthy, and thrived. Did'nt ever lose weight over it. I just had to wait until the problem corrected itself, and it did! When i hear Reflux, i think of acid reflux, and most babies are too young to experience that. I know it does occur, but it's not very common. I truly believe your son has the same minor problem my daughter did-immature esophageal flap. That explains why the switching formula, and propping him up methods you've tried did'nt work! Ask your pediatrician about the likelihood of this, before you put him on medicine! It's a harmless thing! Good luck! P.S. I breastfed, and it did'nt matter-bottle or breast, the vomiting happened because of the problem, not their nutrients! :)

my son Brody used to have reflux real bad as a baby. he'd be just fine & next thing you know it was like a geyser... we did switch him to soy since he was lactose intolerant but that didn't affect the reflux much. I put a couple flakes of cereal in his formula, rice if I remember right but its been 5 yrs now. that helped some but mainly I just think it was time that did the trick. it just gradually got better after he hit 8 or 9 months so by the time he was a year he was pretty much done.

My son just went through this six months ago. I gave him Mylanta Supreme after each bottle for a couple of days. It worked really well but is not a long term solution. We ended up putting him on Zantac for about 4 months. By the time he was 5 months old, it was mostly gone and were able to take him off the medication. Also, after trying a ton of formula's, I switch to Enfamils low iron and added a teaspoon of cereal. (He would spit up everythig else including the A.R. and got super constipated. My pediatrician thought it was odd, but said everychild is different.) It made a world of differce. Evedently he had a low iron tollerance that got worse when I switch from Breast to Bottle. I also propped his crib mattress up about 6 inches to help him sleep better. He did'nt like being in his swing either till we switched to one that swang from side to side instead of front to back. Many a'nights he slept in his swing when nothing else worked. Good luck and remember most babies outgrow it by 6 months and almost all do by one year.

YES, YES and more YES! My daughter is 6 months old and has it really bad! She isn't fussy at all either...but man - when she was little she would projectile 5 feet or more!

She is now on Reglan which really helped - and Lactose Free formula...not Soy - but lactose free...I also put cereal in every bottle. My pediatrician had me start out with 1 teaspoon per oz. of formula. So your son doesn't get constipated - I recommend using the mixed cereal. I think it's rice and grains.

Good luck! We still struggle - but it's a lot better! :)

My son, who is now 4 years old, has had reflux since he was born. He would violently spit up all the time. At two weeks old, he quit breathing on us because of how much reflux he was having. We had a Ph test done on him, which didn't really reveal anything. They sent us home with a prescription for Prilosec and told me to keep breastfeeding. They said to put a pillow under his mattress to prop him up while he slept. As the weeks went on, it got worse. He would wake up gasping for air in the middle of the night, screaming at the top of his lungs. He would draw his legs up and act like he was in terrible pain. We went to a very excellent GI specialist and finally they put him on Zantac and Prilosec both. This seemed to help his pain, but not the gasping for air. Every time he bent over, the food would come right back up. I had to eventually stop breastfeeding, so we switched to GoodStart Supreme w/ DHA and ARA. ( I would try this if you haven't. It is made for babies with reflux.) We then got sent to a Pulmanologist and he was given a sleep study. This didn't reveal much either, considering my son didn't sleep hardly at all. They discovered my son had asthma and was aspirating on his stomach acid when he through up. Anyways to make a long story a bit shorter, we ended up at the ENT for ear tubes and to have his tonsils taken out. He is finally outgrowing reflux, so we've cut his meds back. I just had a baby four weeks ago and I believe she has reflux as well. Just keep talking to the dr. They aren't around the baby most of the time, you are. You are the one that knows when something isn't right. I had to scream long enough and loud enough to the right person to get my son help, but in the end it all worked out. Best of luck.

Oh my god you just described my daughter when she was an infant. We went through 8 differant kinds of formula, before we found out she was Lactose intolerant. She was allergic to dairy products and eggs when she was 11 months old. It was sooo bad that my couch was stained white on one end and there was a white stain trail from the living room going to the kitchen sink. She did out grow these allergies around 18 months old. We put her on milk that was Lactose Free. I had to cook with that if it needed milk or butter and she was going to eat it. But what a differance that made. She was such a happier baby. Have you tried a formula that is Lactose Free. Not Soy, they are not the same. We went through that. I would like to know if this works for you. Good Luck.