Reflux in 6-Wk Old

my baby was born 9 weeks early and had a hernia and reflux, the nico said that placing him on his tummy or right side is the best for digestion. Also don't eat chocolate, it is very hard on thier stomach and make the reflux worse. My baby eventually grew out of it. Note that it takes a while for the prevacid to build up in thier body to be a constant help. I ended up holding by baby sitting up at night because it got so bad. Good luck.

I think reflux is too often treated with drugs rather than practicioners exploring what a baby is reacting to. We were told the same, but as soon as we had muscle testing done to learn what my little one was reacting to in my diet the reflux was absolutely non-existent. There are Natropathic doctors, Chiropractors, Homeopathic doctors and Cranial Sacral Bodyworkers who can provide this technique. It is sometimes called Applied Kinesiology and often just refered to as muscle testing. If you are in Boulder I can give specific referals. Best luck to you!

My girls had reflux and slept in their swing (rechargeable batteries are a must) for 3-4 months. I set it up outside my bedroom door with a nightlight in the hall and left my door open so I could see them at all times (I was a bit paranoid and overwatchful) They would also sleep buckled into their carseats, just not laying down.

have him sleep in his carseat. My son had reflux and at 2 weeks had to have surgery... He is 11 months old now and sometimes i still put him to sleep in his carseat

Hi A.,
My 6 week old also has severe reflux. She throws up what looks like buckets of milk after breastfeeding... and then she has painful colic periods at night. I feel your pain as to watching her go through it and wish I could do something about it. Like you, we tried Prevacid, Zantac, and are now on Axid. Nothing prevents the vomit, but maybe it's cutting down on the acid. Regardless, we give her a few feedings of Liqui-Lite (like Pedialite) because she wants to eat all the time and I've found that swaddling her, putting her in the car seat, and setting it on the dryer while a load is going is working to calm her down and get her to sleep. I don't know if you're having a problem with those things, but it's something!

it helps to have them sleep sitting up or at an angle. sorry i have to ask this but did your dr do an upper gi on your son? if not tell him you want one. if you want to know why ask and i will tell k.

Dont stress too much! Our little guy had that when he was a baby too, mow he is 19mnts old. Some things that we did to help was, we bought one of those mattress pads that elevate him while he is sleeping, also the formula that we used, when we used, was enfamil geltle ease, It made a world of difference. Prevacid really does work but be persistant, give at the same time each day (we did right before bed) but it will take awile for it to start working. Hang in there. I know it sucks but it will get better I promise.

My son, now 7 months has reflux as well. What helped was to keep him upright/legs straight after feedings, I would put him in the Bjorn.

Also, the doctor approved use of Mylanta in extreme instances. I did this twice and it worked almost instantly. Check with your doc, I don't remember his age, though he was real young.

My preemie son was diagnosed with reflux shortly after birth as well but my husband and I decided to not go the medication route and try other options first. With the support of our pediatrician, we began taking my son to the chiropractor and the severity of his reflux was cut in half. The pediatrician agreed that as long as he was gaining weight, we didn't need the medication.
I also breastfed until he was 8 months old and then he lost interrest and we tried several formulas of which Infamil AR worked the best. Good luck, and I hope this helps!

check out this web site. I have had great experiences with this Doctor and he always have insights for my little guy on herbs, etc. Prevacid seems so aggressive of a treatment. If he is still struggling with it, maybe he needs something more or different. Ya know, I read that babies usually have some reflux because their little valve is not fully developed and milk will come back up because of this. My little guy still spits up, sometimes a lot, and he is 5 months. I have learned that my allergies to wheat and dairy may have affected him. Since I have been cutting those out of my daily diet, my baby is spitting up less. I also know that laying a baby on his left side is suppose to help with reflux. Best of luck! www.utahnaturalmedicine.com

My son had severe acid reflux when he was a newborn (he's 2 1/2 now) and my doctor put him on zantac syrup and it was like a night and day difference!!! We could also give him some mylanta inbetween doses for outbreaks but as the zantac had more time to work we were able to stop the mylanta. It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear you baby in pain and also hard on you b/c if your babe is anything like mine was he's not sleeping well either. We brought the swing into our room and let him sleep in that until the zantac took hold b/c he wasn't lying completely flat which is the worst position for reflux. Good luck!!!

Hello A.,

Probiotics and plant based food enzymes work well for this. You can also, try rubbing his tummy clockwise using a drop of Lavender or Roman Chamomile essential oil mixed with lotion or massage oil. While you are rubbing his tummy you can gently rub downward at the base of his sternum to encourage the valve to go down vs. upwards.

Best of health,
R. www.myherblady.com

Hi, I am a mom of 8 and I had twins with that problem. I found that if the mom takes ginger capsules(herbal) and I gave my babies Kid-e-col(from the health food store)by Dr. Christophers Herb Shop...they were totally fine. The ginger is great for stomach distress and is literally a food so there are no side effects. It is good for you too as it helps with indigestion and gas. I took 4 at a time as two didn't do anything. Check out what ginger does for you online. It is like a miraculous thing for new mommies and babies. Doctors even recommend it for morning sickness.

My 5 month old has had acid reflux since the beginning also. The medicine will definitely help. A few other things our doctor suggested was to incline the crib/bassinet mattress so they are not sleeping flat, and also to make sure they are sitting up for 30 minutes after they eat (except at night, which is one reason for the mattress incline) in a bouncy seat or while holding them. She said not to put them in their car seat or swing for those 30 minutes because the way they sit in those puts pressure on their stomach. It will get better as he gets older, hang in there!

My son had reflux as well... I think what really worked for him was the Probiotics the naturopath recommended. We did try Prevacid and Zantac, but didn't notice too much of a difference. For sleeping, we used the carseat for a couple of months- just be sure to tilt it back some, as there have been some deaths when young babies are left in the carseat at too high of an angle. Their heads flop forward and they don't wake up to readjust it and their airway gets blocked. There only needs to be a 15-30 degree angle to help our kiddos. Hope this helps.

H.

Our daughter who is now 4 had terrible reflux, projectile vomit at times that made me think she might have pyloric stenosis. Some things that helped tremendously were for me to drink chamomile tea and eat the herb dill-both of which help with digestion. Also it is important to cut out foods that are irritating-ie coffee, dairy, etc. All babies are different. You should eat a very bland and basic diet and add in foods and see what irritates your baby. There is a product called gripe water that works wonders, (can get it in most pharmacies). Gripe Water is all natural-not sure about using prevacid on a 6 week old. Be patient as the reflux should ease up with diet changes and age. Good Luck

First thing, I am hoping the doctor told you that most boys get this. And they should grow out of it in 3-6 months or so. My son had sever reflux, we had him at the hospital with in his first week. The only thing that really helps is a pacifier. I know that some mom's with breastfeeding don't want to do this. But it keeps the sucking moting going which keeps the bile in his tummy. No bile, no burn. Also, hold him upright for about a hour after each meal. My husband and I learned how to sleep sitting up with Tyler propped on our chests so he would be upright all night.

I chose not to medicate. This was 5 years ago and the doc's at Children's weren't sure what it would do. Now they have doses small enough for them. With the Prevacid it should help.

Keep breathing, it's hard and tireless. My son only slept for twenty minutes at a time with this. But it does end. Again a pacifier really helps. Really helps. It's the only thing that calmed him and kept the reflux down.

Try smaller more frequent meals, have him in an uprifgt position when feeding, try a Podee bottle which has them sit up while eating

I loved your letter you seem to be in total baby love!! I know the feeling. Try giving him some water before or after the feeding thin out your milk a little not alot of water. At your local drug store health food store they have gas pills for infants also what are you eating maybe your diet doesn't aggree with him. He could have some food allergies happening check it out try changing your eating habits try eating more blan and reintroduce the stuff you like one thing at a time. Good luck !!! enjoy your new baby!!!

Nearly all newborns have some form of reflux (my son included). They are born with immature or weak lower esophageal sphincters (the muscle that closes off the stomach and keeps food in). Breast milk is not caustic and won't cause any discomfort coming back up. Depending on the amount of digestive acids in your son's stomach (babies don't produce nearly as much as adults because it takes very little to digest milk), he may experience discomfort if the acid comes up as well.

Medications like Prevacid and Nexium work to some degree. They lower your child's production of stomach acid. Since babies don't produce much to begin with, the medication may only help a little.

My husband and I chose not to medicate our son. We wanted to try other alternatives first before putting him on drugs. Many dosage instructions for very small babies are just guess work. Not much research is done to see how much of a medication infants actually metabolize.

My doctor and lactation nurse both said that slowing down feedings would help a lot, and it did. I breastfeed my son as well, and I would lay back (nearly flat on my back) to nurse him. I also stopped him every 5 minutes for burps. He didn't like getting pulled away from his food, but slowing down the feedings helped SO much.

Also, since he was diagnosed, we put him to sleep in his carseat (placed in his crib). The elevated angle really helped and I was uncomfortable laying him on his stomach...especially at night when I was asleep.

Hang in there and try whatever works for your family and lifestyle. The good news is that nearly all babies with reflux outgrow it sometime between 6-12 months. Good luck!

Poor little guy! I have reflux and I can't eat late at night. I drink water before bed and try to sleep elevated. Try to wait a half hour after he eats before you put him down (burp and hold him) for the night. Try not to eat greasy spicy food, so he won't feel the effects when you nurse him. It sounds like you're doing all you can, so just know that, and remember all babies cry, it's their survival tecnique! He'll be fine.

I have two suggestions. I had a baby like this - he's 4 now :) I wish I would have known back then, but taking him to the chiropracter would have made a HUGE difference. If you are in Colorado Springs, I'd recommend Dr. Ty Johnson at Chiroconnection. The second thing that I know of that helped was digestive enzymes. You can buy capsules at the health food store and empty partial capsules into the bottle your husband is feeding.

One of my children also had reflux as a newborn. The medicine helped, but there are other things you can do. I would try nursing an hour before you put him down (good luck if he falls asleep!). The best advice I got was to lie him on an angle. We found the car seat worked best for us...good angle and he was buckled in safely so I didn't worry about him slipping to the bottom of the crib. Plus, he was right next to our bed for night feedings. Our son wanted to be held all the time (because lying flat made the pain worse), so take turns holding your baby at night with your husband. Even a little sleep will make you more patient and comforting to your baby. But don't take it personally when he won't respond to you trying to comfort him...he is just not feeling well! He will out grow this eventually. Just remember it won't last forever. Keep nursing...that is the best and most perfect food to put on his tummy. You are doing great!

Dear A.,
I'm not sure if what my son had was the same as yours, because I don't think we used the word "reflux" for little children back in the 70's. My son would have a hard time keeping any liquid from coming back up and so we went to a specialist and found out that he had a larger trap door (I don't know the correct word for it) than normal, that is located at the base of his stomach, between the stomach and the beginning of the intestine. So, liquid would come up looking the same as it went down because it had not had time to settle and even start the digestion process. We were told it is normal for first born males, and he would grow into the size of the trap door. So for a time, we had to set him at a position half way between sitting and laying down to feed and also to sleep. He started to keep everything down without problems and really did grow out of it soon. We also tried to not let him drink 8 ounces at one time, but gave him 2-3 ounces and then occupied him with chat time, then 2-3 more ounces. Not letting him get too hungry, but letting the milk have time to slowly settle before we gave him more.
I apologize for not knowing the proper terminology for this, but if my explanation of his symptoms seems the same, then maybe some of this will help. One more thing we did, we laid him on a pillow at the very first until he was old enough that he would roll over, then no more pillow, but would just keep him at a 45 degree angle, and he seemed to sleep well.

A little about me is that I've had 7 children and now have 14 grandchildren. But even with that, you should keep an update to your doctor of how you take care of problems like this, because they are learning more and more stuff all the time, and even though some older remedies are good ones, be sure to listen if your doctor has better advise then mine.

See if you can elevate his crib on one end a couple of inches so his head is slightly higher. You don't want him sliding to the bottom but I think this is suppose to help. Ask your Dr..
S. M.

Call Heide North. She is a homeopathic specialist and can help right away. She is in the phone book under William North on Mesa.

My grandson is 18 months and had reflux very bad My daughter and soninlaw put a wedge under his mattress and that helped and also if you hold him upright for about 30 min. that sometimes help Our Noah was also on medication and it helped. but I also read in an article just 2 weeks ago if the baby is eating to much at a feeding that could also cause some proublems so try and hope something works for you

Our Dr. Recommended Mylanta--it has simethecone in it. We gave it to our baby starting at 5 wks. The dose is 1/4 teaspoon. It works better than anything else, and it gets rid of the gas.

My son had that as well. He was so amazing, truly the easeist baby ever! Then a couple weeks after bringing him home from the hospital he was always crying and just looked to be in pain! He spit up every time he was layed down so he and I slept in a chair so I could keep him upright for a week until we got into the doctor.
He was given prevacid but we had to go through about 3 other different kinds of reflux medicine to find the one that worked best for him. Once we did we saw results right away and he was like a whole other baby! Now he's almost one and has been off the medicine for about 5 months and is doing great!
I hope this helped!

T. B.
Team Leader
Bubble Goddess Bath Company
"Natural Bath Products For Your Inner Goddess"
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I wish I knew what to say but I have not heard of this in someone so young..did the doctor say how he could have this being an infant??

My son also had acid reflux at that age which caused him to stop breathing twice. Things to make him more comfortable set his bassenett or crib matress on an angle (less than 45 degrees, but not flat either), this helps gravity keep the acid down- he can also sleep in a swing or bouncy seat. Ask your Dr. when you can put a little baby cereal in his bottles (when you are not breastfeeding) the weight of the food also helps the acid. My son was almost 3 months old when we started to give him cereal. Make sure you always burp him well. Also watch his poop,when it is really runny or his tush gets really red, his acid is up. My son took zantac, so we had more felzability with his dosages. Hope this helps;).

I know you've had a lot of responses and I didn't have time to read all of them so I hope I don't repeat too much of what has been said.

You could try putting pressure on his tummy, it relieves a little of the pain sometimes and helps them to stop crying. My 9 week old son has reflux and my 2 1/2 year old daughter had it until she was 9 months, and this worked for both of them.

With my son I hold him face down with one hand on his tummy and the other holding his legs or somewhere to steady him. Sometimes it works to just hold him in that position, but often I have to get him in that position and then lift him up and down kind of like a weight lifting "shoulder press" type of action.

My daughter liked to be held face down on my arm with her head in the crook of my elbow. Then I kept her steady with my hand between her legs. She liked to be held in this position as I walked with her and often times bounced.

You might experiment with different ways of holding him and see if your son's pain is relieved by pressure on his tummy. It does get tiring, but I do it as long as I can. I would rather have a little pain for me if it means that my child is not crying in pain.

Dear A.,
My heart & prayers are with you and your family.
(It WILL get better!)

My suggestions to you to ease your little guy's pain are--hold him in as close to upright position as you can during feedings; keep him upright for at least 30 minutes after feedings; feed slowly and remove as much of the air out of the feeding as possible.

Try these and see how the work. God bless, A. Herman

Hi A.,

I've had 3 babies go through this, and by the third baby I knew that she had it by 2 weeks. I had to use medicine (like prevacid, and others with different babies) and the techniques noted by other moms. We found that sleeping upright was so important, so either in the bouncy chair, swing, or carseat, or if you can, what worked best for my babies was to lay belly to belly on mommy or daddy with parent sitting up. I learned how to sleep sitting up and all propped up with pillows to support my arms around the baby. During bad spells my babies prefer to be completely upright with legs straight - so I usually end up standing and holding them with a little jiggle, which for some reason seems to help. Also, others noted that laying baby on their left side was helpful, and I've noticed with baby #3 this is one of her comforting positions (though I never knew why). I sit with her head on my left arm (on the armrest of the rocker), with her facing out, her bottom on my lap with her legs stretched out, and gently stroke her back from shoulders all the way down. I usually apply gentle pressure on her belly with my left hand while I do this. This almost always helps. Also, we have had to use Mylanta or Maalox in addition to her medicines for bad spells. Just be sure to space it at least 20 mintutes or so after her medicine (or before) so that the medicine gets absorbed. I wanted to let you know that although most babies outgrow this by 6 months, none of mine did before age 1. Hang in there, it's so hard when you know he's in pain, and when you are all so exhausted. It will get better, and you will learn what works best for your little guy.

My son also has reflux and is now 5 months old he is still on the prevacid. The medicine helps a lot, what we found helps is to put his stomach on your knee or shoulder it helps get the gas out. Also we found he liked warm baths. I know it is hard to see our babies in pain but it will get better, the medicine does take about a week to take effect then he sould be better. I hope your son feels better soon.

A.,

I just went through this with my now 1-year old son. It's so tough. It's hard not to sleep. We tried sleeping him in his carseat and swing; we tried feeding him less but more often (which I think he liked because it soothed the pain in his throat, but not because he needed to eat, thus, he ate very little) we, too, went on prevacid and it did help, when he was awake. But to get him sleeping better, and to help him have a regular nap, our true life saver was the "A/R Pillow". It keeps them comfortable and upright, but you can put it right in their crib. I am so surprised more people don't know about it. I found it in desperation, one night, while looking at A/R support sites. It is a wedge that has a little diaper-like harness on it. You just secure your baby inside the adjustable harness. It secures onto the crib rails, so it stays in place.

No joking, the first night we used it, he finally slept through the night. (for at least 8 hours. we started it when he was about 8 weeks). There are other wedges out there, but we tried a few and preferred this one...the harness is the best and we were confident our baby wouldn't shift in the the night and was comfortable.

It takes a couple of weeks of being on the Prevacid for their little esophagus to heal up from all the acid (ouch). So, be patient, and especially if you use the wedge, expect things to get way better. They will still spit up more than most during the day, but the prevacid takes the acid way down, and then the a/r pillow helps them to be more vertical, so they aren't spitting up, coughing, and choking as they sleep. Plus, they are in their crib. So, when they outgrow the a/r around 6 mos. to a year., they are used to their crib and still good sleepers.

I hope this helps. Acid Reflux is truly awful for them, and hard on parents.

S.

My son had exactly the same thing and there is nothing that you can do. Just be sure to give him the prevacid, that will help a lot. They diagnosed my son with GERD(serious form of reflux). We tried all of the typical things that the doctor tells you to do, like keep him upright for a half hour after he eats and have him sleep on a wedge, don't play rough with him(blow on him belly etc.) Nothing helped. He is not 9 months and just growing out of it.

My daughter had acid reflux when she was the same age. With the drugs, her doctor said to nurse more often, and for shorter periods so the baby doesn't get too full, which can irritate the reflux. We were told to keep the baby elevated during meals and after for at least 30 minutes, and to have her sleep at an incline. We found it easiest to have her sleep in her bouncer (as she hated the bassinet).

We also found the by keeping the baby calm, it would help a lot.

All of these things worked for us. My baby outgrew the reflux after 3 1/2 months. I hope you son does too!

Best of luck to you!

Both of my children had reflux and it was so hard when they would just scream in pain. The medication does take some time to start working so they are not in pain. Also, make sure that your prescription is strong enough. The first doctor we saw for reflux prescribed a miniscule amount of medicine and our regular pediatrician more than doubled the dose, it wasn't until then that my daughter stopped screaming in pain. There are also different medicines and some work better for different children, so ask your doctor about changing it if it doesn't seem to work after about a week. Good luck!

I have heard that LEMONS are miracle workers for this. I have a friend with bad acid reflux and he puts lemons in everything. Obviously you don't want to feed the baby lemons, but since you are breastfeeding I am sure you are drinking alot of water, just add lemons (real lemons are better than the store bought juice, but both seem to work) to evey glass and to whatever else you can! If you can get organic these have the best effect as they are chemical free. Hope this helps!

My daughter also had reflux. Our doctor said that babies outgrow it by four months. We made it but (and without meds), when she told us that, I didn't think we would. There are some simple things that you can do to help. First of all, don't let the baby stare at the tv because they can't focus and it actually makes them sick to their stomachs. Also, try to put your baby in a quiet room to sleep during the day. Many couples tend to put their babies in a bassinet in the living room so that all of the visiting relatives can see them; however, it's loud and the babies don't rest (or digest their food)well. Also, put phone books or something under your child's mattress so that he is inclined when sleeping (you can buy wedges at babies r us but the books worked fine for us). Finally, feed your baby more often so that he doesn't eat so much in one sitting and pump for a few minutes before you feed him to take the edge off (but save that milk)!

my son was diaganosed with reflux at 2 weeks old. s many nights and nap times he slept in his car seat just to make him comfortable. if they lay flat it irrates it so badly!! they do have a reflux triangle thing that you use under the crib mattress to prop it up some, but i could never find one. the car seat worked for us. he is now 6 and 1/2 months old and doing great. he can now lay flat and he is starting to show signs he's growing out of it. good luck!!

I had two sons with reflux, I was told it was ok to put him to sleep on his stomach, if you are comfortable with doing that. If you are not, put him down and elevate his mattress. He is probably more uncomfortable flat on his back. I didn't realize how painful it relux could be until I developed it as an adult. Flat on your back is the worst. Also, you should probably watch what you eat. One of my kids turned out to have a milk allergy. Cut down on anything that would give you gas or heartburn. I noticed that what I ate that gave me heartburn while I was pregnant, was also what caused him to have more pain. You might want to try a warm water bottle on his tummy when he is really uncomfortable. Just rap it in a towel and make sure it is not hot. You can put him on your lap on his tummy also for a little comfort, this work well for me. Good luck!

My son had some reflux too. I heard that chiropracters can do an adjustment that helps. I was a bit reluctant but when a good friend of mine and her husband (who is a chiropracter) came to visit I asked him about it. He said there is an adjustment for that and I asked him to look at my son. We were in the front lawn of a resturant. He held my son and talked to him (my son was 6 months at the time). It looked like he massaged his back. I asked him if he did anything. He said he made an adjustment between the shoulders and behind the left ear. It took a day or two but after that we did not have the problems with reflux that we had before. Maybe every now and then there was some reflux but for the most part it was gone. The adjustment was in no way painful to my son, in fact it looked like they were playing. If my next kiddo has problems I'll probably go to the chiropracter sooner.

A.,

In raising 4 boys, I know what your up against and send my sympathy's! If you call Heidi North for something homeopathic, ask her about using a very mild dill seed tea. That's what I used way back in the 70's for my boys when I breastfed each of them. I would brew the tea and spoon about one teaspoon into them before feeding. They'd burp like little troopers when we finished. Gas would come through them as well so be forewarned. Ask her or your current Doctor and then see how it works. since it's jsut a mild herb tea I never had any bad feelings about giving it to the boys. Good Luck to you all with this!
Karen
PS 1 Teaspoon Dill Seed, bring to boil in one cup of water and then steep off the heat for about 5 minutes. Keep in the fridge, ready for feedings each time. Use one teaspoon of the liquid for the baby. Burp well after feeding and you should all feel better very soon!

I have had this happen to two of my children. Feed them less but more often. You can wiegh their formula down a little bit so it stays down better. I had my older son sleep in his car carrier for a while to help this problem. I would ask your doctor about allowing your child to sleep on their stomach. I know this helps drasticly, but due to the age I would ask first.

we thought my baby had reflex, and we put her on prevacid too, but it also did not work. so after a while she started throwing up, not just relexing and it turns out she has a stong sensitivity to milk and is now on a specialty formula. you can check with your doctor to make sure it is reflex, it may not be. i also had a friend whith a child who had true reflex, it was so bad that they put him on nutramagin also, and that seemed to work. don't feel bad if you don't get to breasfeed your child, it is not ALWAYS the best option for your baby and you. make a list of everything you are eating, which inturn is what your baby is eating, and that will help your doctor correctly diagnos him. and check out your family history with current babies and see if there are any allergies, that will also help your doctor know what is going on. good luck

My little man had reflux as well. The things that worked seemed to be breastfeeding frequently and for a shorted amount of time. Also, keeping him upright as long possible after a nursing session seemed to help too. I had a friend who's doctor recommended formula for their baby, I would suggest trying to change your own diet before switching to formula, breast is best!I know it seems like he'll keep spitting up forever but it passes. My boy is almost ten months and only a has a few burps here and there.

My little boy had reflux (no prevacid) and my daughter was diagnosed at 24 hours old. We had great luck with prevacid and from experience with our son. After feeding him if you sit him upright for 20-30 minutes (a pain I know, especially if he's sleeping and it's the middle of the night!) it really helps. Putting him in a car seat too soon after eating can upset him too. I know they tell us not to let a baby sleep on their tummy but there are a couple of exceptions one being if they have reflux. In the hospital they had my daughter sleep on her left side and that seemed to help. Both my kids have grew out of it. We had some long nights and a lot of spitting up but my 2 1/2 year is great and our 6 month old has started cereal and solids with no problem. Hang in there, it gets easier!

Every child is different, but Gripe Water really helped my son. He was never diagnosed with anything, but I could tell he refluxed a lot. Gripe Water you can find in Health food stores and it is a natural and safe. You may also try to really log what you eat and see it anything that you may consume might trigger the reflux since you are breastfeeding. Hope it helps it was a heaven sent for me.

My oldest daughter had really bad reflux, so I know what you are going through! My husband and I ended up taking turns sleeping with her on the recliner at night. The only way she could sleep comfortably as on her tummy, and at an incline. I didn't feel safe having her on her tummy in her cradle, plus it was hard to keep her at an incline in there.
If you don't want to do that, just try an incline. Let him sleep in his swing, bouncy seat, or car seat.
Good luck and I hope the prevacid helps!

I posted the below message yesterday to another mom with questions about reflux. Please forgive the "cut and paste" but it saves me some time :0)

My daughter had reflux issues similar to what you described until she was about 7 months old. Until she was about 4 months old she ate 2 ounces every 2 hours, even at night. It was a nightmare for me, but thankfully my mom could help at night so I could rest some. If she ate more than 2 ounces in mone sitting, she would throw half of it up within 15 minutes of eating. So just forget what the "standard" feeding schedules suggest your baby should be following and consider smaller amounts more often for a while.

Something else worth serious consideration is your son's sleeping position. My daughter's "bed" was her swing for the first 4 months of her life -- no kidding! We just draped a nice cozy blanket over the seat and set her in there -- not turned on, obviously, as that tends to stir up the tummy even more. Reflux babies sleep much better in a more upright positon rather than prone -- helps keep the acid from coming up quite so much.

When we transitioned her to a crib, we elevated one end of the mattress with pillows underneath; it helps to create a "bum bump" to prevent the baby from sliding down: roll up a blanket and create a "horseshoe" shaped support; underneath the sheet, position the horseshoe where you want your son's bum to rest (sheet should hold it in place).

There are a number of support websites that have more great info -- try this one for starters: http://www.refluxsupport.com/

Good luck and hang in there. About the time he starts sitting up well on his own the reflux problems are likely to decrease dramatically.

Hi. I have had 2 babies with reflux, the first severe and the second milder. With both, the thing that helped the most was keeping them upright after feedigs and even to sleep. I let both kids sleep in a bouncy chair or swing so that they wouldn't reflux as they slept. YOu can also roll up a towel to put under their matress or basinette to keep their head more upright.

My daughter, with the more severe reflux, had it until 6 months. She was on prevacid the whole time and it definitely helped a lot, so keep doing that. My son's reflux wasn't that bad. The doctor told us we could occasionally use Mylanta. It helped too, but he hated it. He outgrew the reflux after 2 months.

Good luck to you. It is hard having a baby who throws up all the time and who is in pain!

Have you tried a sleep wedge, or let him sleep in the swing or bouncy seat. A paci can really help keep stuff down after he eats. You can also wear him in a sling during the day, it helps alot to be close to mom, and to be able to smell her ect. It also might help to nurse him more often and shorter time, and hold him upright for 30 minutes after he eats. Good luck, it gets better.

S.

Hi! I have two grandsons that are each now 8 years old. They are only three weeks apart in age. Both suffered from reflux which is more common in boys than girls. One daughter opted to only give her son medicine that was prescribed by her pediatrician. The doctor told her that he would probably outgrow it by the time he was a year old and I'll be darned but he was almost a year old to the day when everything ceased. For the first year, in addition to the medication, she also gave him nutritional drinks to help maintain his weight as he vomited a lot due to the esophageal stricture also. My other daughter however chose to go with the surgery as her son quickly lost a whole diaper size. The surgery was successful and he never again had a problem. If you do not feel that you are getting good care and advice from your son's physician, please get a second opion. There are comforting solutions that will ease everyone. Congrats on you son that I just know is a beautiful little boy. These are trying times for all three of you. This too shall pass and I wish only happiness and good health for baby, mommie and daddy too. GOOD LUCK!
R.

My son was diagnosed with reflux at 6 weeks also. He is now 3 months old and has been on Prevacid for about 45 days, we saw an improvement right away but it took about 10 days until it really helped. Now he is a very happy baby. He never was one to spit up alot but he would cry and arch his back and stiffen his little body up. I read a book called "Colic Solved" which is really about babies with reflux, it answered allot of questions I had. I also put him to sleep in a crib that is inclined. Always keep his head higher that his feet, at an incline, and not flat on his back. I also exclusivly breastfeed and found that when I ate dairy it made him very uncomfortable and fussy so I cut out all dairy (no more ice cream =() but this helped allot. The good news is that they will outgrow this usually by about 4 months.