Severe Reflux

I second the motion of using a chiropractor. Don't be scared: go to someone who works on children. It's NOT the wack-and-crack stuff they use on adults. It's more like massage. My first boy had reflux, and I never took him in because I read about it too late. With my second boy I had him in the chiro when he was five days old, and taking pre/pro-biotics as well. I did not want to live through another reflux situation!

BTW, my reflux baby was also allergic to cow's milk, which excaserbated the problem. Good luck.

My son and daughter both had reflux and gas issues also. Our pediatrician gave us bottle of tummy soothers by gentle naturals, you can get it from Walgreens. It worked miracles, it was almost immediate. We never left without it. Now I have to say it hasn't worked so great with my daughter, but at this point anything is worth a try. The main ingredient is chamomile, which we were told by our nurse it great for the tummy also. We would make 4 oz of chamomile tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar (per our nurse) and both babies love it and helps soothe gas and constipation pains. My son was also on prevacid and my daughter was on another type of antacid. I hope it gets better for you and your little one.

I second the PP for Alimentum. Worked wonders for us. It also turned out my son was also allergic to regular formula and soy.

when our dd had really bad reflux (she was spitting up blood) we gave her zantac and burped her after every oz or 2 of formula and that seemed to help alot. Your son's seems to be way more severe than her was, but I highly recommend the frequent burping to help.

pre and probiotics might help. I have a vitamin with prebiotics for children. The probiotics .......possibly greek yogurt.

I know a doctor who has great success helping with reflux. I believe he would be able to help you. You might call his office and see if he would be willing to see you and your son (mentioning he is only 6 weeks old).

His name is Dr. Brouse and he is in Clackamas. His number is ###-###-####.

N.

I have also heard very good things about treating reflux in babies by going to the chiro. Also, adding probiotics to his formula might help. The other thing I would recommend is getting him a hazelwood necklace especially if he seems to be in pain. The hazelwood is alkaline which causes it to absorb acidity from the skin to balance out its Ph level. I know it sounds a bit odd but it works amazingly well for our daughter with eczema (which can also be caused by excess acidity) and it also worked wonders for my friend's baby who had reflux as an infant and was also on meds for it. She was actually able to wean him off his meds within 2 weeks of having him wear the necklace. We loved them so much we started our online business around them to spread the word. Check us out at www.hazelaid.com if you're interested. I do hope you find a solution that helps. It's awful watching our little ones suffer and feeling helpless :(

Hi there,
I just sent you a personal message but after I sent it I thought I should post on here too - just in hopes of helping out other reflux parents!

What 'cured' our baby girl was when a chiropractor recommended something called Premier Pink Sea Salt. It comes from Hawaii...it cost $13 for a huge bottle of it and our dd only gets 1/8tsp once or twice a day. It completely turned our baby girl around..she went from refusing to eat bottles and/or baby food...not being able to sleep, fussing, arching her back, etc...to sleeping all night - pain free, no longer arching her back or spitting up..happy go lucky baby! Truly a 'miracle' in our book because it was such a quick and easy turn around. I would recommend any parent look into chiropractic care as well as this pink sea salt - it truly was a life saver for our family!

God bless.

Chiropractor, his upper body is very tight and needs adjusted

Sometimes--not always--but sometimes, digestive and other issues can be treated with pediatric craniosacral therapy. This is performed by a pediatric chiropractor/craniosacral therapist. While some feel that this emergent practice is a bit "woo woo", we have taken our son to receive craniosacral therapy since he was two weeks old and we have had nothing but positive experiences. He is now 3 and goes every other month or so for adjustments. We believe this keeps his body's systems in balance, boosts immune support (he hardly ever gets really sick) and just generally helps to support his body's growing well.

One thing I have learned from reading chiropractic papers (for my own education) is that studies have been published in Europe which show an encouragingly high rate of success in treating colic in babies. Over 75% of the children in the study were relieved of colic symptoms over a short series of treatments. Colic is one of those mystery afflictions; some professionals treat it as GERD (or your reflux) and there's also been some research which points to an underdeveloped nervous system--(babies are either overstimulated and cry in response or understimulated and cry in order to create the stimulation they are needing.)

Of course, you should talk to a professional about this, because it may not be the case at all with your child. I'd suggest logging on to your favorite SeattleMama sort of site and asking other moms for referrals in your area. Or you might consider calling Dr. Elise Hewitt at Portland Chiropractic Group here in Portland to see if she has any referrals. I suggest this as A. she's our son's doc and B. She's a founding member of the association of pediatric chiropractors and pioneered the work here in Oregon.

I've already written a lot, so if you want more information, feel free to message me. Once again, I'm not saying this will be 100% effective for your son, but I've seen and heard, time and again, that this is a worthy option to consider. I've also worked with children for nearly 20 years and have seen a lot of medical issues with children, and I am very, very cautious about medical care for my own son, so I am not suggesting anything that I haven't done myself. Best wishes!

Have you tried peppermint? He might not even need to ingest it. Just keep a little bottle of oil handy..and dab a bit where he can smell it. If you hold him to feed him..put it on you..and it might just calm him. It makes my son burp. (Of course he is 10yrs old now and everything makes him burp lol) But it has a "tummy calming" affect I think. Also has a cooling affect which seems to help. My try a heating pad for him to lay on his belly on (of course put it under a blanket or something) but the heat might soothe. Might be he is simply lactose intolerant. Other soothing scents are Lavandar, and if its not too strong even Eucalyptus can do the trick. I use that when we are sick especially. I don't use Lavender personally because I am pretty allergic to that flower! He might also be teething. My daughter was born teething! But her teeth took forever to come in..she had two showing before three months. My son didn't get his first tooth until he was six months old. Hope something works! Poor guy..gas in babies is so hard because their little digestive systems are still "learning" to work right. Good Luck!

This sounds just like my daughter. I tried the Zantac and Prevacid (all they had 5 yrs ago) and they helped a bit, but not enough. My daughter learned to only take about 2-3 oz. at a time in order to feel better. She didn't grow out of it at a yr. like they said she should. I finally took her to a Naturopath and she put my daughter on Bifidus and Glutemine. Within a week she was doing much better and off of the prescription meds. (1/2 tsp Bifidus)

My son had the spit up type reflux from birth and be too was put on Bifidus (1/4 tsp at 2 wks old). I finger fed him the powdered form and within a week, he was so much better. He had less gas and less spit up issues.

Try a probiotic that is formulated for small children, Bifidus and Primadophilus are both good. Make sure you use a powdered form and either mix it in with food, milk, etc., or finger (or nipple) feed the powder until it is all gone. I found the finger feeding to be much easier than the nipple and my kids actually liked it and sucked it off of my finger.

My kids are now 5 and almost 3 and still take a chewable probiotic every day.

If you have any more questions or need a referral to a Naturopath in your area, I can call mine and try to get a referral for Seattle area. Feel free to contact me.

I couldn't believe how well the probiotic worked and how fast, especially after trying the prescriptions and only seeing a bit of help.
Good luck to you,
D.

You didn't mention which formula you are using, but if you aren't already, switch to soy. The proteins in cow's milk can be very difficult for babies with sensitive tummies to break down. If that doesn't help, you can try Nutramigen ( spelling?) which costs about as much as a house payment, but if your son is having terrible reflux, then its worth it.

Also, at 6 months, he is old enough to start eating. Giving my son rice cereal in his bottle really helped it to stay down. There was something about the heaviness of it that seemed to help him not be so miserable. Good luck !

You didn't mention what Formula you are using. I know most babies with reflux use Alumentem (not sure of spelling) and also add rice cereal to the bottles, to help with the reflux. Is he eating any solids? Also, have you tried gripe water, may parents swear by it and say it really helps with the stomach issues. Keep him elevated when he is eating. I had a baby at my daycare that we used to have to feed in his infant seat so he was comfortable and elevated while eating. Without any other info it is tough for me to give suggestions. Good luck I had two children with colic so I feel your pain!!!

Sorry you and your baby are going through this. have you tried propping him up at an angle, not only when he is feeding, but even when he is sleeping?
one of twins had this problem and the occupational therapist made a "wedge" for her and she would lie on that, and it seemed to help. Continue the Omperazol, I think it takes a little bit before you will see the results from that, so keep giving him the compounded solution. dont stop it at all. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Have you taken him to a GI pedi doctor or just his regular pedi. I would highly recommend seeing a specialists. We had to. We also found that the Prevacid solutabs worked very well (however, not covered by our insurance so $300/month was out of the question). We did do it for 2 months and it seemed to work. We are still fighting the battle though.