REflux in babies-- any survivors?

[luv2laf]

Anyone have a baby w/ reflux?

how do you get them to lie down? My DS struggles w/ spitting up thru his nose & terrible crying fits whenever he's horizontal ot even propped at an angle.

We are getting 3-4 hrs at a time sleeping at night, but only b/c one of us is in the recliner w/ him.

Zantac stared working,then stopped. DR said he outgrew his dosage. he weighs 10 lbs!

[shelby]

I have a friend who had her son sleep in his car seat. I also have another friend who propped her crib up. Ours you could raise one end, but if you can't do that, just put some pillows under the mattress. Make sure they are under the mattress so it is not a hazard to your baby. Are they going to increase the dosage? Good luck.

[shelleybarron]

We had lots of problems with reflux when our princess was a baby. PEdeiatritian tried to tell us she was just fussy & give her a pacifier. I had no intentions of starting her on a pacifier. DH is a dr so her read up on reflux & started her on Zantac. IT was a miracle drug for our daughter. He also read it was ok to give babies liquid Maalox. That also helped in between. It calmed her right down. She will be 2 next month & is still on Prevacid. I have tried to take her off of it & she wakes up screaming in the night. DH says he has had heartburn since he was a little kid as long as he can remember. Hope they increase the dosage for you. Do you have a swing? Racheal spent many nights in her swing when she was little.

Shelley

[LisaV]

hey luv-they sell something to put under a crib mattress so the baby sleeps on an incline. if you go to babiesrus.com and type in Safe Lift Deluxe Crib Wedge you will see it. HOpe they up your dosage for your little guy and you all can get some sleep!!!

[Stef]

My DS had reflux and it was horrible for the first 8 months or so. I felt at first that the doctors brushed me off as an over-anxious first time mom. By the time he was 10 weeks old I convinced our ped that something was not right. I had done my own research and suspected reflux. She agreed to try Zantac but only after an upper-GI to rule out an obstruction. The upper-GI confirmed "moderate" reflux. He too would spit up out his nose on occasion and was very fussy. We started on Zantac which didn't stop the spitting up, but at least he was a little more pleasant. He couldn't sleep in the swing (it made him spit up) but he did sleep in his car seat until he was 3-4 months old and looked uncomfortable. When also spent many a night sleeping in the recliner with him. When he finally moved to his crib at 5 months I used a plastic shoe box under one end of his bed. That kept one end elevated, although it always seemed that he would wiggle around the opposite way by morning.

We used Enfamil AR formula. It is pre-thickened with rice starch and did seem to stay down better. By the time he was 8 months we switched to regular formula (Good Start) and were able to take him off the Zantac. Funny, his dosage at 10 weeks was never adjusted (he would of been around 10 lbs then) the entire time (he was around 20 lbs at 8 mths). He is now 4 years old and you'd never know how miserable he was as a newborn. He is a happy kid, picky eater, but no lingering affects from the reflux.

I was so afraid DD (who is almost 2) would have the same issues, but she didn't. In fact, she hardly ever spit up and was one of the most content babies I've ever seen.

Good luck and hang in there. It seems like it will go on forever now, but looking back I hardly remember the sleepless nights and crying along side my son.

Stef

[Lisaw]

My ds also had reflux. He was also put on zantac. I also had to put rice cereal in his formula to thicken it up so he could keep it down. We propped up the one side of his crib which also helped.

My ds outgrew it once he was able to sit up well. Hopefully his dr will get the right dosage for him.


Lisa

[luv2laf]

Hi ladies-- thanks so much for your stories and encouragement.

I am able to type right now with 2 hands b/c I have him in his sling!! back is killing me though!!

The dr. did raise his dosage to 1ml. I gave it to him 3 x /day 2 days and today-- just twice. I'm wondering if 2 dosages a day is going to work. He did much better w/ the three dosages. He hasn't done well in his swing-- only tried it twice though and he was inconsolable at the time--but he did really well in a friend's yesterday. He spent like 30 mins in there with his paci. I was so impressed, and my back felt so good while I wasn't carrying him or wearing him.

He is spitting some of it out. No matter how hard I try to keep it all in his mouth, he manages to spit some of it out.

Why, honestly, can they not make the stuff not taste so bad when you're trying to give it to infants?

Hopefully if this higher dosage will work, maybe I can get him to sleep in his swing or maybe prop up his bed. I'm going to look up that incline thing at Babies r us too.

I am really hoping once he can sit up, this will start to resolve too.

I thought babies who are BF have no stomach issues most of the time, but I think / the dr's think too that his issue might be b/c he was premature and his digestive tract might have been still developing. Maybe that's why lots of babies have reflux.

I'm really glad my dr's had the answer and diagnosed him properly. I think I would have been a mad woman by 10 weeks. They had him diagnosed at the first appt I complained about the symptoms, and at the first appt that I followed up was when she said his dosage was too low. That makes me feel really good about this practice we chose.

thx again for the advice and encouragement. Lots of people who have babies without reflux want to judge and say I'm spoiling him and encourage me to let him cry it out. I'm nicely telling them to shove it.

MIL came this week and lectured about spoiling. She tried everything we've tried 100 times, and guess what-- didn't work for her either!! So she tucked her tail and went home with a healthy dose of empathy!! AFter a little while of her comments, I basically walked away and left him with her so she could see for herself... When he's feeling good, he is the best baby. He has such a cute personality, but Lord help us all when he's suffering. Poor thing. I'm so glad the dr's got it right too, b/c it started mostly during feeding (BF). I thought he was just being a twirp and didn't want to take the breast, but it got worse and was at other times besides feeding. The dr said if he was arching his back, he was in pain. So it really helped me deal with him much better once I knew he was in pain..

WEll-- thx again ladies-- keep the stories coming!! they are very encouraging!