Acid Reflux sufferers come in...or anyone :-)

NikkiD522

So I started writing out LOs whole life story about his AR, but then I just deleted it all. I'm exhausted trying to find a solution to keep food down.. What works one day doesn't another, some days he'll spit up once, other days 20 times no rhyme or reason. At this point I'm not even sure it is acid reflux. We have another weight check tomorrow and I'm nervous and frustrated. I'm planning to ask about a change in his medicine and possibly seeing a specialist. But.. If anyone else has any advice or going through anything similar, I'd love to hear I'm not alone or any successes you've had.

rfrazier611

Has he been gaining weight?  My kid barfs allllllll the time but he's been gaining weight right along so we just accept that it happens and there's not much we can do. 

LEMSA

I hope they have considered and rules out pyloric stenosis.

I know neonates can be given a substance to add to their milk to thicken it. Not sure the name. Might ask about it.

Lorjo2022

DS has recently just started spitting up a lot more (within the last week) so I'm sorry, I don't have any advice, but I'm in the same boat. LO has his 4 mo shots tomorrow so I'm going to ask then.

NikkiD522

@rfrazier611 at his 4 month checkup he fell off the growth chart so that's why we're going back tomorrow for another weight check. He's gaining, but very slowly.

@lemsa I've never heard of pyloric stenosis... Off to google... Oh and we are on the thicker AR formula but he breastfeeds too and the AR formula hasn't helped all that much.. I may ask about the gelatin (I think that's what it is) stuff to add.

@lorjo2022 oh no! Hopefully it's just a phase!? Sending non spit up vibes your way

KatyKatMeowz

I have no advice, just hugs. Mine has reflux too, although he's been gradually spitting up less over time. Our ped,did bring up pyloric stenosis early on, but he never had the sort of projectile vomiting associated with that. I think (based on what we were told) if that was Mason's problem it likely would have been noticed by now, but it can't hurt to ask. I'm no expert anyway.

NikkiD522

Thanks @katykatmeowz .. Glad to hear your LO is improving! I would hope the ped would have considered it at least at the visit when I complained so much about his spitting, anyhow, I'll definitely at least ask.. It can't hurt!

NikkiD522

Thanks @katies7 - it definitely sounds like we have similar situations. And it doesn't sound strange that she spits up more formula.. LO does the same! I just figured I was crazy lol. The solids have helped.. But I'm afraid to add to much and then him not get enough milk/formula.. Although, he's spitting up a lot of it anyhow, so I guess that's moot point. Solids, medication and specialist are on my list. Hoping and praying for your LO To have a good appt this Friday!!

rab2006

Both of my girls had/have AR. Both ended up on Prilosec. For us it's been a matter of finding the magic mix. Our oldest it was Prilosec, alimentum formula w/ rice cereal mixed in. This time around we realized dd2 has a milk allergy. Just never understood that's part of the prob with dd1. Dd2 is more sensitive in that she can't tolerate soy either. Is look into allergies along with AR.

MitsB707

No advice, but I hope they can figure it out!

Carnation77

The only advice I can think of is to ask them to do an ultrasound to make sure everything looks like it's moving correctly in there.  DS had projectile vomiting a lot when he was about 5 weeks old and they did an ultrasound to rule out anatomical problems.

Is he possibly allergic to something?  DS is sensitive to milk so I had to cut out dairy and it made a huge difference.  Didn't completely get rid of the spit up but definitely helped.   I assume your LO is also on an antacid like Zantac?

NikkiD522

@carnation77 yes he's on Zantac but I may ask about changing to Prilosec or addressing any type of allergies like @rab2006 mentioned.. We had him on alimentum earlier on and didn't see a change and we've also been adding cereal to his bottles this past month with not as much change. I'll definitely be asking about all of the above - I feel like he's gained.. But I thought he did at his last appt too and not so much :-( thanks for the advice! And thanks @maritza707 ! I hope so too!!

NikkiD522

I might not be on TB much today bc I'll be busy doing my happy dance bc LO gained 1 and a half pounds!!!!!!! Ahhhh!!! Guess whatever we were doing is working... Now.. What exactly was that? Lol

rab2006

Also be sure to check the cereal u use. We found that most brands have a lot of add ins like soy. Beech-nut is soy free so if allergies are to play, that can make a difference. We tried gerber first and dd2 got worse. We then saw soy was in it. Our ped said soy can affect AR babies more than others.

NikkiD522

Thank you @rab2006 !!

carrotcake06

@nikkid522 yay that's awesome!! Way to go mama!!

As far as cereal, I know that eartg's best doesn't contain any hidden ingredients.

kristykay123

We suffer for the same thing...most days are extremely spitty but on a rare occasion she will barely spit up at all and it's like some magical reflux unicorn cured her for the day lol.  I'm sure you're probably already doing most of this but here's what we do:

- Bottle feed in an upright position

- burp as much as possible

- keep upright almost 100% of the day.  As soon as we lay her down for a diaper change, she spits up.  It's ridic.  But I have heard they have inclined changing pads, just haven't bought one.

- depending upon how bad it is, which it sounds bad for you, you may want to add rice cereal to each bottle.  We add 1 teaspoon per every 2 ounces and the dr actually just told us to increase it even more because she is still a fountain.

- sleep in a RNP or incline your crib

- dr told us to feed as much solids as possible because it stays down better.  We also mix rice in that.

- ask for pepcid.  She was on prevacid which helped with the pain but her GI dr said pepcid is more of an acid reducer than just a pain blocker.

- bibs and burp cloths are your friend

 

 

NikkiD522

thanks for the tips @kristykay123 ! I might look into inclining the changing pad...  and you're right - the solids definitely help! 

KatyKatMeowz

Okay, so here's another question (if you don't mind my piggybacking): what sort of foods are you guys doing aside from rice cereal? Are there some that seems to help more vs. Cause problems? William's not a big sputter anymore, but the trade off is he arches his back and cries sometimes. Zantac helps a bit, but we've started solids to see if that helps more. So far bananas and rice cereal helped but he was constipated, and sweet potatoes did nothing.

NikkiD522

We did avocado and carrots so far. I am trying to stay away from some of the more acidic foods (for some reason apples stick out), but I am trying to find the site where I found a list for reflux.. I shall return when I find it...

Oh we did sweet potatoes and banana too :-) and I'm gonna do squash or peas next.. I think..

kristykay123

KatyKatMeowz said:

Okay, so here's another question (if you don't mind my piggybacking): what sort of foods are you guys doing aside from rice cereal? Are there some that seems to help more vs. Cause problems? William's not a big sputter anymore, but the trade off is he arches his back and cries sometimes. Zantac helps a bit, but we've started solids to see if that helps more. So far bananas and rice cereal helped but he was constipated, and sweet potatoes did nothing.

Have you tried the oatmeal kind instead of rice?  I bought some just in case because the dr said it's best to swap it out since that doesn't make them as backed up.

I haven't noticed a huge difference in different types of jar food.  I just add rice to it....I think they're gonna spit up either way.  I'm terrified of adding too much rice and having choking issues. But the only difference I've seen is less spit up with jar food vs bottles. 

It's hard to see them in pain   You may also want to ask about a different medicine.  It was all trial and error for us with meds and formula.  Zantac didn't work for us but prevacid did. 

KatyKatMeowz

@kristykay123 I hadn't thought to try oatmeal instead of rice, I'll give that a shot! I'll ask about the meds at our appointment next week, too.

NikkiD522

KatyKatMeowz said:

@kristykay123 I hadn't thought to try oatmeal instead of rice, I'll give that a shot! I'll ask about the meds at our appointment next week, too.

We switched to oatmeal as well to avoid constipation

kristykay123

NikkiD522 said:

KatyKatMeowz said:

@kristykay123 I hadn't thought to try oatmeal instead of rice, I'll give that a shot! I'll ask about the meds at our appointment next week, too.

We switched to oatmeal as well to avoid constipation

Here's what I'm wondering....do you think it tastes different to your baby?  I haven't done it yet but since it's different, wouldn't it taste different?  It may not matter bu I'm curious.

raesue22

NikkiD522 said:

We did avocado and carrots so far. I am trying to stay away from some of the more acidic foods (for some reason apples stick out), but I am trying to find the site where I found a list for reflux.. I shall return when I find it... Oh we did sweet potatoes and banana too :-) and I'm gonna do squash or peas next.. I think..

Same! We've done avocado and sweet potato. It seems to help him a little. Keep us updated on your LO's progress with the reflux!