Reflux babies check-in

kerriam26

I figured I'd check in with all you mommas with LOs who suffer from acid reflux. How are they doing? What meds are they on and what has or has not been working? My little guy is still suffering big time. He's been on Zantac for about 6 weeks and recently has seemed like he's in so much pain. Always arching his back and spitting up. My ped recommended feeding him more frequently and from both sides each feeding (I was previously only doing one side per feeding) and see how he does for a week. Well it's been three days and no change yet. We might try him on Aciphex (rabeprazole) - has anyone tried it before? I also just ordered a hazelwood necklace that will hopefully provide some relief. I'd love to hear how everyone else is handling it!

blairdavis99

My 100% FF LO takes .6 ml of Zantac twice per day & has for many weeks. She is a 17 wo preemie. I heard that the dosage could be increased as they get bigger but I haven't pushed the issue since it overall seems to be working well - thankfully. Only projectile vomits now are usually on the rare occasion that I overfeed her (I have twins so sometimes I am a bit distracted and miss cues). I hope you get some relief - it's incredibly hard to watch your LO in pain and not have a good, quick solution. Best of luck finding this!

chels272

My LO has been on Zantac since he was 5 days old. You are right-it is so heartbreaking to watch them arch their little backs in pain. We started at 1.5 mL per day. Our ped recently adjusted his total daily dosage to 2.5 mL bc he was spitting up every meal in curdled spit up....which meant he had to eat again...so it seemed like he was eating all day long. It took about 4 days, but he is doing so much better and keeping almost every meal down. He is 11 1/2 lbs and just needed his dosage increased. I found that giving 3 doses a day works better than just a dose in the morning or just morning & night. We still hold him up for 10 minutes after every meal and he sleeps in his rock n play. We struggle with tummy time bc 9 out of 10 times it causes him to spit up. Sometimes I get discouraged bc he has yet to STTN, but I know reflux babies usually take longer to hit milestones. We still have our bad days, but overall he is so much happier once we got him relief. I have a friend whose LO had to take Prilosec or Prevacid (I can't remember which one) in the morning and then Zantac throughout the day. Best of luck figuring out what works for your LO!

chels272

I forgot to say he was EBF but when I got my period my supply dropped and now I'm temporarily supplementing with Similac Sensitive premixed formula. While I am at work, my mom gives him bottles with 2/3 breastmilk and 1/3 formula and it is working great. Now if he can just get on a feeding schedule.

kremerj1

My LO has been in Zantac since 6 weeks old. He should have been on it sooner but we didn't know it was reflux. He is EBF and the dr said he had reflux and colic. Dr started him off twice a day, but I could tell when the Zantac would wear off so we went to 3 times. Since then it's been amazing! No colic and LO seems to be feeling great!

kerriam26

@kremerj1 when you went to 3x per day did you increase the dosage? Or simply divide the total amount you were giving him by 3 instead of 2?

kremerj1

We went from 1 ml x2 to 1.5 ml x3 slowly. When it was twice I could tell it was wearing off, now we don't have that. He doesn't wake up in the mornings because of it fading anymore, thankfully!

kt1244

Ugh my baby girl has gotten worse. She is at .5ML twice a day. She seems happy though. When will you all transition to a crib if you haven't already? I'm nervous to move her to a crib. She hardly ever spits up at night. It's weird. She spits up after every feeding throughout the day.

kerriam26

@kt1244 your LO is taking .5ml of Zantac? Have you gotten your dosage checked lately? Mine is on .8ML twice per day and he weighs 10lbs 4oz. And regarding the crib, he has been sleeping in it at night from day one in our room so I didn't have to transition him. Naps, however, tend to only be in my arms, carrier or stroller/car seat.

marijaa333

We're at 0.9ml 3x day.  Life is SO MUCH better now. It took us forever to diagnose reflux, because it's the silent type and he had a tongue tie -- we figured it was residual lack of practice with nursing since I had to pump exclusively for the first 6-7 weeks.

The stuff tastes pretty bad, though. I feel for him having to down it 3 times a day, but I offer a chaser right away.

shadykady

Our pediatrician has recommended Zantac; however, I opted to try adding rice cereal to her bottles first to see if it made a difference. Has the Zantac decreased the spit up or just the discomfort of spit up?

sclick81

Zantac didn't work for my LO so we moved up to Prilosec. And that seems to work really well plus we also switched her to an elemental formula because we also found out she has a milk intolerance. I use rice cereal as well. The doc said it should add some weight to the formula so more of it will stay down and not come back up. She still spits up but no where near what she used to. We have had her in the crib since the beginning of July. She was on the new medicine for about a month before we tried to put her in the crib. We started off with just nap time and then when she did ok, we moved her in there for overnight as well. But I do have a wedge under her mattress just in case. But she's do no really well and most of the time told over onto her stomach.

sclick81

I forgot to mention, we have the pharmacist add a grape flavor to her medicine to help with the taste and he also suggested to keep it refrigerated. She seems t have no problem taking it since we started doing that.