Reflux - remedies

cocojack10

I think Alex has reflux.  He's had congestion for almost a month now.  We use the humidifier and saline drops, but that hasn't helped any.  He doesn't spit up much, but does arch his back a lot, which a doctor told me is a sign of reflux.  He is also a bad burper (but can be unrelated).  Anyway, long story short, we were in ER with him on Thursday (all is fine, just a scare) and doctor was very quick to prescribe medicine for the reflux, which I wasn't a fan of.  

At the end of the day, if he needs to take medicine, fine, but personally I'd like to try a more natural remedy before jumping the gun, especially that his doesn't seem to be an extreme case (no uncontrollable crying, only sometimes seems to be uncomfortable).

If your baby had reflux, what did you do to remedy?  If you ended up with medicine, which one?

Thanks 

Albah

I've dealt with reflux with both of my sons but it's been worse this time around with Baby E. Elevating head of the crib can help some. Not sure about natural remedies but some docs recommend to put cereal in the bottle to thicken feedings but i would run that by your pedi. make sure you burp him well and keep him elevated for a bit after feedings. Baby E has been taking Prevacid 15 mg in the morning and I've had to give him half a tablet in evenings as well. Giving it 20-30 min before the feeding makes it most effective. The pedi GI also told me I could give him some Maalox during the day if I think he still needs it but havent had to so far.

 

Another thing to consider...are you still BFing? Because it might not be reflux or maybe it can be a combo with some intolerance to foods you may be eating and baby is reacting to it. they say that congestion or spit up that looks egg white can be this - common foods  that can do this are dairy products (Baby E has this too), peanuts, seafood. 

 

ER docs are quicker to give meds since parents take the kids to ER because they are concerned and hope to have quicker alleviation. I would follow up with Alex's pedi and see what he says. I was quick to start the meds with Baby E this time because I had a couple of scary choking episodes and good thing I did, he's doing better now. But if his symptoms are not too bad, he may not need the medication or he may, but for a short period of time. Hope this helps a little and that Alex feels better real soon! 

MrsJOSEnADRI

Ditto everything Laura posted.  A few of my friends' babies have had reflux and did everything mentioned above.  In addition to that, some had to be on special formulas like Nutramigen or Alimentum.  For a particular friend of mine, the baby had reflux when she was BFing as well.  She couldn't keep anything down.  She eventually put her on Alimentum with the rice and the Prevacid and even that didn't help most of the time.  She eventually just outgrew it and is now a healthy and big 2 year old.  

cocojack10

We burp him 2-3x a feeding, or at least stop to try to burp him... sometimes he either doesn't have any gas, or just has trouble getting it out.  We do elevate after each feeding... prop him on a pillow, or bouncy. 

We actually bought a ton of Alimuntim formula yesterday, which I want to try out on him this week.

Oh, and I'm not breastfeeding anymore so my foods aren't affecting him.

Thanks so much for your input ladies! 

GenaAndJosh

When it came to formula feeding, Spencer did much better on the RTF than he did with the powder or add water formulas.  Baby Bliss' Gripe water became our best friend as well.  We did not use any medications other than the natural remedies.  We kept him propped up or at least on an incline at all times.  He also stopped spitting up in his sleep when we started to let him sleep on his belly.  Good luck!

 

TayLynn

Ditto pp about keeping him inclined after a feeding and inclining one end of the crib.

Andrew wasn't much of a spitter but he had reflux.  I would hear him choke, swallow, and then cry.  It wasn't unconsolable crying but I could tell he was in pain. 

He was so much happier on Zantac and he slept longer. We don't do medicine much in our house so I get where you are coming from.  I know from personal experience how painful heartburn can be so we put him on Zantac from 6 wks to 6 months.  With my heartburn, I didn't cry or say anything but it still hurt.  I didn't want him to suffer.  And long term acid exposure is not good for the throat.  Zantac simply reduces the acid.  It's usually the first medicine RX'd for infants.

At 6 months the pedi said that if he hadn't outgrown the reflux by then, to just hold on and he should out grow it by 1 year.  He wrote us another RX for the Zantac.  We had been checking once a month by going off the Zantac to see if he had stopped refluxing. 

 I finally let my chiropractor friend adjust Andrew.  It was a very gentle adjustment, no neck snapping!  After two visits, I cut his day time dose out.  After two more visits, we stopped the night dose and he was completely off Zantac.  I believe the chiro helped because it was a motility issue of the bowels moving the food out of his stomach than it was a weak valve issue.  Many babies have a weak upper valve that allows the stomach contents to reflux.  That's usually an issue that is out grown 4-6 months.  

If this baby has reflux, I will seek chiropractic care a lot sooner before even trying medicine.