Talk to me about reflux.. (babies)

I<3MYHUSBAND

I think Quincy may have reflux, but I am not sure. He doesn't cry a ton but is gassy, spits up lots, goes sort of stiff/grunt gassy when holding him. His diapers are fine . I am doing gas drops and it's not helping a ton. I want to call into the DR. but also thought I would check here. If your DC had reflux: What were the symptoms ? What helped? If you used meds which ones ?

AvaLikeLava

In S2's and G's case: substantial spit-up of digested milk (through mouth &/or nose), extreme & inconsolable fussiness, back arching, spitup after being on a flat surface for more than a few minutes.

I had tried Gripe Water & Gas drops too, and neither helped. I actually still give them to S2 a few times a day to help him pass gas (since he needed to figure that one out too)

Reflux sux. I'm sorry.

AvaLikeLava

Oh, what helped? Both boys ended up sleeping at a recline. G's crib was raised, and S2 sleeps in the swing exclusively. When we break that habit, he'll be going to a raised crib too. Our changing table is raised too, and I limit how long either of them ever spent flat on any surface.

Meds wise, we've tried Zentac and Prevacid. Zentac did a big fat nothing for both boys. Prevacid has worked miracles for both.

Mrs.K&C

DD had more silent reflux, she didn't cry much and was never inconsolable. But she had a ton of tummy issues, and when she spit it up it was digested and you could just hear it gurgling in her throat. Zantac helped a lot for her (as did switching to a lactose free formula).

DS had/has severe reflux and I still think it contributed to his breathing problems and NICU stay. He screamed inconsolably. Spit up digested formula. Screamed. Did I mention screamed? It took a while to get a med that worked for him. Zantac didn't do much, Prilosec tasted so bad he wouldn't come near it, Prevacid finally made the difference. However legislation was just passed that made it illegal for my pharmacies to make the compound we used for Prevacid, so we tried switching back to Zantac and he's doing well on it. Tried it last month and it was horrible, so it seems he's starting to outgrow it a bit.

For both kiddos, once they were on the right meds their sleeping improved tons, weight gain was great, etc. 

alibee09

K had minor reflux that was solved mostly by Zantac. M has an issue with his pyloric sphincter that we are aiding with Prevacid, but even that is insufficient. FWIW, our ped said most infants have reflux to a degree, but he prefers not to medicate unless they are crying inconsolably, losing weight/not gaining appropriately, or coughing (indicates esophageal corrosion). Usually they just outgrow it.

AnyaBella

G's symptoms included massive amounts of spit up and it was usually curdled, he was always gassy and he would arch his back and kind of cry when nursing. I didn't think he was a particularly fussy baby, but looking back he used to cry a lot more. That could just be a coincidence though.

Things that helped, putting him to sleep in the Rock n Play Sleeper (incline), not burping him right after a feeding, holding him on his left side against me for 20 minutes after eating and Prevecid. We tried Zantac first then Prilosec and neither of those really helped. Prevecid has been a life saver.

ETA: I almost forgot, G also had several very scary coughing/choking episodes twice when he was first born and one that resulted in a visit to the ER at a couple months old. They said it was from the reflux.

Mrs.K&C

AnyaBella:

ETA: I almost forgot, G also had several very scary coughing/choking episodes twice when he was first born and one that resulted in a visit to the ER at a couple months old. They said it was from the reflux.

Oh yeah, how could I forget! Travis was also having choking issues when he was eating - he would just flail and choke while trying to eat, it was awful.