Parents of Acid Reflux Babies

RBC · February 2010

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I posted a message asking if you all would like to start a support group.

There are so many of us going through this and many of you came in saying you would like it.

I sent a message to TheKnot Inc. today to see if they will actually create a category for us under the message boards.

If that's not possible, let's have a group check in once or twice a week.

I know parents in 3-6 months and beyond are also going through this. How do we reach out to everyone?

Let me know if anyone has any ideas.

In the meantime, here's my story:

Isabella is 2 1/2 months. She was diagnosed with acid reflux around one month.

We tried Zantac and it didn't do anything.

She's been on prevacid for about 1 1/2 months. 15mg solutabs once a day.

Prevacid seems to provide about 10-15% relief of her symptoms. We still struggle every day with spitting through the nose, gagging, gasping for air and poor sleeping.

Some days are good and some are really bad.

I'm a new mom, totally clueless and just want my baby to be happy.

cntrygrl123 · February 2010

My baby has acid reflux and the medicine is working however he has continued to spit up entire bottles, I have now been told to start rice which has helped A LOT. I put 1 tablespoon in a 4 ounce bottle and it has worked wonders :-)

meghann0409 · February 2010

Have you tried cereal in the bottle? I suspect DS has reflux and tried this based on what someone on another board was told by her pedi - 1t per oz formula of oatmeal or rice cereal - we started with 1t/4oz of rice cereal and there has been NO choking on acid burps, and 90% less spitting up!! Hth. We see the pedi for his 2m on Friday - will update then!

meghann0409 · February 2010

I cross posted with the pp. If you try it, switch to at least a medium flow nipple.

magic867 · February 2010

My baby has had constipation and acid reflux issues since 2 weeks old...we have tried a lot including: prune juice cut with water, mineral oil in his formula, changing bottles, giving the 'perfect' environment, tagament and maylax...the tagament and maylox seem to be helping as he is feeding better!!! but, like the first poster said, we have our good and bad days...afternoons are tough as he is tired nad had a hard time eating...we are going for a video esophogram and seeing a speech therapist to rule out anything anatomically wrong with his mouth!! my husband and i have been at our wits end and are very happy with his eating the last couple days and just home we are on the upswing of all this!!!

etude de la vie · February 2010

I would love t have a support group. I am a new mom DD was diagnosed at 3 weeks put on zantac but it didn't help much. We went to a GI specialist and she has severe reflux and an ulcer so now we are doing prevacid in the morning and Zantac twice a day. I also pump bottles of bm and put rice cereal which helps. I posted my story earlier under "failure to thrive."

madalynnsmommy09 · February 2010

What a great idea, I missed the post yesterday.

Another idea would to be create a google group too.

RBC · February 2010

magic867:
My baby has had constipation and acid reflux issues since 2 weeks old...we have tried a lot including: prune juice cut with water, mineral oil in his formula, changing bottles, giving the 'perfect' environment, tagament and maylax...the tagament and maylox seem to be helping as he is feeding better!!! but, like the first poster said, we have our good and bad days...afternoons are tough as he is tired nad had a hard time eating...we are going for a video esophogram and seeing a speech therapist to rule out anything anatomically wrong with his mouth!! my husband and i have been at our wits end and are very happy with his eating the last couple days and just home we are on the upswing of all this!!!

I'm sorry you are going through this and know exactly how you feel. Are you breast feeding? You mentioned being happy with his eating the past two days.The reason I ask is because I am and my little girl is a lazy nurser. I wonder if it's the reflux or o there's something anatomically wrong with her mouth/ throat... Her latch is fine I'm just curious if you are experiencing the same.

ohamtobe · February 2010

I would love to join a support group - acid reflux sucks and I could really use a place to vent and support of others who know exactly how I feel!

DD#1 had reflux, but when we finally got her on the right med (pepcid) everything was roses!

When I started to notice the same symptoms with DD#2, around 5 weeks, I brought her to the ped. She prescribed pepcid and we tried that for a week. No change. Brought her back and was prescribed zantac to try and if that didn't work they also gave me a Rx for prevacid. Tried the zantac with no change. Then we tried the prevacid and still no change! We've also tried her on alimentum (in case she has a milk protein intolerence/allergy causing the fussiness during feeding) and no improvement. Each bottle is a struggle with DD squirming, arching her back, pulling off the bottle and crying, and I dread and stress over feeding time all day long. I finally called to make an appt. w/a pediatric GI today and the 1st available appt. isn't until 3/5! I'm just hoping we can get some answers b/c it's obvious my LO is in pain when she eats.

Thanks for letting me vent and tell my story. It helps to know that I am not alone and there are others going through the same heartache (though, I wish none of us were!).

GL to us all!

RBC · February 2010

ohamtobe:
I would love to join a support group - acid reflux sucks and I could really use a place to vent and support of others who know exactly how I feel!

DD#1 had reflux, but when we finally got her on the right med (pepcid) everything was roses!

When I started to notice the same symptoms with DD#2, around 5 weeks, I brought her to the ped. She prescribed pepcid and we tried that for a week. No change. Brought her back and was prescribed zantac to try and if that didn't work they also gave me a Rx for prevacid. Tried the zantac with no change. Then we tried the prevacid and still no change! We've also tried her on alimentum (in case she has a milk protein intolerence/allergy causing the fussiness during feeding) and no improvement. Each bottle is a struggle with DD squirming, arching her back, pulling off the bottle and crying, and I dread and stress over feeding time all day long. I finally called to make an appt. w/a pediatric GI today and the 1st available appt. isn't until 3/5! I'm just hoping we can get some answers b/c it's obvious my LO is in pain when she eats.

Thanks for letting me vent and tell my story. It helps to know that I am not alone and there are others going through the same heartache (though, I wish none of us were!).

GL to us all!

I'm so sorry. It's so painful to see our LO ones hurting like this. I wanted to tell you it took us a good 2 -2 1/2 weeks to see any changes with prevacid and even then they were subtle. I've just started splitting the tablet in two and giving her one in the morning and one one in the evening. Helps a bit also, small feeding frequently. I breast feed and DD "snacks" all day. It's a pain but even when I give her a bottle of breast milk she doesn't take much at each feeding. I hold her at a 45 degree angle for at least 30 min after every feeding. That provides her with some relief . We basically spend the entire day feeding and holding after a feeding. But it's what works. We need to be here for each other. I cry almost every day when I see my LO struggling

ohamtobe · February 2010

RBC:
ohamtobe:

I would love to join a support group - acid reflux sucks and I could really use a place to vent and support of others who know exactly how I feel!

DD#1 had reflux, but when we finally got her on the right med (pepcid) everything was roses!

When I started to notice the same symptoms with DD#2, around 5 weeks, I brought her to the ped. She prescribed pepcid and we tried that for a week. No change. Brought her back and was prescribed zantac to try and if that didn't work they also gave me a Rx for prevacid. Tried the zantac with no change. Then we tried the prevacid and still no change! We've also tried her on alimentum (in case she has a milk protein intolerence/allergy causing the fussiness during feeding) and no improvement. Each bottle is a struggle with DD squirming, arching her back, pulling off the bottle and crying, and I dread and stress over feeding time all day long. I finally called to make an appt. w/a pediatric GI today and the 1st available appt. isn't until 3/5! I'm just hoping we can get some answers b/c it's obvious my LO is in pain when she eats.

Thanks for letting me vent and tell my story. It helps to know that I am not alone and there are others going through the same heartache (though, I wish none of us were!).

GL to us all!

I'm so sorry. It's so painful to see our LO ones hurting like this. I wanted to tell you it took us a good 2 -2 1/2 weeks to see any changes with prevacid and even then they were subtle. I've just started splitting the tablet in two and giving her one in the morning and one one in the evening. Helps a bit also, small feeding frequently. I breast feed and DD "snacks" all day. It's a pain but even when I give her a bottle of breast milk she doesn't take much at each feeding. I hold her at a 45 degree angle for at least 30 min after every feeding. That provides her with some relief . We basically spend the entire day feeding and holding after a feeding. But it's what works. We need to be here for each other. I cry almost every day when I see my LO struggling

RBC, totally agree that it helps to have each other's support! Seriously, some days I feel like we are the only family going through this and I cry almost daily about it, too. I take solace in the fact that we are not alone!

MalDR0418 · February 2010

I'm so sorry that you all have to see your LO's in pain like this. I can't imagine how difficult this must be! I'm not sure if anyone has tried this, but I am a chiropractor and have treated quite a few babies with reflux issues. In all the cases I've had, we've been able to take the babies off the medication and they have recovered within weeks. It may not work for all LO's, especially depending on the cause of the reflux, but it'd definitely be worth a try to find a pediatric chiropractor in your area.

ohamtobe · February 2010

MalDR0418:
I'm so sorry that you all have to see your LO's in pain like this. I can't imagine how difficult this must be! I'm not sure if anyone has tried this, but I am a chiropractor and have treated quite a few babies with reflux issues. In all the cases I've had, we've been able to take the babies off the medication and they have recovered within weeks. It may not work for all LO's, especially depending on the cause of the reflux, but it'd definitely be worth a try to find a pediatric chiropractor in your area.

MalDR0418, how does this work? I mean, what do you do to rid the reflux with chiropractics? I'm curious, b/c I've heard a few people mention this as a suggestion and wanted to know more specifics. TIA.

MalDR0418 · February 2010

ohamtobe:
MalDR0418:
I'm so sorry that you all have to see your LO's in pain like this. I can't imagine how difficult this must be! I'm not sure if anyone has tried this, but I am a chiropractor and have treated quite a few babies with reflux issues. In all the cases I've had, we've been able to take the babies off the medication and they have recovered within weeks. It may not work for all LO's, especially depending on the cause of the reflux, but it'd definitely be worth a try to find a pediatric chiropractor in your area.
MalDR0418, how does this work? I mean, what do you do to rid the reflux with chiropractics? I'm curious, b/c I've heard a few people mention this as a suggestion and wanted to know more specifics. TIA.

Well, it depends on where the issue lies. Many babies have a misalignment in their spine that can cause a lowered communication from the brain to various organs and areas in the body. Usually this is in the cervical spine and/or upper thoracic area. In this case, simply adjusting the spine will correct the reflux. Another issue for the reflux, which is the most common, is that the pyloric sphincter has been pushed upwards causing the reflux into the esophagus. This is corrected again through adjustments to the spine and by pulling (very gently) downward on the sphincter. The chiropractor will know exactly how to do this in the correct manner. There are other massaging techniques the chiropractor will use to work the sphincter down and allow the baby's body to heal.

It sounds simple because it really is and, like I said, has always worked for the patients I have seen. I hope this helped!

marinabrideny · February 2010

I would like to join this also. I have a 6 week old and he was diagnosed with reflux at his one month ped. appt. The doctor prescribed zantac but it really isn't helping so I am going to call to set up another appt. I've tried a variety of different bottles (found Dr. Browns and Born Free work best), I feed him at an angle and then burp him several times during a feeding, I am also giving him chamomile tea prior to every feeding. It seems to be helping somewhat but he still suffers. I have to admit that I get scared prior to each feeding because it's such a big ordeal. While he is doing better than before nothing seems to work all of the time. I love the idea of a support group. It would give us some place to vent and learn new ideas. I am open for anything. I just want a happy baby.

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