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Preemies
GERD/Reflux Questions
Hi ladies! Our twins have been home together now for just over 2 weeks... Our DD has done great at home, but our DS is battling GERD/Reflux. We've been to the pedi once a week, each time bringing video of DS to have her help us understand what we could be doing differently, and for her to hear first hand what he's going through.
Before he came home, we met with the NICU team to talk through how we could help him at home -- keeping him upright after meals, elevating the head of his bed (currently a PnP), soothing with pacifier to keep his food down, using his swing/rock & play/bouncy seat to keep him more upright, etc. Nothing seems to work! He's sleeping on his belly on his newborn boppy lounger beside me as I type this, and last night we slept him in his bouncy seat in his PnP -- which he actually slept and didn't cry/gurgle for an hour at bed time.
He was started on Zantac and Mylicon on 7/28. After a week with no change, and at the urging of the VNA (also a NICU nurse), we switched to Prilosec last Thursday, 8/4. We still haven't seen any change, and he still struggles with reflux after every feed, anywhere from minutes after a feed to 3+ hours later.
Is there anything else we can do for him? The balling up/scrunching of his knees to his chest, the arching of the back, the screaming/crying in pain, the gurgling and choking sounds... it just breaks my heart! The pedi says he'll grow out of it, but I'm wondering if there is anything I can do for him in the meantime. I'm thinking of taking him to see a pediatric GI specialist...
TIA, for any and all advice!!
Mr. & Mrs. ~ 09.08.07
This discussion has been closed.
Re: GERD/Reflux Questions
I would try one of these https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Newborn-Rock-Sleeper-Yellow/dp/B002M77N22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312935503&sr=8-1 for sleep.
Have you tried any diet chages? When it comes to formula, there are a lot of reasons that go into this order, if you're interested in the reasons let me know, and I'll explain. I'd try things in this order; if BF, eliminate dairy from your diet, maybe soy too (for a start, more may need to be eliminated) if formula feeding carnation/nestle/gerber (all the same thing) good start, then nutramigen, maybe alimentum, and then maybe talk to your pedi about something prescription like neocate or elecare.
Evan LOVED his moby wrap when he had reflux and was an infant.
Avoid putting pressure on the left hand side of the body if you can when you're holding him.
Some people swear by gripe water. Some people say a warm compress to the belly can work some magic.
The meds never did much for Evan, but I know a lot of people say it can take 2 weeks for the prevacid to really work, and the solutabs work better than the liquid.
You could try a different bottle (if he's using one). The bottles that seem to have the least amount of air intake (for Evan anyway) were the breast flow, adiri, playtex ventaire, and dr. browns just plain was the only one that worked for him flow wise when he was little.
There are a lot of mom's on here dealing with reflux, so I'm sure more will add to this soon.
DD has GERD. I recommend seeing the specialist. It is worth it. DD had an upper GI done last week, which confirmed that she has a very severe case. It has made my life a living hell, truly. We were on Axid for 2 weeks with minimal improvement - it's similar to Zantac. We just switched to Prevacid 1 week ago. It's definitely helping, but she's still not 100%. She spits up the meds A LOT. The pedi GI specialist said it takes at least 2 weeks to see full improvement. It's awful. She wakes up screaming from a deep sleep. But at least she is eating now without shrieking and refusing the bottle.
See the specialist. Give the meds 2 full weeks. Then try prevacid. You may also want to put him on a special formula. We are on Nutramigen, and it has helped as well. Since we started Prevacid and the Nutramigen, she has not projectile vomited, and she is doing remarkably better. Still not fully better though.
Hang in there. You are not alone!
Thank you!! We have the Rock n Plays, but he's not a fan (yet!) He's just shy of 5lbs, so I'm not sure if it is his size or that his legs are too elevated. However, his non-GERD sister loves hers!!
As for the formula, he was milk protein allergy negative -- we had his stool tested yesterday. He's currently on Enfamil EnfaCare, which he's been on since his NICU days. We're still using the same bottles that they used with him in the NICU, too, with the slow flow nipples.
I think we'll try the Good Start formula -- a few friends have suggested that, and that is what they'll get at daycare this fall (if we don't provide our own for them).
I'm also going to give him another week on the Prilosec. If no improvement, I'll call the pedi and ask for a GI specialist recommendation.
Thank you, again, for all of the advice!!! The poor little thing just seems so miserable... and it's killing me!
I could have written your post about a month or so ago. LO is on Zantac, Prilosec, Maalox (as needed), Alimentum thickened with rice/oats, and 6ml prune juice/bottle.
It took a long time for the meds to make any difference... LO started on the Zantac in late April, and the Prilosec in early/mid May. It has just been in the last month and a half that he started to get better... and you know what it was? We went to a GI specialist and he increased his dose! The pedis are only okay giving so much medication... but the GI specialist will give you more. It is like a whole new baby. I mean, he still spits up a lot... but no where near what he was doing... and it is rare to have a screaming baby during feeds now! Life has just gotten so much better since then! So, I second going to a specialist!
My MARRIED Bio
Just wanted to add that the tests for allergies at young ages are insanely inaccurate (so inaccurate Evan's GI didn't believe in doing them, I want to say he said like 20%), and I'm pretty certain they don't cover food intollerances. If you try a change and notice improvement or not, that is infinitely more valuable.
Evan can't tolerate corn syrup products. We were told that's impossible. It's the first ingredient in the super hypo allergenic formulas, yet some how if we avoid it, his puking is drastically less, and he's actually thriving. At one point he was in the hospital for FTT for a month with an entire team of GI specialists scratching their heads, on IV feeds and unable to tolerate more than 10mls every 2 hours without puking. He vomited till dry heaving on the elecare they put him on......that was the tip off. I knew it had to be something in that. We tried pregestimil, and bingo his puking decreased DRASTICALLY, he started being more willing to eat by mouth, growing and thriving and we pulled his g-tube a year later. To this day if he gets corn syrup on accident, I'd say at MOST you have 5-10 minutes before he's emptying his stomach. He tested negative for everything. RAST tests, pyloric stenosis, 2 upper GI's, head CT, endoscopy and sigmoidoscopy with biopsies, a milk scan, multiple stool and blood samples, and the list goes on, they all came back normal.
Anyway, I don't believe your kiddo will have the same thing as mine, or likely the same as any other baby on this board. I think they're all so unique and have their own unique answers, and maybe he does just need to out grow it, and trying to switch stuff won't make a difference. If there's one thing I learned going through all of what we did with Evan, it's that there is value in trying simple things that have few side effects and are not very invasive first.
If you do try the switch, I wouldn't change anything else at the same time. If you do, you won't know what to blame or give credit for the change too. You might want to wait to try until you've given the meds their full time to work for that reason.