Reflux w/ LO..please help!

crystaleyes39 · January 2012

One of my LO's has really bad Reflux. She was born at 32 weeks and was in the NICU for the first 3 weeks of her life. She's been home now 2 weeks and since she's been home spits up with almost every feeding. sometimes its so bad it comes out her nose too. I try everything...holding her against my chest up right for 30 minutes after she eats, burping her extra during her feedings, let her sleep angled in her rock and play....

I'm at a loss for what to do to help her. She's always hungry for more...i'm feeding her every 3 hrs 2 ounces but it still doesn't satisfy her..but i'm scared to feed her more because she spit up worse if she gets more....

Any suggestions on what I can do?

UsedToBeGoldie · January 2012

first of all- your siggy pic is so precious!

has she been on reflux meds? have you talked to the doc about it?

spitting up is normal for babies... it's only a real issue when it causes a lot of pain, which causese them to fight eating... or when they throw up so much they aren't growing/gaining weight.

one of my twins had bad silent reflux - he didn't spit up much- but had horrible pain while eating if he wasn't on meds.

the other twin would projectile vomit almost his entire bottle at least once every few days... if not more. But he ate fine, no pain, and was growing like a champ- so it wasn't an issue. We just tried to prevent it with more burping, more upright, etc... though, we never really did find a "cure" - thankfully he outgrew it eventually (it was a MESS).

if she's growing and not in pain- don't worry about it. yes, it sucks for you and is so messy... but as they get bigger they outgrow it...

if she's not gaining much or is in pain - talk to the doc - zantac or prevacid might do the trick.

erinruns · January 2012

Is she on medication? Zantac or prevacid? Those medications will help with the acid levels, but they won't do anything for the spitting up. You can try various different formulas. My girls did well on soy, and then I switched them to regular formula at 6 months when their reflux was better. Some people thicken their formula with rice cereal, but their guts are not ready for rice cereal at this point, so I would not do that.

Mostly time will help things. For my two, they were rarely flat on their backs. Only at changing times and that was usually when they woke up from naps, so they had nothing in their stomachs. We used boppies and bouncy seats as much as possible.

LucyRicardo3 · January 2012

definitely talk to your pediatrician!

I am looking at DD3 napping peacefully in her reflux wedge as I type this..ahhhhh here's what it looks like https://www.pedicraft.com/refluxwedges_homecares.html . A friend of mine passed her old one on to me yesterday and so far, so good. We've still some normal amounts of spit up, but no wailing, head flopping, nor back arching! wooohooo!!

I don't know how young it can be prescribed, but has your dr mentioned anything about prescription Zantac or even Prevacid, or Prilosec?

Both girls have reflux, but DD3's is much worse and it made breastfeeding impossible with her. They were both put on Zantac early on, I can't recall how old they were. We had to start DD3 on Prevacid in addition to the zantac when the reflux was so bad that she was losing weight and keeping nothing at all down, no matter what trick we were trying. About 4 weeks ago, our pedi approved us to begin putting 1 Tbsp rice cereal per 2 oz formula. We are now on Enfamil Gentlease and that seems to help also. For some reason, she had her worse reflux symptoms on breast milk, even though I was basically on meat and potatoes only.

(((hugs)))

crystaleyes39 · January 2012

She is not on any meds. As we know she is gaining weight. She's not do for another weigh in until next week so i'm not sure where she's at. She is always hungry and downs her bottles but she does do the back arching and does not sleep w/out grunting and sounds gassy from time to time. She spits up almost every feed a decent amount & lately it's been getting so bad it comes out her nose and mouth (thank god for the battery operated suctions). I feel like I cant sleep because i'm worried she'll choke at night on her spit up.

I definitely will mention all of this at her next appointment, but no nurse or doctor even seemed fazed by it at the NICU..they just said she needed to be burped more and fed sidelined....

Thanks for all the advice ladies...i will definitely look into those wedge pillows as well

KarlsSweetie05 · January 2012

My daughter had acid reflux too! Just like you described - out the nose, spewing everywhere like in the exorcist movie. horrifying to watch!! Mine was born at 33 weeks 4 days and was in NICU for a month.

One dr. in NICU tried her on a drug and it worked, but the main NICU dr. took her off medicine because he doesn't like its long term effects (can't think of name of medicine). I was so upset that he took her off med.

But then they put her on Enfamil AR formula and that worked. You can buy it at the store. Our Babies R Us had it in stock all the time.

Also, we let her sleep on her back, elevated, never on her stomach because her reflux was so bad. Do you have a Rock and Play? If not, I'd try that.

Also, we held her upright 30 min after feedings and burped extra long, and did side feedings.

But the formula really made the difference. She finally outgrew it by about 5 months old.

crystaleyes39 · January 2012

KarlsSweetie05:

My daughter had acid reflux too! Just like you described - out the nose, spewing everywhere like in the exorcist movie. horrifying to watch!! Mine was born at 33 weeks 4 days and was in NICU for a month.

One dr. in NICU tried her on a drug and it worked, but the main NICU dr. took her off medicine because he doesn't like its long term effects (can't think of name of medicine). I was so upset that he took her off med.

But then they put her on Enfamil AR formula and that worked. You can buy it at the store. Our Babies R Us had it in stock all the time.

Also, we let her sleep on her back, elevated, never on her stomach because her reflux was so bad. Do you have a Rock and Play? If not, I'd try that.

Also, we held her upright 30 min after feedings and burped extra long, and did side feedings.

But the formula really made the difference. She finally outgrew it by about 5 months old.

Thank you! I'm going to call my pediatrician today about the enfamil AR...I'm willing to try anything at this point..she just seems miserable and the spitting up is so scary niether of us are getting any sleep in fear of her choking

KarlsSweetie05 · January 2012

We didn't sleep either. We kept her in our room right next to us as I afraid she was going to vomit and choke to death. It was so hard to see her suffer!!!

our son had reflux too but not nearly as bad.

Once you get her reflux under control, you will be in a much better position to relax and enjoy being a mommy!

KarlsSweetie05 · January 2012

also, I just remembered that I wore daugther in Moby wrap most of the time to keep her upright and used our bouncy seat to keep her upright when I was not holding her. She almost never layed flat.

KarlsSweetie05 · January 2012

oh and everything you described in classic reflux issues - always hungry, arching back, formula out nose, etc.

I feed smaller quantities to her more often of the Enfamil AR and that helped too.

and your babies are just adorable!!! I forget that mine were that tiny too .. it seems like a million years ago already and they are only 9 months old.

hang in there, mommy! hope your daughter (and you) find a solution soon!

KarlsSweetie05 · January 2012

omg, sorry I am posting so much, I am posting in between working and caring for my babies too.

what type of bottle are you using? what type of nipple?

we used "old fashioned" Evenflo bottles with the SLOW nipples (0-3 months). These were the closet bottles and nipples to what they used in our NICU and recommended to me for reflux issues by NICU nurse.

https://www.amazon.com/Evenflo-Classic-Clear-Bottle-without/dp/B001E87FQY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327675707&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/Evenflo-Pack-Classic-Silicone-Nipple/dp/B00005C0EN/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1327675735&sr=8-9

Eriksgal · January 2012

I agree it definitely sounds like reflux. My kids are on Prevacid that we get at a compounding pharmacy. They eat Similac sensitive for spit up and it really seems to help. Good luck and I hope you get some answers soon!

ColleenS629 · January 2012

I don't have any advice for you but we went through the same thing and still are. DS1 has reflux and spits up several times with every feeding out of his mouth and nose. I have tried different nursing positions, angling him certain ways, tilting him up more, etc. I have tried burping him more, holding him up after a feeding, leaving him on his side after a feeding, everything. He sleeps angled in his RnP too. Nothing really helps. he spits up if he's being held up, if he's on his side, if he's on his stomach, if he's in his RnP. I haven't found a way to help him yet. He eats a ton and is gaining weight like a champ. The pedi won't prescribe meds unless he isn't gaining weight or is miserable for most of the day so we are just dealing with it. I hear that it gets better as they get older so we're waiting for that.

KellyD01 · January 2012

All 3 of my kids have reflux. oh the spit up! I still have clothes that are not for wearing outside the house because they're so destroyed, and I'll never forget the call from DS's daycare telling me something was wrong with him when he spit up so badly it ran down the workers body and into her shoe... (the daycare the told me he didn't have reflux and didn't need his meds so they often forgot to give them to him) DS was on maintenance Zantac till he was 2, now he tells us when it hurts and he needs it. The girls are almost 18 months and are on prevacid in the morning and a dze of zantac at night. We've tried weaning off the meds and it's not pretty.

Yes all babies spit up, but what you're describing is classic reflux and can do damage if it goes untreated. I also tell most parents this, as adults we know how badly heartburn hurts, and we have a plethora of options for treating it from prescription meds to over the counter, to diet, to herbal options or just suffering. Babies not only don't have many options they can't tell us how badly it hurts... so why force them to suffer that pain in that tiny body. My kids ALL gained well w/ the reflux because I fed them when they were hungry so if you're feeding baby when hungry gaining isn't a good indicator that it's not bad reflux.

Similac and Enfamil both make a formula thickened w/ rice starch which makes it heavier so it stays down better. DS used Enfamil AR (because it was the only AR at the time) and the girls tried both. the enfamil was better for them than the similac but the walmart (parent's choice) version was the best... and it was $10/can cheaper!!! BONUS!

The only thing that helped my kids was a combination of an AR formula, daily meds, and time. We're still hoping and waiting for the girls to outgrow it.

Good Luck... and if it were me, I'd take baby in ASAP for a check up, tell the doc your concerns about reflux and ask about meds. Most of the meds take at least a few days and as many as 7-10 days to be seeing improvement. A formula change can also take up to a week to see improvement. When baby is in pain I wouldn't wait.

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