Reflux Q for those of you with older babies/toddlers

Kelly_12 · November 2013

Ok my LO has severe silent reflux. He's on 3 meds and needs them increased every 3 weeks or so when he gains weight. He gags/coughs on his reflux spit up frequently and sometimes has to gasp for air. He often arches his back in pain and I just feel terrible for him.
He's just about 5months, 3.5mos adjusted.
When can I expect it to get better??? Everyone says when they start to sit up more, play upright more etc it will, but he is starting to do more sitting up/plays in his exercauser etc and if anything I feel like some days it's getting worse

When does the light at the end of the tunnel hit?? I'm waiting not so patiently..

Missa_g · November 2013

It got worse before it got better for us, honestly. My younger twin was a projectile vomiter and meds helped but had to be frequently increased until he was about 9m actual, 7.5m adjusted. At the point we stopped increasing and when he did okay we were lucky enough to be able to wean off them completely. At almost 20m actual he has no residual reflux.

LaciJaxx · November 2013

Oh man. I'm sorry to hear this. I really hate reflux. My LO is 5 months this week, about 3 months adjusted. He's on 1.2 ml of zantac twice a day. I think he's doing much better but I'm not sure if it's the meds or if he's outgrowing it. We've been through the gagging, arching back, etc.. too. I'm only saying this so you can compare. I really hope your LO gets better soon. It's so difficult to watch.

Kelly_12 · November 2013

It's so hard to watch

I feel terrible for him and I'm sometimes scared when he gasps. I just really thought it would start getting better by now.
I appreciate hearing how long it took tho from another mom, at least I can try to have realistic expectations. That's why I posted, would love to hear from some other reflux graduated moms.
Currently he's on 2ml of Zantac twice a day, 12mg of prevacid twice a day, and 0.5ml of domperidone three times a day. The Max dose for his weight on all the meds, so we are kind of out of options there

I purely BF so my ped doesn't recommend any formula or thickening or anything as he says the Bmilk is easiest for him to digest and is the best option.
Just getting discouraged with the lack of progress and possibly worsening of symptoms at 5 months

Mrs. Alice · November 2013

I probably have an exception here because my son didn't get dx with reflux and start meds until he was 2 years old. He started throwing up frequently but had no other symptoms so we tried zantac and it solved the problem. He was a very spitty baby but never had pain related to it so we just called him a happy spitter.

LaciJaxx · November 2013

For what it's worth, our LO did so much better on formula that we stopped the breast milk. I started supplementing to make it last longer and then one day we went somewhere so we just took water and formula and he did so much better. It was hard for me to stop the bm, really hard actually, until I saw the symptoms coming back and he choked 3 times in one feeding. That was it, I stopped.

Kelly_12 · November 2013

My ped won't refer us to a specialist until he's a year. Since it's common for it to take that long to grow out of I guess he said if he's still this bad at a year then he'll refer.
I keep wondering if formula would help, but I really like our ped and trust him and he says to not switch from bm so I dunno...
I'm off dairy as we think that aggravates it also so we would likely go through many diff formulas to find the right one so is it worth that struggle as well? It's just so easy to pop him on the boob, I don't want to struggle with formula if it's not going to help. Ugh I'm just getting real frustrated.
Tonight I cried he gasped for air so badly he looked terrified and it scared me. I worry about him at night in his crib now..he's been in his own room for months but wasn't gasping like this until this week. He's also sleeping terribly again and up every 2-3hrs from the 6-7 straight hours he was doing

Sorry for a bit dear diary, just really worried and don't know what else to do for him so it's hard

Kelly_12 · November 2013

As far as I know we need a referral to see one.. I'm in Canada so I'm sure I'll have a long wait before I see one too. He's got an appt with the ped in 2 weeks so maybe I'll try and push for a referral now and see if he agrees.

LaciJaxx · November 2013

Well, since you mentioned it, my LO has done MUCH better on formula. I wasn't going to say anything because I know some people get upset at just the mention of the subject. We started supplementing with formula to make the pumped breastmilk last longer. Then earlier this month when we went out of town for a few days we only took water and formula and were amazed at how much better he was. But when we got home I was adamant he stay on the bm until he choked three times on one bottle. So I stopped again for a few days and went back, same thing. It was a very hard decision and kinda broke my heart a little but we went with formula from then on out. It took me a good week to dispose of the bm. We didn't have enough left to donate so I had my DH trash it when I wasn't looking. :-) Anyway, I wish you the best. And yes, you need a referral in Canada. I lived there for 7 years. The free medical is great and also not so great. And the taxes are horrible!

LaciJaxx · November 2013

Oh and I meant to add that my nephew is lactose intolerant so he had to have soy formula. All the others made him terribly ill. He would just vomit everything back up and was losing weight before they figured it out. I don't know if there is really anyway for them to figure that out without trying first. That was 18 years ago now. I'm sure much has changed since then.

Kelly_12 · November 2013

I'm totally open to trying formula, I know weaning him from the boob would be hard on both of us but if formula worked better for his reflux that would be worth it for sure. He doesn't like to take a bottle tho, something we are going to try and work on since he is eating every 2-3 hrs still and I can't ever leave him, but that's a whole different issue.

I'm gonna ask the ped again maybe and ask which formula I should try. I know there are lots to choose from that could help with reflux.
Which do you use?

LaciJaxx · November 2013

Our pedi recommended we try Similac Neosure so that's what we went with and he's done very well with it. I know some people say their LO's have tummy issues on it but it doesn't seem to affect ours.

I really hope your LO finds some relief soon. I know how hard it is to watch. I've seen my LO gasp a few times and I about lost it. I feel for you.

Keep us posted.

luvboston · November 2013

Have you tried famotidine some people say its a Miracle. Also why is he in domperidone for reflux does he have gastroperissis ?

Kelly_12 · November 2013

The domperidone is just to move the food through quicker so there is less to reflux back up. Since he's a silent refluxer he doesn't throw up in mass amounts, he gurgles it up in the back of his throat and swallows it back down again..so there is always stuff there to come back up.

eMiLee920 · November 2013

DS had a pretty mild case of reflux, but it did last a while. I remember thinking that he's been sitting up for months and the reflux should be lessening but it wasn't. I think we were able to start weaning him off of Zantac around 15mo (12 adj). His gastro just had us continue giving the same amount for the next 2-3 months, instead of increasing the dose with his weight gain.

BLPL101 · December 2013

My DD's reflux was gone by 10 months (9 months adjusted). It got worse when she started siting up and crawling.

Nita14701 · December 2013

We're still hoping that LO will outgrow it soon. She's 12 months adjusted. Has been followed by a GI dr. Currently on zantac and Prilosec. She's been on nutramigen and we've been keeping her dairy free because we were thinking she was having a problem digesting cow milk protein.

MinaE01 · December 2013

I hear your frustration. My little guy had terrible reflux. He spit up a ton all the time. Fortunately, he was generally a happy spitter, but it was still very tough. He was on Prevacid until he was about 9 months old. We took him to a couple different GIs and tried every trick in the book to help his spitting up. Nothing worked! Other reflux moms told us to stick it out until a year and then it gets better. They were right! We slowly started noticing improvement around 12 months (10 adj) and while he still spits up now, it's usually just a tiny bit once or twice after a bottle. Hang in there! Maybe you'll be one of the lucky few that has it resolve earlier!

I just have to add that WCM spit up is 10000x worse than BM/formula spit up.

wychets · December 2013

DD had severe reflux also. It slowly got better at about 7mo. It was hard, hang in there, we went through tons of bibs, buurp cloths, and clothes.

Want a personalized experience?

Reflux Q for those of you with older babies/toddlers

Re: Reflux Q for those of you with older babies/toddlers

Choose Another Board

Search Boards