Newborn Reflux, help!

Jparke2 · May 2016

I mentioned this in another thread, but we are pretty sure our LO is suffering from reflux. She is 17 days old and has had issues from the start, not letting us put her down to sleep. We've been basically holding her since she was born. She eats well and often (maybe too often, as now I'm learning that sometimes babies with reflux with try to eat when they aren't hungry to in order to suppress the acid), but most of the time after she eats she gets very uncomfortable. She'll get tense, arch her back, gasp, cough, gag, stick her tongue out, make faces, and scream. She does spit up, but not a ton like I've heard is common for babies with reflux.

After learning that these symptoms could be reflux, I started keeping her upright as much as possible during and after feedings, burping her well, trying to get her to sleep propped up, and initially it helped. We noticed a difference right away last night when I started doing those things, and it was the first night that she let us put her down to sleep without her screaming. But this evening has been terrible. Despite doing all of these things, she has been inconsolable. I finally got her to fall asleep around 10, only to have her wake up about an hour later and she has been up screaming for the past 3 hours. Every time she seems to finally be feeling a little better, its time for her to be fed again and the whole thing starts over.

We went to the pediatrician today and he wanted me to continue to try to prop her up, burp her well, etc. for the next week and see if there is improvement. But after tonight, which has been the worst night yet, I don't know how on earth we'll make it that long. I need relief for her, I can't stand to watch her scream in pain like this. I've done some basic research regarding dietary changes that I can try to make, but everything I'm seeing is that it can take weeks to do an elimination diet, and while I'll of course do that, like I said, there has to be something I can do in the meantime. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Is there anything I can do to comfort her or ease her pain while I'm waiting for the doctor to hopefully prescribe some medicine? I'm going to call first thing in the morning to ask, but while I'm awake tonight, I figured I'd see if anyone has any advice. I'm desperate

eaorear · May 2016

The night that was the very worst for my LO was the night I had cheese at dinner and then we went for milkshakes too. I didn't do a formal 3-week elimination diet, I just immediately cut back on dairy (didn't have to eliminate completely). I have seen drastic improvement given just that simple change (even the very next day). I know some people say mom's diet doesn't make a difference, but it has for us!

saladflambe · May 2016

Call your pediatrician and push for quicker treatment. My baby has reflux and it's more of a silent reflux - she doesn't really spit up, but we went to the ENT for a breathing issue and they confirmed the reflux and started her on Zantac. I also suggest Gerber soothe probiotic drops.

vinerie · May 2016

No experience, I just want to say hugs to you and best wishes that you can find a speedy resolution...

Jparke2 · May 2016

@saladflambe thanks, I'll definitely look into that! Is is the same as the Gerber soothe colic drops?

saladflambe · May 2016

Jparke2 said:

@saladflambe thanks, I'll definitely look into that! Is is the same as the Gerber soothe colic drops?

yes

katxattack1212 · May 2016

My baby is doing the exact same thing! Just said to my hubby I think he's got the reflux!
My daughter was a screamer, which led to a trial of Zantac. Never solved anything, but she never had true symptoms of reflux.
Good luck! Hope it gets better!

Jparke2 · May 2016

Went back to the doctor today and got a prescription for zantac. REALLY hoping this helps things, I can't stand to watch her be in pain!

saladflambe · May 2016

Jparke2 said:

Went back to the doctor today and got a prescription for zantac. REALLY hoping this helps things, I can't stand to watch her be in pain!

Give it a couple of days. It isn't an instant fix, but we have definitely seen it work really well for us. As a sidenote I believe a lot of people say that it doesn't really impact spitting up but it does touch the pain so they might still spit up but they aren't in pain

Jparke2 · May 2016

saladflambe said:

Jparke2 said:

Went back to the doctor today and got a prescription for zantac. REALLY hoping this helps things, I can't stand to watch her be in pain!

Give it a couple of days. It isn't an instant fix, but we have definitely seen it work really well for us. As a sidenote I believe a lot of people say that it doesn't really impact spitting up but it does touch the pain so they might still spit up but they aren't in pain

She doesn't actually spit up a whole lot (except she did today, she was a vomit machine !) so as long as her pain and screaming calms down, I'll be happy! I'll take baby spit up over her crying for 5 hours any day!

The pediatrician told us to expect to see difference by Tuesday. Ive also adjusted my diet so hopefully we see some change !

Question about the colic drops: do you see instant improvement with that or was it something I recommended for long term benefits ? Just curious! We did end up buying some

saladflambe · May 2016

@Jparke2 I'd say improvement for us in 24 hours - mostly in the pooping department though. We had a hellish night of digestive issues followed by a blowout that finally resolved it before I got the probiotic drops. Now she seems to digest things more comfortably and poops regularly

samclrk21 · May 2016

My daughter has reflux too and she threw up a lot. The Zantac really helped. I also cut dairy out of my diet completely. Now when she screams it's usually because of gas so I give her gripe water and that seems to soothe her. She's doing so much better now. She's six weeks, smiling, lifting her head, and sleeping so much better. But we still keep her slightly elevated when sleeping

Jparke2 · May 2016

samclrk21 said:

My daughter has reflux too and she threw up a lot. The Zantac really helped. I also cut dairy out of my diet completely. Now when she screams it's usually because of gas so I give her gripe water and that seems to soothe her. She's doing so much better now. She's six weeks, smiling, lifting her head, and sleeping so much better. But we still keep her slightly elevated when sleeping

I was told to keep her elevated at least 20 minutes after eating before we got the prescription. Is this something you do/I should still keep up with after the medicine starts to take effect?

saladflambe · May 2016

Jparke2 said:

samclrk21 said:

My daughter has reflux too and she threw up a lot. The Zantac really helped. I also cut dairy out of my diet completely. Now when she screams it's usually because of gas so I give her gripe water and that seems to soothe her. She's doing so much better now. She's six weeks, smiling, lifting her head, and sleeping so much better. But we still keep her slightly elevated when sleeping

I was told to keep her elevated at least 20 minutes after eating before we got the prescription. Is this something you do/I should still keep up with after the medicine starts to take effect?

Yes - as possible

ayeshaohara · May 2016

Jparke2 said:

samclrk21 said:

My daughter has reflux too and she threw up a lot. The Zantac really helped. I also cut dairy out of my diet completely. Now when she screams it's usually because of gas so I give her gripe water and that seems to soothe her. She's doing so much better now. She's six weeks, smiling, lifting her head, and sleeping so much better. But we still keep her slightly elevated when sleeping

I was told to keep her elevated at least 20 minutes after eating before we got the prescription. Is this something you do/I should still keep up with after the medicine starts to take effect?

Yes!!! The medication doesn't actually stop the reflux just makes the stomach contents less acidic and thus painful!!

edited for poor english and proof reading abilities late at night!

Jparke2 · May 2016

ayeshaohara said:

Jparke2 said:

samclrk21 said:

My daughter has reflux too and she threw up a lot. The Zantac really helped. I also cut dairy out of my diet completely. Now when she screams it's usually because of gas so I give her gripe water and that seems to soothe her. She's doing so much better now. She's six weeks, smiling, lifting her head, and sleeping so much better. But we still keep her slightly elevated when sleeping

I was told to keep her elevated at least 20 minutes after eating before we got the prescription. Is this something you do/I should still keep up with after the medicine starts to take effect?

Yes!!! The medication doesn't actually stop the reflux just makes it just makes to stomach contents less acidic and thus painful!!

Luckily she doesn't spit up a whole lot, my issue is more that she has episodes of screaming and pain that can last hours, and if I can minimize the painful episodes, I'll be happy!

Jparke2 · June 2016

@samclrk21 can you tell me more about your dairy elimination? When did you notice a difference? Did you cut out anything else?

starrynite96 · June 2016

@Jparke2 how are things going now that your LO has been on zantac. My baby has similar symptoms to yours. When he was awake today, he was just pissed and in pain.

Jparke2 · June 2016

starrynite96 said:

@Jparke2 how are things going now that your LO has been on zantac. My baby has similar symptoms to yours. When he was awake today, he was just pissed and in pain.

So after a week of zantac, there was no improvement, so the pediatrician prescribed prevacid to go along with the zantac. After about a week of the combination, I have seen improvement. Now, she still cries A LOT. I've come to the conclusion that its probably just colic and I'll have to power through. However, her reflux symptoms have seemed to get better. Her crying is now more of an annoyed/fussy cry with hard crying interspersed rather than the painful crying with the gasping/coughing/weezing/back arching/etc. that we saw after her eating. I've also been on a dairy/gluten/soy/nut/caffeine free diet for over a week now, and I've cut out gassy and acidic foods too. Its been a huge challenge. So I'm crossing my fingers that this improvement has been from the meds and not the new diet. I will start introducing dairy back in next Monday and I think I'll try some of the acidic or gassy foods this week to see how it goes. Also, we went back to the pediatrician on Monday and she said to maybe start weaning her off the zantac slowly, because usually its only necessary to be on one med. I'm going to start doing that and see how it goes.

If you suspect reflux, definitely pay close attention and go to the doctor and get LO checked out. These medicines can be trial and error and a lot of them take a week or so to kick in, so it can be time consuming and the sooner you start, the better for your sanity!!! Good luck!

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