Reflux in a Newborn-Help?

Question

My son is 4 wks 2 days old and the pdi and I think he may ahve reflux. We're trying to medicate it with Zantac but I still feel hes suffering from it. What more might the pedi want to do? Also he(my son) has a lot of trouble burping is this somehow interrelated? Any other experience driven knowledge about reflux is appreciated.

Answer 1

Both of my sons' have reflux. Some things that you can do(but ALWAYS run things by your doc) : my 3 month old sons' doc put him on rice cereal, not alot, in his bottles. Something about thickening it up helps w/ reflux.

She also recommended a Tbsp of Karo in his bottles(the dark Karo), again to thicken it up.

But, the absolute best thing they did for my first son. He was hospitalized(something unrelated to his reflux) and they had these little Snugli type things made of cloth that we could put him in and tie the part behind his back to the head of the crib. It sounds confusing, I know. But elevate the part of his mattress that his head lies on if you can. Lying flat sometimes makes it worse.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Ok, from experience, I think reflux is very widely and overly diagnosed in kids! When my oldest, now 5, was given this diagnosis at a couple months old both my mom and mother in law said, "What the heck? All babies spit...I have never heard of that!" Lo and behold I did the whole Zantac thing, etc and nothing ever worked. He was still gaining weight so obviously not spitting up everything. About 4 months old, he magically outgrew the spitting. I think his stomach just had to learn to digest what we were giving him, as he's been fine ever since! Talk to your baby's ped about the stuff coming up through the nose. If they won't tell you why this is happening, find another pediatrician or go to an ear nose and throat specialist on your own for some answers. When my son threw up it came from mouth and nose. Gross, I know. I wouldn't worry too much, but be persistant with answers from doctors and leary of the diagnosis "reflux". Don't know if I was much help, but good luck.

Answer 4

Poor baby I suffer from that crap now and I always have the best thing for you is not to give him baby food with things like lemon or any citurs even if it is baby food the acid still is there and no tomato anything these are things that will upset and bother the reflux hmmm what else when you feed him put him in an upright postion a lot of women kinda hold the baby near there boob when they feed this is difficult for the baby to process like adult with it they can't eat past 8 at night so I wouldn't feed the baby this late either they also can't lay down after they eat or drink as this also is difficult and you must pat him in the back a lot to help him burp especially after he eats this is very important b/c he can't talk and tell you he needs to burp I am 23 and it gets to the point to where I can eat something and just get the feeling it is acting up and my airways will be blocked where I need to burp and I can't so my husband has to hit me in my back so I can or pat me depends on the color of my face when this happens most people aren't that bad off but I am and also when you are feeding him half way through your portions or after so many spoonfuls give him something to drink and absolutely NOOOOOOOOOO SODAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA this is like giving your baby battery acid do not give your baby soda until he is old enough to say MOM this stuff hurts going down I don't drink soda now b/c of the effects so take this tips and please use them sometimes it is hard for me to explain what is going on with my acid reflux so I can't imagine this poor baby ~~~~good luck and you can e mail me anytime if you have anymore questions at [e-mail] yeah don't lay the baby flat this sucks no matter what age you are put a mattress wedge on the top part so he isn't laying flat and the thing about karo syrup would just give the baby diarehea I believe it keeps the pooper tubes moving lol but nothing citris and nothing acidic please

Answer 5

If the acid has irritated his esophagus, this could take a week or so to heal, now that he is on an h2 blocker.

Different types of medicine can be used to treat reflux by decreasing the acid secreted by the stomach. One class of medications, called H2-blockers, includes cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac), famotidine (Pepcid), and nizatidine (Axid). Another type of medication is the proton-pump inhibitors, such as esomeprazole (Nexium), omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), rabeprazole (Aciphex), and pantoprazole (Protonix).*
Very rarely infants have severe GER that prevents them from growing or causes breathing problems. In some of these infants, surgery may be the best option.
Your child's doctor or nurse will discuss GER with you and suggest treatment if needed. The potential complications of the medications will be explained. Most infants don't need medications and will outgrow reflux by 1 or 2 years of age.

Answer 6

My son had the same problem. They did not put him on zantac however, because it is not known to be entirely safe yet. Is your baby gaining weight at all? or is everything coming back up? What I ended up having to do with Jamie was put a little bit of rice cereal in his bottles to help him keep them down. There is even a formula that they make now with cereal in it just for that purpose. Good luck with your baby!
Jamie was about 3 weeks when we started the cereal in his bottle, ask your pediatrician if it is something that you can try.
The burping can be related to the reflux also, when air stays trapped in babies tummy sometimes the milk will come out with the air bubble.

Answer 7

How long have you been giving him Zantac? I ask because this is one of the medicines that has to get into his system and be circulated fully before it starts working. Usually it takes 3 - 5 days for you to notice a real difference. My younger son had reflux, and was on Zantac until he was 4 months old.

Answer 8

I have tried about ten different medications for reflux and the only one that has ever worked for me is Prilosec. Don't give it to your baby without checking with a doctor first. Also you might want to consult a specialist.

Answer 9

My son had reflux. He was given Ranitidine for it. Its caused becuase the sphincter at the top of their stomach's don't close properly. On a positive note...they do grow out of it. I found that if I kept my son upright for a bit after feeding him, it wasn't so bad.

Answer 10

You don't say what you're feeding your baby. Formula or breast milk? If it's breast milk, maybe it's something you're eating like pickles. If it's formula, try a different one. With regard to the trouble burping...my son rarely burped when being patted on the back against my shoulder. A friend told me to sit him sideways on my knees and rock him forward and back with a cloth in front of him. Suddenly we had HUGE burps. hehe Give it a try...hope it works for you! If all else fails, definitely seek out a gastro-intestinal specialist, preferrably at a children's hospital.