Any one else's baby have severe reflux?

Question

My 7 week old daughter has severe reflux. None of the propping her up, giving her thicker feeds, feeding less amounts more often, etc seems to help. She has even had x-rays to determine if there was something internally that was causing her pain. She had been on Zantac and infant panadol, but she progressively got worse after it initially helping her. She started Locep (stronger than Zantac), gaviscon and a new formula last night, and she has just screamed all morning. Has anybody else had a baby with severe reflux like this? I'm looking to hear other's stories, and if they found anything that helped.

Answer 1

my son had it and i just had to keep him in the hospital for a while so they coud directly keep an eye on him. they gave him prevacid

he went into the hospita when he was only 2 weeks and lost 20 percent of is birth weight on top of that. he was already small from being a premie

Answer 2

I am an R.N. with over 20 years experience in an Intensive Care Nursery and have cared for many babies with severe reflux. Your baby's symptoms sound disturbing. does she have requent spit-ups. Does formula sometimes come out her nose?...especially if she is lying down within the first hour after being fed? Does she grimace and cry out suddenly when sleeping after her feeding? these are all signs of significant reflux. You need to ask her pediatrician about doing a Ph Probe test for refluxshe go into the hospital for overnite, or some doctors have the test set up at home by an R.N. A very tiny tube is slid down her nose into her esophagus. the other end is attatched to a small box that records the acidity in her esophagus over several hours. This is often used to help diagnose severity of reflux. Rarely, these babies need a surgery to tighten the area where the stomach and esophagus meet to prevent the reflux. Another test that can be done in overnite stay at hospital, or at home is called a "sleep study" and records heart rate and breathing on a small monitor for 12 hours..this will show episodes of reflux. Ask your pediatrician about all these things. I hope your baby does much better soon. I just read some of the other answers. Breast feeding is a good thing, but it will not cure or prevent reflux. Also, the meds DO help so do not stop them unless your doctor says to. Please have an in-depth discussion with the pediatrician and ask about furthur testing.

Answer 3

Bless your heart. Unless someone has been there, they have no idea what you are going through. My 3rd son had severe reflux. I had to sleep in a recliner with him on my chest to keep him elevated for the first 3 months of his life. We could not even lay him down flat to change his diaper. He had projectile vomit that would shoot out of his mouth and nose about a foot away from his little body. My other boys had mild reflux and a natural product called Baby's Bliss worked wonders, but this was different. To make a long story short, I accompanied my mom to a chiropractor appointment and the chiropractor told me he thought he could help. After much discussion , he persuaded me that my son would likely not even know he had been adjusted, and I let him give it a try. My son had been spitting up profusely even in the office- that was the last time. That day my baby changed. He smiled and laughed. I have heard similar stories from many others since then. I would definately do my research and find a chiropractor trained in infant care if I were you, and meet with him or her to discuss whether this might be an option for you.

Answer 4

My son was born at 31 weeks and was in the NICU for a month. He had a problem with severe reflux but it wasn't noticed in the hospital because whatever he spit up was absorbed by the blankets in the incubator. When he came home, he would have a bottle and then half an hour later, he would projectile spit the entire thing up and scream due to pain and hunger. We had to do the same things you did, with thickening his milk with rice, giving less more often, propping him up after eating and then he was put on Zantac too. He began losing weight and finally his doctor sent him for tests and scans and it was determined he had pyloric stynosis when he was seven weeks old. The muscle between his esophogas and his stomach was too small so instead of pushing the food down into his stomach, it would come up. He had surgery for it at two months old, and now he's perfectly fine (he's 6). The doctor said that it's more common in premature boys, so I don't know if it pertains to your daughter, but you might want to ask the doctor if they can test for it. It doesn't hurt, and it sounds like that might be what the problem is. Good luck to you, and don't feel bad about putting her on medicine. I had no second thoughts when the doctor told me he should go on Zantac. I couldn't bear to see him in so much pain and I would have done anything I could have to help him.

Answer 5

My baby had the same problem when he was born, I changed the formula to soy base milk, it didn't help at all, he even had the milk coming out of his nose and eyes (could you believe that?!) I was very concern, so the doctor recommended Zantac and that instead of helping him made him worst, I tried everything, I elevated his crib mattress so when he slept wouldn't be laying flat (being in a flat position makes the reflux worst), anyway...we tried everything possible to make our baby feel better...it was until he was 6 months old when he started eating other foods that the reflux just started to go away, we learned of a few foods that trigger the reflux like carrots. He is 1 year old now and there is not a trace that he ever had reflux.

Answer 6

don't listen tto them I did breast feed my son he never had a bottle and his reflux was so bad that he was in the hospital for over a month before we realized that with thickened formula (instead of nursing) and omeprozol he did much better. He still had reflux but he didn't have it anywhere near as severe. Sometimes the baby just has to grow out of it. My son is fine now very healthy no more reflux. One more thing, it turned out that my son couldn't handle normal formula he had to have soy with two tablespoons of rice cereal mixed into every two ounces he did wonderful with this and he started it at one month. I wish you and your baby the best good luck hope something helps. it will get better and by the way my sons reflux was so bad that he came very close to death a few times he also had to be tube fed for a while before we found something to help

Answer 7

My son had severe reflux. He'd spit up, it seemed like, everything he ate. He didn't gain weight and the doctors were all very concerned. He had those x-rays and an upper g.i. Everything came back just fine. We put him on Prevacid (a very strong antacid) didn't make any difference. They only thing that kinda helped was we put him on Soy formula and mixed it to a high caloric volume. So what he did keep down would hopefully make up for what he spit back up. Another thing I noticed with him was after his bottles I'd try to keep him as still as possible and sitting barely leaning backward. If we played with him or moved him person to person after eating it was much worse than when he had a chance to rest his stomach. I know how frustrating and helpless it feels for you baby to have a problem that's so difficult to fix.

A few things to remember though, all baby's have reflux. Some grow out of it quicker than others. Also, I know it seems like they're spitting up everything they took in. however, as gross as this sounds, if you were to catch it as it comes up, it doesn't measure to be as much as you think. Plus the formula is mixing with their stomach fluids, so it isn't all formula she's spitting up. Make sure you have plenty of spit rags, we had at least one in each room and had to change his clothes at least 5 times a day. My son's 17 monthes now. But he was at least 9 monthes before I'd go an entire day with a clean shirt. It got better for us when he was eating more and more food. I'd say his reflux was completely gone around 12 monthes. Hopefully she'll outgrow it very soon but if she doesn't, just know you daughter isn't the only one out there with that problem. It's very common.

Answer 8

I'm sorry to hear that your little one is in so much pain. My son was premature so we had some minor reflux problems because of that, but they went away after he got a little bigger--and I did breastfeed for 6 weeks. I was unable to beyond that, but the problem did not worsen with formula feeding. Try switching formula brands (gradually) if you are formula feeding (my son couldn't drink Similac or Enfamil; another family member swears by Enfamil), or you could try breastfeeding--in case of a milk allergy. Also, Dr. Brown's bottles really seemed to help us. They're expensive, but what else can you do?

If the big guns (Zantac) aren't working, I don't know if this will help, but I wish you all the luck in the world.

Answer 9

While I admit my son's reflux was not near that bad, and was treatable with behavioural changes, and I do not, in any way want to imply that you are a bad mother or not doing what is best.... but....

Are you breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding can really improve the painful part of GERD, no pain and generally the condition does not need to be treated (provided there is adequate weight gain).

I just wanted to tell you that if you want to try breastfeeding it is not too late. Begining breastfeeding up to 4 months has a good chance of success with support.

Take Care, sorry if I am completely off-base I hope you find something that works soon.

(Another thought, have you tried Goat's Milk there is a recipe for it: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032400.asp )

Answer 10

first i would like to apologize on behalf of the lady (janie) that attacked you. im not big on medicine either (even for myself) but it was necessary for my sons reflux. ( and i was still nursing exclusively when it started) she obviously doesnt know anything on the subject. breastmilk being thinner can actually be rougher on a baby with reflux.

my sons reflux was not that bad. he took zantac twice a day and another that started with an m (been awhile) 4 times until he was months. ive read stories of babies having it so bad that they have had to do surgery. have you tried adding cereal to her formula to thicken it. that is what the doctor suggested for us, but my son never liked cereal.

i wish you guys the best and sincerely hope that you can find a solution that doesnt result in surgery.