Could my grandbaby have reflux?

Question

My grandbaby is almost six months old and still spits up a great deal. His mom has resorted to dishtowels to absorb the amount. He is thriving - growing and developing very well. She has been putting cereal in his milk since he was about 2.5 months old, but it has made little difference. She started out breastfeeding, but switched to formula when she went back to law school when he was 3 months old. He now eats food - and spits it up too. She has talked about it to the pediatrician, but they were unconcerned. She tried for a while to cut back on the amount he ate, but nothing has helped. He doesn't get much tummy time, because after a few minutes he always spits up and starts to cry. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

While almost all babies spit up now and then, those with reflux have persistent difficulty keeping their meals down. If you think your baby has reflux, talk to your pediatrician. The doctor will recommend the best treatment for your child.

Symptoms of Reflux:

Spitting up – any quantity
Gagging and choking – while feeding and afterwards, including during and after burping
Vomiting – especially after the feeding this includes large amounts of spit up
Frequent hiccups – while all babies get hiccups, babies with reflux get an unusually large number of hiccups
Abdominal pain (arching back) – either while eating or after, even after burping
Bad breath – this can occur at anytime during the day but is very apparent in babies when they awake from a nap or sleep
Poor sleep habits – inability to sleep soundly or frequent waking, crying in sleep
Over eating or under eating – while most reflux babies will under eat to avoid pain, others will over eat trying to soothe themselves
Fussing and inconsolable screaming – especially after the feeding, after burping and while hiccupping, and while arching back although some babies in a lot of pain will cry and arch back when offered a bottle or after a few swallows
Feeding aversion – including bottle aversion, usually a result of associating the feedings with pain
Swallowing – after a feeding or after burping
Coughing – after a feeding or after burping
Congestion – rattling chest, stuffy nose that never seems to clear up
Hoarseness – especially when not due to a cold or any other illness
Gurgling – sounds either while feeding of after
Back arching – especially during and after feeding
Apnea
Wheezing
Clawing at chest and pulling at nipple – for breastfed infants
Sandifer’s Syndrome - the twitching, grimacing, arching and "seizure looking activity” is "caused" by severe acid reflux. Symptoms typically disappear once the reflux is treated and under control.

Some have success having baby sleep in a Tucker Sling or on an AR pillow or other sleep positioner instead of simply raising the crib mattress.


http://shop.arpillow.com/

http://www.tuckersling.com/index.htm

Answer 2

Sounds like acid reflux. If you (AND his parents) are worried, then his parents should probably push the pediatrician into looking into it further. GERD can cause damage to the esophagus and should be treated. My 18mo son has been on Zantac since he was 2 mos. It has worked so well for him that he is still on the original dosage-.25cc. Many children have to have the dose adjusted as they grow. BTW I had to push my dr to do something about it. He finally had to admit that I was right (why don't pediatricians listen to moms?) when my son had an ultrasound which showed GERD. Your grandbaby will probably spit up less when he starts to sit unassisted. It may also help to prop his bed to 45 degrees. This can be done by using a wedge sold for this purpose or, as I did, placing 1 wide-flat garden brick under each leg of the head board of his crib. For what its worth, my son didn't like tummy time either and eventually just decided to sit up on his own because it was most comfortable. No need to worry just bug the doc about it until he/she does something...the baby's mom knows best and the dr should've listened in the first place!

Answer 3

First I would get a second opiniion from another doctor. Also I would research more of the symptoms, there is a website www.infantrefluxdisease.com it has a ton of info on reflux disease in infants and is an online support group for caregivers of reflux babies. I find it very imformative... my 18 month old baby is on prevacid and axid (adult strenth) and has been since he was 2 months old.. he has severe reflux.

Answer 4

My son was the same way and he didn't have reflux. He is just considered an active baby. ( The amount they spit up is related to how much the act and react) My son is now two and is VERY active and eats fine. The problem stopped around his first birthday. I think as long as the solids he eats isn't coming up a lot, there is only a little, then I wouldn't be concerned. If a lot of solids come up go to a different Dr and get a second opinion. For a comparison., my daughter rarely spits up and she is the exact opposite from my son. I really think that you have an active child on your hands!!

Answer 5

It really sounds like reflux. I had the same problem. My son was still growing. But he would wince and cry after he threw up. My Dr and Paediatrician prescribed Ranitidine to help keep the acid down in his tummy. That was what was making him cry when he threw up, as it was burning when it came back up. I was told by the paediatrician that reflux happens because the sphincter at the top of the stomach doesn't mature fast enough resulting in reflux. as they get older and start moving around more it goes away...and my son's did.

Answer 6

Sounds like it could be a possibilty. We are dealing with reflux ourselves (our son is 3.5 months old). Some of the characteristics are chunky (cottage cheese like) spit up, arching their backs and screaming when they eat, and pulling their legs up the their tummies after a meal. Is your grandbaby showing any of those? Trying keeping him sitting upright for about ten minutes after a meal, as well as a dose of gas drops (mylicon is great, wal-mart makes their own cheaper brand that is the exact same thing). Good luck!

Answer 7

Doctors are never concerned if the baby is thriving. I would try a different formula, maybe a soy formula.

Also, let the baby sit upright for thirty minutes after he eats. It does help.

If mom is concerned she needs to express this to her doctors and make them address the issue!

Answer 8

He's thriving, that is the only concern. All medications for GERD have serious potential side effects, many have not been approved for use in children under two.

Also you should be aware that in arms time counts as tummy time, it works the neck and trunk muscles as much as tummy time and there are plenty of other ways of working the arm and leg muscles.

Answer 9

this is exactly how my daughter was. and it took her doing the exorcist vomitting for the doc to do anything. what they did was put her on alimentum and liquid zantac (for the reflux) and it cleared up quickly. she was growing fine too and the doc just insisted that babies spit up deal with it. well they were wrong for us. good luck i know how frustrating that is!!!

Answer 10

I would get a second oppinion that is what my babies ha and they were jsut like that. try usuing nutramigine formula it helped my girls out a TON