My dd has acid reflux...looking for advice :(

[Coccinelle]

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: Baby concerns...

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Lily has acid reflux...we have been back and forth to the doctor for over a month...she just had her dosage of Zantac upped again last week, yet she is still spitting up quite a bit We go again on the 10th, but I was wondering if any of you mommies went through this and if there was any non-medicinal thing you tried that worked for you?? My poor baby is so under weight and I am getting desperate :( :( She's almost 8 months and just a smidge over 14 pounds.

We also tried the Enfamil AR formula as suggested by the pediatrician and Lily won't touch the stuff. She will take one taste and close her lips up tight until we get her a bottle of her Isomil.

Any advice for this worried mommy will be greatly appreciated!!

[crazycaro]

I'm sorry you're going through this, it is an awful thing. Ruby had it also, hers actually started getting better around 8 months and we were lucky in that it never affected her weight.

Does Lily have solids now? I found that they helped Ruby a bit, not right away though.

I am not sure what is special about AR formula, is it thickened? Ruby had Zantac and every bottle had Gaviscon added to it, which really helped her, it is for reflux but also thickens the formula a little.

Hang in there, because it is something that usually passes rather than stays. Hopefully Lily will start turning the corner soon.

[Coccinelle]

Thanks Caro!

Lily is on solids now - the #2 jars. She is only having one bottle before bed now. Foods come back up hours after they went down. It is very disheartening to think they are finally staying down and then have her spit most of it back up 2 seconds later.

The AR formula is thickened with rice cereal..but it doesn't matter, she won't touch it, lol.

I hope you are right and it passes soon!

[RyeRye]

My son is just now getting over his reflux at 15 months. He spit up a ton from the day he was born. Zantac didn't do anything for us. Neither did Reglan. We finally saw a Ped. GI who prescribed Prevacid and it worked wonders. We went from 40 spit ups a day down to 15 and it just got better and better. Instead of Enfamil AR, why not thicken the regular formula yourself. We use baby oatmeal to thicken bottles. I usually put 2 T in a 6 oz bottle. I also inclined his mattress in his crib. Besides that, I just used a ton of bibs and burp cloths. Hang in there. Another good forum for reflux advice is http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/default.asp

[SD601]

Prilosec combined with Zantac (both twice a day) worked for us. He spits up less and his weight gain went way up. He still takes naps upright, but I don't worry about him as much anymore.

[LexyLou]

My DD also has acid reflux. She's in prevacid and it's made a huge difference. They switched her once to a different type of prevacid and it was horrible...

as for the spitting up. It's ok if they spit up. Lots of babys do, just as long as it isn't painful. On her current meds DD is still a spit up queen...and will spit up 2 + hours after eating but it doesn't bother her in the least.

When she was on the other prevacid or nothing at all she would wake up screaming and she would vomit and cry and pull off the breast and cry, etc.

I have heard that kids can build up a tolerance to Zantac fairly quickly. You should talk to the ped about Prilosec or Prevacid.

Good luck..it does get better.

[maggieb]

Zantac won't do anything about the spitting up. It only neutralizes the acid in the stomach. Drugs like Prevacid actually shut down the proton pumps and therefore, the stomach stops producing a lot of the acid. Babies do develop a tolerance for Zantac, sometimes as quickly as a week. Most of the time babies are underdosed for Prevacid. Here's a good resource for dosing:

www.marci-kids.com

Getting meds right and the correct dosing are key to treating reflux. We're still working on Marisa's. She still spits up a lot and is in pain. She's currently taking Prevacid, but I think her dosage is too low. I plan to talk to her ped about it for her 6 mos WBV on Jan. 9.

As far as non-medicinal suggestions:
-keep baby upright after feedings
-incline crib
-let baby suck on pacifier

Good news is that there is an end in sight. Very few kids have reflux past a year. Helena outgrew it completely by a year and now is a healthy 2 yr old who eats everything and anything. Good luck.