If your child is on Zantac...

[glensgirl]

DS was just prescribed zantac last week for silent reflux. He was barely napping during the day, nursing every hour, still cluster feeding for 4-5 hours in the evening, and still gets up every hour or two at night. Now that I finally know the cause of his constant nursing/no sleeping I'm actually noticing some other symptoms too-snoring, coughing sounds in sleep, etc.. I guess I noticed them before but assumed that was normal. He was prescribed 4ml twice a day-basically a teaspoon. Seems like a lot to me especially since he pretty much refuses to take it-cries, gags, spits. I've even tried putting it in a 4 oz bottle but he still can taste it and it's a huge struggle to get it down. FWIW I did notice a change in his behavior literally the next day where all of a sudden he could wait longer between feedings in the morning/afternoon and even took a 3 hour nap on Sunday (wish I was home for that one, instead DH got to enjoy it and thinks I'm crazy when I complain he doesn't nap). He is still getting up every 1-2 hours at night though. But we are struggling getting it down. I can get him to take 2ml in a 4 oz bottle without a problem, but I want to make sure he gets what he needs to feel better.

So I have a couple of questions-

What is your child's weight and dosage? He is almost 14lbs and was prescribed 4ml 2x a day. I ask because I did a search on mothering.com and it seemed like other babies had lower dosages (less than 2ml) but I really didn't find a whole lot of info.

How do you get your baby to take this stuff? He loves everything else-tylenol, gas drops, gripe water.

Thanks for any help you can give!

[nybride2003]

I can't talk to you about dosage because my son is now 15 mos. He was prescribed zantac when he was a couple of weeks old but I don't remember the dosing. I'm glad that it is helping your son. Be vigilant about noticing any signs of pain like the cluster feedings, arching his back waking up at night. I say this because with this medicine, as they gain weight, the dosage does have to be increased but you have to be proactive in telling your doctor if your baby needs it. Zantac didn't work for us. We were finally put on prevacid solutabs and that made all the difference. As for zantac, you can get it flavored at your pharmacy. I think they flavored it grape. It still tastes disgusting...I tasted it, but it helps. I gave it to him in small amounts in the syringe...maybe about half made it in. I also gave it to him cold because I heard it helped with the taste. Also, try to keep him elevated when he sleeps. We tried everything. Sometimes he would sleep in his swing. We also bought a wedge that elevates the sleep area. You may want to check out www.infantreflux.org. That sight is full of information and the ladies are very helpful if you have any questions. Take care.

[amygrrl]

is your ds on 4 ml or .4 ml? i'm kinda freakin out b/c our dd who is almost 10 pounds just had her dosage increased to .8 ml's twice a day from .3 ml's twice a day for no other reason that weight gain and if your ds is really at .4, well then why is my dd on twice as much???? :eek:

[glensgirl]

amygrrl-He is on 4ml which seems like a lot to me. Just a little nervous because I read too much acid reduction can cause bacterial growth.

nybride2003-Thanks for the suggestions. He still sleeps in his carseat. :o I just bought a crib wedge too even though the dr. said not to keep him elevated. I'll try to see if I can get it flavored (also read the taste is so strong even with flavoring) and keeping it cold.

[catmom]

My DD was on zantac when she was little, and she has occasional flare-ups when we have to start giving it to her again. It does taste terrible, but I will say that after a few weeks she aquired a taste for it. Now she gets excited when she sees the botle (scary, I know), and she sucks it right out of the dropper.

1tsp twice a day does sound like a really big dosage... my DD doesn't take even half that much now, at 23 lbs. But then her case was pretty mild.

[ajb524]

My DS was also just prescribed Zantac on Tuesday. He is 12lbs. and is getting 1ml 2x a day. At daycare yesterday they said he seemed to be feeling a lot better. I'm so glad too, because he has had trouble with this for a while.

[tunibell]

My DD has been on Zantac since she was three weeks old (she's now almost twelve weeks) and her dose has ranged between 1.0 - 1.4 ml as she has gained weight. 4 ml does sound like a lot to me.

I recommend the grape flavoring too...DD seems to think it is slightly less heinous then the regular mint.

[amychris03]

DS was 12 pounds, 13 oz at his last drs appointment and was
prescribed 1.5 ml, twice a day.

tuni
How did you go about getting the grape? Can I just call and refill my
prescription and tell them that I want the grape or do I need a new
prescription? Sam is totally hating the mint and I just feel horrible
because it has become such a struggle. We even went off of it for
a day, hoping to see an improvement and of course we didn't...

[catmom]

I just checked, and the last dosage she was prescribed was 1.5 ml twice a day, and she was around 20 lbs at the time that was written. 1.5 ml is really not that much... less than 1/2 a tsp. Are you sure your dr really meant to prescribe 4 ml? That just seems like a LOT. if it were me, I would call and double check.

[glensgirl]

Catmom-Thanks for checking. I remember he specifically said 4ml and that's what's on the bottle. I've only been doing 2ml since I can barely disguise that in a bottle and he still ends up either refusing or spitting up the evening bottle. I even asked the pharmacist the other day when I had him add the grape flavor (still can't get him to take it alone with the flavoring). He said it was on the high side but sometimes docs don't go by the guidelines and do what they know works. He was also on vacation last week when I called.

Thanks everyone else for your responses! Still trying to work on a better solution for my little guy to start feeling better.

[catmom]

glensgirl: Have you tried the "cheek-pocket" tecnique? Sears talks about it in his book, and we had to use it early on when DD didn't want to take medicine. Basically, you cradle the baby's head in the crook of your left elbow, and with your left middle finger you pull the corner of the baby's mouth open. Then with your right hand, you drop the medicine slowly into the side of the baby's mouth. Since the baby can't close his mouth (since your finger is pulling it open), he can't spit the medicine out. If you have a copy of the Sears baby book, there is a picture of this, as it's a little hard to explain. But it really does work. Good luck!

[tray622]

We moved from Zantac to Prilosec but the dosages run about the same. DD has been on 5 ml twice a day since she was about 15lbs. She was diagnosed with severe reflux after her upper-gi and it was ruled out other things. We were told it can take up to 10-14 days for it to work and it took us exactly 14 days until I saw significant improvement. I give it to her in a very, very thin dropper. I insert it into the side of her mouth and while she sucks slowly insert it in. It gets easier but I found that when I used the regular dropper they would give me it released too much and when I put it in the bottle it didnt work as well. I requested the thin one and it has worked thus far. Good luck :)

ETA: That my cousin has always used the "cheek pocket" method posted above and it worked perfectly!

[amychris03]

glensgirl
I just had to take DS back to the dr for a weight check to change
his dosage and at 14 pounds, 2.5 ounces, he was put on 1.7 ml
twice a day... She did say that this is the low end of dosing since
his case is pretty mild (I know there is a range). Im going to get
it flavored with grape to see if that helps as well, I'll keep ya posted:)!

[michael'sbride]

Both of my DS's were on Zantac. The most DS #1 ever too was 1ml three times a day. DS #2 took .8ML 4x a day. They say when babies are small they should have small doses more times a day because they have issues with absorbsion.

I would personally question why they would prescribe such a high dosage to start with. My ped always started with a very small dosage to find the least amount of medication that would be effective.

Trust your instincts. I have very detailed records at home of the amount of meds they had at which weight. I can get that tonight if you want me too!

[glensgirl]

Just checking back in. Thanks everyone for your responses.

Tray622_It makes me feel better that your DD was on a higher dosage as well.

We did go back to the ped last week and ended up getting the zantac compounded. They basically crush up the pills and add a flavor so there is no alcohol and no nasty taste. I can give DS the full dosage now straight and he sucks it right down! He seems a *little* better. The nursing sessions have spread out and shortened but sleep is still an issue. He still gets up every 2 hours at night (at 4 months) and refuses to sleep flat on his back as much as we've tried. The nurse at the mom's group I go to mentioned we may need to move onto something stronger like Prevacid. I'm going to give the zantac another week.
Thanks again and hope everyone else's reflux babies are doing well!