Anyone have any advice as to how to tell the differance? Evelyn has been a little fussy pants lately. She spits up, gets hiccups alot, isn't sleeping well and cries like something is hurting her alot. She doesn't always want to eat her bottle and she likes to be held all the time! I know some of these things are normal but something just seems wrong. I have looked up both and they seem so similar it is hard to tell. We are putting cereal in her bottle to thicken it up and doing mylanta too. The doc called in Zantac today to see if that helps. We have tried several formulas and she seems to be the best on the one we are currently using. Just curious of others experiences with this. TIA!

Is she constipated? Does she have overly thick or formed stools (a 3 week old shouldn't). Do you notice any gas being passed?

How much formula are you giving her at a feeding? Does she get any breastmilk? If the formula is bothering her it could be the amount. She's really young so, maybe making portions smaller but feeding more frequently might help? Because of course she'll get heartburn if she gets an overly full tummy.

I wouldn't use cereal or mylanta for a baby that little IMO.

Are you burping her after every feeding? Burping can make A WORLD of difference. Some babies are harder to burp than others.

Also if she has tummy gas, sometimes tummy massages help move it along.

Is she spitting up a little bit or pretty much her entire meal? With reflux you get extreme projectile vomiting and unable to keep anything down. Erin had it when she was a baby and was on Prevacid for the first year. Typically with reflux you want to keep them upright for at least 45 minutes after eating if not longer. I always put E in her car seat. With her though it was more like an hour or more to keep it down. Her Ped also put her on a rice formula. It's thicker and more natural than the others so it's easier to stay down. The other question would be the formula. Could she be have a reaction to the formula she is on?

I will say that not sleeping, hiccups, and fussiness were never symptoms of GERD for Erin. She simply couldn't keep anything down. It almost sounds like the formula is bothering her tummy rather than reflux. I would definitely stay away from the cereal because their little tummies aren't capable of processing it yet and it might cause her tummy to hurt. As for Mylanta I haven't heard of giving it to a baby so I wouldn't use it unless your Dr says to.