Here's the issue with my 3 month old. He's been diagnosed with Reflux and has been on Zantac for about a month. He also is on Alimentum, has been for a month. But the vomiting still happens and often. About 2 weeks ago, we started putting rice cereal in his bottle. It seemed to help quite a bit, but in the past few days, his vomiting has increased. I've talked to the ped. and he believes we have to stick it out with the Zantac for a little longer....yeah, I'd like to see how he'd hold out having to change clothes 6 times a day.

A lady I saw in a store today, (she said she was a nurse at Children's) said her son when he was diagnosed with Reflux was actually having an allergic reaction and once they started him on allergy meds the vomiting actually stopped.

what I'm wondering is have any of you had this challenge with your babies? What did you do? What did your Ped. say or recommend? Any advice to make this time easier (I hear they usually outgrow it by 18 months)?

Thanks!

Angie, my heart goes out to you. Our middle child, who will be one on Sunday was protein allergic and had reflux. I encourage you to stick it out with the zantac and give it time.
we went through about ten changes of clothes per day, the baby and us! we couldn't use those little burp clothes, we had to have receiving blankets, but all the sudden about ten months old, he just stopped.
We've been able to put him on soy, and he can eat a lot more stuff, too.
If you want to, email me off list I'd be glad to listen to you vent, talk about it, whatever. I know how it is, if you need me, just let me know.

Hi Angie! :D

Two out of four of my kids had reflux really badly. Does your son cry a lot, especially after eating? My kids did. The acid from the reflux used to burn their throats and they'd sputter and choke. It was very trying.

Anyway, here are some things we did. First, I used the rice cereal in every bottle, and I made the bottle the consistency of a THICK milk shake. That absolutely worked wonders. Otherwise, any fluid would just splash back up in their throats. I had to cut juice nipples with a sharp paring knife and try the bottle out myself to make sure my baby wouldn't have to work too hard to get the milk out. I also used soy milk because the gastro-specialist could never rule out lactose intollerance, as well.

Another thing I did was crush two Tums between two spoons until it was powder, and then I mixed them into every bottle. I quit the prescrip. meds, which were very expensive and didn't work as well, the first week I tried them. If my baby puked and started crying after the bottle, I'd know that he/she was a little acidy, so I'd give a little eye dropper of Pepto and hold baby upright and walk around/soothe for about 15 minutes until the Pepto took effect. If baby was crying and oviously in pain, I'd dip a pacie in Karo syrup to calm baby down and cut back on gulping of air while wating for the Tums and sometimes Pepto to take effect. All of these things worked so well that Children's hospital in Seattle took notes on what we were doing, because we were having better succuss than their other patients were.

I also always fed my babies upright so food could work it's way down better. Took the cover off their car/infant seat and folded receiving blankets up to fit in the dip in the infant seat, put the cover back over it, so baby wouldn't be so bent in the middle.

Then, I propped up the crib matress and made a sling (could describe that if you were interested) so baby would be sleeping up-hill on tummy (not back cuz they can puke and choke).

As for the huge amounts of spit up, we used thick cloth diapers tucked into the neck of the outfit (sometimes over a bib), long way downward toward feet for full coverage, and kept it there while baby was in car seat, swing or walker. Honestly, I can't remember changing their clothes very often. I did make sure baby was thoroughly burped and covered before putting him/her down. The largest amounts would come up on a burp or within half an hour of eating.

The hardest part of all this for me, was when my babies were in pain when they'd spit up stomach acid. The Tums and Pepto were the only things that worked consistently.

The good news is, they start to get a little better at around six months. Then, a lot better by nine months. The longer/taller the baby gets, the more distance between the stomach and the asophagus. And, of course, 'solid' food doesn't come up as much, either. And by the time they start walking they're mostly upright all the time, so fluid and food drain down much better. BTW... When I started giving baby food in a jar, I put that in a bottle, too, and thickened it just like the milk bottle so it would stay down. Worked beautifully.

Blessings to both of you. I pray God gives you wisdom and peace in dealing with this. Remember, he'll outgrow it soon.

[heart]

Joy [welcomewave]

I never had a reflux baby but have worked with several who were...I always fed them sitting up with their heads tilted back, always gave rice, burbed them more often than other babies, they didn't go in the swings or walker or jumper and laid on their side to sleep...These were all at daycare facilities where resource was limited..

Angela was allergic to everything it seemed...We gave her the formula made for colics..She couldn't nurse past 1mo or take any other formula..Ironically where most are allergic to oatmeal, she was allergic to rice and still tells me it burns her throat to this day..She couldn't take any kind of juice ,and water had to be room temp..not warmed not cold..She had all sorts of skin allergies and still does and she has all sorts of food allergies ( a new one detected each day it seems )..

Sort of like Joy did, you just have to try different things and see what works for YOUR baby....Praying things get better soon..

my son also had reflux, and was on zantac until he was around 11 months. the zantac doesn't stop the spitting up. when the babies spit up that much it burns their esophagusus and throats. the zantac is a heart burn medication. stick with it. with my son we had to feed small amounts, more frequently. he nursed every 1 1/2 to 2 hours all day and night. not much sleep. a at three months they wanted to put him on the bottle and to be able to thicken his feeds with cereal. i wasn't to keen on that but ended up giving him cereal from a spoon instead. jakob slept in his carseat and swing every night until he was around 6 months. when he bottlefeed ( around 4 months) i fed him standing up with him basically vertical against me. It DOES GET BETTER once they learn to sit, and stand and walk by 1 year it was completely gone. and when they start with solid foods. he is lactose intolerant now, not sure if there is any connection. at almost 3 1/2 years he is a healthy happy well adjusted boy ( who almost never throws up)

Thanks so much for all the advice and encouragement. David does sleep in his carseat with a blanket over the cover. In fact, we have two carseats. One for sleeping and one for the car. And he does take his longer naps during the day in the swing.

I do now realize that the zantac is basically to prevent the burning inside, and not prevent the vomiting. I had been giving him gaviscon, and may try putting it directly into the bottle as someone suggested.

I'll keep thinking "this is just a phase" and if you'll all keep praying, we'll be fine!

Thanks again, Angie :P

You know i actually made an appointment for the peds for this week. Because my ds is having this problem and i don't know what's wrong. He will vomit very easily usually after eating although he doesn't cry, so i don't know. :?