Reflux questions...Please Help!

coasterqueen wrote: Something in my heart tells me Megan has more than just the issues of my oversupply/forceful letdown.

Can those of you who have babies with reflux can you give me some insight please? What were their symptoms that made you and/or your doctor think they had reflux? What tests were done to determine it was reflux? If you are a nursing mom, did you have oversupply and or forceful letdown as well? Please add anything else you might think of. Thanks.

MommyToAshley replied: The symptoms can be different in different babies, but for Ashley she was fussy immediately after eating and would arch her back. She always seemed better if we put her in an angle, or let her sleep in her infant seat. She also had projective vomit (it shot pretty far across the room). We didn't do any testing because the tests are intrusive and treatment was simple: keep her elevated at least a 45 degree angle after feeding for 30 minutes and medicate with Zantac. The zantac wouldn't cause any problems if she didn't have reflux, but we could see improvement with the meds. I did have an oversupply, forceful letdown, issue in the beginning, but it leveled out after a few months. Even after the oversupply issue was solved, she still had problems with the reflux. She eventually outgrew it around 8 months or so.

coasterqueen replied: I'm bumping this back up just in case it got lost. You people are posting like mad this weekend.


Anyone else with any thoughts?

And Dee Dee, do you need a script for that Zantac? Was it the doc that put her on it and did she only need to take it til she was 8 months? Oh and how did you get her to take it since you were nursing? Oh and one more ...was there only certain times of the day that seem to be the time she spit up and projectile vomited? Megan is projectile vomiting and her spitting up seems to be the worst between 1 pm and 9 pm..the rest of the time she doesn't spit up.

GavinsMommy replied: Our pediatricians said to look for a sour face. LOL...so if all of a sudden she gets this look on her face like you fed her lemon juice, then she is probably getting excess acid due to a weak esophageal sphincter.

Also, like Dee said...the projectile vomiting. But they can also just spit up a tiny bit with burps, that is also an indication.

Our pediatricians said the same thing about elevation. And to burp baby frequently. Plain yogurt is recommended as is cereal in a bottle.

Gavin has a touch of it I believe, but since I'm not sure, I'm not going to take any of those measures except elevation.

GavinsMommy replied: The spitting up more during the day is probably because she eats more during the day.

atlantamomof2 replied: Joshua didn't have reflux but he had REALLY bad gas! (As in painful, not smelly) I also had a forceful letdown so he would gag and start crying. I would have to pump about 1/2 an oz before nursing for a few weeks so he wouldn't gag. This helped a LOT! He never threw up so I don't know about the meds. I just remeber how frustrating and stressful it was for both of us during the gagging time. He could handle my letdown by about 3 months (maybe 3 1/2)

Hope it all works out.

MommyToAshley replied:
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention she spit up a lot too. I didn't notice a particular time of day that she would spit up or have the projectile vomit... just after eating.

Yes, we had to have a script for the zantac. It was the Ped that suspected reflux when I mentioned Ashley's symptoms at a check up.

As for getting her to take it, it wasn't easy at first. We had to use the dropper and put it in her mouth and then blow towards her face to make her swallow. I tried nursing and then giving her the meds and then nursing again, but that just made her mad. The stuff does taste nasty... DH tried it. But, eventually Ashley learned to like the taste of it.

We gradually tapered her off the zantac. Around 6 months, we thought she might be doing better so we skipped a dose, but the reflux bothered her still. So, we kept giving it to her... then around 8 months we tried again and she did fine without it.

I hope that helps.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: Matt's biggest sign was the fussiness. Nothing long term seemed to help him much, even the zantac was only so-so. We were told an easy thing to try was giving a little mylanta and if it calms them down it's probably reflux.
I stopped nursing after they said colic and we already knew about reflux so I can't be of much assistance on that front. I had already cut down my diet to nothing but oatmeal and chicken and nothing was helping so he ended up on the hypoalergenic formula.

amymom replied: My info is older as my daughter is now 8 yrs old.
She had severe reflux. We did limited testing since as someone already mentioned, the testing is somewhat intrusive and 'cure' relatively easy. Her reflux was such that she was not gaining weight. She vomited after EVERY feeding. It felt like she vomited all the time. She was 8 lbs at birth and then was only 8 lbs at 6 weeks. (She also was hospitalized with RSV at four weeks) We put her bed at an incline (there is a special way to do that for infants), I nursed her every two hours for shorter times. We tried Zantac and a few others but they didn't help. We also suspected a milk intolerance so I went off all dairy and closely watched what I ate. Eventually Reglan was the best meds that helped her. She started to gain weight and by 6 mos she was almost 13 lbs. She walked early so she was the funniest looking 9month old who was walking but only weighed 15-16 lbs.
She still has issues with dairy and we watch what she eats, but she does not suffer with any reflux problems at this time. But it was a very scary time for us, my advantage was I worked at my pediatrician's office, and the doctor was my friend. Her son and my daughter played together. This gave my doctor a unigue look at my daughter and her symptoms, so I was able to tap into her (the doc's) knowledge very easily.
Two things that I got out of the whole experience, is one... my daughter has great control over her 'bodily' functions. She was always able to tell when she was going to vomit (reflux) and I have never had to clean up after her (since she began to walk). (Oh but as an infant, the laundry bills!!! ) Just last week she was ill with stomach virus and she made it to the bathroom each time.
The other is, unfortunately, when my daughter was older (14 to 24 mos.) her reflux could be so severe that she would choke, Thus she learned the international sign for choking AND I learned to perform the Heimleich (sp?), which I had to do on three occasions. Valuable lessons, but I hope you do not experience them.

Good Luck, Also sometimes it could be a food intolerance so maybe keep a diet journal and compare with her reflux. Boy I missed those Banana Splits when I was nursing, but it helped my daughter alot, when I stayed away from the ice cream.

aspenblue1 replied: Isabella didn't spit up a lot with her reflux. I could just see the pain when I would lay her down flat she would start screaming and wouldn't stop. I have a link to info on reflux I will post it when I get to work it may help it states various symptoms.

Jamison'smama replied: Jack had a mild case of this for the first 2 months--he had Zantac prescribed 2-3 times a day as needed. I only used it when he was excessively fussy then stopped because he hated it so much it was horrible. I had a VERY forcefull letdown and still do at times. The lactation consultant led me to believe that it was less reflux than the forceful letdown causing excess gas in the belly which they can't distiguish from hunger pains so he would want to nurse and get too full...etc. --vicious cycle. We did the block feeding and it was more helpful than the Zantac.


I could hear the milk hitting his belly when he gulped and it sounded painful.

aspenblue1 replied: here is the link

http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/villa/2193/educate.htm

coasterqueen replied: Thanks everyone for your advice. I will speak to the PEd the next time we go in. The hard part is reflux symptoms are very similar to oversupply/forceful letdown symptoms and I know I have the OS/FL so I hate to do anything to treat reflux if it isn't reflux.

And I can't remember who posted about the PED saying gift cereal in a bottle or yogurt....OMG! I think I'd get a different PED! I would never give those things to a newborn let alone my dd til she was 6 months old. YIKES!

BTW, Brenda we are doing block feeding with help of a LC. I'm actually doing 4 hour block feedings which is pretty excessive and she's talking about having me go to 5 hour block feedings. That's how bad my OS/FL is. So in many ways it seems like it's more the problem than reflux could be. It's just horrible to see her in pain like this.

aspenblue1 replied:
Isabella was on zantac also until about 7 months. The doctor has to write a script.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I think others have pretty much hit the nail on the head....

Good luck!

AmyO replied: hope it's ok to say this here but there is a really helpful message board/ website. it's www.infantreflux.org

It deals with reflux, my 3 yr old had is when he was a baby. still has problems every now and then, he was on tagament then zantac, then reglan, then prevacid. my 5 mos old has it and is on tagament been on it since she was 2 wk old. she had to go on prevacid for 2 wk because she caught a stomach bug and once a reflux baby then it takes a while to get it back under control.
amy

kit_kats_mom replied: Hey Karen, I missed this one before.
You know I have OS/FL. Lauren was prescribed zantac due to possible reflux but she only took it a couple of times. Why they would make it peppermint flavor I have no idea. We also got a script for axid and she took that easier. However, the vomiting and fussiness ended after the first month when I started long block feedings...so long that I actually nurse on one side all day and the other side all night. Leaves me a bit lopsided but she seems to be doing better...except for the green poops but we wont' go there. LOL

Anyway, try just burping her after feedings and hopefully it is just an immature digestive tract that needs to get into a groove

coasterqueen replied:
Thanks Cary. I'm up to 4.5 hour block feedings. Although I must admit sometimes I forget and who knows what side I do and if it's the right one. Megan luckily doesn't have green poops, knock on wood, but she definitely has the gassy, burpy, painful thing going on.

I think what is so frustrating is one day she can go all day without and real bad symptoms and then that same night she's up all night with bad symptoms. Then the next day she has the problem all day but not at night. I'm literally going insane. Last night I got NO and I do mean NO sleep, not even a minute. She was in pain all night. It looks like tonight is going to be another one of those nights too. Not exactly fun with a rambunctious toddler to take care of either.

atlantamomof2 replied: P &PT coming your way for a good, restful night!