Acid Reflux

My girls (10 weeks, 6 weeks adjusted) have had acid reflux and spit up a lot. I BF and supplement with Enfamil Lipil. They have not been in pain before but this is getting much worse now. they often cry after eating and have stomach cramps lately. They throw up a lot, after every feeding - sometimes 1 hour after eating. They are gaining 1.5 oz a day which is really good and never refuse bottle. They spit up both after BF and formula. I have tried Enfamil AR for a week and it is not getting better. I am starting to give them meds today, the Dr gave me Omeprazole 0.5 ml a day. Has anyone tried this medicin? What is the best formula for acid reflux? I am concerned as they are throwing up after BF as well.

 

I am sorry you are having to go through this, reflux is so incredibly hard. Have you tried making sure they are upright at least 30 minutes after each feeding? What about thickening their formula with rice cereal?

I have no experience with the med that you listed. My girls pedi put them on prevacid from the get-go and it worked great for them. They were on the 25mg solutab once a day.

If the medicine doesn't seem to be working definitely call your pedi and talk to him/her about it. We didn't end up changing their formula due to the reflux. Another thing that really helped was using Dr. Browns bottles. Although they have a TON of different parts, it was worth it because it made a big difference.

Good Luck! I hope they are able to get some relief soon!! :hug:

 

We only used Enfamil Ar, and for us it worked well (at least much better than the reg. formula - she did still spit up, but much less). I had to add rice cereal to bm - both the formula and the rice ceral in bm can cause constipation. But it helped her keep it down. We used Zantac - so I am not sure about the medecine. Like pp said, upright for 30 minutes - or even as long as possible. GL!!!

 

We use similac sensitive and it has worked so far. We did rice cereal in the bottles and my DD was put on Zantac which helped tremendously. The rice did constipate them so my pedi suggested adding pedialyte or prune juice to their bottles once in awhile to loosen it up. I weaned them off the rice around 4.5 months and started giving them oatmeal (with spoon) and they are doing great!! My DS was a projectile vomiter and that was pretty scary. I kept them upright after eating, also elevated their crib and when they were in the bassinet I put a wedge in there that they slept on. I have noticed now that they are sitting up more they don't hardly ever spit up, so I do think they outgrow it a little.

GL!!

 

:hug: My suggestion would be to try eliminating dairy from your diet, and to try putting them on a hypoallergenic formula such as Nutramigen/Alimentum first and see if that helps. I would bet that together with the meds would make a big difference. If they are still spitting a ton, I would then add the rice to their bottles.

 

Thanks! I will try your suggestions. I never have them laying down flat as they throw up when I do (for example when changing diapers). I hope the meds work as I feel like all I do is change their outfits/bibs/clean them and do laundry...

 

I'm sorry to hear about the reflux...it can be a real pain. Omeprazole is the generic version of prilosec...that is what my dd is on. It seems to work pretty well for her; I'm surprised your dr didnt start with zantac or prevacid. The trouble with prilosec (omeprazole) is the stability. Most likely your pharmacy compounds the medication by just opening up the capsules and mixing it with their suspension, generally with this method the stability of the medication is often found to be 10-14 days, and then things flare up again. If you have a really good pharacy or use a compounding pharmacy (as we do) they will use pure omperazole and the stability is then 30 days. Doctors and pharmacists have different views and what not so some will believe that it is stable (if regfrigerated) for 30 days, however many parents see a flare up after 10-14 days.
Anyway, I hope that makes sense. If you switch to the prevacid solutab the stability doesnt become an issue...but if your comfortable with the omeprazole and it seems to be helping than stick with it.
For her reflux my dd is on the similac version of hypoallergenic formula-alimentum. It smells terrible but its much gentler on their tummies. As pp mentioned you might want to eliminate dairy and soy.
Odds are they will still spit up as the meds dont eliminate spit up just help it not to burn. But for the spit up you could try thickening with rice or oatmeal-for us rice caused constipation so we used oatmeal for a while but are now back on rice.

 

Thanks for the info on the meds! I really appreciate it. For all of you with your babies on meds, how long should I be expected to give this to them? I don't feel good about giving medication to my twins but I have to do something about it at this point.

 

Many babies grow out of reflux once they are more upright and mobile (7-10 moths or so) and even more outgrow it by age 1. For some it still lingers until 14-18 months. And of course there are some severe cases where it becomes of a lifetime thing.
I think most dr's might suggest (if they dont suggest it you can) trying to wean a LO from meds around 8 months, maybe even sooner if you really see no signs of reflux. As I said most LO's are off meds by age 1 though. Just watch and observe and if you think the reflux is gone ask your pedi or GI about trying to wean...it may be successful it may not, but you wont know until you try.

 

QUOTE(asamac @ Apr 19 2009, 06:13 PM) [snapback]1280141[/snapback]
Thanks for the info on the meds! I really appreciate it. For all of you with your babies on meds, how long should I be expected to give this to them? I don't feel good about giving medication to my twins but I have to do something about it at this point.


We were also nervous about medicating our DD being so young but the bottom line is she needed it. Our pedi prescribed Zantac which helped tremendously through the tough months. We're happy to report that she's been weaned off the meds and shows no signs of reflux at this point. The pedi suspects she has outgrown it.

That being said, all children are different and their bodies develop at their own pace. We just happen to be lucky since she outgrew it at an early age.

I hope your DD's feel better soon!

 

QUOTE(asamac @ Apr 19 2009, 06:13 PM) [snapback]1280141[/snapback]
Thanks for the info on the meds! I really appreciate it. For all of you with your babies on meds, how long should I be expected to give this to them? I don't feel good about giving medication to my twins but I have to do something about it at this point.


I didn't like the idea of it either, but I also didn't like the idea of the stomach acid burning their esophagus and it causing them pain, so it won out. I was able to take Emma off her meds at 9 months and Jake had to stay on his until he was 14 months.

 

Ours had nasty reflux. We ended up with them both on Alimentum and then were able to get one onto the Enfamil A/R after a few months of the hypoallergenic formula. They were both on Prevacid at 6 weeks and we were able to wean them off at 9 months. GL! Reflux is horrible.

 

My 2 year old started out on Zantac and then moved to Prevacid, and the twins have been on Prevacid since they were a month old. The twins are 7 months and still on meds and my 2 year old is also still on meds. For me, I don't think they'll be outgrowing it any time soon. But as pp said, most do. I'm just not associated with most. Sigh.

 

My DS had bad reflux as you described. I changed formula to similac sensitive and after about a week, the spitting up was gone.

 

My Pedi said she would eventualy outgrow the dose of Zantac and by then would have been weaned off. Probably around 9-12 mo and some kids deal with up to 2 years (like certain foods will bother them). I didnt want to do meds either, however just thinking of her in pain won me over. She was a completely different baby after the meds kicked in!!

 

So I gave the girls their first dose of meds early this morning and have fed them BM mixed with enfamil AR and really propped them up in their seats so that they almost sat completely upright for an hour after I held them upright for 20 minutes. None of them have thrown up which is truly amazing and they haven't cried after eating. I would think it would take much longer for meds to kick in but I guess it is a combination of all things I tried.

 

:woo: That is great news!!

 

Glad they are finally getting some relief and are feeling better after a feeding.

My Little guy has had horrible reflux since 5 weeks old. He takes a prevacid pill in the am (dissolved in water by a syringe) tried Zantac but only made it worse. He also takes .45ml of Reglan 30 mins before every other feeding to help with the spitting up. We too use the Dr. Browns bottles and always have. LOVE THEM! His pedi says he is fine on the Similac Advance and no need to add cereal to his formula.

 

I have to get Dr Browns bottles. I have read a lot of good things about them but never tried them.

 

My DD had terrible reflux at that age. She would projectile vomit everyday, not just spit up. AND we could barely get her to eat because it hurt her too much. We changed formulas so much and nothing worked. We tried Axid and I felt miserable about giving such a tiny baby drugs but I thought if it helped her then so be it....well, it didn't help even after 2 weeks (they say it takes this much time to see results). THEN my mom suggested I try something 'nontraditional' , a chiropractor. I thought about it for a few days (my mom is very 'earthy' and natural) and then I found a pediatric chiropractor that was only a short drive for me. I liked his website and his thoughts and ideas on birthing and child care. I made an appointment with no expectations. The first visit I met with him and he evaluated DD with a computerized gadget that he just lightly ran over her head, neck and spine. It is true that my DD had kind of a traumatic birth with being pulled breech position from me...her head was mis-shapen and it seemed she had a hard time controlling her head and neck MUCH more so than her brother who was born head first, unassisted. The 'adjustment' was so gentle...no cracking...just gentle pressure on her neck and spine....I probably put more pressure on her back just holding her...that's how gentle he was. After the first adjustment she slept for a few hours and the very next feeding she ate like a complete little piggy...I was shocked. At first she went three times per week (for 2 weeks-then twice per week for two weeks and now once per week) but after that first visit she NEVER vomited again and we haven't had problems feeding her. I was so happy and amazed. I don't know where you live but if you do a search for a pediatric chiropractor I would go. Ask them a ton of questions and make sure they have experience with infants and use the gentle technique. It also would not hurt to switch to Nutramigen (as suggested above)...that's what DD is on and she loves it. That way IF the vomiting is from protein intolerance you are covered....it can't hurt. Good luck to you! Also, my DD had started on Dr.Browns bottles but we switched her to Born Free because I had read that they work better for 'hard suckers' which my DD is. This also helped her as she sucked in much less air.