Both girls have reflux

Hi,
Both girls,now 2 weeks old, have reflux. The ped. put them on Zantac on Friday. I'm nervous because sometimes we can not hear it happen and they will shake and have the milk come out their nose or projectile vomite. Not all the time, thankfully, but often enough I'm worry to sleep at night. During the day I can frequently look at them but at night I can not if I'm sleeping. I also just read not to put them in car seats for reflux because it squeezes their stomach. I'm going to try and jerry ring the crib mattress, and elevated 30 % but they do not seem to do well like that. What suggestions do others have to make it through this time. We're basically getting only 2 hours of shoppy sleep a night.

Min

 

HI!!! and congratulations on your babies!!!

My pediatrician told me to elevate their heads for 30 minutes after a feeding - so after I feed them I just sit and hold them for about 30 minutes with their heads up. also I breastfeed mostly but for the times that I have to use formula we use enfamil AR which has rice starch in it to make it thicker so that it will stay down better. also my pedi. told me that while it is recommended that babies sleep on their backs - it is ok to put a baby that has bad reflux on their side.

 

I put my refluxers on their sides in a sleep positioner for that reason. I was always afraid they would choke on their own spitup, even though they say it is very rare. They actually make a sleep positioner that is also at an incline. Here is a link to one. I have also read that they are better off on their left sides if they have reflux. Have they mentioned changing formula or adding cereal to weigh the formula down?

 

My boys also have reflux and I thought I'd add that Zantac does not always do the trick...I learned from many moms on this board that Prevacid is a wonder drug if Zantac does not seem to work after about a week. Both my boys (5 mos) switched to Prevacid after a few wks on Zantac with no success and now they literallly have no symptoms at all. (Like Heather, I hold them up for 30 min after a feeding). Good luck!

Meighan (formerly irish37)

 

Hello! I am going throug the same thing with my twins girls. We are getting very little sleep and I cry all the time because it always seems like their in pain and I can't help them. Zantac did not work for us, but it does wonders for others. I need any advice or things that worked for your kids! Please help!!

Thanks,
Jen

 

Prevacid...Prevacid...Prevacid....if you must ask your pedi for it, that's what I did per the advice of this board. It worked in 2 days!!!

 

I am worried to give my girls any meds, do you know if it is safe for infants? What type of formula are you using, or are you bf?

Jen

 

My babies were on Zantac as well, with no relief, switched to Axid, and it worked for a few months. Emma is off the meds, and Jake is now on Prevacid. I think Prevacid is the best of all of them as well. We are on soy milk now, but all of my babies have been on soy formula, all have had reflux. Hannah was on Nutramigen for a short period, then switched to soy.

 

How was your twins diagnosed with reflux?? My ped keeps telling me that they will just grow out of it. I feel like a terrible mom because I see them in pain and I can't help them. What were your kids symptoms?

Thanks,
Jen

 

Irish 38 -
You live in Rocky River, OH. I live in Mentor! I just read your profile by accident. What a small world!

Jen

 

My ped just went off symptoms alone, we never had to do further testing. Arching their backs, screaming after eating, and bottle refusal was a huge issue for us. They simply just refused to eat more than a couple of oz at time.

Now my other kids seemed to go the opposite way with the reflux and they would tend to eat more because it was soothing to them I guess. The twins had the worst reflux though, by far, of all of my kiddos.

If they do have reflux, they really need the meds. If it is left untreated, it can start to cause damage to the esophagus. Stay on top of the docs and make them listen to you. :hug99:

 

Irish 38 -
You live in Rocky River, OH. I live in Mentor! I just read your profile by accident. What a small world!

Jen


That is funny! I love the eastside, too! Anyway honestly I did not research long-term Prevacid effects--I usually do but my pedi GI is the goddess of MDs and I completely trust anything she prescribes. Like Becky said reflux is EXTREMELY painful and can even damage the esophagus if left untreated. Good luck--you can probably research on the internet. Feel free to PM me.

 

Not only were my guys on Zantac 2x's a day and prilosec liquid in the am but we also put cereal in their bottles (reco'd by pedi), elevated their mattresses, used Dr. Browns bottles, soy formula, burped after every couple of oz, kept them elevated 30 minutes after eating and put them on their sides at night...I never used a sleep positioner but we used those crib sheet savers so we rolled up recieving blankets and tucked them under the sheet savers. This way the blanket wouldn't move and the babies stayed in place on their side! Also saved the sheets from the spit up...