reflux question

i stopped my LOs meds about 2 months ago. however, one of the little guys sometimes still burps and makes a nasty face and looks like he's having 'reflux.'
should i give him his meds again or could it just be the food or something.

 

I personally doubt it's because of reflux. I'm sure you've occasionally burped, even just a little and sometimes it's had a harsh "taste." Or maybe that's just me lol. If it's just occasional, I don't see any problems with letting it go.

From my understanding they typically outgrow reflux around 6 months. When we went in for our 6 month well baby appt the doctor mentioned that, but didn't tell me I needed to stop their prevacid. About a month later, I slowly stopped it and they've been completely fine. They had originally been diagnosed with severe GERD. They had also been getting rice cereal in their bottles since 2 months old to help w/ the horrible spit up and just the past month we have taken it out of all of their bottles, except I started putting it back in their nighttime bottle again cause they stopped sleeping through the night.

 

this is incorrect. the cause of reflux is mechanical and stems from two separate issues. one is a weak valve at the top of the stomach that lets acid wash back up. the second is that the diaphragm in an adult sits horizontally across the top of the stomach and helps act as a physical pressure against the organ. in babies the organs are still developing and moving into place and the diaphragm doesn't sit across the top of the stomach as it does in adults. that development happens between a year and 18 months. for kids with severe reflux it can be a combination of both mechanical factors and you could certainly have a necessity to medicate well into or beyond the second year.

aside from the sour expression does your son seem uncomfortable? does he cry like he's in pain, does he wake up very upset at night? do you hear a lot of coughing in his sleep? if he's experiencing discomfort i would think that would be a sign that he may still need some acid control. maybe a lower dosage, and possibly just a bit of mylanta every now and then rather than a prescription. if he doesn't seem uncomfortable i wouldn't think it would require medication.

it's definitely something to discuss with your doctor next time you see him/her.

 

I agree with piccologirl. Mine didnt outgrow it until closer to 8-9 months of age. Lots of babies on here have had it well into their second year. So there really is no magical number. Are there any other issues besides the burping that are troublesome? I would call your Ped and see what they say.

 

i actually gave him his meds this morning bc after he ate he was so fussy. within about 5 mins of getting the meds, he was fine.
think it could be reflux? he was my 'silent refluxer.' the other LO is just fine.

 

what meds did you give?

the pain of reflux comes from repeated action of acid washing up the throat. the tissue becomes raw and painful. when you start an H2 receptor antagonist like zantac or a proton pump inhibitor like prevacid or prilosec you stop the production of acid. but that sore tissue is still sore and anything that washes up the throat can still be painful. so you don't typically see immediate results like that with H2 or PPI drugs. if it's in a liquid suspension there may have been a bit of coating action that could help. more typically it takes a few days for the medication to turn the acid off long enough for that sore tissue to heal and become painless again.

what i'm saying is, i would talk to your doctor about his symptoms, his fussiness, and your thoughts about the possibility that reflux is still a problem. you know your child, you spend every day with him. trust your gut and let your doctor know what you think.

 

he was on zantac.
recently he's been fussy - just all day long in general. i wasn't sure if it was his teeth and then was thinking it might be his reflux?