Mom's of acid reflux babies

[*Kelly*]

How did you know.. what were the signs your baby was having reflux issues? I am about to google acid reflux in infants and read up on it, but wanted to see if ya'll could give me some insight with your experience. My littlest man is 12 weeks old and EBF. I'm going to call the Dr on Monday to have a chat too. TIA!

[cindys732003]

What makes you suspect that he has reflux?
Both of mine had what the drs called "silent reflux". They didn't spit up a lot, but instead they would have stuff come up their esophagus and then they would swallow it back down. So it is really like constant heartburn. You could actually hear swallow sounds all the time, back arching, they don't sleep will at night, they did not want to be laid flat on their backs too much, both had trouble breastfeeding and general bottle feeding was difficult sometimes too, it's like they were colicky but there was a reason for it. Both of them were put on Alimentum formula (hypoallergenic). In terms of medication, Ashley was put on Zantac for the first year and Curtis started out on prilosec but then was switched to prevacid till he was almost one.

[*Kelly*]

Cindy.. he spits up clear liquid (sometimes it's curdly ?spell?) He'll spit up quite a bit of fluid at one time too. My first son hardly ever spit up, so this is new for me. When he spits up, it's not right after eating.. it's a good time later. Sometimes at night, he'll choke.. Also, there have been times when he spits up and makes a face like ewww, and I'm guessing it was acidic tasting. He hates laying on his back.. sleeps better on his side. Kieran actually sleeps really well with his torso and head propped up on the boppy. I just don't know..

[rach3975]

My DS spit up often and was cranky after nursing. At the time we thought it was mild reflux and discussed it with the docs but only treated it behaviorally. (We did things like keeping him upright for 30 min after eating and avoiding pressure on his stomach, but we didn't medicate.) After seeing how much his personality changed after outgrowing the reflux, I think he had it worse than we realized and I wish we'd tried treating it.

[cindys732003]

Wow, that sounds really familiar. I would definitely talk to the dr. A lot of times, spit up is normal in babies, but because it is clear/curdly, and it bothers him that kind of sounds like it can be reflux. Mine sometimes did the choking thing at night to, especially Curtis....scared the heck out of me. I'm not a dr, but I would really talk to one if I were you. Hopefully they can help the poor little guy. Is he unhappy/does he cry alot?

[emilyscout]

My daughter spit up for the first 10 months of her life. She didn't have reflux, she was just a spitty baby. It still didn't feel great to her I'm sure. I did read up on it though and I seem to recall that perhaps cutting dairy out of your diet may help. A friend of mine did that with her son and it seemed to help a bit.
Oh and Meri would spit up even an hour after she ate and it would be all curdly and sour smelling. I talked to her doctor about it and they said it was normal because the valves in their stomachs are not good at keeping things in. And that some are worse than others.
I hope your little one feels better and you get some answers!

[mrs_jb]

My youngest has reflux and the biggest thing that caught my attention was that he could not be laid down on his back without spitting up, no matter how long after eating it was. He was also a horrible sleeper, could not be laid down to sleep for anymore than 5-10 mins. It was very difficult.

Once we got his meds right, he was like a completely different baby!

[*Kelly*]

Ladies.. thank you so much for sharing with me. I relate to so much of what each of you has said.

Emily.. I cut dairy from my diet about 4 weeks ago and Kieran gets 5 drops of a probiotic (the opposite of an antibiotic) nightly. Pedi recommended the probiotic for his 'colicky' type behaviors. The pedi also told me about a study that was done on mothers who cut dairy and gave their baby 5 drops of this 'good' bacteria to help cut gas, etc in the gut. From what I understand, when there is more 'bad' bacteria then 'good'.. painful gas and upset tummy can happen. I have noticed a difference in Kieran.. there is no longer a 'bewitching' hour (ie he would start crying between 5-6 and cry for hours), but now it seems we have a new problem.

Cindy.. he can be a cranky baby. Doesn't like or I should say, HATES to be laid down in his cradle. If he's asleep.. I will lay him in the cradle and most of the time he'll sleep for a bit. He doesn't sleep for long periods of time during the day unless he's being held or in the swing. Kieran has just started to sleep for 4-5 hour stints during the night.

Jaclyn.. I totally relate to the 5-10 minute sleeps. I kept trying to explain to my mom that he doesn't sleep much at one time and she was surprised.

It all seems to be coming together now when I think about what is going on with him and what ya'll have experienced.

[jorgies5]

My son had it as a baby (it was 9 years ago), but from what I remember he just spit up large amounts of liquid ALL THE TIME. I don't think he was ever cranky from it. But the doctor did prescribed Zantac for him. I got to the point of having him wear a bib all the time, otherwise his outfits would be soaking wet from spit up.

[Nonna2Dreja]

Originally Posted by *Kelly*

How did you know.. what were the signs your baby was having reflux issues? I am about to google acid reflux in infants and read up on it, but wanted to see if ya'll could give me some insight with your experience. My littlest man is 12 weeks old and EBF. I'm going to call the Dr on Monday to have a chat too. TIA!

Kelly, My Daughter (who lives with us) had brought her newborn son home from the hospital and everything appeared wonderful....Then that evening after we had finished eating dinner he began gagging and choking while my Daughter held him....He had what appeared to be white "junk" coming out of his nostrils and his mouth at the same time....He started to turn blue instantly and we could not get him to breathe....After a call to 911 and a ride to the Hospital no one knew what was the matter with him....Naturally we were afraid to bring him back home from the Hospital....That night I slept on the floor of her room with him in his car seat because we were so afraid of it happening again....The next morning my Grandson saw his Pediatrician who diagnosed him, after looking down his throat, with acid reflux....We did take him back to the Hospital for a barium swallow test where it was confirmed....Once he began taking Zantac medication he was fine....***Also the Doctor claimed it is hereditary....My Nephew also suffered from it....***Some children do outgrow acid reflux--which he did....

Talk to your Pediatrician to have peace of mind....

Sheila