Acid reflux Please help

[tdholtry]

My 10 week old son has acid reflux and it causes him to cry almost all of the time he doesn't sleep well because of it and i need some advice on what i can try to make things better for him any advice would be wonderful

[ryan's mum]

is you're lo on any medication to help with reflux ? you could try raising the matress at one end .also does you're lo have a dummy ?by sucking, the saliva helps to neutralise the acid.keep upright for at least 30mins after feeds and burp well.
    you should look at the colic,reflux and crying forum you will find a lot of helpfull info there. try looking at this site on reflux
http://www.infantreflux.org/

[tdholtry]

yes we have tried zantac but he won't take it it is very nasty he does use a pasifier and that does help sometimes we also have the mattress raised in his bassinet but i have been told to thicken his bottles with cereal and i am not sure i should do that ??

[teezee]

i let my lo sleep in her carseat for awhile and that helped her alot as she slept more sitting up than anything.  she didn't like the zantac at first but now she loves it!!  she opens her mouth like a little birdie twice a day - like it is the best treat in the world now!  for now tho, just aim it at the back, side of the mouth to keep it from hitting as many  tastebuds as possible.  after meals, keep lo upright for about a half hour and that should help also.  i never thickened dd's bottle with anything, too many ppl scared me saying that she could choke so i ended up for a few months giving her smaller meals more often(every 1 and a half to 2 hrs) that way there wasn't as much liquid to splash around and come back up..good luck...it is so trying and soo hard for u and your lo - i know - but better days are ahead - i thought we were never gonna get through it then the meds kicked in and i have my happy lo back!..let me know if u need anything - i'm sure i can help as i have been there myself, not knowing what to do and having everyone throw around advice and not knowing what to try...and it wasn't all that long ago.. good luck!

[ryan's mum]

here in the uk they don't agree with thickening feeds with cereal.our h/v are really against it. have you tried infant gaviscon sachets in the feeds.they thicken the milk a bit and act as a barrier. this worked well for us when ds was younger.also it depends where you live, you can have the zantac flavoured.luckily for us ryan loves the minty flavour.he is still on zantac but i must admit it hasn't helped us with night time issues.we still have sleep problems but he is improving.i think he has learnt to cope with it and can now sit up when he is in pain.ryan is a lot older than you;re son , but we have had a long hard battle with reflux.all you can do is try and make you're son as comfortable as you can,even if this involves bad habits.we had many bad habits but ryan corrected tham all himself.rocking to sleep , strocking face , co sleeping , pushed to sleep in pram, the list goes on but now he can put himself to sleep and only needs re assurance in the night.

[mattandcindy]

I think everyone has given you great so far.
Also, some pharmacies will add a flavoring to the Zantac for you (have you tasted it-it is disgusting!). You might want to see if your pharmacy will do that.
If the Zantac isn't working than I would push your doctor to get your little one on something stronger. Zantac works for some but no all refluxers. What a lot of babies seem to do well on is Prevacid or Prilosec. Basically any "Proton Pump Inhibitor". The Zantac decreases the acid in the stomach, the PPI's actually stops the acid from being formed on a cellular level. It also heals any damage done to the esophagus from the reflux.
Abigail was on Zantac, it worked for a short while and then stopped working. I had to push and push to get her on Prevacid but I finally won and it works SO much better. I would also encourage to raise your mattress.
Also, there is a great site, http://www.infantreflux.org. They have alot of great products for reflux babies.
Good Luck and pm if you have any questions or need support.

[AlexandConnorsmom]

My 5 month old son has reflux also--hang in there, I know how frustrating it can be!  It will get better, but making it better for each baby takes a lot of experimenting for what works best for your child.  My son also screamed A LOT and didn't sleep well.  Like you, we tried Zantac first.  It helped a little, but not as well as I thought it could, like you.

My recommendation:  you didn't say if you've seen a pediatric GI specialist, but if you haven't push your pediatrician to send you.  The general pediatrician is not a GI specialist, and mine admitted that they just try a couple approaches that have generally worked well.  A GI specialilst will be able to listen to you about your sons specific symptoms and perscribe a specific course of medications to help!  It made all of the difference in the world for my son...we ended up on Prevacid in the am and Pepcid at night and after a week of watching  him get better and better as the Prevacid kicked in, life has been much better.  And I did a lot of internet research about cereal in the bottle and a lot of research indicates that it does not improve reflux symptoms.

Good luck to you!  I promise it will get better!!

[mle03]

My son had acid relfux something horrible when he was first born.  They switched his formula 3 times and put him on the Zantac -- we found the Dr. Brown bottles -and they have since cured him - he is back on regular formula and does not need the medicine anymore.  They are a life saver and are made for the colicly -gassy- acid reflux baby.  I would give them a try -