I can’t believe we are struggling again!

Hey Donna,

I just wanted to add a few things b/c we went through similar things with Emma. This was all post-fundo, mind you! She was wretchging a lot & choking tons (she does aspirate, but this was more than usual). We saw an allergist at the time (same deal, neg on tests). He DID put her on Nasonex which has helped some. Also, she is on Periactin & this has helped Emma’s congestion A LOT! This, in turn, helped most of her choking.

She sees an ENT regularly as well. She’s getting her 2nd set of tubes next week & possibly an adenoidectomy. Some kiddos’ adenoids or tonsils can be enlarged, which makes things worse. An ENT can rule this out.

The combo or Nasonex, Periactin, lots of Saline has helped her congestion. She was also dx with asthma, so when we start hearing the wheezy cough, we start doing breathing treatments. This avoids an all-out cold, some of the time at least.

Even with Emma’s fundo, she had to go back on Prevacid for wretching & other ‘reflux-like’ symptoms. She is almost 2. I know your frustration…we were told Emma would be off Neocate & done with Reflux by 6 mos, then 12 mos, now they no longer say when we may see changes. She is the exception & more than likely your son just needs his congestion helped which in turn will help his reflux. He may just need Prevacid for a few more month.

I would really review his diet as this could have upset things further. It could be very helpful seeing the ENT as well. GOOD LUCK!

Marsha, every doc we’ve seen has said that over 90 percent of children do outgrow reflux by 18 months. These children are mostly ones where the underlying cause is an immature sphincter with nothing else found to be wrong, I’ve been told. Apparently this is supported in the literature on reflux.

I personally know 6 babies who had reflux (not from this site), and every single one of them outgrew their reflux… some at 6 months, some at 9, and one not until 11.5 months. The last one was a sudden spontaneous recovery (he woke up one morning and it was gone. prior to that he spit up over 20 times a day and was on losec, but no other complications). All of the children I speak about also had uncomplicated reflux, meaning none of them developed feeding aversions or sleep difficulties; 2 were on losec, 2 were on zantac, and one was also on domperidone, while the others were happy spitters that did not need any meds.

Other than from this site, I do not know of any children who have had reflux beyond a year, and certainly don’t know of any personally who have significant eating and sleeping problems like my child. So in that way, persistent reflux seems more the exception then the rule. In fact, from all the sites I’ve looked at, most children do seem to outgrow it. I don’t know why your doc has told you otherwise, and I hope that they are wrong.

My first born had no reflux or digestive problems at all, but I KNOW that everytime I gave her milk (either from my breast milk or from formula) she developed a terrible stuffy nose that would last for weeks. It drove me mad, and no one believed me. I finally eliminated all dairy from my diet (I was pumping breast milk for her) and only supplemented with soy formula and her congestion cleared up. As she got older I’d try dairy from time to time. She could not handle it until she was well over a year old. I don’t remember exactly how old she was when she could finally tolerate dairy, but she finally could sometime around 13-16 months.

My doctor told me that some babie’s only allergic reaction to dairy is nasal congestion, so at least she believed me.

Hang in there…sounds like it’s been a long road for you…hopefully he’ll turn the corner soon.