Infantreflux.org | 5 days old with reflux

This topic has 10 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 16 years, 5 months ago by Anonymous.

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April 17, 2008 at 1:23 am #50470

Anonymous
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Hello,

My wife and I have a baby boy, born on April 10th. He has been diagnosed with stomach reflux and is taking 2 medications.

It gets bad and his lips turn blue and then he self recovers. This happens once, maybe twice, per day. He seems to be getting better.

My questions is this, does the drop in oxygen in his blood pose a significant risk for brain damage?

If anybody knows, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Marc & Claudia S.

April 17, 2008 at 8:14 am #50472

Anonymous
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What he is having are apnea phases. I would recommend that you get your ped to give/get you an apnea monitor for nighttime just in case. There are many babies on this site whose reflux had apnic phases involved. I am pretty sure that as long as it isn’t prolonged – multiple minutes on end- that your little guy will be fine and most of the babies usually out grow that. Hopefully some of the other moms who have dealt with that will chime in as well. Glad you found us.

April 17, 2008 at 9:01 am #50477

Anonymous
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First thing I’d like to say is thank you for taking the time to get on here for your wife. It’s not often we get daddy’s on this board.

I haven’t dealt with apnea episodes so I don’t have anything to add about that. However I want to make sure your baby is on the correct dosage of meds. What med is your baby on, how much is baby getting per ml, how many times a day, and how much does your baby weigh? You can check out marci-kids.com for some great stuff on infant reflux. For example if you go to the dosing calulator it can tell you if your baby is on the correct dosage for his age and weight.

I will be going out of town so I may not be able to look it up for you, but I’m sure one of the other ladies can.

April 17, 2008 at 5:55 pm #50509

hellbennt
Keymaster

my baby had apnea- see my sig (signature at bottom of post)-

welcome!

I have a LOT to say & (most of) it’s here:

J

Groupie Intro: my intro: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&PN=1&TPN=1

PLEASE PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO scroll/skim/read through it- it’s a LOT, but it will help you!

so glad you found us!

~laurahellbennt2008-04-17 17:56:04

April 17, 2008 at 8:01 pm #50518

Anonymous
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Thank you for your reply’s.

Our baby, Brady, is still in the NICU and he is on reglan and zantac. I’m not sure of the doses, but they are starting to give him more zantac.

The doctor says there is no chance that he will get any brain damage from his apnea episodes. But I still worry, greatly.

We’ve had, what seems to be about 50 different nurses. Each seems to have a different way of doing certain things. They are adding rice cereal to the breast milk which makes the milk thicker, so it requires a special nipple (which the hospital does not have) or a slit in the regular nipple with a knife. One of the nurses refuses to slit the nipple b/c she is affraid that it’s going to “drown” Brady in milk. But the others don’t have a problem with doing it and the feeds go fine. I go, with my wife, to all of the feeds b/c I can’t stand the thought of not being at the hospital when something is happening (i shouldn’t say ALL the feeds, but pretty close). But this nurse refuses to slit the nipple more than a teeny little bit and no milk comes out. It makes Brady suck and suck and suck and he doesn’t get anything. She says that he is just ‘not hungry’, but I don’t believe it. He still needs nurishment. She said that at the next feeding he is going to be tube fed if he doesn’t take the milk. I am very frustrated and I know he doesn’t need to be fed like that.

I apologize to kind of vent in this forum, but i feel better after typing that.

Did any of you have trouble with the thickness of the feeding?

Marc

April 17, 2008 at 8:34 pm #50524

Anonymous
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Hey Marc.. I never used cereal with my babies, as they were both breastfed, and my son totally refused a bottle. However, from what I’ve seen on this board, and heard from other moms, cereal can be very, very difficult for babies to digest, and can actually cause more problems than it helps. Have they given you a specific reason for adding the cereal??

If the hospital/dr. really think that thickening is essential, try asking about products like “simply thick” or “thick it” I’m not totally sure what they are made of, but it’s not like a cereal, and not difficult to digest like it either.

As far as the REglan and Zantac goes, check out Laura’s link on these two meds. Zantac is an H2 blocker and tends to work fine for a while, but it is weight sensetive, and many of us have found that our lo’s stop responding to it after a time. PPI’s generally work MUCH better.

Reglan is for gastric emptying. Does your son have DGE (delayed gastric emptying)? Reglan and Zantac are usually the two meds given right away, and really the Reglan isn’t going to help with the acid at all. Also, it can have some side effects that can be scary.

I know that’s a lot of info. and you are probably very weary and worn out right now. I hope your son improves soon and that you get to take him home soon too! Hang in there!!!

April 17, 2008 at 8:37 pm #50525

Anonymous
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I agree with naomi on the thickening. But someone correct me if I am wrong, I thought I remembered that you couldn’t thicken breast milk b/c of the enzymes or something like that?

April 17, 2008 at 9:36 pm #50540

Anonymous
Inactive

I tend to agree about the cereal and the reglan. The cereal seems to be causing more harm than good. And everything I’ve read about the reglan doesn’t seem to pertain to my baby.

How should I approach the doctor about this issue? I don’t want to be the dad that is over bearing, but I feel like I have to be.

Marc

April 18, 2008 at 10:22 am #50550

Anonymous
Inactive

Hi Marc,

Been in the NICU situation and it can be a difficult one. I would take the approach that you think that because the nipple is being cut differently, etc, etc, that you think it is not consistant enough for your baby. You could also (we did this) bring in enough supply (I purchased 16 bottles so I had two full days worth) and left 8 at a time, so they never needed to wash and I left them with the bottles and nipples I was going to use at home so it was consistant. This way you have control over that piece fairly easily and you are not asking them to wash them or anything.

I would ask them to see the doc and then just say to the doc that you would like to review feedings before thickening and then after and see why they think it is better or not better. It is hard because the nurses do have up to 4 babies in a day so they are not seeing everything but with you and your wife sitting next to the bed, you have the better eyes to see if it is more difficult for Brady to be digesting after, etc…..

Just remember you shouldn’t worry who gets offended that you ask questions regarding your own child. If they do, then that is their problem. This is your baby. I am not saying that you have to take the defensive, but if you ask legitimate questions, and you should, and you are just trying to do the best for your son, then it will be well received by most.

If some bitter nurse wants to think they know more about your baby than you do, then that is their problem. If the order comes from the doc regarding feeds, then the nurses have to follow it, so if you have a nurse your really like, I would pick him/her to speak with and to have them help you speak with the doc and I’ll bet you will have more success than you think.

It is hard because every baby is different, and in the NICU situation, I think they sometimes forget that, so it is just “standard” if they have reflux, give zantac and reglan, and thicken feeds, etc… but that doens’t work for all babies.

Hang in there and vent/ask questions if you need to. I saw your other post regarding the oxygen question, and I think the doctor is right. We have had a bunch of apnea episodes with both boys, and for those in the NICU and with feeds, they don’t last long enough to do permanent damage. If it does make you feel better, though, you can ask for a monitor for when you take Brady home but sometimes that can make people more anxious so it can be counterproductive. You and Claudia will have to decide what is right for you guys.

This is a great place, so welcome, and I hope you find this site as helpful as all of us have!!

Ann Marie

April 18, 2008 at 10:52 am #50555

Anonymous
Inactive

Hi Marc,

Just wanted to welcome you. Ann Marie has excellent advice! She’s been through it twice! We did not have NICU stay with my son Landen, but he did have apnea with his silent reflux as a baby. it is scary. I thought I could make you feel better to tell you he is an active happy little boy that runs through the house now. He has suffered no brain damage from the lack of oxygen. I used to worry about that too.

Good luck dealing with the Dr’s at the NICU. I agree that you should speak to a good nurse and doctor about what you need to be done for Brady. If you can’t talk to a Dr soon maybe you can ask for the charge nurse. Thickening made things worse for landen too. And if the hospital is using rice cereal with soy in it, and Brady has an intolerance, that could be hurting his stomach and causing more reflux.

Hang in there! We are here for you.

April 18, 2008 at 1:48 pm #50563

Anonymous
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I agree with Naomi about the cereal. In our case the cereal made her reflux worse and caused alot of tummy issues. After a one day stay at a Childrens Hospital, we where told to stop the cereal by the Gi dr and that helped Ashlynn alot. This did not stop her reflux,but it helped alot with her tummy problems. I hope everything gets better for you. Keeping you in our prayers. stcwatt2008-04-18 13:50:49
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