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WELCOME!! I’m sorry that your little one is suffering! I know from experience how hard it is to watch your little one be in pain and not know what to do!

WOW! Laura just gave you a ton of good advice!!! I am a person that likes others to tell ME what to do but with my children and their digestive problems, I soon found out that it was best for me to learn as much as I could and not just depend on the doctors. It looks as if you are being an awesome advocate already though. 🙂 The Internet is a really good place (for sure this forum :)) to learn a lot. But of course you will get all sorts of thoughts and ideas and some very opposing to each other. And of course every child is different so you have to sort out what is the best thing for your child. What works for one may not work for yours.

Something that you may want to look into (not as a cure but as possibly very beneficial for your little one) is giving him a supplement of probiotics and digestive enzymes.

Here is a condensed version (although it is still long) of my children’s “story”.

My first 2 children suffered badly from digestive problems. My oldest had blood in his stools before he was a week old and soon spent most of his time screaming in pain. He always acted hungry but very quickly threw up whatever he ate and he slept for only very short periods at a time. At a couple months of age his pediatrician labeled him “Failure to Thrive”. Eventually we figured out that dairy and soy were a big part of the problem. Until he was age one he drank Nutramigen, then we tried different milks with no success. He was on Prevacid until age 3. He was able to quit the meds when we started giving him alkaline water to drink. Although it did not cure him, he was quite a bit better with the water than the meds.

My second child was pretty much a rerun of my first except that I knew just a little bit more about reflux etc. He too was able to quit the reflux meds at age 1, when we started him with drinking alkaline water.

Alkaline water helped with the reflux and pain, but did not make it so they could tolerate foods.

A year after starting them with the alkaline water, a friend suggested that I contact a well known nutritionist named Shan Stratton that specializes in digestion. I was surprised and impressed at how much he knew and how well he explained what was going on with my children. I will try my best to explain what I have learned from him along with some of what I have learned on my own through research. What I write is correct to the best of my knowledge, but it is possible that there is some incorrect statements.

Before a baby is born, their digestive tract is sterile- meaning it is free from bacteria. The baby will pick up it’s first “dose” of good live bacteria (also known as probiotics or gut flora) from the birth canal. Whatever kind of probiotics mom has in there is what the baby will get. The next “dose” which is the highest strongest dose a baby will ever get, is from colostrum. Probiotics play a huge role in the health of the baby. They make up over 70% of the immune system and they are what line, coat, and protect the entire digestive tract.

Antibiotics kill not only bad bacteria but the good also. If a mother has been on many different antibiotics throughout her life it can alter her probiotics. This in turn will alter what kind the baby gets. If the mother has been on antibiotics while pregnant, for sure close to or at the time of giving birth this can severely alter the probiotics that baby gets. In fact, if on antibiotics at the time of birth, the mother may have no probiotics to pass on to her baby. And of course if baby has antibiotics at any given time it will kill off the probiotics. If the mother takes them while nursing, she will pass them on to her baby and it also will kill his/her probiotics.

If a baby is born by c-section, this can make him/her be behind in building up the probiotics. But if he/she gets plenty of colostrum it will certainly help.

Some babies who are born by c-section, are on antibiotics, get no colostrum, or all of the above, are not necessarily doomed for digestive problems. Some babies are really strong and healthy and their body has no problems making and building up its own probiotics. But for some, this can be the start to the digestive system not working well.

For some babies, they will greatly benefit from a probiotic supplement. I personally have never used this company but it seems to be popular and is made especially for babies. http://biogaia.com It only contains one strain of probiotic (Lactobacillus reuteri) and I personally feel that when someone is low on probiotics, they are low on many, so the best supplement would be one that has at least 10 different strains in it. But the bottom line is that your child gets relief and according to the reviews, many babies feel better when taking this product.

Another problem for some children can be a lack of sufficient digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are what are in all foods (before they are cooked or processed) to aid in breaking them down. They are especially needed for breaking down proteins. If a nursing mom eats a diet of mostly raw foods this can help some but unless the foods are organically grown, they are not very enzyme rich. The pancreas is what makes digestive enzymes and it will try to compensate for the lack of them in foods, but for some babies it can be difficult for their pancreas to keep up making enough to break down the food (proteins in particular) that they take in whether it be through breast milk, formula, or solids as they get older.

For some babies, they can inherit the problems of their body not making enough digestive enzymes, and for these children, they may carry this problem all of their life. Just like the diabetic doesn’t make enough insulin.

When “food” is placed in the stomach, the stomach will excrete a small amount of acid to activate the enzymes so they will start breaking down the food. If there are no or little enzymes, then the stomach will excrete a little more acid. Eventually the food is forced into the intestines even if it isn’t fully properly broken down. If the food isn’t broken down then it will very difficult for the body to be able to absorb and use it. For some children, this undigested food will sit in the intestines too long and the longer “food” stays in the intestines, the more moisture that is drawn out of it, and it can cause constipation.

This excess acid that the stomach makes, can play a major part in some babies digestive problems. Too much acid will kill probiotics. And beings that probiotics are the protective coating for the entire digestive tract, then without it, the food, reflux, or stool will rub right up next to the esophagus and intestines themselves and can cause them to become raw, inflamed, and even bleed sometimes.

So, how have digestive enzymes and probiotics affected my children? Well, they have made a HUGE difference. Cure? No! They have been taking a supplement of them for 2 years and today they are able to eat any and all foods. But they have to take a pill with every meal and any snack that does not have enzymes in it. I still try not to let my boys a lot of dairy though. But if the ask for a glass of milk I will let them. They were not used to drinking milk when they were younger so it is not something they like terribly well. One evening awhile ago, when I let them have a glass of milk, I reminded them to take a pill with it. After they went to sleep and I was sitting in their room with my laptop, I noticed how restless Quinton was. Soon he sat fully up he was so uncomfortable but he didn’t wake up. This reminded me so much of
how he used to be and I got to thinking that he had probably not taken a pill. So I went and got 2 of them with a glass of water and woke him up and made him take them. I was impressed how in about a minute he completely settled down and peacefully slept the rest of the night.

The brand of probiotics and enzymes we use is called “Digestive Health” sold by http://www.corehealthproducts.com/products/digestive

I have created a blog (see signature) with many different pages that you might find of interest. If you decide you want to try probiotics and or enzymes but want to use a different brand, you can go to my page titled “How to choose the right probiotics/enzymes” to learn more about what ingredients to look for. Also if you decide to try them, you should be aware of possible side effects. See page “Side effects of probiotics and enzymes”.

If interested in trying probiotics and enzymes, I would certainly ask the GI doctor about them. Some doctors are not extremely knowledgeable about them because it’s not something they are generally taught a lot about in medical school. But I would still ask about it and see what he/she says.

I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do and hope that soon you find the answers and help that you are looking for! Happy Mom2013-01-11 01:12:35

any updates? I’m working to get rid of all the SPAM on the site- hope it hasn’t scared you off!!!

Thanks for update! That is nice that the GI doctor spent plenty of time with you. Can’t find anywhere how much Prevacid your little one is getting but my GI doctor said it was ok to give 30mg of Prevacid to my 6 months old. And I think that by the time he was a couple months old he was taking 15mg.

Did you have time to ask the doctor about probiotics and enzymes? If so, what did she say?

I hope that soon your little boy starts to improve!!

Update please

Do you like your ped GI? why? why not?
you can post it all here:Looking for GI: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=660

thanks!