any advice?

[Anonymous]

My ds is almost 7 weeks. He’s been on similac advance, enfamil gentle ease, and is now on nutramigen. He’s been on the nutramigen for 2 weeks. His reflux isn’t better and I’ve noticed when his days are worse with the colic, so is his reflux. The dr. said he’ll grow out of it and keep trying the nutramigen. My fear is that I can’t keep living this way. He doesn’t sleep at night, he cries all day and the “spit up” isn’t just spit up. I’ve also tried cutting back on his feedings incase I was over feeding him. Still, he spits up everything. We use so many burp rags that laundry is a daily chore just for burp rags and bibs. Not only does he spit up all during the feedings and cries, he spits up the whole time between feedings. The dr. said he would grow out of it but I’m scared he’s in pain. I don’t think he has any milk allergy either because the nutramigen hasn’t changed our lives at all. I just want a happy baby. When would a dr. start prescribing meds? and which would be the best to start for the reflux? I can deal with the crying but the reflux is just getting worse and I dread feeding him because it’s a chore to clean him up. If I dread it, I can only imagine how he feels. I’m losing my mind and becoming depressed worrying about him and I can’t help him.

[Anonymous]

HUGS!! Here are the things that jump out at me from your post:

1. Nutramigen still has milk in it. It is really broken down, but its still there. He can still be reacting to the milk that’s in it. If the Nutramigen isn’t helping, I would suggest that you MAKE your dr do a fecal hemoccult test. This test is SUPER quick and easy. It checks the stool for microscopic blood which is a sign of milk/soy intolerance. If he tests positive, formulas like Neocate and Elecare have NO mik/soy proteins in them.

2. My pedi said my son would grow out of his reflux by 4 months. Well, my ds is 9 months and still has it. No offense, but your dr sounds like an idiot. Colic does not exist. Babies do not cry like that unless something is very wrong with them. You should not have to live that way and neither should your ds. IMO, I would find a new dr.

3. Reflux meds. They usually start them out on Zantac. This works for some babies. If after one week, the Zantac does not work, you NEED to move on to a PPI like Prevacid. The Zantac will neutralize the stomach acid, but the Prevacid will cause a lot of the acid to never be pumped into the stomach in the first place. Short of surgery, nothing but time will stop the actual spitting up. You should just concentrate on making your baby comfortable.

HUGS!!!! This is SUCH a hard thing to go through. I have had MANY MANY of those times when I lost it.

edited to add- I do agree with Beth. Zantac for one week. That is a much better idea.

kdub2008-08-21 13:52:22

[Anonymous]

Well Kristin said what I was going to say. i will add the we used Nutramigen with success, but we were also on meds as well so I think it was the combo that helped us. They will probably start you on Zantac.. I would only give that a week and if you don’t see considerable differences in crying (not spitting, my ds spit up buckets until he was about 10 months old) and fussiness then I would push for something stronger like Prevacid, Zegerid or Nexium. Glad you found us.

[Anonymous]

To add to Kristin’s message about Nutramigen still having milk in it: My son never had blood in his stool but definitely (!!!!!!!!!!) had protein intolerances to many foods. He improved immensely when given Alimentum for a few days but still was not 100%. We switched to Neocate and finally had a “normal” baby.

My point is that there might not be blood in the stool but your son needs to move to Elecare or Neocate. Giving the Nutramigen more time is not going to make any difference! And, the reflux could very well be happening because of the protein intolerance. If you qualify for WIC, you can get the elemental formula from them. Some insurance companies cover it. We didn’t have either of those options and bought it out-of-pocket from eBay for over a year. It was well worth the cost to not have him screaming in pain 24/7.

Does he have any rashes, persistent diaper rashes, pooping problems, etc.? These are also signs of food intolerances.

One more thing — don’t make two changes at the same time since you wouldn’t know if it was the formula change or starting the medicines that helped. Personally, I would recommend that you switch to an elemental formula for a week or so and see if that helps the “colic” and reflux. If not, then you could push for the medicine. If you start meds first, the milk in the formula will still be an issue and the meds might not be able to override its effects in your son’s digestive system.

[Anonymous]

Same here, change doctor asap!
My daughter’s first doctor said the same thing.
Even when my daughter on feeding strike due to acid reflux, her ped still said its normal for every baby to go on feeding strike.
My daughter only drink 4 oz for 24 hours and didn’t have any energy.
So I change doctor that prescribe me with Zantac and the Prevacid after that.

Please find another doctor, before your baby in more pain!
I learn in hard way!

You find the right place (forum).

[Anonymous]

Yeha I’d push for a PPI to get your LO some relief. That’s what it took for us.

Yes, some kids “outgrow” it but our DS is 22 months and is still relying on hismeds to keep him pain free. We have tried weaning all the way down and the sympotms have always come back.

We have however been able to wean down by 1/2 with success. I’ll take what I can get.

Another thing to think about is vomitting is not always 100% reflux. You can talk to the GI about Motiltiy issues. Alot fo times a child with a motiltiy issues can be misDX as having reflux. So I’d talk about that as well.

Ds had a combo. of both going on. Once we got his meds just right and he had some age on him, we hit the “magic time”…LOL

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your advice. I followed it and got Max in to see a different dr. He immediately sent him for an upper GI and started him on 7.5 mg of previcid solutabs a day. I am so happy that this dr. seemed concerned that the constant screaming and spitting up together were indications something was wrong and painful. He did say he would grow out of it but he said we have to make sure he’s not hurting until then. I feel we are finally on the path to getting my lo better. Thank you so much. I have found many moms that are dealing with what I am….and I’m not a crazy mom that “wants” my baby to be sick for attention. I know I will find many needed answers here and have many questions as well.

[Anonymous]

YAYYY! Persistance does pay off. Make sure that you are giving the solutabs on an empty stomach and followed up by a meal 30-60 minutes later. Also, it may take 2 weeks of giving the Prevacid this way to see results. Many moms have seen results before then, but I am just warning you to give it a little time.

Also, if you are not seeing full results by the 2 weeks, you may need to go to a higher dose. Check out http://www.marci-kids.com for dosing info.

[hellbennt]

Prevacid 101(last post on the page): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&PN=0&TPN=1

[Anonymous]

A big cyber hug from me to you……………

My son will be 5 months on Aug 31, and was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks old. He is on Zantac, and it seems to be helping. I would definatly get your babe started on meds.

In regards to the formula, we have been on a few different ones.

From a few days old on, he was on Enfamil A+. This is when the problems started. We went on to switch to Kirkland (costco) as I had heard good things about it. It made his screaming fits worse, and soon learned that Kirkland is a formula with a higher Casein content so harder for them to digest. After that, we tried Good Start. Seemed to work, and after our honeymoon period was done, it started going downhill. Projectile puke, constant spitting up/screaming etc. Tried Alimentum, made no difference. Gentlease, made no difference either.
My son was gaining weight really well even though he seemed to be puking up more than he was eating.

He is now on Enfamil THickened A+ and doing fantastic. He still spits up, more some days than others. But this formula seems to sit the best with him. It has made him pretty constipated, but we have started giving him pear juice and it is slowly starting to help………………….

I too was worried about an allergy or intolerance, but our ped kept a close eye while all these changes were going on, and now things are beginning to look up for us. We are actually going to start cereal tomorrow. The ped sais that, at least in our case, the heavier the stuff in his belly, the more that will, or should, stay down.

I hope you find the support and advice you need here…………there are amazing people here and I know you will find some comfort, as I did!

Take care

[Anonymous]

I can relate! My DS is one month younger than yours…born August 5th. He was diagnosed with “reflux” at approx. 1 week old. The doctor noted he hates being on his back & his stomach was very hard & teamed with what we told her [he was projectile vomiting, not sleeping] she gave us that diagnosis. She told us to sit him upright during feedings, elevate his basinette/crib & to switch to soy formula, which we did. After a couple of days on soy he seemed even worse so she wrote us a prescription for Alimentum. He’s been on it for about a week & although things are somewhat better [no longer projectile vomiting but he still spits up a lot, sleeping a bit better], he still has his issues…he gets super fussy in the evenings & sometimes during the day…I can tell when he is refluxing as he looks SO uncomfortable & cries.

Our doctor told us he’s too young for Zantac or meds, period…but after reading so much at this site, I think we’re going to have to specifically ASK for him to be placed on meds.

Anyway, just wanted to say I feel your pain…

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to give you some hope on having a comfy baby. My first DD was exactly like you described. When washing all of her baby things in prep for our newest baby…I counted 47 bibs…yes….47 bibs! And they were all stained. She spit up well over 30 times a day. I say “over” 30 because at 30 I was too depressed to keep counting. She was in pain too, and that was the only thing needed to get meds, no baby should be in pain, if your pedi disagrees…find a new one. Zantac and a little rice cereal in her bottles made Mia’s pain disappear completely. She continued to spit up TONS, but pain free. Then at 9 months old it was as if someone turned off the faucet, we cut the thickening and the meds cold turkey…and never looked back.

Now my youngest, she’s a silent refluxer, and I’m afraid it’s going to be harder to treat. As much as I am happy to not have to deal with the constant flow of spit up….I’d give anything to take away her discomfort.

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