So frustrated

[Anonymous]

Hi Ladies,

I just need to vent for a minute. I am so frustrated with what is going on with my little man. 3 weeks ago we went to see a gi doc and she put him on Alimentum and upped his prevacid to 15mg/day. Within 2-3 days of this, he was great. Eating a ton, no congestion or coughing, normal poops, everything (aside from sleeping). That only lasted 1.5 weeks and now he is so congested again, coughing, spitting up and only taking 3 bottles a day which range from 4-5 ounces of formula. His Sandifer’s is still OK and he is eating tons of solids but he is still little and needs his formula. We are going in to the see the doc again tomorrow but I don’t know what else they can do for him. He is such a happy guy and I feel so bad for him. The congestion is really bad again. Do you think he needs more meds? I thought he should be getting better now. Stupid me also thought we were past the worst of it. I feel so bad because I am so upset that I am sure he feels it too along with my daughter. Why can’t my little man just feel good!

[hellbennt]

maybe neocate would help? I wish I knew…

[Anonymous]

Could he be having a reaction to some of the solids he’s eating? I saw
in your other post that he’s also having 6 ounces a day formula in his
cereal, so his formula intake seems OK to me.

[Anonymous]

I have been doing the 3 days in between solids and nothing happens. He started getting stuffy when I gave him squash but since then haven’t given him any squash and is still stuffy. He eats pears, apples, apricots, bananas, corn, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes and peaches along with oatmel cereal. None of these made him stuffy except for the squash but he is still stuffy. The only constant foods he gets each day is oatmeal, apples and pears, the rest is usually alternating. I am just so confused at this point and don’t know what to do. He also has dry skin but that that goes away with lotion. Why was he doing so good to only fall backwards?

[Anonymous]

Could well be that he’s reacting to the trace milk proteins in the Alimentum – you may want to ask for a trial of Neocate?

[Anonymous]

Would it make sense that he did great on it at first and now is backsliding? Can reflux alone cause congestion and coughing? Could he just have a cold?

[Anonymous]

Hi Cory! Sorry to hear things are not going well! Sometimes moms on this board wait 5 days before starting a new food. Also, are you using the beechnut oatmeal with no soy? On marci-kids.com they have a cool illustration of what reflux does to the sinus cavities. My daughter was soooo stuffy before things started to get a little better, since we had the neocate change. Also, elevating her and having her on her sleep on her belly helped. When I first joined this group, Laura gave me some good advice, she said to use saline spray at every diaper change. It really seemed to keep everything draining, so we didn’t get any infections.

Also, I probably told you this before but… we had alot of repiratory problems before we had a swallow study done. She was aspirating alittle due to a swallowing dysfunction. We started using simply thick and the congestion got better.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is very possible (and common) for babies to do much better at
first on a new formula but then have problems again once the irritant
builds up. And yes, reflux alone can cause congestion and coughing.

However, he could also just have a cold.

When is your next doctor appointment?

[Anonymous]

Hi Cory,

Here’s what I would do (& what we DID do with Emma!):

*Stop the solids and then VERY slowly (3 days is fine w/ non-reflux/mspi kiddos…our kids usually need a week). No more than 1 new food each week. Before you begin solids again, give him 2 weeks to get it all out of his system. Make sure his formula intake is upped during this time.

*If during those 2 weeks w/o solids, his symptoms do not improve, switch to Neocate (or switch now anyway).

If after re-introducing solids & Neocate, your son is still congested, it could be external allergies OR the reflux. Even with Prevacid, he is probably still refluxing (just no acids going up), so that liquid can enter his nasal passages and airway & create problems. I would try saline spray 2-3 times per day. I’m not sure if there are any safe rx nasal sprays or meds for under 1. Emma is on Periactin & Nasonex, but both were added after her 1st birthday (if I remember correctly!). Have they ruled out aspiration?

I will also add, we had hoped that following Emma’s fundo, some of her congestion, URI’s, & ear infections would get better. They have not, in fact she had RSV this winter (post-fundo) & is on her 2nd set of tubes. She has asthma & is on breathing treatments. So, for some kids, reflux will cause or worsen congestion…BUT, some kids also just have issues with their resp tract & nasal passages.

Of course, run this by your doctors. We held off on introducing solids to Emma until she was 7 or 8 months old, & went very slowly. So, she was barely trialing solids at your son’s age. I know it’s been a learning experience for me, when Madi was a baby, she had no dietary issues. I breastfed until almost 1 year, she began milk & eating everything in sight!! I’ve really had to re-think & shift gears with Emma.

Hope some of this helps!

[Anonymous]

Is it possible that the congestion is from something else like maybe enviromental allergies? They can have those at 6 months old on. Just thought I would add that to the other posts

[Anonymous]

I was thinking that, too. He could be allergic to dust, pollen, etc. Do you have allergies in your family?

Or, it could be a bad cold. My kids have had colds that lasted two weeks, or had a cold and then caught something else on top of it so they were congested for weeks at a time. My little guy has had a stuffy nose for about a week and a half now. I’m not panicking yet because I’ve seen it with my first two. He’ll probably get over it soon, and hopefully your little guy will, too.

[hellbennt]

here’s about saline- we just use (yup, still use & now that I’m preggo, I’ve been using it too, as I can’t take any medications!)

plain generic brand over the counter nasal saline spray- if you compare the ingredients to Little Noses, it’s the same & much less inexpensive to buy regular adult generic brand…https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2310

[Anonymous]

Thanks ladies so much for all of the suggestions. The only problem with the saline is that he screams bloody murder if anyone goes near his nose. He had RSV when he was 1 month old and had oxygen in his nose and since then it is a battle to do anything near his nose. I’ve been debating on it being a cold vs allergies. My husband had whicked allergies as a kid so it is possible. He was off of all solids for a bit (about 2 weeks when he just was refusing them) and was still stuffed up and coughing. He has been congested since about 4 weeks and the first time he wasn’t was this past very recent time so that is why I am hesitant to think it is a food allergy since he has been like this since he started with his reflux.

[Anonymous]

I’m a little late jumping in, but I just wanted to add that our ped GI said that it is totally normal to have a “honeymoon” period when you switch formulas. Everything seems like it’s going great, and then boom – you’re back to where you started. I think Lauren’s suggestions are great. That’s what I’d do in your situation. That being said, it’s also definitely possible that it’s enviromental allergies, especially at this time of year.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again ladies. We saw the gi doc and she didn’t think the congestion/cough was reflux related but definitely a cold. She checked his poops and no Blood so that is great and he has gained 2 pounds in 3 weeks so she isn’t concerned about his solid vs formula intake. She did give us a prescription for Zantac to give him before bed to see if that helps him at night since that is our worst issues.

Thanks and just wanted to le tyou all know what we found out today.

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