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I took my son off that God awful reglan and zantac they hand out like candy and put him on probiotics from the health food store and he hasnt had one problem since. He also is allergic to any rice and dairy so adjust your diet accordingly. Also... there are supplements to help you get a nice supply of rich breastmilk... you dont have to supplement. I did with my first 2 until I oufnd out about these herbs and after I got my milk in with #3 my supply has been great! :)

Heather

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Romans 12:2

Hi,

My son was also born early (at 32 weeks). He was diagnosed with Reflux at about 6 weeks old after they did the ph test down his throat. He was put on zantac. From my understanding, it is not going to stop the spitting up...he spat up this entire year! (he just turned 1 on the 7th of Sept). Rather, it helps neutralize the acid so they aren't doing damage to their throats. The other med that your son is on, I believe helps speed up the digestion of the food so more is absorbed..(don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure that's what I remember them telling me.

Anyway, the reflux gets better once they are on solids...my son isn't really spitting much anyone. It helps that he is sitting up and moving too. He's also off the zantac, so don't give up yet.

One thing that also helped him was holding him upright for about 20 minutes after he ate and keep him on a wedge in bed. Good luck and it gets better!

enfamil ar is our saving grace. once i stopped breast feeding and switched to formula is when his reflux got moderately worse. my daughter also had reflux as an infant. currenly my 4 month old is tolerating the enfamil ar. it is regular enfamil with added rice starch which makes it thicker but you need not worry about added caloric intake or having to deal with putting rice cereal in the bottle and getting it through thte nipple. 

Hi there! I feel your pain.  Our 1st daughter came 5 weeks early.  She had horrible reflux..(which didn't slow down until about 9  months) we went through burp clothes/rags, and my clothing like water!!  I was constantly doing laundry.

We eventually put her on Nestle Goodstart with 2 - 3 tablespoons of rice.  We had to be careful not to OVER feed her or of course the fountain started...and to sit her up for 20-30 minutes after each feeding.  So try cutting down on the ounces your baby is eating..(smaller but more frequent meals) No jiggling or rocking either after eating!  All of that seemed to help.

At about 6 months our pediatrician was going to give us a prescription for the reflux - which we really did not want to do..but as a last resort.  And all of a sudden her reflux started slowing down - plus with the introduction of baby food. 

She also slept on her tummy as well and slept great! (with the monitors on of course)

Good luck & Blessings,

Monica

Hi! My son had severe reflux and colic from about 3 weeks on too. The only formula that worked was Enfamil Nutramigen. It is a lot more expensive but it saved our lives!!! We tried EVERYTHING else. Good luck. Hang in there, It is really tough but it will be over before you know it.

and for us, it's name was Prevacid!! Our son was born with reflux and was absolutely miserable! Time and time again, I was told by our pedi. that he's "just a spitter", or "he'll grow out of it", "don't worry about it because he is still gaining weight". I brought it up (the massive amounts he was spitting up w/ each feeding) everytime we went to the doctor. And everytime, I was dismissed (despite the fact that I'm also a registered nurse).

Finally, when he was 6 mos old and had actually LOST weight since his previous visit, our pedi. freaked out & acted as if this was all a new problem & that we had to "act fast"! I was pretty much done with him at that point.

Luckily, just about that time we switched insurance companies and found that there was a pedi. GI specialist on our new plan--and we don't need a referral! We went, she prescribed Zantac, sent him for an upper GI (which did show the reflux--as I had been suspecting all along) and told us to add rice cereal to his milk. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO STOP BREASTFEEDING TO DO THIS. Let me explain. My old pedi. told me "stop giving him breastmilk & switch to a formula with added rice". The GI doc said "absolutely not". For a baby already having GI problems, there's no sense in adding formula and taking away "nature's milk" as she called it. For some babies, this could cause more problems. Instead, her suggestion was to pump the breastmilk and add the rice cereal to it (ratio of ONE TABLESPOON PER OUNCE OF BREASTMILK). The milk WILL BE THICK! You will have to get tri-cut nipples or make the hole bigger yourself. Plus, she said that it was ok to nurse him at times when he wasn't going to be as active. For us, that meant at nap & bedtime. He seemed to have more reflux when he was moving about more; but when he was lying still (sleeping) it was better. Note: we were worried about bedtime, so we kept him upright for 15-30 minutes after each time I breastfed him.

Other signs she told us (which our son was exhibiting) were signs of reflux: arching of the back (head back), coughing (sometimes more at night), frequent "colds" or "upper respiratory infections"--which could be caused by aspirating whatever comes up, "clearing" the throat or grunting-like noise, crying a lot, wanting to be held a lot, sucking the thumb.

My son sucks his thumb. We found that when he knew that it was coming up (the reflux), he immediately put his thumb in his mouth & started sucking, thus swallowing it back down! I can't imagine how much weight he would have lost if all of that came up too! However, babies like to suck. So, when he started to cry when his milk was gone (still does this), he grabbed his little burp cloth (he likes the silky tag on it), stuck his thumb in his mouth & stopped crying. Many people think that their baby must still be hungry because they cry when the milk is gone, so they feed more. Sometimes they just want to suck.

The Zantac worked for about a month--until he gained so much weight that he outgrew the dose (babies meds are doesed by weight)! In that first month he gained FIVE POUNDS! He was only 11 lbs. 2 ounces at 7 months old when we first went to the GI doc!

As someone previously mentioned, Zantac is basically just a soother, working by reducing stomach acid. It doesn't actually stop the reflux. So, at his one month check-up, I asked about Prevacid (since she had flyers in ther waiting area). She said that it was my choice whether I wanted to switch & try it. Knowing that it is a proton pump inhibitor (which means it actually affects the pressure at the gastroesophageal sphincter, thus reducing reflux) I was very optimistic about the switch.

Let me tell you...the change that it brought about was both wonderful and HEART-WRENCHING! Wonderful because it helped tremendously! Heart-wrenching because at 7 months we were "introduced" to the baby boy that should have been our son long before! He was no longer the "fussy" baby that wanted to be held all the time. He wasn't "high maintenance" anymore. The DRASTIC CHANGE was unbelievable at first. My husband & I sat on the sofa marvelling at the way he was behaving (sitting in his walker, laughing and smiling). And then I cried with frustration and hurt--knowing that for 7 months he has been hurting and feeling bad.

So, the regimen that worked for us (recommended by the GI doc): 1 T. rice cereal/ounce of milk, Prevacid (we used the SoluTabs--first dissolved them & used a dropper, then after a couple weeks found that we could just put it on his tongue & it dissolved quickly & he liked it's strawberry flavor. This was also better because the SoluTabs don't dissolve completely. They're tiny little balls when you put them in water & they stick to the inside of the dropper or bottle if you mix it in the milk). Keep upright for as long as possible after drinking. And give smaller, more frequent feedings. We had been up to 6 oz. bottles & cut back to 4 oz.

After only 4 mos. of this regimen, he doubled his weight and was a much, much happier baby!

Misc. info: up to 50% of newborns have reflux, this number rising to 85% for preemies! Unfortunately, most of these cases are undiagnosed or mis-diagnosed (as colic). Most babies grow out of it by their first birthday. It does naturally decrease as you introduce solids.

Don't be afraid to demand that something be done for your baby. Doctors can be intimidating. Do your research (which I'm sure you have) and go in with a list of questions and info. that you've gathered. Demand that he/she at least have an upper GI ordered to diagnose. You can also ask for a "trial" of Prevacid to see if that helps.

I would NOT give him orange juice, as it is acidic to start out with & will only add to the acid coming up. The GI doc actually told us to hold off on giving him any juice, just for that reason. Plus, juice thickened with rice cereal is just gross! The couple times we tried juice (the Gerber type), attempting to get him to drink from a cup, he spit up like before. Oh, that's another thing...if you thicken his milk w/ the rice cereal, you may have to wait a bit longer to teach him to drink from a cup, as the rice cereal doesn't go through the leak proof valves & tiny holes of the sippy cups.

As a note: if you're afraid that your baby will be traumatized by the upper GI & the whole drinking of the contrast, don't be too worried! Hopefully, he will guzzle it down like mine did! You would have thought he hadn't eaten in a week! Tip: bring your own bottle just in case he doesn't like to drink out of the type that they provide at the hospital. Also, ask to take him to a hospital that has a PEDIATRIC RADIOLOGIST that will perform the test.

At our last GI appt., she had us stop adding the rice cereal because she was actually worried that he would start gaining TOO MUCH weight! So, we cut it out gradually & now he gets it at bedtime only (just because Daddy feels it will help him sleep better!). He now drinks from a cup the rest of the day.

We went to our GI appt. today and she said that we could stop the Prevacid & see how it goes. He is now 13 mos. old & I can count the number of times he has spit up in the past 6 months on my two hands still! We have transitioned him to cow's milk & he eats regular food now too (along w/ babyfood still).

I do apologize for the lenthly answer here. However, it's a topic that is close to my heart and I'm very passionate when it comes to parents being advocates in their child's healthcare decisions. After working with doctors for a living, and from my personal experience with our son, I know how they [most of the time] perceive parents as not the experts that they are. And sometimes don't want to listen, despite our several requests for help.

I do hope that you get help for your son. As well as anyone else out there who has been told that they have a "fussy" or "colicky" baby. Yes, they will grow out of it. However, there is no need for them to be miserable in the meantime!

I have a 4 month old and she weighs 12 pounds or so.  She wasn't eating well at 5 weeks, so I brought her into the Dr. and it turned out that she had a sever narrowing of her Aorta and needed heart surgery right away.  Well, after all that we thought that is why she wasn't eating well.  We are back to the reflux thing and she is taking Cimetidine. 
She was doing great for a couple weeks and now last week and today she is only eating 2 or 3 oz. every 3 hrs..  She was taking 4 to 5 oz. and I feel like having a party.  Now we are back to 2-3 oz. and I am worried about her weight gain.  I am taking her in tomorrow for a weight check ( I am doing that a lot) and the Doctors don't really know what is going on with her.

Anyone have a similar story?

There has been a lot of great advice given to you here.  My daughter was born 8 1/2 weeks early weighing only 2 lbs and subsquently had reflux.  We added rice cereal to her already high calorie formula.  She also took medicine and it seemed to help her pain.  We definitely noticed a difference with her when she started on solids.  We also had her sleeping on a wedge.

One additional tip:  try to avoid patting her back for burping.  Instead, rub her back upwards.  The patting can also aggrevate the reflux bringing the acid up. 

Finally, is there a group on MothersClick dedicated to moms of preemies?  If not, I'll start one!

Jennifer Yeager
www.SassyOnesies.com

www.NapMatsAndMore.com