Baby Place

DadSteve · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 290

Hey all...

My one month old son has shown all the signs of reflux and we've been trying to make him as comfortable as possible until he grows out of it. We elevated his head in his bassinette and had him sleeping on his side, but that didn't seem to help much. The doctor prescribed Zantac for him, which seemed to help, but it immediately gave him horrible constipation. It's bizarre for a nursed baby to be stopped up, but it's supposedly one of the side effects. The poor little guy would wake up in the middle of the night pushing, grunting, and eventually screaming because he either hurts or is frustrated. So, we have decided to stop the Zantac and let him sleep in a carseat we don't use, hoping that being in a more upright position will help. Are there any other ideas that we haven't tried?

Cay · Joined: 07 Jul 2004 Posts: 11 Location: South Africa

Hi there

Our 6 week baby also suffers from reflux and we too have propped her up in her crib and during the day sit her in a car seat. It was suggested that while she feeds she must be as propped up as possible and after a feed you should lay her against your chest in the upright position for about 20min so the milk can settle. It was also suggested that we try stretch the feeds a bit more so by the next feed their tummies are really and truly empty and no residual milk from the last feeding is still lurking there for them to bring up later.

There have been many a nights that I have been woken up by choking sounds coming from the crib - not a very pleasant sound to hear coming from your baby.

We were told to add gaviscon powder to her bottles as this made the milk heavier and less likely to come up.She got really bad constipation from this. The solution we were told for this was to add a t/spoon of dark brown sugar to her formula.If your wife is breastfeeding then add the sugar to a bit of boiled water in a bottle.

She still has days when the reflux is bad but on the whole things are looking up - can't wait for her to outgrow it though.

Hope this helps some

Kaitlyns mom

mommy · Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 16 Location: tn

My son had this. He was on Zantac, but never had any problems with it - don't it smell horrible?!?! There are other medicines to give a baby though if Zantac don't work so don't give up on that part. Ask your dr. The ladies I work with told me about lots of different kinds (I can't even begin to remember all the names of them) to ask my dr. about, but Zantac pretty much did the trick for him.

If your wife ever stops breastfeeding or you supplement at all, Playtex bottle with the bags are the best. They don't upset the stomach as much. My son got over his reflux at about 6 months and I thought I'd try a normal bottle... he reluxed all over again.

Also, we were told when my son was hospitalized one time that Carnation Goodstart was the best kind of formula to use for relux cause it digest so fast they don't have time to let any come up. That's the only kind my son could keep down...adding cereal and all the heavy stuff even made his worse.

Good luck. Just keep in touch with your dr. They may need to do more tests and stuff if she doesn't grow out of it soon. At 8 weeks, we were almost going to have to do the tube down the throat thing, but luckily dr. decided that his reflux wasn't bad enough. Just don't let it go thinking she'll outgrow it and do more harm than good.

GOOD LUCK!

dryft · Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 13

My daughter had that nasty reflux as well. She was put on Pepcid along with a great formula called Nutramagin. This formula was expensive but our insurance covered 100% of the cost. Apparently, if your baby is diagnosed with reflux and put on a special formula, the insurance company covers the cost. The formula is written as a prescription. Of course they don't inform you of this, I was lucky enough to have someone who experienced the same thing tell me about it. Anyway, I know your wife is breastfeeding so the formula is out of question, I just wanted to make sure everyone else knew about it. We were also told to add rice cereal to her bottles, to make it thicker and easier to settle. If your wife pumps she could do that (just make sure to widen the hole on the nipple to allow the rice to come through). Also, for constipation we were told to use a small amount of KARO syrup in her bottle, usually worked within 30 minutes. You can find the KARO syrup at your grocery store in the baking section. Good luck! Very Happy

mommy · Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 16 Location: tn

Our Peds told us about Karo for constipation, but make sure it is the dark and not light syrup. We were told to put a teaspoon per oz. But it also took a lot longer than 30 minutes for us...more like a few hours, but it did work.

DadSteve · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 290

Jackson has a pediatrician appointment on Monday. We're going to ask about meds other than Zantac. Honestly, it was more trouble than it was worth. We tried the Karo syrup. It didn't seem to make a difference.

yourcomforter · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 19 Location: London, England

Hi All!!

From reading each post, I gather that most babies are being bottle fed?

If that is the case, then another suggestion to minimise reflux is burping baby in between feeding. Give your baby a certain amount of milk then burp him/her. The reflux can be that the baby is taking in alot of wind as well as milk.

The milk 'sits' on the wind, and when baby burps the milk comes up everytime.

Remember, baby's gulp air whilst thye suck, so they need to release it before it mounts up.

Happy feeding!!

DadSteve · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 290

yourcomforter · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 19 Location: London, England

Hi.

When we look at the component/make up of formula milk and breastmilk they are totally different.

Formula milk has cows milk in it and breastmilk, is made up of all the nutrients and goodness a baby needs for proper growth and development.

I believe that mix feeding as well as formula feeding only causes great problems to a baby's digestive system.

Believe it or not, the breastmilk was made solely for the child. The breastmilk is conducive to baby's growth and development. Why would it exist and be placed in mother's breast if this was not the case?

Please, I am not judging anyone, or out to make anyone feel bad who has to mix feed, on the contrary. I would like to share with you look another view to understanding the physiology of a newborn and what is offered and made naturally, to what is made artifiically. There is always cause and effect for everything.

DadSteve · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 290