my 7 week old son has acid reflux…i need help & suggestions!!?
The doc has put my son on axid (for his acid reflux) but he still doesn’t seem to be getting any better. He has been on it for about 3 1/2 days now. He still seems fussy. Maybe i should switch his formula to enfamil nutrimagen or AR?? I’m so confused as to what i should do. My doc doesn’t seem to be much help. I know that something is wrong with my child and all he pretty much just says deal with it. He is not sleeping good and i have tried 1 tsp of cereal in his bottle at night, i’ve tried elevating his head, burping him (although he is very hard to burp). Any suggestions? I’m exhausted!
Anyone with a baby that has reflux..what are you doing??
Tagged with: Acid • help. • need • reflux...i • suggestions • week
Filed under: Acid Reflux in Children
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I would take him back to the doctor. And if your doctor is not taking it seriously take him to another doctor.
He needs to get this fixed.
Did your doctor suggest to give him rice cereal in his formula? He seems too young for that…
Yes, you could try switching him to a hypoallergenic formula. That usually helps alot. I would try the Enfamil AR formula first, since it is specifically made for reflux because it has rice added.
Don’t just elevate his head, elevate the whole upper half of his body for 30-45 minutes after he eats. My son slept in his infant carrier for several months……just buckle him in it to be safe.
Try switching to Playtex drop in or Dr. Brown’s bottles to help minimize the air getting into his stomach. You can also try laying him on his belly elevated when you can watch him while he’s sleeping…..for some reason, reflux babies sleep better on their tummies.
They also make reflux wedges you can get to put in his crib that will keep him elevated to the proper level (they didn’t make ‘em back when my son was a baby).
Hi! My son’s doctor suggested 1/2 teaspoon of regular adult mylanta. However, my suggestion to you would be to talk to your baby’s doctor before giving any medication to your child-in your case it sounds as if the doctor is not helping you and not concerned with it. I would advise getting a second opinion-after all you are the mom and know what is going on at home and if you are still concerned then you need to be the advocate for your son. Also, I would suggest not putting cereal in his bottle for the simple reason that if there is too much food in his tummy (especially at bedtime when he is laying down) this will come back up. Just a few thoughts. Hope this helps!
I had the same problem with my 3 month old and they wouldn’t change his formula, so I did it myself and it cured the majority of his problems. I do suggest Enfamil A.R. as that is what helped my son. The doctor kept telling me it wasn’t the formula, but my son wouldn’t sleep and he kept nothing down. As soon as I changed his formula he kept most of his food down. They gave me two prescriptions to give him before and after he ate and it wasn’t doing anything to help him. Just make sure you burp after every three to four ounces to reduce the chances of spitting up. A.R. has an additive in it to keep it on the stomach also. Best of luck, I completely understand your concerns.
Our baby has always slept with a pillow under his crib mattress that makes it propped up..He didn’t have reflux but it helps keep food down (that’s what the nurses told us)..so you can try that.
My son (now 12 months) had severe A.R. since day 1. The doc put him on Zantac at 1 month. She also told me to put oatmeal in every bottle with the formula to thicken it, which helped tremendously. You should ask the doc about that.
Here are some more tips that helped:
-Have him burp multiple times during each bottle. It takes a long time to give a bottle this way, but it’s worth it.
-Hold him upright for 30 min after each bottle, and burp him the entire time.
-Have him sleep slightly elevated. I did this by putting a pillow under his mattress up by his head.
- The thicker the formula, the better – therefore put slightly LESS water in the bottle than the directions call for.
- When he’s particularly fussy in the evenings, gently bounce him up and down (careful with his neck, of course) for as long as you can tolerate.
- When he’s very fussy and won’t sleep, allow him to fall asleep laying upright on your chest. The combo of being upright and the pressure on his belly against your breasts helps comfort him.
I went through the exact same thing with my baby when she was about that age. The meds didn’t seem to be helping and she was still fussy. Turned out that on top of the reflux, she was having unbelievable amounts of gas! I know you said “bottle”, but is it formula or expressed milk? I fed formula and a friend told me to try switching from bottled water to brita (or home-filtered) water because bottled causes more gas. I also used mylicon drops. It helped almost instantly. I guess the gas causes pain on top of the reflux they already have! Ick, can you imagine?! I would suggest not putting the cereal in the bottle, either, as your baby is very young and may not be properly digesting it which could just make the problem worse with diarrhea, indegestion, or even constipation!
edit- Don’t give the baby mylicon until you ask the doctor if it’s ok with the GIRD medication. It was fine with my baby’s meds, but I don’t know about yours.
He might have more than the acid reflux going on. It took my son more than 3 days to start feeling a little better on his previcid. Im not familiar with axid so i don’t know how long that takes to work. Have you tried feeding him less but more often?
Try not to make too many changes all at once.
My son just got out of the hospital and couldn’t take his previcid because he was getting too many other medicines and has started back to his fussy ways.
Ask your doctor about a formula change, my baby couldn’t handle the similac advanced, he fussed for a few hours after every bottle.
I watched this amazing show called the baby whisperer and she did this whole episode about this little baby who had the same thing…. see if i can remember everything.
- she had the crib matress proped at an angle so the babies head was higher.
-she also had a special low flow bottle that stoped the baby from drinking to fast
see if you can find her book or maybe that episode on youtube I wish i could remember everything.
I thought my son had relfux because he gagged, coughed alot, and was screaming during feedings. He was also very hard to burp because he would scream during his burps. However, he never actually spit up. His dr. also prescribed the Axid, and it did nothing for my son. I changed his formula to Similac Isomil. It’s soy-based for fussiness, spit-up and gas. His dr. also referred me to a pediatric gastroenterologist. The gastro told me NOT to burp him, because burping him just forces air out, and hurts his stomach even more. The gas/air will come out on its own (burp, fart) when it is ready.
Also if your child takes a passy limit the amount you use it because it causes acid in the stomach.
I know alot of mother’s reading this will scoff at the no-burping but I swear, my son is like a new child!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven’t burped him in days, and he’s great! No more gagging…Coughing is a rarity….
His gas is coming out fine…
Clark would rarely nap during the day because he was so uncomfortable and always gagging, and now is napping great. I say he’s catching up on the lack of sleep for the past 3 months he’s missed!
Good Luck!!!!!!!!!
Also, most insurance companies require dr’s to prescribe Axid first before they will cover anything else…. So most of the time the Axid doesn’t work, that way your insurace will pay for something else….