Reflux...and losing my mind over here.

[myra]

Our now 2 year old son had severe reflux due to being a preemie and dairy allergies. We were hopeful our daughter would escape that since she was a term baby. turns out she (now 2 months)has both as well. She's been in Zantac and Prilosec for almost a month now. Last week doc upped her Prilosec dose and this week we had 3 amazing days- she napped during day, slept well at night, minimal crying, easily consolable. I even got my first smile from her. Then today has been one of her worst days. Infant know what happened. I'm breast feeding and stopped eating anything w dairy or soy 2 weeks ago. I've spent much of the past 14 hours trying to get her to sleep...only to have her wake as soon as I put her down. She hates being out in a carrier. I've managed to get a couple short car naps from her but that's it. So she was so overtired and kept screaming and crying. I think she's finally gone to sleep here in my arms.

I'm afraid of what tomorrow will bring. I don't know how I can handle another day like this. (Plus I haven't been able to give much at all to my 2 year old since baby sis has had it rough today).

Any sdvce on how you made/are making it through reflux? Also any tips on getting her to take her meds would also be appreciated. She hates them, even mixed in milk and its s battle to get her to take thrm

 

[dinkery]

The only, ONLY, thing that stopped my son's horrifying reflux was getting him on to a formula called Nature's One Baby's Only Low Lactose Organic formula. We had to order it off Amazon. But we tried eeeeverything. Nothing the doctors wanted us to do worked at all. But my husband was doing internet research and stumbled on that formula and it like magically solved the entire problem. I shit you not. I don't know if you'll want to try it but we were desperate and after he got completely on to this formula we never had another reflux issue.

 

[tulip1975]

I thought mine had reflux, but a two-week trial of Prilosec changed nothing, nor did dropping dairy. I suspect now it was oversupply, and I try to only feed him in a sidelying position. If I can't get into that position, I lean backwards as much as I can.

Good luck!

 

[Kazy]

I cut out dairy at 2 weeks with my lo and it got better for a bit then bad again. I figured out eggs were an issue too. Have you tried cutting those out? Or is there anything that you've increased in your diet since going off dairy?

 

[JumpingIn]

Honey I'm right there with you. My boy's reflux is so bad that he can rarely sleep longer than 10 minutes at a time without gagging and crying out then waking himself up.

We have him on breastmilk, dairy free, with Zantac, Omeprazole and Gaviscon and thus far just as we've thought we've seen an improvement he's regressed again. I know the pain of it.

We keep trialling things. Tongue tie has been pointed out so we're getting that snipped soon.

As for taking meds, he screams the house down and spits most of the Omeprazole out, it's a nightmare. The only thing so far that's helped slightly is to give him a tiny smidgen of Calpol before trying...I guess the nice taste coats his mouth and masks the horrendous taste of the Omep (my partner was brave enough to try it and gagged for ages after)

Our son is only 7 weeks but the Paed has been happy with him having Calpol since 6 weeks so I wouldn't worry if your daughter is younger.

I'm here if you ever get 2 minutes to talk! We're going through reflux hell too and sometimes just knowing I'm not totally alone is what gives me another 5 minutes of energy.

 

[myra]

Thanks ladies for the advice and support!

I'm trying my hardest to continue it breastfeed and she has shown periods of improvement since dairy and soy have been out of my system. Our son didn't show any improvement until I stopped breastfeeding and we went to similac alimentum.

Kazy- I suspected eggs as well. Did you have to cut out everything w eggs or could you have it if egg was baked in?

Tulip- I also have oversupply so that's certainly not helping. I do as much side lying feeding as well.

Jumpingin- Big hugs to you. Im sorry you're dealing with such severe reflux. It sounds very similar to what we went through with our son. Even though my daughters is bad...his was much worse. Meds are a challenge here as well. I (think!) I'm finally getting a system down where she takes them without too much fuss. I have to wait until she's hungry, then I drop the meds in her bottle with an ounce of alimentum formula. Mornings she's groggy enough that she has been taking them this way ok. Afternoons I've been walking outside with her and the meds/formula in a bottle and she takes it while being distracted at looking at the trees above her. Discovered by accident as I had to walk out the house while toddler was sleeping during her meds time. I'm not sue what calpol is but will look it up. If you ever want to pm me to talk about what you're going through and to bounce ideas off and support each other, feel free.

 

[Kazy]

Myra I completely cut out eggs for a few weeks. Then I tried them in baked goods where it is just a tiny amount and that seems to be fine. But I know everyone is different.

 

[confused87com]

My son was a reflux baby. I sympathise. My satiety has dairy and soy intolerance and when little I cut out egg completely to then gradually re introduced. I started cutting down dairy before my baby arrived praying be would be fine buti didn't cut it out completely and now have an unsettled and diarrhoea ridden child . Uh the desperation to not have to go through it all again. My daughter is still horrific and can't tolerate even the smallest amounts. I feed her for two years. Only been back on dairy less thana year and now I'm going off it again. Sigh

 

[myra]

Thanks for the info Kazy

Confused- sorry you're going through this for so long- and again!

I thought we had improvement and then after her 2 month vaccines, she seemed worse than ever. Granted she also has a cold so that could be contributing as well. Then just this morning I happened to check the label on the peanut butter jar before I made a sandwich and saw that this brand adds soy protein concentrate! As careful as if been to check everything (so I thought) I hadn't even considered peanut butter would have soy!! Maybe this is what's causing much of the back and forth, depending if I had the peanut butter that day. Yesterday I had 2 sandwiches since it was quick and easy...maybe just maybe this is the culprit and things will improve when I go to a natural peanut butter. For a few days, though, we are shifting to similac alimentum formula to give my body time to clear out the soy. Fingers crossed. Starting to feel hopeful again...

 

[40isnotold]

I'll be following this thread. My twins are 12 weeks and both have reflux issues. I took them to the doctor for the first time last Friday and they go back again tomorrow. My daughter has silent reflux and screams when eating and cries pretty much all day. My son spits up a lot every time he eats and does a fair amount of crying. Both are on Zantac, which seemed to help my son a little but didn't seem to help my daughter much. I formula feed them and have switched my daughter to Enfamil Nutramigen and my son to Enfamil AR. Two babies with reflux issues at the same time is hard (and I'm raising them on my own)!

 

[myra]

40- sending you bigs hugs. One reflux baby is incredibly hard (understatement). Two must be...I can't even think of words to describe how terrible that must be. I'm so sorry you (and your kids) are going through it, and on your own. I know how isolating it can be to have a reflux baby.

Zantac initially took the edge off for my son and daughter (for maybe a week) but then we ended up also putting them both on Prilosec. Most doctors didn't understand why my son (2 years ago) needed to be on 2 reflux meds but it was the only thing that made a noticeable difference. We have the same pediatrician with out daughter, and given our history, she didn't wait long to add in the Prilosec.

In case you don't already know, reflux meds are weight dependent. So as your daughters gain weight, their dose needs to be adjusted. We ended up buying a baby scale with our son.

For flare ups or if Zantac seems to wear off too soon before the next dose, we use 2.5mL of cherry mylanta (cvs brand as I don't think mylanta makes it anymore. Doc said Malox also works. Just make sure to get cherry flavor versus mint). It doesn't solve everything but sometimes takes the edge off. We've also given the meds up to 2 hours early if it seems they are wearing off too soon.

AFM, we actually had a good day and evening. She was a different baby- it took me 6 hours to get her to sleep last night. Tonight it took 30minutes. I mostly did alimentum formula, with a bit of nursing when my daughter would get frustrated with bottle. Hoping we get another good one in tomorrow.

If you have questions and you're going through this reflux journey, keep coming back here. I've found that reflux parents are usually the only ones that truly get what it's like...makes it less isolating to be able to turn to each other.

 

[Cangaroo]

DD1 had pretty bad reflux and ended up on ranitidine, which did help. She had a really obvious tongue tie that I never got snipped as she breastfed with no problems from the start. I never knew reflux and tongue tie were related...

By the time DD2 came along, I'd learned loads more about tongue tie etc, so despite her feeding well with an obvious tongue tie, I called an IBCLC straight away. By the time we got it cut at 10 days old, she was already having green poos and starting to be uncomfortable during feeds just like her sister had. We had no more problems once the tongue tie was cut.

I'm sure tongue tie is not the cause for every baby, but it absolutely should be looked for just in case.

Sounds like you're having a really rough time. I hope you find something that works.

 

[myra]

Thanks Cangaroo. Docs did check for tongue tie and all is fine.

We're starting to wonder (honestly, hope) if she has an ear infection. Sleep these past 2 days is worse than ever. Not sure how it's possible when she's on 2 medications, 90% of her feeds are hypoallergenic formula and she nurses a little bit after some of her bottles while I'm still working on clearing out soy from my system. She's had a cold for over a week and her snot is green today- going to call docs in the morning.