Acid Reflux & Gas--AAAAHHHH!!!!

I have to agree that Gripe Water is excellent!! My son spit up constantly and cried from gas pain so bad, but the gripe water always helped a lot.
I had a roomate that used formula whereas I breastfed and her baby seemed to have much more severe gas issues. SO if possible I would let the breastfeeding continue.
IT does get better ...it really does! my son is 6 months old and no more issues.

My twin boys had this problem. They were born early and didn't come home untill they were 3 mon. old. They still only weighed 5 lbs.They tossed everything while I was breastfeeding.So we used the Zantac it worked ok. They were still spitting up a lot so the doctor suggested adding rice cereal to expressed milk 1 teaspoon per ounce. The thought behind it being far easier to toss a liquid than a solid. He said to let both boys sleep in thier car seats. It worked out well for me they grew out of it and are 7 now. Hope this helps.

I have 3 month old twin girls, and both have acid reflux, I also was given Prevacid and my twins continue to have it. I was hesitate about giving the girls the same type of medicine that adults take, but tried it anyway. I researched acid reflux on the internet,and all the articles said by adding cereal to the milk to thicken it, will help with acid reflux. I started putting 1 tablespoon of rice cereal in their milk,when they were 2 1/2 months and so far it seems to be helping with the acid reflux.

Both of my children have had awful reflux, mostly silent reflux (they don't vomit it all the way out, they swallow it back down, so it does more damage to their esophagus). I know it feels like you'll never get through this, but it gets better! No diet changes worked for me. Also, I would suggest you keep breastfeeding even though it is SO HARD with a baby like that. Formula is much harder on a baby's stomach and also changes their ph levels more than breastmilk, so it often makes the reflux worse (My daughter has never been able to keep formula down)and also can make the gas much worse. Make sure they are on the max. level of Zantac, and give it time. My son was 3 months before they started the medication, and there was so much damage by then that it took a month for his throat to heal even with the Zantac. Like the others have said, keep them sleeping with their heads elevated. It also helped me to keep them held straight upright for 20 minutes after as many feedings as possible. I tried lactation consultants, peds, everything, and while the Zantac helped a little they basically had to grow out of it. By 5 months they were both eating smoothly (as long as I kept their zantac prescription at its highest allowed amount per weight), but my son took a year to grow out of it and my daughter, 6 months old, is still going through it. She also has a lot of gas, and the drops did nothing. But as she's gotten bigger she's been able to pass it with less and less discomfort. I know what it is like, you try to explain how your baby pulls off and cries, and how many HOURS it sometimes takes to get through one feeding and they look at you like you're crazy. You're not! Good luck! You're not alone and it will get better!

Have you spoken to a Lactation Consultant?

Are you making "too much" milk?

My oldest would gag and pull away from the breast because I had such a forcefull let down.
And she suffered from gas due to getting too much of the formilk. I was switching sides and I had soooo much milk.

Please see a Lactation Consultant if you haven't already.
Not to disocount your family doc or peds but, Lactatio Consultants are miracle workers
Good Luck and keep us posted

I recently purchased Gripe Water from the pharmacy Rite-Aid at Habersham Square and it is all natural. Better than mylicon, which I've tried as well as she is on zantac and the rice cereal in the bottle. It must be refrigerated once opened. Babies have no taste buds until around 6 months and it is ginger based. It seems to be working well for my daughter who is 3 months.

Hey B.,

When my daughter was born she had the same symptoms and I was trying to breastfeed and when she wouldn't take to that, I tried formula...all different brands and all different choices in those brands. She was constantly spitting up and fussy and gassy and collicky. We eventually were referred to a specialist - a Pediatric Gastroenterologist. They did a barium swallow, x-ray and even did another procedure (I can't remember what's it's called) where they put a scope down her throat and another up her bottom (she was on general anesthesia for this procedure). They discovered that she had a hiatel hernia and was allergic to the formula. She had to be put on PERSCRIPTION formula. They also put her on Prevacid for the GERD (Gastro Esophogeal Reflux Disease). Although she continued to spit up a lot they were not too worried because she was continuing to gain weight and was healthy. Eventually the spitting up got less and less. She stayed on the Prevacid and perscription formula till she was 1 yr. old. At 1 year old we started her on regular milk which at that time she tolerated it well. She wasn't on the regular milk for very long though because she quit taking the bottle at about 13-14 months. I hope you get some answers that will give you some help and relieve your stress with this issue. Best wishes. I will try to find the name of the procedure she has done that helped determine her allergy to the formula and I will let you know. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

W.

My sympathies! Both my children were plagued with gas as infants. The first responded great to changes in my diet, but not my daughter. I used Colic Calm with some success. But times is the only thing that has helped her. She's 18 months and still gets up several times a wk at night with gas. My peds said she didn't fit all the criteria for reflux so she didn't get any medication. It has been a frustrating year and a half!
The best thing that worked with my daughter was abdominal massage. I oiled her belly and rubbed counter clockwise for at least 5 minutes 3 times a day. The amount of gas she released was unbelievable. Then she stopped allowing me to massage her (too busy rolling around) which led to some really long nights! If you want more details, email me.
Good luck, N.

hey B.
My first baby had horrible reflux. Wouldn't eat for 24 hours at a time. We would have to suringe feed her. I hate to say nothing helped for us except time. I did have one friend that had their baby sleep in their car seat inside the crib so they would sleep upright. I eventually had to stop breastfeeding, because she would never eat and I needed a break from constantly trying. So it was helpful to go to the bottle, so someone else could feed her. Have you tried cereal in the bottle. That sometimes helps. And I am sure you have tried all the "gas drops". Some of it really helps. But the best I can tell you is, time is on your side!! And I promise you are not alone. Sometimes knowing that other people go through it helps... good luck.

We tried the Zantac, too. I didn't know how I was going to get through this until I ran out of milk when my baby was 5 months old and finally made the connection that this was what was causing most of the reactions. I knew different foods affected my son but milk was the worst. I breastfed until my son was 7 months old and now I am formula only he is like a different baby. Content and at peace. When breastfeeding I found I couldnt have any spices, sausage or deli meats, garlic, broccoli, cauliflour, beans, mushrooms, soda or dairy. He is on a milk based formula but when I had dairy he would cry for hours. SOmething to think about. J.

B.,
Mylacon drops. these worked GREAT for my daughter when she did that.

Also some saline nose drops to help open up his sinuses. Sounds like he has a cold and that is stopping him from nursing well.

Hope this helps,
B.
deaffmommie

Okay, so you've already gotten a bunch of responses, but there was one thing I didn't see mentioned, althought I failed to read through ALL the previous messages :) Make sure to feed your baby on a schedule. It's found to really help, because this will give their little stomaches and esophagus a break in between feedings/spitting up. Most tend to feed more frequently in little amounts, since they are always so upset and spit it all up, we assume they want more. But it helps to feed no more than every 2 hours, to give them a break. We found Zantac to work the best with our daughter who had a really bad case of GERD (acid reflux). And DON'T put cereal in the formula. Their stomach is not delveloped enough to digest it, and will only cause further problems. I also had a really hard time with the nursing because they wouldn't stay latched on through the pain, and resorted to bottle feeding. There is a formula if you do called Nutramagin (sp? it's been awhile!) which is the safest formula for babies with any type of problem. Our daughter was completely different once we started the formula and the Zantac. I can talk to you more about it if you're interested. You can just buy it where you get any other formula, but it is about twice as much. Ugh! Oh, and make sure to keep them angled at a 45 degree angle when they sleep or lay down to relieve the burning. I would suggest if there is frequent spitting up to have him sleep on his side, because we almost lost our daughter when she was sleeping on her back, spit up, and couldn't get it out of her mouth.... I just happened to walk in in time. Just something to think about! Anyway, I did a lot of research into this whole thing, because where I was the doctors just weren't catching on. Finally I found someone who did and between the both of us we got it licked. You'll get through this, and no, he won't scream for the rest of his life! Good luck and please let me know if you have any questions!

I have a 5-1/2 month old. He had severe colic, gas pain and acid reflux. He was extremely difficult with that combination. We switched to Similac Sensitive formula and that helped some. I did/do not breast feed at all. We are currently using Axid for his reflux (not sure if that's prevacid or zantac) and it has helped but wasn't a miracle cure. He still has bouts of spitting up. His gas pains were so bad that he would just scream, grab/claw, bang his head into my chest, and draw his legs up to his chest and then kick. Very bad. The dr prescribed him some levson drops and that helps his tummy cramping/gas pain. We still use it but only have to at times, not an every day thing. Some people say that Mylecon drops work but for us they didn't. But, if you haven't tried them, they won't hurt anything. Keep trying the acid reflux meds and even the mylecon drops. My dr said that the bottom line was that even if the baby is spitting up, as long as he/she keeps gaining weight and is not getting dehydrated then the baby is ok. But, I don't like mine spitting up a lot either! Most infants will grow out of the reflux also so it should just be temporary. Hope this helps some and good luck!

Hi, B.. This sounds exactly like my first baby, and he was a tough one! I will tell you, though, that with both of my babies, between 6 weeks and 3-4 months is the hardest time for breastfeeding and gas. A nurse told me that this is because babies' intestinal tracts begin to mature at this time, making them hypersensitive to lots of different things. Try avoiding all citrus if you haven't eliminated it already. A friend told me this when my second baby had gas issues around this age, and it really helped. Another cause for this gas or reflux may be your letdown. What helped me with my first was to pump off a little bit of milk (about 1 ounce) between feedings (more ideally, right before the feeding) so that my son wouldn't gag and swallow gas bubbles, causing him to pull off and cough. Pumping off a little bit of milk also makes sure that your baby gets more of the hindmilk (mostly fat) rather than the foremilk (mostly sugar). A lactation consultant told me that if your baby drinks too much foremilk, the sugars in the foremilk will create a lot of gas (similar to when we eat a lot of carbs at one time). One way to tell if your baby is getting too much foremilk is that his poop will be greenish or runnier than normal. Finally, one other thing to try is feeding on only one breast at each feeding so that your baby is sure to get enough of the hindmilk (to prevent gas). This only works well if you make a similar amount of milk on each side, though. You might also try making sure your baby sits upright for 20-30 minutes after eating because babies' throats don't have the muscle tone to hold down their food right after eating very well until they get closer to six months (for some, even later than this). My first little guy did take Zantac, but I'm not sure how much it helped. Once he started sitting up and eating solid foods, the reflux went away. Oh! One more thing...if all else fails, Hyland's Colic Tablets are awesome. You can get them at Walgreen's. They are all-natural, and they saved our sanity with both of our boys. It will get better! Hope this helps.

Hi B.,
I am a wellness consultant. I can share information from a wellness point of view if you are open to a non-drug approach. I could connect you to the mom or grandmother (my friend) of a 2 month old who had the same kind of experience with nursing but no longer has any issues using the wellness approach I would suggest.
If interested, give me a call. ###-###-####
Sherri

ADD ON: B., why is your son seeing a chiropractor at such a young age? Has he been in been in a bad accident? Their bones are so soft still at his age I can't imagine what a chrio could do for an infant.
~S.

It sounds like a lactose issue. Try cutting as much dairy out of your diet as possible. Drink soy milk and all that stuff!! My step sis went through this same thing and her daughter's ped told her babies can't be lactose intolerant to breast milk and they can!!! She cut as much dairy out of her diet as possible and her daughter stopped having problems.

Good luck!! I hope you find something to help your little one!

S.
www.shariegraf.scent-team.com

Hi B.,
If you have anise or aniseed, you can boil a teaspoon in a cup of water and then give yourbaby 1-2 teaspoons of the water every 2-3 hours. You can find anise at an Indian store. Hope this helps...
D.

we just went to a specialist for my 3 1/2 month old son. i feel your pain. the specialist said that at 6 months most babies symptoms go away, and still a few last until 9 months. this is to do with the fact that the babies spend so much time lying on their backs. it helps to have him sit up for up to a 1/2 hour post feed. we have also found a swing to be really helpful. i actually just ordered an amby baby motion bed--this is supposed to help babies with reflux. nursing is really hard, when you have a baby like this--i just got mastitis for the 2nd time. never had any problems with my first son, when i was nursing him. hand in there. if you are comitted to breastfeeding you can make it--it is hard, and you'll need more support from family than usual. have you tried pumping and offering a bottle occasionally? my gi specialist said you can add 1 teaspoon rice cereal per every ounce of formula. hope some of this helps. i also asked the specialist about my diet--i gave up dairy and wheat and ate only non-acidic foods--he said not to worry about it--it wasn't what i was eating. this was great to hear since my bills from whole foods were escalating.

Hi B.,

Check out this website http://www.lacetoleather.com/infantacidreflux.html. I DO remember the crying as if it were yesterday! The Mylicon and the other antacids tend to make it worse in the long run. Stomachs are supposed to be acidic to digest the food. The ant-acid is truly a temporary fix for pain only.

I would normally recommend a half teaspoon of apple cider vinegar after a meal if your little one wasn't SO little. The vinegar is actually acidic and will help digest the food so it doesn't come up the esophagus, it goes down the digestive track.

The things other than food that affect breast milk are pharmaceuticals and stress. If you have either one of these in
your system...get rid of them :)

Regards,

M.

I have a great baby but he too has acid reflux. I thought he was just spitting up but the amount was a lot and I mean a lot. So at his 4 month check up I spoke to the doctor. Lucky my baby spit up and the doctor was amazed that he was big (20 lbs and 28 inches) when he has been doing this for the last few months. He gave me Zantac but what I think really helped was the cereal. I hadto use a bottle but since I pump that is okay. You just need to put 1 tablespoon in every 2 ounces of milk. I know it sounds like a lot but it really helped us. So much we came off the meds and are doing better.

Good luck!

Hello, I never breast feed, but my baby had Colic (sounds like it anyway) too. It is so hard to hear the crying and know your little one hurts. The only thing that worked for us was to go on Nutramingin formula (the pre mixed is best) it is more exspensive, but we had a different baby with in days. If it is colic (pulling away, arcing back, spit up crying gassy) it can make his little tummy inflamed. Nutramigin tastes gross, but right now at that age your little one doesn't have developed tasted buds, so you should have no trouble. This was a life saver for us. Good Luck.

Hi B.. I'm so sorry to hear your baby is going through this. My 2nd daughter (now 10 months) was diagnosed at around 2 months old. We tried Prevacid as well, and it did nothing for her. When we started Zantac, it only improved a little. Then we went to a specialist who said that she was only taking one third of the amount she should have in a day. She said it's common for pediatricians to under perscribe because they go off age and not weight. I suggest you getting a second opinion. A few days after we upped the dose of Zantac it was like night and day. She still fussed at night (bad gas) but her spitting up stopped and she no longer needed to marathon nurse to squelch the acid reflux pain. Believe me when I say I'm not a big fan of medicine (my Doctor can vouche for me), but I tried altering my diet like others have suggested and got frustrated when it wasn't working for me like it did for everyone else. Another tip, though, in the meantime, is after we would get through the evening screaming, we'd get her calm and have her sleep in her car seat. It helped her because she was upright. She would sleep for five hours or more! Good luck.

Hi B., I was not able to breastfeed my baby but, we tried the formula called Gentle Ease by enfamil, then walmart came out with the generic version----much easier on the wallet. We also tried mylecon drops, go with the clear not original-it stains everything. We also tried something called Tummy Soothers by Gentle Naturals. Unfortunately we could only locate it at the Walgreens up near Northside-Cherokee Hosp. It really seemed to help. Also have you ever thought about Chiropractic? All natural without medications. I work for one if you are interested. Try rolling up some towels and put under the mattress to elevate it. Also, try whats called the football hold. Lay the baby lengthwise over your arm so that your fist is in their belly, the pressure helps with gas. Use your other arm to support the head and your arm from getting so tired. Hope this helps.
Johna

keep breastfeeding, alter your diet. My son had the same gassy problems, and worse, he had a rash. It turned out he was allergic to chocolate, something that was a constant in my diet. I would suggest cutting out cheese, it is hard to digest, and causes more acid in our tummies than we need. When I cut cheese out of my husbands diet, he stopped getting any heartburn at all. I also lowered his red meat intake to only once a week, I am sure that helped also. Try to avoid processed foods as much as you can- Stay off fried foods as well, the oil is an acid maker too.
Good Luck!

Hi B.,
I was a walking acid reflux event for years until I got turned on to a good digestive enzyme and a probiotic. My favorite are made by "Renew Life Formulas". If you google Renew Life or Brenda Watson, you will find a wealth of "gut" info to work with. Not drinking with meals helps as well. If you are not digesting your food properly then the baby is not getting it either. There's a lot of good info out there about this, but I am telling you that personally, it changed my life.
You might also look at info on food combining. There are proper combinations that make a lot less gas and ones that just blow it up. I also found that very helpful. Good luck!
Infinite Blessings,
P. McMahon

I have a 4 1/2 month old who has had the exact same problem except she was bottle fed. I also had 2 other children with th same problem. Zantac has always seemed to make problem worse. with the advice of my ped. We started my baby on rice cereal. I added 1/4 ounce at first then 1/2 ounce to 6-7 ounce bottle. She quit with the fussiness, spitting up (as much) coughing and even sometimes choking. she even began to sleep through the night. We were also able to get her on a 4 hour schedule. Now at her 4 month check up . we began spoon feeding the rice cereal. Sometimes you may have to give some water, if constipation becomes a problem. No more than 2 ounces daily. Hope this helps.

I'd see the pediatrician about the reflux. (It is caused by the muscles between the esophagus and stomach not being tight enough. Fixes range from waiting until they outgrow it to medicines all the way to surgery, depending on the severity.) For the gas, I'd give a dose of simethicone (generic for Mylicon)at each feeding. You can get the generic at Wal-mart in the over-the-counter pharmacy section. (The bottle says maximum 12 doses per day, but my dad - a neonatologist/ pediatrican - says you can't overdose on it --it's not even an actual "medicine." It is closer to a detergent in its properties - in the fact that it makes bubbles bind together for easier passing.) Be sure to give it with each feeding because it needs to be at the same place in his digestive track as the food to do any good. It doesn't take the gas away, but it makes it so much easier for the baby to pass comfortably. I went through bottles of it with my fifth baby (now eight months). It helped a lot. He outgrew the gas problems around 4-5 months as his digestive system matured. Good luck!

Hi B.,
Colic and Reflux are varied by one major component. Time. Colic is usually both gas and spitting up, generally crying > 3 hrs a day (evening times are worser). After 15 weeks of age, are irritability & gas the same? Have your ruled out a milk allergy? Talk to your pediatrician regarding soy formula and your baby's symptoms. I loved breastfeeding my first two babies, but my third infant had reflux and it wasn't for us. Decide your battles and best wishes.
M.

B., I have 3 daughter, 2 of them had acid reflux and gas real bad, my middle daughter was on zantac, mylanta she eventually grew out of it. My youngest was said to have it too, a peditrician in the hospital told me about GRIPE WATER, it's big in europe, it's all natural herbs and such. I didn't listen at first then i was at my witsend with it. So i went to Kroger and bought some. (it's in the infant sections were food diapers and all the bath essitianls are) WOW!! What a differnece in my little angles, she was no longer cramping, spitting up having gas. She was a new baby. I recommended this to anyone. My youngest in now 18 months old and still teething, GRIPE WATER works great for that too and she loves taking it.

Mine had bad reflux too and unfortunately the only really thing you can do, other than the meds others have suggested and you're already doing, is give it time. I think it was around 5 months before we saw some real improvement with the spitting up (and mine did the projectial vomiting too). We began doing one formula bottle at the same time each day, but kept up with the breastmilk for the other feedings. Its heavier than breastmilk and with my son it helped a little. Sorry you are having to go through this!

Get off the meds and try a new diet. I had a breastfeeding baby with Failure to Thrive due to spitting up after each meal. No one could help me. By trial and error I figured out the main problem was gluten (wheat, oats, barley and rye) and the secondary was dairy. Once I gave up gluten completely and limited my dairy, she was much better.

I've been doing this diet on and off now since 1999, so if you need any help or have any questions, let me know, my email is ____@____.com luck!