GERD, Baby Is in Pain & Doesn't Sleep Well

I have started to take homeopathic remedies (I was a skeptic until I took a remedy for migraines - and it worked better than the prescription medicine)

Go to 1-800homeopathy.com. They have remedies for everything including babies on up to elderly people. Even pregnant or recovering from pregnancy. And even pets! Try them out! It's amazing and not expensive. It's also not medicine (it's like herbal) and non addicting. And you can take it with medicine.

It sounds like your baby has a lot of gas and colic which the homeopathy helps with! I know...I have irritable bowel syndrome and use a lot of the tummy products. Just take my advice and read up on it. It's worth it.

E.

Reflux wedge. We got one and it was awesome! The MDs always said to prop our baby up for 30 minutes after feeding and during sleeping, but she always slid to the bottom of the crib. We had her sleep in the papasan swing (sitting up) for a while, but then we decided we didn't want her to rely on the motion to sleep.

We got a reflux wedge through our pediatrician--we actually ended up with two a large and a small as our baby grew. It is basically a wedge of foam with a little sling that you put your baby in so that they can sleep at an angle, and not slide to the bottom of the bed. They use these in hospitals all the time.

Ours was something like this:
http://www.pollywogbaby.com/refluxandcolic/refluxwedgesfo...

It cost us nothing because our insurance covered it, but you can often find them on Craigslist (I'd have it cleaned) or some pediatricians offices rent them.

Good luck!
M.

Hi T.,
My son had reflux as well. We just got him off Zantac a few months ago (He is 16 months now). First I want to say how sorry I am for you all to be going through all of this. It's very hard place to be when your child is in pain! We used Prevacid but it really didn't help enough. And then we switched him to Zantac and it worked like a dream! It comes in an awful mint liquid but soon he realized it was helping him he would suck it down! As for lying down and staying down.I would suggest that you keep him upright for at least 30 mins after eating if you can. We ended up getting what's called a Tucker sling and it helped so much! It's a sling that can attach to their crib mattress or you can get one for a wedge pillow. Here is there site if your are interested : http://www.tuckersling.com/
I also still have mine if your interested in buying a used one for your crib.
You can do a massage on his tummy. Place you index finger right at the end of his ribs in the center and gently pull it down using a S shape. Do this several times to help close the spynker muscle and keeps the acid in his tummy.
I also would use Mylanta Supreme Cherry flavor (this kind does not contain Aluminum) in between meds if things got really bad before we got him on Zantac. I'd just give him a small amount. I found the dosage on a GERD forum on the web. Which by the way gave me tons of info.
Hope this helps you some and hope you find what works for your little one!
C.

I have two sets of twins and all 4 have had some problems with digestion. One of my girls had to be put on special formula called Nutramagin; it is "pre-digested" and that helped more than yuo would believe. the pediatrician was not forthcoming in suggesting it; my night nanny is the one that told us about it because she has a lot of experience with preemies. Within a week it made a world of difference. Still, we did always keep them upright for 20 or 30 minutes after feeding. We used the bouncy chair or a toddler rocking chair and let them stay in it for at least 20 or 30 minutes after eating. If you do that you must be careful about rotating his head so that he does not get a flat head. We also used a lot of gas drops. To massage for gas just hold him in your lap on his tummy facing your knees. Drop your knees down a bit so his bottom points up in the air. gently massage his back and the gas will find its exit. Stop and burp him frequently while you are feeding him and that will also help. Burp him five and/or ten minutes after finishing the feeding, too. Consider talking to your pediatrician about Nutramagin. By the way, they did grow out of it. One thing I did with my twin boys was to switch from the Enfacare with extra iron to just enfamil with lipil - the extra iron was tearing their stomachs up. Good luck with all that; I can't tell you what a relief it was after we switched formulas. I could not bear to hear her scream from the tummy pain. Also it will get a little better when he can turn over so he can sleep on his tummy.