Premature Infants with Reflux

My son has reflux and delayed gastric emptying. He was also a preemie. He has not outgrown his reflux yet (he will be a yr old this month). But most babies do outgrow reflux by at least the age of 2 yrs old. My son had the NG tube and now has a g-tube. Since she does well w/ the thickened milk, you need to put thickened milk down the tube (believe me, you can). Thicken it w/ either a thickener or cereal. The more liquidy milk is, the worse it is for reflux. Also, if you get the ready to feed formulas (already mixed up), the milk is thicker than usual. Try that.

I had my twins at 35 weeks and we struggled with reflux with my boy. We tried a lot of things - medicines (prevacid, mylanta, zantac), gripe water, keeping him upright for 20-30 minutes after feedings, sleeping on a wedge, and switching formulas. At about 3 months he and his sister had a stomach bug, so we stopped the medicine at the time (prevacid) and we have never went back. Now, we still have a wedge in his crib and use Enfamil AR for formula. He is 7 1/2 months old, takes baby food well, and is such a happy baby now.

You might take a look at the book "Colic Solved". It is written by a Ped GI Specialist thats daughter had reflux. It covers symptoms and treatments for several ailments that doctors sometimes refer to as colic, including reflux and milk allergies.

I know that dealing with this was emotionally draining for myself. Good luck!

B.

I have a 7 month old son that spent 2 mos in the NICU and was diagnosed with mild reflux. His friend next to him was diagnosed with moderate to severe reflux and they were both handled pretty much the same way. They both had rice cereal in their bottles but were also given 2ml of Cherry Supreme Mylanta and eventually added Prevacid and Carafate. They would get 2 ml of Mylanta with every feeding at the beginning. That didn't completely help so they added a dose of Prevacid 2X per day. They eventually added Carafate(which cannot be given at the same time as the Mylanta). My son weened from all of his meds about a month after he came home...his friend is still on the Prevacid. It's not a fun thing to deal with. My son was about to come home after a month in the NICU but the reflux caused a chain reaction of events and bottom line is he started having heart rate drops and low SAT levels because of the reflux. It sounds like such a minor problem but can cause some major issues. I hope this helps some.

I also had a baby with reflux. While my experience is slightly different because I nursed exclusively, my son was on Mylanta, Zantac and Reglan, in addition to others we triend along the way. It is excruciating to think of them on pain and being pumped full of these medications three times a day, but you do what you have to do. And while the medications helped, they did not "cure" him. He just threw up less. My son's reflux lasted until he was about 11 months old. We did a lot of the other things described here. Try different bottles, keep the baby upright for 20-30 minutes after feedings so it has a less chance of coming back up. We also propped up the mattress in the crib, but only when he was still in a sleep positioner. We never did allow him to sleep on his back for fear of him choking, so we used a side positioner. God Bless you because this is not an easy thing to deal with. All I remember about the first year of my son's life is that he ate and thew up, ate and threw up. He was always hungry because much of his food was coming back up. Take heart, they do grow out of it. The only last effect my 8 year old has is that he has a very sensitive gag reflex. I call him my "professional puker." If something has the wrong texture or anything, he can throw up at the drop of a hat. Even that seems to be improving with time though.

N.,
My name is Angi and I had a premature baby 3 months early. He had reflux and the doctors gave no advice and said if my son didn't show signs of improvement they would have to do surgery. I took it in to my own hands and started thickening his formula and I switched to Similac Alimentum. It was alot more expensive but it was worth it!! My son is now 9 years old with no signs of being a premie!!
Good Luck

My son was 2 months premature and he had reflux. The doctor prescribed him medicine but the medicine only hepled with the burning he felt, it does nothing for the reflux itself.
We did have to switch formula. Once he was okay to come off of the preemie formula that SImilac makes, he had to go to Enfamil AR, which is super thick! The formula stayed down pretty well.
He started getting better once he was able to sit up on his own (down to just spitting up a couple of times a day). Once he was able to stand and stuff, it pretty much disappeared.
I know it's so hard and the horrible feelings that come when the baby throws up on friends and family. We had to carry around 5 burp clothes whenever we went somewhere.
We tried to keep him upright as much as possible and tried to have him sleep on an angled wedge. Night feedings we would feed him and then let him fall asleep on our chests with his head on our shoulder while we were in his glider.
Sounds rough, but it truly helps.
Good luck. Hang in there. It will get better!

N.,

My daughter was only 2 weeks premature but she had very bad reflux. I was nursing and bottle feeding and she was still not gaining any weight. My Dr. didn't seem to make a huge fuss about it until it was getting really bad. She was 5 weeks old and not past her birth weight. I had kept telling him something was wrong but he would not listen. He finally decided he wanted to put her on some med. for it. I didn't want to but felt I had no choice until some friends of mine who are chiropractors told me to bring her in. It was amazing. He worked with her 3 to 4 times a week at the beginning rubbing her neck and spine. She was only 5 weeks old but he said he works on newborns a lot. Anyway, she started getting better immediatly. It dramatically slowed down the reflux and now it has stopped altogether. She went 3 to 4 times a week for about a month and then we started once a week for a month and then every 2 weeks. She is 10 months old now and still goes about once every 6 weeks. She seems to really enjoy it. At first she would get a little irritated when he rubbed her neck but now she smiles. She seemed to grow out of the reflux about 6 to 7 months old. I hope this helps you. I know I have rambled on and on. E.

My son wasn't premature but did have reflux and still does. Until he was about 5 months old he'd spit-up in buckets several times a day. I don't know how he ever gained any weight. Now he spits up small amounts about once a day, sometimes more than once a day, but it's always taken care of with a wet wipe. He'll be a year old this month.

I noticed that he refluxed more during what I thought was 'growing spurts'.

What worked best for us, was I put him in his car seat, straped him in, and basically he stayed there for the first several months. When I'd hold him, I'd lay down with lots of pillows to prop me up and I'd lay him on his tummy on top of me.....and a blanket between us for my protection....got spit-up on me tons of times before I figured this one out.

I also noticed that the more I moved him around, the more he refluxed so I didn't put him in the swing, or dance around or rock him much.

Our daughter was 3 weeks early, and about 8 hours about her birth, started going "dusky" and would stop breathing. Scared us to death... They took her to NICU that night, and she was diagnosed with severe acid reflux. She spent 12 days in NICU and was on a feeding tube a lot of that time. After it was removed, we had to thicken her formula with rice and used a sensative formuly (can't remember the name of it). When we got her home, she slept on a small pillow wedge (my husband made one out of foam) to keep her at an incline to keep the acid from coming back up, we couldn't bounce her around a lot after eating, etc. She was also sent home on a monitor that would alarm us if she would stop breathing from the acid coming back up. It was pretty scary at first, but sure was a sigh of relief when we went to sleep at night; it was like her guardian angel. She was on most of this for about 5 months and eventually grew out of it. It is scary. It is scary to watch your baby hooked up to this monitor, but believe me it's worse for us than it is for them. They do grow out of it, as I'm sure your doctors have told you about that little flap as they mature. Getting used to all the "rules" is the worst part, and I can attest to my 4 year old that is a ball of energy, it hasn't affected her AT ALL! Breathe and believe that it will go away. Hope this helps.

I am a NICU nurse. So they only add thickener to the po feeds? What about adding it to the tube feeds too. We usually do that.

N. my son was born 1 1/2mo early he had reflux also. I just elavated his bed and switched his formula to soy, and added rice cereal. I always tryed to keep him elavated to help keep the food down. Haveing her lay on your chest in a chair helps.. any questions about premature babys just let me know.. we spent 3 weeks in nicu and my son came home on O2 and a monater.. lots of stress..but any thing I can do to help.. I'm here

good morn,N.. i have 4 children,2 of which had reflux(one currently)though neither one were premature, i understand how frustrating it is. feeling guilty,smelling pukey,blah. i'd love to give you a magic answer.don't have one. the thing i can offer, is nutramigen. if you decide to go ahead and change formula,i would be happy to help offset some of the cost to try the other formula. i could pitch in 2 cans of powder. i know that may sound silly, but at a whopping 27.00 a can it adds up fast. the thing i have to say about reflux is neither one of my babies got any better til i started food, so i did that early. god bless you can e mail me if you'd like to talk more.

Hi N.,

I don't have children yet, so I haven't had to experience this first hand. However, I work for a Chiropractor that sees many children and babies. We have had MANY patients bring their babies in due to reflux and they always notice a difference! If you would like more info or would like to just talk with the Doctor I know he'd be more than happy to help you out. I'm not sure where you live, so if you are not near us I'm sure he could refer you to a Chiropractor near you. The name of our office is ChiropracticWorks and his name is Dr. Kris McClusky. We are in Collinsville, IL. The number to our office is ###-###-####. I will actually be the one to answer the phone. You can also visit our website at www.visitchiropracticworks.com Good Luck!

Lucky Baby to have a Nurse Mommy!
My twins were here at 34 weeks. They both had reflux issues up until almost a year. Basically we were sent to Dr. Linda Brady Ped GI specialist at St. Johns and she had them on Prevacid. They received a mixture of (pumped)breast milk and soy formula, heavily thickened with rice cereal. with Mylanta supreme as needed. I wasn't hip on having the kids on medicine. But at the same time, I've had reflux and damn if I could justify making them suffer that pain if I could somehow help it!
Are you keeping her upright as much as possible? We also had the kids basically sleep in there swings as much as possible (Until they were old enough for us to be concerned about climbing out) We actually bought two of the Fisher Price cradle swings for just that reason. They are still in a mostly upright position yet much more comfortable than your standard swing.

OH, and we used Dr.Browns bottles. They clean up fine in the dishwasher without all the extra scrubbing.

GOOD LUCK!

I had twin girls 12/22/07. They were 3 1/2 weeks early. One of my girls has reflux and is taking prescription Axid once in the morning and once around dinner time. We have them both on Enfamil Gentlease or Similac Sensitive. She still has issues from time to time but she doesn't struggle during feedings as much as she used to. We were also told about a special bottle called Podee. You can either buy the whole system which includes a bottle or buy just the adaptor which fits bottles like Dr. Brown (which we were already using). It has a tube that goes into the bottle and a longer tube that goes from the bottle to the nipple. It allows my girls to eat while they're sitting upright which helps reduce spitting up and any other eating related problems. It's also great because they're practically feeding themselves since you don't have to hold the bottle. I just have to check on mine from time to time in case they lose the nipple part which works like a pacifier. Hope this helps!

Yes! My twins were 8 weeks early. One son had reflux very badly and we put him on Alimentum and within 2 days he was a new baby! We took him off the Alimentum at 6 months because he did in fact grow out of the reflux. Despite the cost, I would switch to the Alimentum. Apparently, as preemies, their little systems are so small. Your daughter probably just needs a few more months to get caught up. Please feel free to email if me you have any questions :-) My once 4lb preemie babies are 22 lbs 13 month olds!!!!

My daughter born at 25 weeks (1lb 3oz) also had reflux. Like someone in a previous post, we had success with Prevacid and Mylanta supreme too. After her bottle, we would keep her upright for at least 20min. We also used a preemie nipple on her bottles until she was almost 3 months old (adjusted age). We got them through St. John's. They do eventually outgrow it - some not until they start solid food.
She slept in a bassinette for 3-4 months after coming home from the NICU and we propped up her mattress so she would sleep at a slight angle.
She is now a very healthy and smart 3 year old!

YES!They really do grow out of it.Premie and low birth weight babies get this alot because the muscle that holds it down is under developed.So when the muscle matures it gets better.Sometimes it takes several months.All three of my kids had it and their doc perscribed Zantac.Which doesn't fix it completely but it did help.

Our daughter who is 9, had reflux and did grow out of it at about 7 months. However, our son who will soon be 4 was premature with several health issues. One being reflux. After many tests, meds and a feeding tube he had a fundoplication done. I would not suggest that to anyone. His came undone and had to have a second one. This is a procedure to tighten the esophogus. He cannot vomit so afterwards all he could do was gag. Eventually, a G/J tube was put in. All before he was one year. He just had his J tube pulled and now has just a G tube. I would suggest if your child is eating and gaining weight to wait it out and see if gets better. Our son stopped eating so that is why we had to go to such extreme measures. Good luck

I know your frustration. My son was born 6 1/2 weeks premature. I had toxemia and HELP syndrome, so they had to do an emergency C-section. He is now almost 11 months old, and still suffers from reflux. He was diagnosed with it when he was probably about 6 or 7 weeks old. At first the doctor tried to tell me that spitting up was normal and that he probably wasn't spitting up as much as I thought he was. But after he was projectile vomiting almost his entire bottle, the pediatrician finally listened to me. He is still getting rice cereal in every bottle, he gets Mylicon before every feeding and is on a prescription medicine (Axid) that he takes 3 times a day. The spitting up got much better after he started on the Axid, but there are still times when he spits up quite a bit--and sometimes it's like half a jar of baby food. It is very frustrating, especially when it gets all over the baby's clothes, all over your clothes, all over the furniture, etc. I'm still waiting for him to outgrow it. Hang in there.

My daughter wasn't premature but had terrible reflux issues. She didn't gain weight for her first 2 months and spent some time in the hospital. She was on Zantac and changed formula five times. We finally got on Similac Isomil and thickened it with rice cereal. It was so thick that we had to open the hole on the bottle nipple in order for it to pass through. She slept in a car seat or bouncy seat until she was 3 months old. After this she started sleeping in her crib but we propped up the mattress. She was swaddled and held in place with rolled towels covered by a receiving blanket. She still spit up a lot but not as much when she was sleeping. She gradually put on weight. By the time she was 6 months she hardly had any traces of reflux. So the mattress was lowered and for the first time in her life she started sleeping flat.
She is 2 now and doing wonderfully well. She is a normal 2 year with tons and energy and loves to eat now.
I know how frustrating all this is. Just keep with it and don't feel bad about bugging your doctor for new ideas...thats why they get the big bucks!

My oldest daughter was not premature, but did have reflux when born. We gave her liquid Zantac 3 times per day for about a year. Her thing was that she never spit up - she swallowed it and she would struggle to breath while doing that. The Zantac did help. It was a pain (the taste is extremly nasty). As a side note, my daughter is now 6 and still has some problems. She sometimes has difficulty swollowing and food will come back up while eating.

My younger daughter (who was a tiny bit early - 3 week) also had reflux and spit up on everything and everyone for about a year. We gave her Zantac and she had to sleep almost sitting up. She would sleep in her car seat and we would set it in her bed (I wanted my kids sleeping in their beds). We did try the thickened formula for her, but she needed the Soy formula and they didn't have a thickened, soy formula.

A year was the magic number for my kids and my neice. Good luck!!

S. (mom of Audrey 6 & Natalee 4)

My son was born 2 months early and had reflux also. He is now 11 months old I still think he has it. He came home taking zantac the doctor also said he would outgrow it. Long story short, on our own we switched to soy AND switched pediatricians and we are back taking axid. The soy helped with the gas and stomach pains and he seemed to get the reflux back when he started solid food so we went back on it. So I didnt give you any advice but can totally relate on the preemie and reflux situations and would be happy to talk to you about any of it.

my son was not premature however he does have acid reflux. my doctor suggested a couple different medicines and the one that works is Prevacid. We take 1 ML of that a day and some mylanta if need be. He is 6 1/2 months old now and we are still doing it. I hope everything will be ok. Just know that it will get better, it may take some time, but it will get better.

Is your daughter on any reflux medication? My son was born at 28 weeks gestation (12 weeks early). He was on 'Reglan' (I think that is what it was) for many months before he out grew his reflux. I think he grew out of it after about 3-6 months. We never had to thicken his formula.
God Bless!

Along with everything mentioned in the previous posts, we kept our little guy on a special bed for 8 months because his reflux was so bad it would get into his airway and he would quit breathing even while in a deep sleep. I believe the Tucker sling and wedge (do an internet search for Tucker sling to see the site) saved Braden's life and allowed me to get some sleep!

Hi N.,

My son wasn't premature but, had massive reflux from the get go. After 4 months of trying various methods we ended up putting him on adult previcid (1/2 capsule 2x daily). He was a totally different kiddoe it worked well for him. This may be a solution once your little one gains weight. More importantly, they do grow out of it, once he was six months we stopped the meds and has been fine ever since.
I know my situation is a different but hope it can offer some reassurance. I hope you find asolution that works for you and your family.

My son was born 3 weeks early. I would catch him holding his breath a lot and his lips would turn blue. They did the same test on him and found that he had reflux. His wasn't a very bad case, but it still caused him pain. A trick that I would do was to make sure that he did not lay flat much, especially after eatting. I also put towels under the head of the mattress of his bassinet and then his bed as well when he moved to the baby bed. I always kept him elevated so that the milk could not run back up. He aslo was prescribed Zantac and that seemed to help a lot. He did grow out of it eventually. Most of the time the say a year...but I really think he was better before his was a year. He didn't have to take the Zantac that long. There are websites that sell special beds for babies with reflux and might have some other good suggestions as well. I hope I have been of some help! Just try to remember it doesn't last too long (in most cases).