Is It Reflux?

Hi
My son was the exact same way and it started at 5 weeks old. (he's now 9 months) As time went by it seemed to bother him more and more. At first he would spit up and it didn't even phase him. Then he would get a little fussy right before and after he would do his massive spit up. Really it was like most of his milk came back up.
The doctor put him on Pepcid at 3 months old and it's worked great. He stopped spitting up within a week and started sleeping better too. He's still on it but has never had to up the dose or anything and it's the smallest dose possible.
Good luck and I hope this helps.
B.

I had two kids with reflux as infants. We ended up giving each one Zantac for a little while until they outgrew it (at about 4-6 months). The signs were different, though - they both had trouble during feedings too - would thrash back and forth and resist eating very much at once. They also had a really hard time lying down afterward and wouldn't sleep well (the 2nd one had to sleep almost upright in her car seat for a few months).

So the symptoms seem different in your boy, but who knows - maybe he just reacts differently. The only way to really tell is to give him some Zantac for a couple of days (pediatrician can prescribe liquid baby dose) and see if it helps. My kids had no long term or other digestive problems being on Zantac for a few months. I would recommend it if it seems to help your son, because it sure improved feedings with my kids. Good luck!

Hi T.,

My daughter is 5 months old, and also breast and bottle fed. She began with the crying and spitting up after eating at about two months. My pediatrician diagnosed her with reflux after seeing her do this in his office. She also has always been pretty happy and gained weight well (even slept through the night), but this doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't reflux, I guess. Since the diagnosis, we've tried Zantac and Prevacid. With Prevacid, she does MUCH better - less spitting up and no crying after feeding. Interestingly, she spits up more when breastfed than bottlefed, so I wouldn't necessarily think the bottle is the issue in your case. Anyway, I'd recommend checking in with your pediatrician. Our little one was even happier once the reflux was caught and treated. Good luck!

it sounds like reflux. Even babies that are happy and content can have reflux. I would push the issue with your pediatrician and request medication. If the medication doesn't work then you should request to see a pediatric GI specialist

When my son was an infant he spit up a TON until he was probably close to 8 mos old or so. He would spit up so much that he would sometimes completely saturate my clothes. I don't think he ever just burped, it was almost always spit up. My pediatrician advised me that ALL babies have reflux to some extent simply due to their new digestive systems. She said that if he's gaining weight well and happy when he spits up, that he is fine and that the BEST treatment is NO treatment. I too got some unsolicited advise from my daycare provider (along with tons of others who would see him spit up) saying he must have reflux. It went away on its own over time and was never a significant issue. It would seem odd to me that your baby never seems unhappy/uncomfortable when spitting up with you, yet supposedly seems that way with his daycare provider?

I am not the type of mom to medicate my kids unnecessarily. I am a total advocate of motrin/tylenol for fevers or pain, but why put them on a prescription med if not truly necessary. I never understand that. Anyways, you need to do what is best for you and your baby. Keep your pedi in the loop, but if he's a happy boy and growing well, he is just fine... and he will grow out of the spitting up :) Good luck!

Do you burp him during feedings? I know with my son I had to burp him every few minutes to get rid of the air in his GI tract. Just a thought!
Godd luck!!!

Could be reflux & I agree do not ignore the daycare worker. Doctors seem to think it is "okay" to ignore it because they will eventually "grow out of it". I asked a homeopathic doctor for a friend before about colic. I see a homeopathic doctor when my regular MD cannot help me & he is wonderful.
He said get formula from a health food store (I cannot remember the name of it) but there are a lot of knowledgeable people at most health food stores. It worked for my friend & her baby's colic was GONE! So between that & breast feeding I think your baby will be just fine. If I can find out the name of the formula I will e-mail you back!
I also do not agree with cereal in bottles or solid food at all until the age of 6 months! It can cause childhood diabetes. I used to work in a diabetes clinic so that is why I know that for a fact, not being a know it all because I certainly am not.

My son had this same problem. He was on medicine for 6 months but what really helped was going on Enfamil Nutramigen. It is realy expensive and our insurance didn't cover it but it worked really good and helped him out a lot. Good luck!!

Sounds like it could just be a gas bubble causing him to get upset. Maybe try burping him more frequently during the feeding. Is he latching on properly so he's not ingesting alot of air when he's feeding? It happens alot with breastfed babies learning to drink from a bottle. Also make sure that he's not sucking on an empty bottle for too long because that could be getting too much air into his tummy. As far as it happening when he nurses it could be something that you are eating that's bothering him. Take a look at your diet and eliminate gassy foods and see if that helps.

I'd watch him closely and make your own call. He is quite young and sometimes even the best daycare providers will say it is reflux because (lets admit it) - it is a bit annoying to be spit up on all day long. The exact same thing happened with my son and he grew out of it...but I classified him as a 'happy spitter.'

On the other hand if your son is fussy when you lay him down after a feeding or is uncomfortable when he is spitting up I would explore this further with your Dr.

The problem with reflux is, do you really want to put a little one on medication?? I've read a lot of posts on Mamasource about infants and toddlers with reflux, and so many moms are concerned about over-medicating their kids. Meds just treat the symptom, they say, not the cause. Same goes for gas or colic.

There is a great kids' supplement out there that battles reflux - you can mix it in the bottle with no problem. If you'd like more information, let me know.

Meantime, ask the daycare provider to keep a little log for you, and then you can add to it at home and on the weekends. You should be able to spot a trend if you note the link between getting upset, eating and spitting up, and also when there is relief.

Hi Congrats on your new bundle of joy!! My friend has a 7 month old little girl who has the same issue of spitting up constantly. Come to find out her daughter was diagnosed with acid reflex. I would ask your pediatrician about the constant spit up - especially if it is with both bottle and breast.
I wish you all the luck!

LO was doing the same and babies magic tea got him relieved from this problem.

My boys both developed similar symptoms at a much younger age (4 weeks and 2 weeks respectively). The first one (now 3.5) had both reflux and gas, same with the second (now 2). We used generic gas drops (Infant Mylecon is $$$) and Zantac (prescription) for both of them. For DS1, it was definitely the Zantac that made a difference, and by time he was 4 months old, he'd outgrown it. With DS2, it was more a gas issue in the long run, so by time he was a couple months old, he'd outgrown the need for Zantac but not gas drops.

I'd try using gas drops first. If that doesn't make a difference (or not a big difference) after a week, I would ask your pedi if you could try a short-term Rx for Zantac (perfectly safe for babies, btw) and see if it helps. For us, we had to try both, and both helped, but with each boy it was different as to which was the actual problem and which "cure" worked better.

Also try to consider whether there has been anything new added to your diet or if you've changed formulas--either can cause a reaction in some babies if they have a sensitive stomach. If diet has remained perfectly constant, gas or reflux are the likely culprits.

The good news is, whatever your son's real issue, he will very likely outgrow it, providing it IS just gas or reflux. My guess is reflux because of the pre-spit-up discomfort/fussing.

Good luck!

Hi T....

My son had the same issue. In fact, he spit up so much that we had to stop burping him at about 3 months and would have to hold him very still after he ate. Like you, our pediatrician was not overly concerned because he was gaining weight and wasn't stopping breathing when he spit up. He did have us try putting a bit of cereal in the bottle to thicken up the formula. This helped a little. Unfortunately, what helped the most was age. He outgrew the problem around 9 months, which is exactly what the doctor said would happen. Good luck -- and keep lots of bibs on hand!

Hi, T.. I have had 5 children and my last one was a reflux baby. My 4th child spit up terribly and was just very sensitive to having air in his stomach. If you missed a burp...watch out! He was never uncomfortable and was happy as a clam.My last baby however, was very irritable.She cried all the time and I didn't know why...until I realized that she was a little fidgety before she got upset.She just seemed slightly uncomfortable and she would kind of gulp, or look like she was trying to swallow. I could feel her push away from me with her chest.Once I got her on medicine for reflux,she was a whole different baby.I hope this is a little helpful. Just watch him carefully for a couple days and see if you notice him being uncomfortable in any way.If not, then it could just be similar to my son and maybe his tummy just needs to be free of any air/gas before and during feedings. Good luck!

Both of my kids have reflux, and it sounds like reflux to me. There are many different symptoms and levels. He may be fine, or have just a low level. But you should get him checked because worse case is that he have serious damage occuring to his throat, which can lead to esophogeal cancer (and a very low cure rate). That's extreme. I'm just wanting you to know that it can be a serious problem even if he seems happy and is growing fine. Better to have peace of mind that there is no damage happening to his throat.