Questions for Mommies with Reflux Babies.. please come in! (long)

Nikolas was diagnosed with reflux when he was only about 1 month old. He was a miserable infant.. spitting up constantly, crying a lot, sleeping poorly. We never saw a specialist, since our pediatrician started us on Zantac which seemed to help somewhat. It actually took changing his formula to Alimentum and upping the dosage of Zantac to make him a happier baby. Over the past 2 months (once he adjusted to everything and got over his colic) he's been so much better and SO much fun

So now that DS is approaching 6 months old, our pediatrician told us last week that we might want to try to wean him off the Zantac, just to see if he 'outgrew' his reflux issues and his system has matured enough that he doesn't need the medication. I had already run out of the Zantac and had not given it to him for a few days, and he seemed ok.. I figured hey, maybe he was over the reflux!! However last week he got a vaccination, and just out and out stopped sleeping through the night and had major crying spells throughout the days/nights. I initially attributed his crankiness to teething and the shot -- without even factoring in that duh, he was off the Zantac and the reflux might be bothering him (bad Mommy) Sure enough, I started him back on the Zantac 3x a day and as of yesterday he's been back to his happy self!

So I guess my question is to those BTDT Mommies of Reflux babies is ....... did you have any success weaning your children off of Zantac of Prevacid or whatever else they are taking to control the reflux? And if so, how old were they when you were able to wean them off the meds?

I also was wondering if introducing food to your children made their reflux issues any better/worse? Nikolas is now eating 2 meals a day and is on cereal and stage 2 veggies and fruit. So again, now I am wondering if the fruits or veggies are aggravating the reflux? My pediatrician is so laid back with the food thing and keeps telling me it's all "trial and error" and while I understand that, I would hate to think I could avoid giving him something and unnecessarily make him suffer

I also question whether or not I did the right thing by never taking Niko to see a specialist who deals with reflux babies.. since the Zantac seemed to help, I never pursued it.. but now I'm wondering if I did the right thing

I'm just trying to figure out what's best for my baby and figured I would turn to the BTDT mommies who have more expertise in this area than I do!

Thanks in advance

Re: Questions for Mommies with Reflux Babies.. please come in! (long)

Hey Flee...Ava had pretty bad reflux issues the first few months of her life, as well as a bad milk allergy. We went to a specialist who basically told us there's nothing they could do and she would outgrow it. I wanted to hit him in the face at the time, but sure enough, she outgrew it. By 5 months we had stopped giving her the Zantac and by 6 months, she stopped spitting up altogether.
The Zantac is only an antacid, so it doesn't help the reflux, it just helps neutralize the acid in the stomach so that the reflux doesn't burn their esophogus.
I just took her off it myself. I, like you, had run out of it and didn't see a change in her behavior or mood at all. She was teethign hardcore at that time, and was miserable, but I figured since she wasn't spitting up, it wasn't related, and it wasn't, because it was teething.
I would definitely say that solids helped her reflux tremendously. I thought for a while that veggies and fruits might aggravate the reflux, but what's worse coming up your esophogus, sweet potatoes or stomach acid? So I never really thought too much more about it.

If you are seeing an improvement in his disposition on the Zantac, then I say just keep using it. How old is he now? (Bad mommy brain! I can't remember!) If he's starting to move around and try to sit up a little, it will aggravate his reflux, so you might want to keep him on it until he gains more muscle control
HTH

Re: Questions for Mommies with Reflux Babies.. please come in! (long)

We took the girls to a specialist - she prescribed Zantac 3x a day and it totally "cured" (obviously didn't cure it - but they had no more issues with spitting up or choking) the acid reflux...so you are doing the right thing there.

My friend's DD outgrew it at 6 months and had weaned her down to 1x per day. Now she is 10 months, and not on Zantac and no issues.

Everyone who I speak to says it will be gone around 6 months, when they are on more food. I that is the case!!!!

I hope he is acid reflux free soon!!!!

Re: Questions for Mommies with Reflux Babies.. please come in! (long)

thanks so much for the great advice and insight, ladies!

Niko has been doing so great on his food so I'm glad that in most cases the food makes the reflux better. I do hope Niko's reflux is under control soon too and he gets to a point where he can wean off the Zantac.. but since he is already soo much better this week after only a few days back on the Zantac again, I think we are going to stick with it another month and then try again to wean him off it... I just hate seeing him on any medication but if it makes him feel better so be it

Laura I hope your girls are reflux free soon as well

oh and Rachel - DS is 6 months next week.. time flies

Re: Questions for Mommies with Reflux Babies.. please come in! (long)

Hello.

I don't post often (as you can see by my post count LOL), but I wanted to respond to you because my son has reflux as well. He was actually diagnosed by the pH test when he was in the hospital (it is considered the "gold standard" for a definite diagnosis). He has been on Zantac since that time which of course never stopped the spitting up, but just reduced the acidity of the stomach contents so his espohagus would not be irritated. He just turned 8 months old and only the past few weeks has stopped spitting up horribly. Even when we first started solids, he continued to spit them up a lot. Please remember though that even if you do not SEE actual spitup, it does not mean that the reflux is not occurring. Reflux can come up to different points in the esophagus but not necessarily come all the way up through the mouth. I have never been in a rush to wean my son off of the medication because there are relatively few side effects from Zantac and to me it is more important that the acidity does not cause problems. Also, it is not really necessary for the parent to wean the baby off of the medication because they end up weaning themselves. Zantac is prescribed on a mg per kg basis, which means based on your baby's weight, they figure out the dose of the medication. If that dose is never increased, your baby is constantly gaining weight, so therefore is getting less and less medication as time goes by. Once your child's weight exceeds the mg/kg dose, he will automatically have weaned himself. If at this point, you no longer see any of the behaviors exhibited when he was being affected by the reflux, then you know you can stop giving the Zantac.

Best of luck with Nikolas -- he is adorable!

p.s. Don't worry about not taking him to a specialist. Since my son was in the NICU when he was diagnosed, he saw a lot of specialists and it didn't make a difference. They all said the same thing, that he would outgrow it. One of them wanted to give him Prevacid but I never filled the prescription because he was doing fine on the Zantac. Another wanted to give him something else (Reglan I think) but I refused once I saw the possible side effects included tardive dyskinesia.
Hang in there...as one of the specialists told me -- reflux is more a laundry problem than anything else!

Re: Questions for Mommies with Reflux Babies.. please come in! (long)

Posted by FeliciaDP


So I guess my question is to those BTDT Mommies of Reflux babies is ....... did you have any success weaning your children off of Zantac of Prevacid or whatever else they are taking to control the reflux? And if so, how old were they when you were able to wean them off the meds?

I also was wondering if introducing food to your children made their reflux issues any better/worse? .

Thanks in advance