Prevacid and Mylanta not working

Hi and Welcome.

It does normally take two weeks for the prevacid to kick in. It really is worth the wait. My son has been doing so well on it. For him I noticed big changes in about 10 days.

Your ped is right about Zantac. Most babies don’t do that well on it. My daughter was on it and she never improved. I didn’t even bother trying it with my son because I knew how useless it was.

The 30 minute wait is very difficult for small babies. If you want to try something different you might ask for Zegerid. It’s a PPI like Prevacid but can be given with or without food. I don’t have any experience with Zegerid but I’ve read here that many babies have done very well on it.

Here’s a link where you can read more about PPI medications for reflux.

http://www.marci-kids.com/

Your ped seems to be well informed. Many doctors don’t prescribe high enough doses of these meds for our babies, but your’s is right on! I’d stick with the prevacid for two weeks and keep trying the Mylanta, and/or ask about Zegerid so you can avoid the empty stomach rule. Also, you might try splitting his dose into three (10 mg / 3 times daily). That is what my son gets. The researchers at marci-kids believe dosing three times daily works best for infants.

What I used to do with Myles when he was tiny was to try giving him his prevacid 30 minutes before I thought he’d be waking up to eat. He used to eat every 3 hrs at that age, so 1/2 hr before he was likely to get hungry I’d sneak into his room and give him his prevacid before he was awake. I’d squirt it in very slowly so he wouldn’t choke and then give him a nuk to suck on. Most of the time he’d go back to sleep and then he’d wake to eat or I’d wake him 30 minutes later and feed him.

It is really hard timing the prevacid around meals with a newborn, so I understand your frustration. I thought about switching to Zegerid many times, but once Myles got older and was on a more predictable feeding schedule and not eating so often, it became much more manageable.

Well, good luck. I hope your little guy is feeling better soon.

Just so you know the Mylanta won’t do anything for the symptoms like coughing or spitting up. It just soothes the throat. I’m not saying you shouldn’t give it – just understand what it does. It also causes loose stools so be prepared for that.

Karen