Am I paranoid or does baby #4 have reflux too?

[Anonymous]

I SHOULD be a reflux expert by now, but I am stumped this time.

My first three children (now ages 4, 3, and 1) all suffered from reflux and dairy/soy intolerance. I breastfed all of them on a dairy/soy-free diet and they all were successfully treated with prevacid.

Their symptoms included:

green poops

constant crying

couldn’t sleep

pulling off the breast and crying

a moderate amount of spit up.

We just had baby #4. I avoided all antibiotics while pregnant, during delivery, and baby didn’t receive antibiotics in any form, thinking that poor flora in the belly had contributed to my other children’s reflux.

I started Baby4 on probiotics at day #3, determined to beat reflux this time around.

Baby4 at 4 weeks old:

has browninsh/yellow poops (no mucus, no green)

is completely content

doesn’t pull off the breast or cry during or after feedings

has no spit up

doesn’t have hiccups all the time

BUT

she absolutely can not be put down. I wear her during the day in carriers, but at night I would like to put her down. As soon as I put her down (on her back or on her belly) she starts grunting and swallowing, eventually this degrades into crying.

She sleeps contently if held on me in a recliner, but if I attempt to recline in anyway, here comes the grunting and squirming.

Is this reflux again??? Do I need to get her on meds? I really really really didn’t want to go down this road a fourth time. Is it possible she is just a poor sleeper and likes to be held?

Thank you in advance for your opinions!

[Anonymous]

It could be silent reflux that may be from an immature LES and not totally b/c of intolerances. The good news is if that is it then meds should do the trick. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

[Anonymous]

Well, I can only say that my 2nd dd was like this. I had NO IDEA at the time that she had reflux, but she had to be held every waking hour and while she did go to sleep easily when I put her to bed she’d wake up every 20 – 60 minutes all night long, every single night of her life.

Her feeding difficulties (pulling on and off of the breast) didn’t start until she was about 6 weeks and it was very mild initially. It didn’t get bad enough to make me think something was wrong until she was about 10 weeks old.

She was never properly medicated (Zantac only) and I thought she was just a fussy baby but magically one day she became a different kid; the day she outgrew her reflux (around 9 months). It was that amazing and that sudden. I put her to bed one night and she slept all night long and not only that, she suddenly became a happy baby who didn’t need to be held all day long.

She was a silent refluxer so there was never any spitting.

Based on your history of reflux with your other 3, and her clinginess, I would try some mylanta to see if she’s more content and then maybe a trial run of Prevacid. If it works you have your answer.

Good luck. I’m sorry if you do have to go down the reflux road again; but at least it’s treatable and you know what to do.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your opinions. It helps to hear about other people’s similiar experiences.

[Anonymous]

How old is baby now? Both my dss’ (w/ reflux + intolerances) didn’t get really miserable until 2-3 wks old & stools didn’t start changing until that time too; ds #2 had silent reflux so never any spitting; I agree w/ Christine – try some Mylanta & if it helps her then probably silent reflux… Does baby have any stinky gas? If yes, then probably some protein intolerances (through your bm) & the stools just haven’t changed yet… if no, then probably ok!

ETA: they were uncomfy (ie: didn’t sleep well, wiggly, etc) before 2-3 wks old, but not TOTALLY miserable till closer to 3-4 wks olderinntx2010-07-22 21:32:43

[Anonymous]

erinntx wrote: ETA: they were uncomfy (ie: didn’t sleep well, wiggly, etc) before 2-3 wks old, but not TOTALLY miserable till closer to 3-4 wks old

This is where we are at now. I was handling the uncomfortable sleep patterns the first couple of weeks, but now she is just miserable. Her stretches of sleep are getting shorter and shorter every night instead of getting longer.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry to hear that you may have a 4th baby with reflux. : (

Our son had similar issues and was diagnosed with GERD. He also had colic, and the two behaviors were somewhat similar so it was hard to tell the apart. We only truly discovered his GERD when the colic started going away around 8 or 9 weeks. Also, once he needed to eat more to satisfy himself and was unable to do so the GERD became more obvious.

Did she get held frequently before this started?

Does she quiet down as soon as you pick her up?

Does she hate her carseat/carrier?

Have you tried propping up her crib or bassinett at a 30 degree angle to see if that helps?

[Anonymous]

ngarcia wrote:

Did she get held frequently before this started?

Does she quiet down as soon as you pick her up?

Does she hate her carseat/carrier?

Have you tried propping up her crib or bassinett at a 30 degree angle to see if that helps?

Since she is a newborn, she was held a lot before this all started and yes, she does for the most part settle once she is held. She hates her carseat but doesn’t mind being in a sling or wrap baby carrier. Her bassinett mattress is propped but that really hasn’t done much for us.

We decided to start her on meds to see if they help.

[Anonymous]

Any luck yet?

[Anonymous]

We have been using prescription omeprazole capsules (broken open and given in breastmilk) for about 5 days now. I have noticed some improvement. I have an order in with buffer babies and we will be switching to OTC prevacid.

However, now she has become extremely gaseous. She is passing gas all. the. time. So I’m left to wonder if this is a reaction to the meds or if it is a food sensitivity.

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