From reading these posts I’ve learned that many babies don’t do well on Zantac. My middle child had reflux and was treated with Zantac. It never helped her much. My third child also has reflux and has been on Prevacid for about two months. It has helped him a lot!! I wish I would have known about it when my daughter was a baby.
The Marci-kids site has information about PPI’s including dosing information which is very important because most doctors (including my own) will prescribe a dose which is way too low. Babies have higher metabolism than adults and actually need a higher dose given more frequently than once per day. (My son gets 10mg/3x’s per day).
Here’s the link http://www.marci-kids.com/ It would be a good idea to print the information about PPI’s and dosing and bring it, FAX it, or send it to your doctor. That’s how I convinced my doctor to give my son the right dose. He was miserable until he was on the right dose and he’d still be miserable if it wasn’t for this site and the marci-kids site. I am so thankful for what I learned here and how it has helped my little boy!!
I hope you can get your little one on a better medication and see him feeling better very soon.
About side effects of PPI’s. My doctor said they are very safe drugs. They only effect very specific cells (the one’s that produce acid) and so they are very non-toxic drugs. Babies who are sensitive to milk may get tummy trouble from Prevacid solutabs because they contain lactose. This is something to keep in mind. Zegrid may be better for milk sensitive babies.
Many moms thicken formula and it does seem to help some babies keep their food down. I was not happy with the idea at first (having been taught for years to never put cereal in a baby’s bottle), but it works really well for my son. I only thicken two of his five bottles now that he is doing better…..
If you do decide to thicken with rice cereal you may find that your son becomes constipated. That’s a big problem with rice cereal. I, and others I’ve learned, use oatmeal instead. I asked my doctor about it and she said it was absolutely fine to use oatmeal instead of rice.
Hope this helps! Good luck and keep us posted.
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