new here

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, I’m a FTM with a 7-week-old son who was just prescribed Zantac for reflux. I was hoping to get some advice from those of you with similar experiences.

First of all, does this sound like reflux? His symptoms are excessive crying/fussiness throughout the day, especially following a feed, and especially at night. I am EBF, and he arches his back during feeds, but does not cry during feeding, and only occasionally releases his latch while arching. Immediately after feeding he will be very squirmy, seem really uncomfortable. His burps are wet about half of the time, and very sour smelling. I keep him upright after feedings, but when I do have to lie him down (to change him etc) he usually spits up. He has not had difficulty gaining weight, and wants to nurse often. He will often only stop crying if I allow him to nurse (even if he fed recently) and once on the breast, he nurses very slowly, which seems to me like he is not actually hungry, just comfort nursing. We aren’t getting much sleep at all because he wants to be held all day
and night. He cries if we lie him down (we have our bassinet on an
incline so he is not totally flat, but he still seems uncomfortable). He
isn’t spitting up much in his bassinet, but I do hear him swallowing
when I first lie him down (silent reflux?) and he always cries unless he is exhausted. He also started drooling a lot in the last few days.

On the other hand, he also is extremely gassy, and at first I thought that he was only crying due to gas pains, but after reading more about reflux, I realized he seemed to have several symptoms. A couple weeks ago he was spitting up a ton, and I had an oversupply problem, so I switched to only nursing him on one side per feeding, which reduced his spitting up quite a bit. Even though the spitting up has reduced, the crying has not. He only seems comfortable when being held upright.

I was hoping to get some advice from others about if this truly sounds like reflux or not. Our pediatrician thought it did and prescribed Zantac. We started Zantac last Friday, and haven’t seen much of a difference yet (although the doctor said it can take up to 14 days to show improvement). I really don’t want to medicate him if unnecessary. I’ve heard that babies can have a really difficult time with gas pains until 4 months, so if this is more of a gas issue, I definitely want to discontinue the Zantac.

I’ve also read a few articles warning that medicating young infants for reflux can negatively impact their digestive development (by reducing or altering the stomach acids which are necessary for digestive health). I know that in severe cases the damage that reflux can do may necessitate treatment. My son seems to be in a lot of pain, and I just wanted to get some opinions on whether or not this sounds like reflux. Because he is gaining weight and wanting to nurse (doesn’t seem severe), I am more reluctant to medicate him. I would love to hear from people who have had young infants on Zantac or other medications and if your children have had other digestive issues later on. I want to do what I can to stop his pain, but I also don’t want to jeopardize his digestive development. I would really appreciate any advice!

Thank you

[hellbennt]

I just typed a long response & my computer ate it!

ack!

medicine: I didn’t want to medicate my baby either but he had to have it- he had apnea as a result of his reflux – he stopped breathing- this is rare and severe

anyway, flash forward 10 years later and he’s BRIGHT (brilliant!) and HEALTHY and I can’t see that meds did anything but help him as a baby…

But, YOU must decide! You are the mama!

SO: read all you can!

I have a LOT to say and most of it’s here, in a link called ‘groupie intro.’

It’s looOong but TRULY will help you-

read through it, refer back to it, scroll through it/skim through it.

You’ll find yourself coming back to it!

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853

Recent ‘welcome’

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15597

Reasons a breastfeeding mother might think her baby is reacting to something in her milk:

*poop that is not ‘normal’ mustardy yellow, seedy breastfed baby poop

*mucous in poop; mucous can look like: snot, jelly, cottage cheese, stringy like the inside of a banana

*foul-smelling poop

*stinky, foul-smelling painful gas

*straining and grunting to poop and, when baby finally does poop, it’s soft

reflux what I have learned: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2948&a mp;PN=2

best EXPLANATION OF FOOD ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES and their RELATION TO REFLUX that I have found, to date: 2nd post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=2

Good Article

Wondertime article, Colic Solved:

http://web.archive.org/web/20101226170946/http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/interview-colic-expert.html

page 2 of the article tells what probiotics help babies

And: probiotics, brands used:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8970&PN=1

babywearing SAVED US!

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&PN=1

http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum

hellbennt2013-03-20 21:22:11

[Anonymous]

Just my opinion… but your baby sure sounds like a refluxer to me. Very familiar to my boys.

I would recommend looking into some probiotics for your little one. They might make it so he can quit the meds. But what Laura said is true… some babies HAVE to be medicated. Even then though, I believe that most babies with digestive problems would benefit from taking probiotics.

Probiotics aid in digestion and are what coats and protects our entire digestive tract.

It can take up to 3-6 months for a baby’s probiotics to become fully developed. Thus the reason why babies outgrow colic, gas, etc by that age.

[hellbennt]

Update please

Your information helps others!

Do you like your ped GI? why? why not?
you can post it all here:Looking for GI: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=660

what’s working? what’s not?

thanks!

[Anonymous]

Thank you both for your responses! My son has been on zantac now for 3 1/2 weeks and he is doing much better! We definitely still have rough days, but many more good days now. I also purchased the Fisher Price Rock n Play for him to sleep in, and it has been a lifesaver! I could not get him to sleep at all before – he would wake up screaming every time I put him in his bassinet. Now he is sleeping 5 to 6 hours straight each night, and rarely cries when I put him in his Rock n Play. Sleeping at an incline seems to help a ton. We have not seen a ped GI, only his primary care ped. Just had a doctor’s appt on Monday and we are going to keep going with the zantac and see if we can avoid increasing the dosage so that we can wean him off fairly soon.

[hellbennt]

so good to know that the santac helps!

[Author]

Posts