What am I doing wrong?

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry to hear you’re having such a bad day. This reflux thing really sucks.

I’m glad you are going to ask the doc about the oatmeal first, but I think it will probably be fine. Lots of babies are on thickened feeds pretty early on and many moms use oatmeal instead of rice, so I think it’s worth a try if it will help him take his medicine and keep it down. Plus it will be a pretty small amount of cereal each time.

Maybe the 40 mg packets will be better for him. I hope so.

[Anonymous]

About the oatmeal… I’m not eating it myself right now on this diet… only rice.. it’s hard to find something to eat for breakfast.. I’m cheating a little and eating rice krispies in rice milk… hope that’s okay. Anyway, would the oatmeal be okay for him, or should I wait until I work it back into my diet first and see if it affects him that way before giving it to him straight? It’s one of the first foods you can add after the initial 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm….that’s a tough question. Fortunately I did not have to deal with any serious food sensitivities with my three (only some minor dairy issues), so I’m probably not the best person to ask. I guess if it were me I’d go ahead and try the oatmeal to get the Zegerid down because he’s not going to do well if he’s not getting his meds. If he takes his meds with the oatmeal and keeps them down for a few days or a week and still doesn’t improve then maybe I’d consider that the oatmeal may be a problem. It’s so tricky when you have food senstivities to consider as well. I really feel for you.

[Anonymous]

Just an update. We went to the pediatrician today to rule out any external causes for this mess… ear infection, etc. He was fine.. not problems. I talked to the doc. about the Zegerid 40 mg. pack and he was fine with prescribing it, but he said that he wondered if the problem wasn’t a gastric motility issue. He said that all the time he sees little ones do great on a ppi for about a week and then they are fussy again. I asked if this could be the issue since Ben still has a huge bowel movement every morning. He said that they don’t have to be constipated to be uncomfortable. He said that the slowing of digestion causes the intestines and bowel to stretch and could cause pain!! Has anyone else dealt with this? And if this is what is going on, what in the world do you do about it? His poop is already a big runny mess, so I can’t imagine giving him something for that too!

[Anonymous]

I think they usually prescribe motility drugs for that. Myles did have a motility problem (DGE) but he only seemed uncomfortable when he was constipated. (After he started Prevacid, that is. Before that he was miserable).

Are you going to try the 40mg packets?

[Anonymous]

Hey Christine,

You’re always so good about offering advice to me! I think we are going to try the 40 mg. packs. They have to order them at the pharmacy, so we won’t start until tomorrow night. Dr. Phillips said that they are usually tolerated much better. I had heard this before, but I just assumed that by “tolerate” he meant that they weren’t as yucky tasting and the kids wouldn’t spit them up. I guess it also means that the body handles them better – i.e. less gas? I am a little unsure why they will cut down on the gas he is having (though this is what Dr. Phillips said, even with more Mylanta added in the mix), but I’ll try anything at this point. Ben was a screaming, stiff little boy today. I almost didn’t give him his last dose of medicine before bed because I feel now like I’m just adding to the problem. You can hear his belly gurgling and popping like crazy. The doctor made it sound like the motility issue was caused by the ppi and not something that they had to begin with. I don’t think Ben is constipated, as, like I said before, he is still going every day and it is not hard AT ALL. 🙂 But who knows… good grief, I am so over this. I’m now starting to wonder if it’s something I’m eating.. and I’m already on the elimination diet. What’s next? Water and… hmmmm.. water?

[Anonymous]

Just wonder if you do any stomach massage (just small circles clockwise around the belly button) or leg cycling. It might take a few days to get things going but it might help with the gas. If Alana seems a bit gassy I usually do this to help things along. Sometimes I even get a nice rewarding sound . The chiropractor also does some stomach work with her- she presses pretty firmly and always gets a “fart” out of Alana. She suggested I keep doing it 3 times a day. I really swear by Alana’s chiro and the help it has given to her stomach.

[Anonymous]

Naomi,

I have been there with you on the “it’s something I am eating” thoughts…my family was worried about me for a while because I so restricted my diet, and I was little to begin with…but things have gotten better. I think I posted this before, but my little girl did not do well on Zegerid (she was on the 20mg as well), but did much better on Prevacid. Granted, my GI Dr. wouldn’t have even thought to prescribe 40mg, and I pray that works for you. Remember, it could take two weeks to see any changes from the elimination diet…and I think I remember reading about it that sometimes you will see your baby do well for a few days, and then get worse, before getting better.

This is from Dr. Sears website:

Typically, mothers will find that when they change their diet baby may sleep better for a few nights only to start waking again a lot for a few days or a week or so, at which time the sleep again improves. It’s important to know this so that you will not be tempted to give up when you think “it’s not working.”

Good luck…we will all be cheering for you. Keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

I agree that the stomach massage that Therese mentioned really works well for gas. My husband’s a massage therapist and he taught me this massage when Isaac was a baby. It really helped when he was gassy.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I will try the massage. His little tongue is stained pink these days from all the Mylicon he’s getting.

B’s mom.. I do remember you posting about Brianna not doing well with the Zegerid. Did she have gas issues too? We were on compounded Prevacid before this and I never felt like it was really working. I can’t imagine giving him some other form of it.. timing around meals and such would be a nightmare for us.. but maybe that’s what we will have to do if this doesn’t work. I really pray it does. I just want to find something that works so we can stick with it for more than 2 weeks! I feel like the poor kids a little guinea pig!

[Anonymous]

Something you might try – Try not giving him any Mylicon for awhile? I’ve heard that Mylicon is good for tummy gas (like to aid in burping) but it can make intestinal gas worse. Just an idea.

Also, I forgot to mention in my last post, but I’ve always heard that PPIs can delay gastric emptying in some babies. I think because there is less acid, it slows down the digestion a bit. It made me think of that when you mentioned what your doc said about PPIs and motility.

[Anonymous]

Naomi,

Good luck with the 40 mg packets. I sure hope they provide the answer for Ben. The poor little guy. He must be so uncomfortable. Hopefully not for much longer.

How’s the diet going? It’s hard, hugh? I had to be dairy free while nursing and I thought that was hard enough, so I feel for you.

[Anonymous]

The diet stinks! But I’m happy to do it for awhile anyway.. I’ll do anything to help him at this point. His dirty diaper smelled like turkey today! 🙂 Hope he’s digesting it okay, but it makes sense with how much of it I’m eating these days. My gut instinct is that dairy is the big culprit and maybe soy and beef, but we’ll see. It will be awhile yet before I can add those back in anyway. At this rate, he’ll be eating those foods himself before I will! 🙂

I emailed Dr. Phillips all my questions and concerns and told him we would start the 40 mg. packs tonight, and his whole response to my page long email was … “things will get better soon.” Man of a few words, huh? He didn’t directly answer any of my questions, but I sure hope that he’s right.

I wondered about the Mylicon too, Heather, but it is the only thing that settles him down when he’s squealing. I tried the tummy massage today and that produced a big toot, so maybe we’ll keep trying that too! 🙂 And the delayed gastric emptying is what the doc. was talking about. I just figured Ben was growing up, so he didn’t need to poop as often as before, but maybe the ppi is affecting this as well. I hope not because what in the world do you do about it??? I don’t want to do yet another med. as long as he is still going regularly.

[Anonymous]

Myles was prone to consitpation partly due to dge and partly due to Prevacid. We were able to manage it with natural remedies like prunes, pear juice, flax seed oil, fiber juice, and eventually Benefiber. He never had to take any meds for it and he finally seems to have outgrown it. So, if Ben does start to have problems there are some natural things you can try before resorting to yet another medication.

I hope like Dr. Phillips said, things will get better soon.

[Anonymous]

Well, if the Mylicon is settling him down, then it must be doing some good. I’d keep with it if it is. I’m glad the massage seems to help.

As for the DGE from Prevacid – In my opinion you don’t need another medicine unless it’s really severe constipation or he’s losing weight or something. The natural laxatives are a good idea if it gets worse though.

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