What Now?!?!?!?!

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I am new here, and am so so happy to find out I am not alone !!! I have a 5 year old with NO GERD ever, However my 8 mo. has spit up (vomiting) ever since he was about 6 weeks. At first I thought it was something I ate (i breast fed for almost 7 mo.) So, I quit breastfeeding and started Enfamil, he still spit. Switched to Similac – nothing, switched to Enfamil A.R. Lipil – nothing. I am currently giving Isomil although it doesn’t seem to help or hinder. I complained to my Dr. when he was about 2 mo. she said he would grow out of it & he was gaining weight ok. At 7 mo. I switched drs. and was immediately sent for Barium (Upper GI) swallow. Definitely Reflux. Started 0.9 ml of Zantac on Oct 17th, excellent results for about a week and then everything went down hill again. I know this is common with H-2 blockers. So, now I don’t know where to go next. Doctor wants to get endoscopy and start Reglan. I hate the thought of either… But especially the Reglan!!!! I would like to try a PPI (prevacid). By the way.. My son shows no other signs of Reflux, no arching, never spits up when laying down, usually spits or vomits (sometimes projectile) when moving around a lot or in bouncy seat and sleeps all night (11 hrs.). If anyone can give advice I would Love to hear it…..

Thanks SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

if your son is not in pain then he sounds like a “happy spitter”. he doesnt necessarily need medication as h2 blockers and PPI’s dont stop spit up, they block acid or eliminate it so it doesnt burn their throat when it comes up.
my son would scream during feedings and cry after them as well. once he was on a PPI it no longer hurt him.
i dont see any reason as to why your child would need meds especially if he is not hurting and he is gaining.
it sounds like his stomach muscles just have to mature.

nataliachick72006-11-10 13:44:47

[Anonymous]

Hello and welcome.

H2 Blockers like Zantac or PPI’s like Prevacid do not stop babies from spitting up. They are used to reduce or stop acid production because many babies with reflux are in pain from acid backing up. If your son is not in any pain, the medications probably aren’t even needed. Some babies are what we call Happy Spitters. They spit up frequently but are not in any pain.

Reglan can help decrease spitting up if your baby has DGE, but it’s a controversial treatment because it can have some serious neurological side effects. My doctor prefers not to test for or treat DGE at all unless there is a weight gain issue because of the possible side effects. Was your son tested for DGE?

Is your son gaining enough weight? If his weight is fine and he’s not in pain, I’m not sure why further testing or meds are necessary.

[Anonymous]

i would suggest trying a hypoallergenic formula. i don’t think he needs meds either, i honestly wouldnt do it unless they are in pain. he could possibly have an intolerance to milk or soy, so maybe the formula change might help.

[Anonymous]

Would you still be able to breastfeed? I am in no way trying to make you feel guilty! Please hear me when I say that! I was told to stop bf my first son and give him formula. To be honest there was no change. He would always go through a honeymoon period with every formula we tryed. That would last a week and then things would go back to normal with crying and all. Breast milk is the best for reflux babies because of the enzymes in it. Again, please no one get angry at me. I just get really aggrivated at all the peds and gi’s that tell moms to stop breastfeeding and do formula. Usually by time it’s too late moms will realize that their baby is not any better on formula. If you can’t go back please don’t feel guilty. I’m sure when your child grows up he’s not going to care how he got feed just that he got feed. I only bf my first for maybe 2 months. This time however I was determined to bf. That of course, is only because I knew better this time around. Sorry, I can’t be of any help as to what formula to choose. I know a lot of moms on here do necotate (sp) and seem to have success with that. By the way, I also agree that it sounds like a milk soy into. Alot of reflux babies have it.

[hellbennt]

hi & welcome!

I ditto the above posters: the medicines in & of themselves will not stop the spittiing up…

as for reglan:

reglan and zantac seem to be the first meds prescribed by peds, “Just Because.” It’s probably just what they were taught and that’s that. Jonah was even prescribed reglan in the nicu and they had DONE testing and they pretty much knew he didn’t have DGE. Personally, in retrospect, I think they gave it to him to cover their butts legally- he was having apnea episodes (stopped breathing) and rather than have a dead newborn on their hands, they figured the possible risks of reglan, and the help it MIGHT provide, sure outweighed the apnea episodes.

anyway, there’s a lot of bad hype about reglan, but it has worked wonders for some babies, with diagnosed/VERIFIED DGE (delayed gastric emptying), in small doses. there ARE other motility drugs out there, such as bethanecol (sp?) and erythromyacin (sp?)…I feel that if a baby has been given the stomah emptying scan (this is not just an Upper GI- it’s a specific test looking for DGE) and doesn’t respond well to other drugs, then by all means trying reglan is worth it…

hellbennt2006-11-10 16:26:35

[Anonymous]

Hello & welcome,
I don’t have much to add that others haven’t already said, but if you aren’t comfortable trying Reglan, you might suggest another DGE medication to your doctor – Erythromycin. My son is on this medicine and it did wonders for him. It reduced his spitting up dramatically. It might be worth a try. Good luck, and I hope you can find some answers.

[Anonymous]

Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!

I spoke to a different dr. today, she was reluctant to put him on any new meds. , but she told me I could add up to 1 tbl spoon of rice cereal per ounce of formula, I didn’t know you could add that much. So i will give that a try.

Ashten seems to only be in pain when he spits up or vomits within an hour of giving Zantac, but I think that is probably because it tastes sooo yucky, i think it burns his throat. But so far that’s the only time…I’m glad to hear I am not the only one that doesn’t feel comfortable giving any more meds (unnecessarily). But if things take a turn for the worst, then I will certainly consider the Erythromycin instead of the Reglan if possible.

Oh, while getting the upper GI the doctor mentioned that the stomach did empty a little slowly, but NO we have not had a specific test to check for DGE.

Since Ash is on Isomil (soy) right now, does anyone have any suggestions about which formula to try instead, in case it is a soy intolerance/allergy? We have tried Enfamil, Enfamil A.R. Lipil, Enfamil Gentlease and Similac so far.

Thanks so very much,

Mindi

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I forgot!!

Can I really start breastfeeding again??? It’s been almost 2 months since i weaned him, How would I even go about that.To be honest, not sure that I would want to.He has 2 teeth and he bites HARD!!!

Thank You,

Mindi

[Anonymous]

i agree that breast is best,
BUT if he is sensitive to milk proteins then tehre is a good chance he will be sensitive to soy proteins. all the formulas you named have either milk or soy protein in them.my son is on neocate because he coulndt tolerate any of the formulas on the market.

[Anonymous]

You probably still have some milk. If it’s something your really thinking about you could send me a message I could walk you through it. I will say though you would have to be really determined. I tryed with my first and with all the crying, no sleep, and teeth. I said forget it. I only suggested it because I wasn’t sure how long it had been and also a lot of moms don’t realize it is possible. I have been there in your same situation. Well, you did it longer than I did. Any who, I just couldn’t do it . It was too much stress along with everything else that was going on. Like I said I would only recommend it if you really wanted to breast feed.

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