Zantac – length of time to try

[Anonymous]

My 5 week old son was diagnosed with acid reflux last week. He is very fussy during feedings, arches his back and will cry/scream for up to an hour after eating. Lots of gagging as well but a minimal amount of spit-up – so I think her diagnosis is correct. He also can seem to stay wide awake for hours on end 🙁

The doctor recommended adding the rice cereal to his formula (1 tsp per oz) and has put him on .06 ml of Zantac.

How long would you give a medicine like Zantac to start working?

He has been on it for about 4 days and I only see a slight improvement. He is still really fussy and uncomfortable after he eats for about 45 minutes (but the outright screaming has died down a little). His sleeping as not improved even with the mattress being elevated at his head.

It also seems that most people move on to different medicines when I was reading through the other posts…is Zantac usually not that helpful?

[Anonymous]

Hello there- My daughter was put on Zantac, .5ml, 2 x day, at 5 weeks as well- I saw results on around day 5- she stopped screaming all day long, and started to finally sleep for 3-4 hour blocks- I know my ped had said that it should work within 3 days, but it took a little longer for her- With the dose, did you mean .6 or .06? If it is .06, then that is practically nothing- if it’s .6, then is that only once a day? Sadie was 7 lbs when we started, and at that weight, my doctor had her on .5 ml, twice a day- It worked for her, like I said, but the only problem is that it is weight-sensitive, and now that she is 12 lbs, the symptoms are returning- Plus, as I’m sure you’ve read, sometimes Zantac just doesn’t work-

I would say that first I would make sure that the dose is correct- I am sure there are many posts on here with the right dosage- and someone else can hopefully respond to that that knows more about it than I do- then, if the correct dose doesn’t work in a few days, then you might have to try a different med-

I hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Our ped said that you should start to see the improvement with zantac within a few days, and then fully by about a week. The problem is that if there’s been some damage from the acid, the H2 blocker won’t heal it, so the baby might remain fussy. If it’s not better after a week or so, then I’d go for a PPI.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to answer your question, zantac is often very weight sensitive and the dose can need to be adjusted frequently.

Many people often move on to a PPI if they don’t see results. Zantac can be effective for more mild cases, I’ve heard of others that it’s worked for. But I think that most people who are desperate enough to go searching the web for answers usually have more severe cases.

Also, be careful with rice. It can be very constipating and cause tummy cramps, especially in such a little one.

[hellbennt]

welcome!

it’s pretty controversial about thickening little one’s feeds…you might want to search around here about it…

it’s ‘controversial’ bcse people feel very strongly about both ‘sides…’ I have to put the disclaimer that I never tried thickening and therefore only know from what I’ve learned by hanging around this board for more than 3 yrs (!)- reading others’ experiences/opinions/research…thickening has been positive for many, though!!

thickening really is good for a baby that is aspirating (swallowing into the lungs) – there’s a swallow study that is done, where the baby is watched swallowing a liquid of various consistancies and the aspirating is addressed, as is to how thick/what consistency the baby needs her/his liquid to be thickened…thickening is also good for a baby that is FTT (failure to thrive), as it adds much needed calories…there’s links to all of this from here- look for the info about ‘how’ and ‘what’ to ‘feed my reflux baby’: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&am p;am p;am p;am p;am p;am p;PN=1&TPN=1

anyway, I didn’t want to get all controversial just wanted to give some info (as usual, LOL) and say that everyone here is amazingly wonderful & supportive!!!

~laura

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