Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

So I took DD2 to the pediatrician yesterday for a stuffy nose and congestion. Turns out all her symptoms (only being able to sleep when she is sitting in the swing, the hiccups, the arching the back, the drooling, etc) point to her having GERD.
I am kicking myself because I didnt put it all together sooner.
Pediatrician said to first try 1/4 teaspoon of Mylanta twice a day. I gave it to her last night and she didnt cough nearly as much as the last 2 nights. But this morning she sounded just as bad as the past 3 weeks.
He said to feed her slowly....1 oz at a time and burp in between and she spit up after the 2nd oz and then the 3rd...she never made it to the 4th oz.
I take her back to the pedi on Wednesday for the second round of her 2 month shots so the doc said we will reevaluate the situation then to see if the Mylanta is or isnt working and where to go from there.

Just wondering what you ladies that have infants with GERD
What are giving them for formula? DD is on Similac Soy because she had a bad reaction to dairy based formula...but i am down to the last can that hasnt been recalled and now dont know what to give her.

Medications?? DD is only 11 weeks old and not sure I really want to give her meds.

Any other help or advice with this situation is GREATLY appreciated!!

Message edited 10/9/2010 1:21:43 PM.

Re: Moms of infants with GERD...need help/advice

Hey Clascy...Aidan has had GERD since birth. I didn't know about it right away either. He also has a severe milk protein and soy allergy. The only symptoms he had from the GERD in the beginning was a congested sound and hiccups all the time. We tried the Mylanta. It worked for a bit. Then his feedings got rough. He would arch his back and scream throughout the feeding. We went to Zantac. What a blessing for him. Within a few days he was a new kid. He ate fine and was sleeping better. We tried to feed him an ounce at a time, but he would get so pi$$ed. So we did 2oz at a time and then burped him. It seemed to work better. He had a flare up of the GERD around 4 months and they upped his dose and he was fine. By 5 or 6 months, he refused to take the medicine. Doesn't taste good. We switched to axid. He was on 1ML 3 times a day. At 9 months I weaned him down to 1ML 2 times a day. Now at 11 months, he gets at least one dose a day. Only during a flare up, does he need the 2nd dose. My GI said she would rather have him on a prescription medication because the Mylanta and Maalox has other stuff in it that he didn't need...Also if DD has a milk sensitivity, she could have one to soy too...IMO, I would try the reflux medication...

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

i dont have any advice but all the symptoms of GERD that you listed are what my DD does. i wonder if she has it too??

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

DD also has this. Right now they have her on Malox every 6 hrs or as needed. I give it two her usually once a night when she seems to be in the most pain. I switched from similiac advanced to enfamil gentlease which has helped a bit. I just switched pediatricians so she will be seeing the new dr on Tuesday I'm hoping to get some more advice.

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

DS was started on Prevacid when he was quite young. I was hesitant also to have him on meds but they made SUCH a difference. He was also put on Zantac once we saw a GI but never took to it - tastes gross - GI switched it to Pepcid - same type of med but tastes much better.
I know that for Jordan, the Prevacid is really the thing that makes the difference. He is still not a great bottle drinker, but that is often common with reflux babies too.

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

Thanks for the feedback ladies.
Zoey recently started to do the whole screaming and arching of the back while feeding, Kerry. I thought it was because of the congestion. I had no idea that these were all symptoms of reflux!!
How old when they started the LO's on medicine for reflux?
After this mornings' feeding fiasco the rest of the day went pretty well. I fed her in 2 ounce bursts (she will have a bit of a fit if I take the bottle away from her after 1 oz so instead of her crying and then spitting up from too much air I figured I'd take the chance with her drinking 2)
I only gave her the Mylanta this morning so I am going to give it to her with her last bottle which will be around 9 tonight and hope that it worked like last night.
She has been super fussy though and gassy isnt even close to describing her today. I dont want to overload her system by giving her Mylicon or gripe water on top of the Mylanta but I think its the gas that is making her irritable.

If I have to switch formulas, which one should we try to help with the reflux??

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

My DD is only 7 weeks and last week at her one month appointment the doc figured she had silent reflux after switching formula 4 times with no results. Since none of the formulas made a difference, we are back to the original Similac. The ped then gave me generic Axid which is .07 ml 3 times a day and we have seen an improvement.

I know how hard it is to look at your baby and not know what's wrong and feel helpless but it will get better as their systems mature ;)

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

DS #1 had it- all the symptoms you describe

What worked for us was Prevacid 2x a day (started at around 4 weeks old) and we switched his formula to Similac Alimentum. The formula really helped with his gas, hiccuping, etc.

We also got the formula covered by insurance at 90% by going through Apria.


ETA: he outgrew the reflux and was off the Prevacid by 6 months of age. We still kept him on the Alimentum though.

Message edited 10/9/2010 8:11:00 PM.

Re: Moms of infants with REFLUX/GERD...need help/advice

Thank all!!
I'm going to try the Enfamil Gentlease and see if that helps and then talk to the pediatrician about giving her something for the reflux.
I've been feeding her 2 ounces and then waiting 30 minutes and then giving her the other 2 ounces. She fusses and does the whole arching of the back when I take away the bottle but I just give her the pacifier to calm her otherwise she tries to shove her fist in her mouth which makes her gag and then spits up all her formula. I'm glad that she sleeps through the night otherwise the night feeding would take forever.
The Mylanta is helping a little but the congestion is just insane! I guess I could deal with this better if she just didnt sound so sick.

Thank you all so much for all your input on the meds and the formulas...at least I wont feel like I am walking into the docs office 'unarmed' if you will.