[box type=”blank” align=”center” class=”border-dashed2″] So you think your kid has reflux? Then it’s time for a quick jaunt over to your local pediatrician. Only to find that your pediatrician doesn’t have a concrete diagnosis for you. Wait….what?!?! Why not? You’re a DOCTOR right? You went to MEDICAL school? Why can’t you tell me why my baby is so miserable? Isn’t that your JOB?
The truth is that diagnosing reflux is REALLY hard to do. Don’t believe me? You probably shouldn’t, I’m not a pediatrician.
Which is why I asked our beloved pediatrician, Dr. Steve Hale of Essex Pediatrics (Essex, VT) to weigh in on the subject. And for some mysterious reason he agreed.
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From the Desk of Dr. Hale
Dr. Hale larger than pictured here.
As a practicing pediatrician, when a get a call from a parent wondering if their baby has reflux, my first thought is to make sure there isn’t something else going on. Reflux seems to be an “in” diagnosis currently and I don’t want to miss something more important. So I will ask the parents to bring in their baby to rule out any other problems. I’m looking most importantly for a good weight gain. Adequate weight gain in the first few months makes me feel more confident that there isn’t a concerning illness lurking.
If, after checking out the infant I’m confident there is not a troublesome medical problem going on because the exam, weight gain and history are reassuring, then I am left with a crying, screaming, healthy baby and exhausted, frustrated, end of their rope parents!
The question is, could this be reflux? My baby eats and is growing but seems uncomfortable, arches, screams, and is always irritable. In those moments he/she is not doing these things they are adorable and meeting all their developmental milestones. The only problem is the only time they are happy is when someone else is watching them or of course when you come to the doctor and they are perfect for the 30 minutes you are there.
The answer is, of course it can be reflux, because all babies reflux. Gastroesophageal reflux is simply fluid from the stomach coming up into the esophagus which happens around 30 times a day for most infants. If it comes out of their mouth it is spitting or vomiting. The peak age of reflux is 4 months and most kids stop spitting up by 18 months of age. We all reflux daily throughout our lives.
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease?
Gastroesophageal reflux disease is what they call it if the reflux causes symptoms that are a problem. And here is where it gets tricky. All the experts agree that infants reflux but studies are unclear when, if ever, it causes problems. When they record episodes of reflux using an esophageal pH probe, the episodes don’t always correlate with when the baby is crying and unhappy. So there is no convincing medical research that says yes, your arching, crying, screaming baby is doing all that because of reflux. Even worse, studies on treatment of suspected reflux don’t show that medication is helpful. But meds are used all the time for reflux you say! You are right and that is because we are desperate to help these exhausted parents, and some time it does seem to help but the evidence is not scientifically strong.
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The pediatric literature in the last several years has had big studies showing meds don’t help reflux and pushing us primary pediatricians to use less medicine. The big conclusion is that reflux does not equal pain.
[/pullquote]Ok, you say, I want proof my child has reflux, then I can decide what to do. Well the best way to diagnosis reflux is by upper endoscopy where they sedate the infant and put a scope down the esophagus into the stomach and take biopsies along the way looking for inflamed tissue. But even that is not foolproof, with some babies showing inflamed tissue but no symptoms and others with normal endoscopy but a lot of symptoms. So it doesn’t seem worth it in most situations to put a baby through that for an uncertain answer.
So back to the exam room with the screaming baby and crying mom, what do I do. Well, what I do is born out of my experience and my reading of the literature and may be different from my partners. I am constantly reevaluating and trying to figure out for each family what is going to work best.
Reflux Management Strategies
Thickening feeds helps for those kids who are bottle fed as it is heavier and takes more force for food to come out of the stomach. We then will try things we use for colic ( which is virtually indistinguishable from reflux ), such as having mom eliminate dairy from her diet if she is nursing, trying infant gas drops, trying hypoallergenic formula for those babies being formula fed. I usually try to make one change at a time and try it for several days to see if it works and because I know this is going to get better eventually whatever we do, so if I space things out maybe it will miraculously go away. I am praying desperately during this time that the baby improves because I am running out of options and prayer seems to work as well as anything else!
When to Try Reflux Medication?
If nothing is working then I will have a conversation with the parents about reflux medications, stating they haven’t been proven to help but some infants seem to really improve and they seem safe in infants. If they choose to try that route, I usually give it 1-2 weeks to see if it helps and I tell parents it should be a dramatic improvement if it is really helping. I don’t have a great justification for this except I am convinced about the safety of the medications and I think the potential benefit of helping the baby and the parents outweigh the lack of scientific data about its usefulness
I do this on a family by family basis. Every family is unique which is what I love about my job. So I will have one mom happily tell me her baby is great and only cries for 4-5 hours at night, and another mom tell me her baby is wearing her out because she has to get up once during the night for 15 minutes for a feeding. Every parent brings their own history, childhood, temperament, issues, neurosis, genetics, angst, and love to the job of parenting, myself included. My job is to try to find out how to help each parent be successful and fulfilled as a parent so their child can be successful and loved as well. And reflux and its issues is one of my biggest challenges.
Steve Hale, MD
OK, please show Dr. Hale some comment love for taking some time to help shine some light on the challenges of diagnosing reflux. Thanks!
{Photo credit: Kennie Louie and Pat David}
Jennifer
January 10, 2012 at 3:16 pmI love how you say you spread it all out hoping it will go away on it’s own.
Thank you so much for your time in writing this!
Our former pediatrician prescribed meds anytime you mentioned the baby was spitting up. We didn’t know better so just filled it and medicated all 3 of our children without trying anything else first (or tried changing them all at the same time). Pretty sure baby#1 was just over-tired. And babies #2 and #3 were just spitters and didn’t seem hurt by it. I’m glad to have found a new pediatrician who isn’t so quick to prescribe medicine.
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 3:50 pmDr. Karp says that 25% of US babies are treated for reflux when only 2% actually have it. So you weren’t the only one who had meds pushed on you when you might not have needed them. Hmmm….does that make you feel any better?!?
Kid Id
January 11, 2012 at 6:52 amGreat and very moderately tempered article. Our first child had reflux. We were going to the pediatrician every single week desperately looking for answers – one week, I actually keep an obsessive spreadsheet of exactly when he cried during the day to make sure my concerns weren’t just a first mom thing. Our pediatrician told us that up to about 4 hours of crying a day was normal at his age, so when I tracked it and learned he cried more than that, it was at least informative. I appreciated that, like you, our pediatrician was calm, reassuring, and never allowed us to pressure him into medication as a first line of action. I think he probably sensed that we wanted the problem solved ASAP, but also wanted to avoid medications if we could. In addition to the measures you mentioned, he also had us prop our child up at a 45 degree angle swaddled tightly when sleeping. (I think we had him like that most of the day!). Ultimately, when our child was only sleeping 45 minutes at a time at night, he sent us to get a Barium swallow. Not sure if they do that anymore, but they diagnosed the reflux based on that. Thanks for the good article – very helpful, especially for first-time parents.
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 3:56 pmI’m impressed that you were able to take your time considering medication. When the idea of reflux was first suggested to us we JUMPED on medication out of sheer desperation. Of course it was pretty obvious that we had hit on something because the change was remarkable. Our inconsolable non-sleeping 5 month old turned into this cute happy baby. Hazzah!
Kid Id
January 14, 2012 at 7:26 pmOh, a soon as it was prescribed, we jumped at the chance too – it was our pediatrician that took his time being cautious for us. And we appreciate that now – perhaps not before : )
Victoria
January 11, 2012 at 11:24 amMy newborn (my first) has been diagnosed with reflux and this is the best article I’ve read about it. I like the distinction between reflux and GERD. A very well balanced explanation, thank you.
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 3:56 pmGood luck and welcome to the reflux survivors club! 😉
Amber
January 11, 2012 at 2:57 pmExcellent article, thank you very much Dr. Hale!
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 3:57 pmHear hear! Unfortunately for the rest of the doctors I know I’m now feeling emboldened about hassling other members of the medical community to come share here 😉
Sandia
January 11, 2012 at 6:55 pmAs much as I wanted to avoid meds, my 6 month old son is a different kid on Prevacid. I tried all of the non-medication solutions but he was just uncomfortable and gagging non-stop (holding his breath, too) till we got him on meds. He never spit up, he just arched in (apparent) pain. We ended up doing an upper GI (barium swallow) to rule out any anatomy issues and confirm the reflux. My son also has food intolerances (via my breastmilk): dairy, soy, corn, wheat, nuts. Not fun. He’s my second kid and my first also had similar food intolerances (but no GERD).
What I have been desperately wondering is, why so many more kids seem to be having these issues? My mom’s generation of moms never thought about milk protein intolerance issues and my dad, who did a pediatric rotation in med school, never dealt with that or reflux/GERD. Now it seems that almost all of my mom friends are dealing with one or the other or both.
I hope someday we know why – maybe too many pesticides in our food? too many antibiotics prescribed? to much antibacterial everything?
Sorry for the tangent – just thinking about it a lot lately.
Thanks for a great article – good guidelines for managing reflux without medication and very nice to read the part about how each family needs to be treated differently – love that.
Minnie
January 11, 2012 at 8:25 pmI have been wondering the same thing, Sandia! My mom was completely shocked when I told her I thought LO had reflux during those early “colicky” weeks. She told me our generation has too much information available via the internet and we will drive ourselves crazy with it. I tend to agree but that doesn’t stop me from googling every single little thing LO does hahaha.
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 4:05 pmI agree with her about the googling thing. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss 😉
celine
February 14, 2013 at 11:13 amBeen told by our doc that some studies show a link between reflux and babies sleeping on their back, hence the problem was not as strong with our generation, since our parents were told we should NEVER sleep in our backs
Alexis
February 14, 2013 at 11:28 amIt’s true that babies tummies close up naturally when they’re on their stomach. Sadly it’s not safe for sleep so better a baby with heartburn than a huge bump in risk of SIDS 🙁
Mary Peters
March 26, 2018 at 11:49 pmI always proped my babies on their side, left side helps with adult refux.
Angeline
July 3, 2016 at 12:42 amI am 63 and had three children and all slept on their tummies. First on their side propt so they could not roll on tummy then on tummies which gave them strong necks.
I believe each of us needs to do what we feel is right for our children because God gives us as moms the instinct to know best for our own child.
Strength to moms with new babies. Nana can help
Alexis Dubief
July 5, 2016 at 1:25 pmHey Nana,
Of course your children slept on their tummies because 40 years ago that was the norm. However since then science has unambiguously determined that substantially more babies will die if put down to sleep in this position. This is unambiguous truth – more babies will die. So yes, there are many areas where listening to our own instincts is the right call. But this is an area where the safety of your child is paramount and sleeping on their back is essential.
Lamp
March 7, 2018 at 7:09 amMy baby is a reflux baby and she sleeps on her tummy most of the time she also sleeps on her side. I do not believe in back sleeping for any infant for a long period of time… If I would have left her on her back she would have drowned in her own vomit and regurgitation by now. I believe side is the best but she is most comfortable on her tummy now , but she is also old enough to move her head on her own. If you check on your child more frequently there should b no issues. Be smart about it. There are more sids deaths because there are more lazy parents. Ik it does happen, but usually its another underlying issue.
Alexis Dubief
March 7, 2018 at 11:12 amThere’s a lot of factually untrue statements here so let’s break it down:
– Children do not drown on their own vomit. What you’re referring to is aspiration – stomach contents come up the esophagus and then flow into the lungs. The valve at the top of the esophagus prevents this from happening. This is not a reasonable reason to place a child face down.
– The evidence behind “back to sleep” for safety is overwhelming. You are welcome to ignore it but claiming it to be nonsense is… nonsense.
– Side sleep is just as risky as tummy sleep. Because evidence.
– SIDS is not always the result of some underlying issue. Many infant deaths are preventable which is clear from the data since the initiation of the back to sleep campaign.
– SIDS is ABSOLUTELY NOT due to lazy parenting. To suggest such a thing is beyond inappropriate. SIDS is tragic and in some cases unpreventable – you can do EVERYTHING right and still, tragically, lose your child. But is shameful to suggest that the loss of a child is due to the parents crappy parenting. Full stop.
I almost deleted this comment based on that statement alone. I’m letting it stay as I fear your beliefs are held by others and thus worth addressing.
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 4:04 pmDear God woman, how did you figure out that list of food intolerance? Going dairy-free is pretty straight forward but cutting out soy, corn, wheat, etc. is pretty intense. Well I guess the upside is that now your diet must be uber-healthy?
As to why this never used to happen…the common opinion seems to be that all reflux babies were just viewed as having colic. And as most babies outgrow reflux by 1, if you had a refluxing baby, people just thought you had a really bad case of colic.
As for the food allergies/intolerance, I believe the most popular explanation is the hygiene theory. Prior to ~100 years or so we all lived hand-in-hand with farm animals and were exposed to all sorts of intestinal pests and germs. Our bodies developed to fight off these things. Only now we don’t have all sorts of exotic pests to deal with so our bodies are getting confused and fighting off things like peanuts and soy instead.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1562607,00.html
Kid Id
January 14, 2012 at 7:28 pmVery interesting – makes sense!
Alexis
January 19, 2012 at 2:11 pmTime will tell. I’m convinced that eventually they’ll trace all these medical problems back to something seemingly innocuous that everybody uses. Like toilet paper. And when our kids are parents, living in their toilet-paper free house, they’ll tease us about what bad parents we were for letting them use toilet paper.
CarrieVS
February 14, 2013 at 2:47 pmInteresting you should use that example. There’s plenty of cultures that don’t use toilet paper. They wash instead, and think the idea that a wipe with a bit of paper is enough to clean yourself is utterly disgusting. Not to mention all that wasted paper is bad for the planet.
Whenever I think about it, I find myself agreeing, but I’ve never managed to commit to kicking the loo-roll habit.
Jackie
January 12, 2012 at 8:15 pmHa! Yes, my baby is always perfect for the 30 minutes that we are in the office!
Thanks, Dr. Hale, for writing this article… I very much appreciate the way you respect the different needs/values/experiences of each family and work to “help each parent be successful and fulfilled as a parent so their child can be successful and loved as well.”
Alexis
January 14, 2012 at 4:06 pmI think they’re just stunned into silence while they’re there.
My oldest LITERALLY cried without stopping for 6 hours. SIX HORRIBLE HOURS. He stopped on the drive to Dr Hale’s office. So I’m standing there in the exam room a stressed and sweaty mess holding out my calm and quiet baby so he can figure out why he won’t stop crying.
Laura
January 15, 2012 at 2:59 pmNo wonder my pediatrician is reluctant to diagnose my son as having reflux. His speech and physical therapists have each expressed concern that they think he is suffering from reflux, which might be impeding his speech. When I brought it up to my doctor, she dismissed it. I guess I’m concerned that if he does have reflux, and it is contributing to his speech delay (he also suffered a stroke in utero, so a speech delay is not uncommon), I want it diagnosed and treated. Seems like quite the complicating process. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Alexis
January 19, 2012 at 2:14 pmDon’t the two therapists pro-reflux opinions outvote the pediatrician’s no-reflux vote?
We just started my 2.5 YO back on prevacid because of constant complaints that his tummy hurts and refusal of food because food “makes my tummy hurt.” This makes our 4th unsuccessful attempt to wean him off. Dr. Hale (whose kind post I’m very grateful for!) was reluctant to put him back on also (note: most kids are totally done with this BS by 1). But eventually you get to the point where your only options are a) endoscopy or b) drug trial. Shockingly nobody ever chooses the option that requires anesthesia…
Ita
April 23, 2013 at 5:38 amIs there really a connection between reflux and delayed speech? My daughter had reflux and spoke only three words by the time she turned two! Even after nearly two years of speech therapy, there are some sounds she is just finally able to produce!
B
February 26, 2018 at 11:39 amHi Ita, have you had your daughter checked for tongue/lip tie? It could be something to check out as that can contribute.
Ita
February 26, 2018 at 1:28 pmThanks. She probably does, though I’ve only even heard of these things recently! She is almost 9 now – should it still concern me?
Angela
April 13, 2012 at 2:44 amHi Alexis, my 8 weeks old baby has been diagnosed with reflux. We haven’t started him on any medication – what we do now is to put him upright in a rocking chair, carry him after each feed, burp him regularly and let him sleep on his side when we put him in his cot. I have been reading that reflux babies take a longer time and effort to sleep through the night. Is that true? I have started him on a routine soon as it will be easier for Grandmom to look after him as I will be returning to workforce in 4 weeks’ time. He is currently waking up at 2 / 3am and 5 / 6am for his feeds…
Alexis
April 13, 2012 at 8:53 amAngela,
I’m concerned that you are unknowingly making some unsafe choices with your sleep environments.I’m not sure what you mean when you say you put him upright in a rocking chair (is this the same as strapping him into a baby swing?). If this DOES mean the same as strapping him into a baby swing then great! Baby swings are awesome for refluxing kids. If however you mean literally placing him in a rocking chair made for adults then it’s probably not a great idea unless you are sitting in it with him.
But Angela my real concern is that it is not OK to put a baby on it’s side in a cot. (For US readers cot=crib) Side sleep and tummy sleep have both been shown to significantly increase the risk of SIDS which tends to peak at 4 months. I know that refluxing babies are a challenge but I strongly encourage you to stop putting him to sleep on his side – even if it means he sleeps less well – and to always put him to sleep on his back no matter what.
As to your question, an 8 week old who only wakes up 2X a night to eat is doing REALLY well. In fact he’s probably doing better than most non-refluxing babies. A typical reflux 8 week old night schedule would look more like waking up every 2 hours all night long. So yes it IS true that most refluxing babies take longer to sleep through the night. But yours is doing FANTASTIC.
Also it’s unrealistic to expect an 8 week old to sleep through the night. Technically having him only wake 2X to eat is probably about as good as it could possibly be at this age. So yay for baby!
Alexis
Helsey
April 25, 2013 at 8:31 pmAlexis, I was advised to let my baby sleep on his side at 5 months, as on balance, it was a fair risk. It worried me, but so did the respiratory problems being caused by reflux. This isn’t really the place to be sanctimonious.
It’s a little insensitive to describe a reflux baby as “challenging”. Waking every 45 minutes still, at 5 months, some nights of only 2 hours sleep, only 3 daytime naps of 20 minutes for 6 months, a stridor, nasal infection, chest infection, losing whole feeds, whooping, howling, growling, crying constantly, refusing solids, choking, pulling his own hair, constipation and a severely limited diet for both Mummy and baby aren’t challenging – they’re almost unendurable.
Alexis
April 25, 2013 at 9:38 pmHey Helsey,
I’m really sorry to hear that you’ve had such a hard time. And just to be clear – I’ve BEEN there. I’ve absolutely been where you are. For sure.
Yep this is me Alexis. This is my website. This is hours and hours of time and money I’ve put into trying to create a resource for people JUST LIKE ME. Because when it was my baby (and everything you’ve described is stuff I’ve personally experienced) I couldn’t find any resources anywhere. So I’ve worked really hard to put together the best information based on the best science I can find. I read a ton. Interview experts. Email best-selling authors. And I put it here and I hope it is helpful.
I don’t think however that I’m being sanctimonious. Half a million people read my blog. Can you believe that? I can’t either. But it’s true.
And when half a million people read your blog you need to make sure that you’re representing safe sleep habits. If your pediatrician OKs something else then that’s totally cool. But lots of people who read my site aren’t asking pediatricians or may not have easy access to one even if they wanted to. The US AAP Safe Sleep position is back only. So that’s what I reflect here and whatever I write.
I’m sorry it felt sanctimonious to you – that’s never my goal. But I’m going to continue to advocate for sleep on the back here, because I can’t be certain that the person who is reading these words HAS run it by a pediatrician first.
Nadine
February 13, 2014 at 5:52 pmYep sorry Alexis I vote you were sanctimonious also 🙂 When you give advise perhaps you could in your years of experience quote actual risk of SIDS that would be helpful if you want to try to convert me.. do you know in uk some specialists promote alterternative sleep positions? Yes we are a developed nation but sometimes we can miss important other stuff through use of book of rules e.g. Psychological affects caused by lack of mother/baby attachment. My reflux baby is currently asleep on his front on my lap in my bed. I’m pro choice of the individual mother so long as from a place of best interest
Nadine
February 13, 2014 at 5:56 pmBut yeh take your point that if no reason why not yes it should be on the back though some people use the bolsters to hold baby on their side and I’ve heard you can get a special pad to track baby. When is it that it no longer matters ? When baby rolls?
Nadine
February 13, 2014 at 6:17 pmI also co-sleep based on what I believe to be psychological positive benefits for mother and baby see Sears etc. but whatever mother chooses I think is best. Sorry about my typos and bad english in my posts i am a tired mummy ! Think your blog is awesome too
christine
November 9, 2012 at 8:21 amMy 4 month old has been diagnosed with reflux since she was 1 month old…she has gotten worse the older she gets but she has slept through the night since she was about 2 months old…just the reflux that needs sorting now lol
Julie
May 22, 2012 at 6:55 pmMy lo had BAD reflux. One thing I really think made this 100x worse was oversupply of milk. I had no idea then but now with my second baby that does not have reflux I found out how painful it can be.
Basically if your breastfeeding and have an oversupply of milk, this can mean that baby eats far too much of the foremilk and less hindmilk. More foremilk means it goes through their system quickly causing green smelly stools, gas, and stomach pain. They may want to nurse often because it moves through their GI tract so quickly.
It can look like reflux or make true reflux so much worse. Gagging and choking during feedings, arching, and gas.
The entire first year was horrid from this combo. Poor thing:(
Hope this may help some others.
Bharati
May 23, 2012 at 1:17 amDear Julie,
I can truly understand your problem. I have a 3 month old and overactive let down. He struggles with the flow of milk and each feeding session is a battlefield – compunded with a bad latch,and crying during feed leading to more gas. Poor chap,can never comfort nurse, and can hardly fall asleep nursing. I am hoping the milk supply subsides at some point, or he gets used to the flow. The whole thing drives me crazy!
Jpk
April 14, 2013 at 9:21 pmHi both! your post is a year old, but I read through all the pages and comments regularly, so in case other parents have the same oversupply OR overactive let-down issue, I wanted to comment. I once called a warm line and when I described what was happening, the lactation consultant suggested either overactive let-down or oversupply could be happening. She recommended that I recline pretty far back when I fed my daughter so that gravity would help w a possible foreceful let-down. For oversupply, she recommended first, if you aren’t already, not feeding on both breasts at every feeding, so alternating each feeding. If you’re already alternating, then do the same breast 2x in a row to get more hindmilk into your little one. The goal is to improve the proportion of foremilk to hindmilk your baby is getting (so if you’re doing both sides each time, your baby is getting foremilk + hindmilk twice, but if they stay on one side, over the duration of the feeding they should get more hindmillk). Hope this makes sense! It seemed logical to me at the time, and La Leche League has similar recs – I don’t know whether or not there’s a scientific basis for the 2x in a row on a single side, but certainly sticking to one side per feeding if you have an oversupply makes sense because your baby will keep going as long as they are hungry, and they will get more of the hindmilk if they actually “finish the breast”.
Claire
November 28, 2016 at 9:00 pmJpk, thank you so much, you saved my life!! I started on this system today and by bedtime I had a happy baby!! Feeding on demand and comfort nursing do not work across the board! Both of those habits were good for the first 2 months, but after that they got us into big trouble (re the not enough hindmilk = gassy, fussy baby, who is also less satiated and thus wants to eat more frequently, continuing the vicious cycle!
Stephanie
August 29, 2012 at 2:42 pmHi Alexis, Great blog! I have devoured it for the last 24 hours…and could really use your advice, tying together reflux + CIO. First and foremost, I am writing from India, so most of the formulas and medications are unavailable to us here.
Like another mom on your blog, I am currently nursing an 8-month-old with multiple food allergies via an elimination diet of no: dairy, soy, corn, wheat, egg, shellfish, fish and nuts. He was diagnosed with immediate reflux/GERD at 6 weeks after 2 blue episodes and CPR. His reflux is made much worse by all of those food items. As epi-pens are not available, all food challenges and tolerances are currently through my milk. We have done everything we can to get to today – our pediatrician told us that he had never seen such a sensitive kid that did not end up in surgery and/or otherwise hospitalized for failure to thrive. At 8 months, we have tripled body weight, solidly wearing 12 month clothes, and doing great.
As a result of the above, we ended up being an “attachment parent” family, more out of necessity than initial desire. We took sleeping through the night VERY slowly, literally feeding every 90 minutes and holding the baby upright for at least 30 minutes after every feeding. Over the course of a few months, we got him to a point where he slept in his crib from 7pm – 3am, had a feed and then co-slept until 7am, another nip and then another 1-2 hours of sleep. Great news. No crying (made reflux horrendous), everyone got what they needed.
Fast forward to 6 months. Had some horrible reactions to something in my diet, then we started introducing solids and had horrible reactions to that. Started waking every 45-90 minutes, and the only thing that would calm him down was…nursing. It was allergy related, so we dealt with it.
Fast forward 4 weeks and it hadn’t gotten better. We finally decided CIO was the way to go. Night 1 – 6 hours of non-stop screaming. Not reflux related initially, but ended up out of control, shaking, vomiting, etc. Night 2, same thing. Night 3, same thing. Night 4, same thing. Night 5, I thought I was going to lose my mind. We’re in India, night nurses are relatively affordable ($1000 per month, 12 hours/night). So for now, we are throwing money at the problem.
My question – when is it acceptable to let a baby with known reflux/GERD CIO? 30 hours of crying in 5 nights is a work week in France, and doesn’t seem reasonable (I know, I must seem like a terrible mother, but I wasn’t sure if he was just more stubborn than me). He is sleeping for longer stretches with the nurse, but she is holding him and rocking him after he eats, and my fear is it will compound the sleeping problems later. We can rarely get a 4 hour stretch from him – usually only when he rolls on his tummy.
I’ve taken your advice on naps – to any extent possible to reduce the sleep deprivation. On a good day, it is in his crib after rocking. On a bad day, our driver takes us through the chaos of Mumbai and that works for a bit. We haven’t tried CIO during the day.
Any advice you have would be appreciated! Sorry for the very long message! Thank you! Stephanie
stephanie
September 5, 2012 at 2:07 pmUpdate:
I guess there was something in my diet, or maybe he just was not ready to CIO. The night nurse couldn’t make it last night due to monsoon, and I was facing an evening of catching up on work…….so we decided to try again, but limit crying to 30 minutes.
He screamed endlessly……for 29 minutes. At 30 minutes, it became a muted whimper. By 1 hour, he was fast asleep. He woke up on and off a few times over night, but only 5-10 minutes of fussing. Only once did I go to him with a bottle of EBM, and by the time I got there, he was asleep. Woke up 12 hours later happier than I have seen him in months.
Naps today were a BREEZE. Nursed him, put him in the crib and he fell asleep. The test was tonight. Did our bedtime routine (same that we started at 12 weeks), nursed him, put him in his crib. He rolled over, looked at me, whimpered once, put his head down….and fell asleep. That was five hours ago.
We haven’t had any diet or allergy flair ups in about 3 weeks, so I guess the answer to my own question is CIO only works well on allergy/reflux/GERD kids when you know their diet is completely clean and GERD symptoms are relatively under control.
Alexis
September 5, 2012 at 2:37 pmHoly crap Stephanie!
Seriously, I just don’t even know what to say. Wow….just…wow.
What are you living on? Carrots and beans? And how is it that there is no medication in India? How about a baby swing? Can you order from Amazon and have things shipped in?
Well congratulations for having survived under such extreme circumstances and thank GOD that a night nurse is so reasonable. If I could have gotten one here for $1000 a month it would have HAPPENED. Who knows, if that was an option we may have ended up having a 3rd baby 😉
OK so there is absolutely nothing normal or expected about the crying that you describe. That is a horror show and I’m so sorry you all had to go through that ordeal! You are probably right – there was something going on with his tummy.
In the US, Canada, and the UK typically reflux is being managed fairly well (diet, medication, held upright) so by 6-8 months you generally have a fairly happy baby who may have bouts of spitup/crying/tummy pain but is on a day-to-day basis doing OK. Reflux kids DO have harder time with CIO because crying compresses the stomach which aggravates the heartburn. So it is normal to expect MORE crying for reflux kids, even when treated. And by “normal” I would say 1-1.5 hours. Not 5.
So that was awful and I’m so sorry you had to go through that although I totally get your fear (if you give in then you’ve achieved nothing and next time will be worse…so you’re stuck with what is happening). And I can’t tell you how RELIEVED I am to hear about the 30 minute night last night. So the good news is that whatever was bothering him is presumably gone now. AND you’ve done it. The first night is the worst and you’ve done it. He may cry a bit here and there but you’re over the big hurdle.
So….yay monsoon?
Stephanie
September 6, 2012 at 3:31 amThank you for your response. The timeframe is helpful for benchmarking. Thank you!
The night nurse was back yesterday and under strict orders to NOT pick up unless absolutely necessary (i.e. more than 10 minutes of crying, or something obviously wrong, etc). She sort of listened. This is her last week, as I think it will do more long-term detriment than good at this stage.
First nap today was easy. The second was 10 min fussing, 5 min crying, then asleep. We have a kid that needs consistency – CIO with naps and night.
We are working with an amazing doctor at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, who not only is a top gastroenterologist, but also from India. He has been amazing helping us through the challenges that we are facing. Unfortunately the sole formula that he suggested so that I can come off this diet is not legal in India (no reason, government just makes things difficult), so we can’t get that. Upside of diet is all the baby weight is gone!
You ask many excellent questions:
– We do have a swing. He hates it. We tried three different swings, and the only thing that really worked was the baby sling (even though reflex babies are supposed to hate it). At 6 lbs, great! At 20 lbs, a little over it.
-Carrots, yes! Beans? Some are too closely related to peanuts, so some beans but not all.
-Medication. We have two types here: crappy and unsafe. Crappy example: generic prevacid that comes as a horrible light mint flavor and fizzes in water. Unsafe is the kind that comes from India’s neighbor to the NW, and isn’t exactly what you think you are getting. Never sure what you will receive. Upside – it’s cheap.
-Amazon – things do not make it through customs. In one case, the customs agent wanted us to pay $500 for a $50 item (they really just wanted it for their baby). We were so mad that we took a pair of scissors and cut it up in front of the agent. Another order has been sitting in the port for 8 weeks (food, which will need to be tossed now). Sometimes we get things, most of the time we don’t.
-Monsoon – it is nice to see clouds but the rains bring flooding to your knees (laced with all kinds of filth from the slums), as well as malaria, dengue fever, typhoid fever, TB and cholera. In imagination and someone else’s life, it is incredibly romantic.
-Help IS an upside. The night nurse is very expensive by Indian standards – our day help is 30% of that cost. But you become a CEO of the home – managing a staff of 6 is literally running a company here – HR issues (I am sorry that the cook insulted your caste, but you can’t slap him and threaten to beat him), operational issues (power is out AGAIN?), financial issues (did the cost of oranges REALLY triple today or are you getting a kickback from the orange man), and supply chain issues (shall we fly to Dubai this weekend to buy our food, or can we give the importer some “money for tea” and he can get what we need)?
Let’s just say we are ALL missing Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods………..
Anyway, thanks for your response and especially the reasonableness standard. That was really helpful. Keep up the awesome blog. And hey, if you ever come to India, we’ll repay the advice with a How-to for India!
Lauren
July 29, 2016 at 5:16 pmI know this is years later. But what was the formula your Cincinnati GI prescribe? Assuming it’s available stateside. Thank you!!
Stephanie
September 6, 2012 at 3:45 amOh yeah, and for your readers (maybe this should go to another blog entry):
Alexis is right – extinction IS the way to go. We did the check and comfort routine and ended up with a baby that became hysterical and cried for hours, night after night. The first night of extinction was 30 minutes and 12 hours of sleep. Second night was a whimper and 11 hours of sleep.
Worst nap we had was 15 minutes of crying and fussing. Every nap has gone from 30 minutes to 90+ minutes.
For those worried about damaging the mother-baby bond – nope! Baby and I are extremely close – he prefers mama to anyone all the time. He was so happy to see me in the morning, and more talkative and playful and engaging than ever.
The only time I saw a negative effect on his behavior was the check and comfort. He was tired, overly clingy, irritable, didn’t engage with me as well, and definitely more distant even after the first day. NONE of those issued have flared up with extinction.
christine
November 9, 2012 at 8:29 ammy baby has been diagnosed with reflux since she was about 1 month old the docs just threw medications at her she was put on gaviscon and domperidone..n she still throws up after every feed…we finally got referred to a pediatrician and he sent us a letter through the post saying he has booked her in for a PH test to measure the gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) but the letter detailing the procedure scares me (The doc didn’t mention what happens) i dont want to put my baby through all the tests and im really worried about the possible risks…im so scared for my baby and i know if i try to talk to the doc he will try an bully me into it like he made me let her have bloods taken the last time i saw hime…im so confussed…i dont even know if this test will help or not..:(
Alexis
November 9, 2012 at 12:28 pmChristine,
I would strongly suggest you get a second opinion on the PH test. I’ve watched this but it seems to be down right now(??) but check it out – you can download the pdf of the presentation:
http://media.childrensnational.org/#/video/The%20Future%20of%20Pediatrics%202011/Diagnosis%20and%20Management%20of%20Gastroesophageal%20Reflux/
Basically suggests that PH tests aren’t worth doing because PH vacillates throughout the day so you can randomly get high OR low readings depending on the time the test is done. OR if you feel comfortable print out the PDF of this talk and bring it to your pediatrician to discuss if it’s really worth doing.
Also babies on meds WILL still throw up. The medication can’t fix the spitup, it CAN reduce the acidity of the stomach contents so the throw up isn’t as irritating….
Good luck.
Jennie
December 3, 2012 at 12:02 pmJust found your website today, and I have to say that this article made me feel better. My 3 month old is a real spitter, and even projectile vomited sometimes (when she was younger.) When we brought it up with the doctor he immediately offered to prescribe meds. Instead I decided we’d try some behavioral changes (sitting up after feedings, sleeping on an angle, etc) and come back if it got worse. While that helped enough to make it tolerable, I still wondered if maybe medicine would ease her pain even more. Thanks for a comforting article.
leemari dakota
March 25, 2013 at 8:42 amThis is one of the few articles I have read that deals with reflux. Not all of us are aware when it comes to this. Some people here are not aware of this. I hope to see more pediatrics in Plano who will see further in this.
Liz
July 22, 2013 at 12:33 amHi-
What about mucusy explosive poos in a 7 week old. Doc thinks he has silent reflux. Wakes every 1-1.5 hours in the night groaning, grunting, squealing, arching. Will feed for what seems like comfort and also has liquidy explosive poos. He is EBF. Hmm…doc gave me reflux meds and I am also cutting out dairy. Anyone know if it has to be ALL dairy? Or can you just reduce dairy?
Cheers
Ali
July 25, 2013 at 5:20 pmMy 8 week old was diagnosed with Silent Reflux a couple of weeks ago. It is very difficult, even now, to get drs to believe us as she’s gaining weight fine. The things that concerned the ones that finally diagnosed was her 20 mins or less napping during the day, her constant gulping, choking, coughing and screaming. This, coupled with chronic constipation! Up until today, she has never had a ‘normal’ stool. They were always rock hard, solid, large pebbles and she screamed whenever she passed them.
Lana
December 31, 2013 at 11:23 amMy 7 week old is clearly refluxing… But only really at night. I can’t figure it out. We’re doing everything the same at night as during the day. He sleeps in an inclined napper (Summer Infant) the puts him at 30 degrees. Day and night. And yet he sleeps fine during the day and is up all night refluxing. It’s painful to listen to. Why only at night though?!
Diana
February 22, 2014 at 1:52 pmHey Alexis,
I’m just wondering if you have any information about babies/toddlers coming off of reflux medication and what to expect? My son was finally diagnosed with silent reflux at 3 months, got the right medicine and he went from crying 10 hours a day (on average) to less than 1 hour a day and from taking less than 2 oz a bottle to breastfeeding exclusively. Fast forward and now he’s a year and the doctor has cut his dose in half a month ago.
In the last month, on a half dose he has become incredibly picky, stopped eating many foods, lost a pound and a half (in one month!) and started throwing up at least a few times a week. Is this a normal rebound? I’m willing to stick it out but it seems like he might still need that full dose of medicine. Any similar experiences or advice?
mother to Charlie
March 4, 2014 at 6:11 pmwhat is your opinion on using probiotics to treat GI issues, in a 4 month old with awful reflux. currently taking zantac and prevacid.
Alexis Dubief
March 4, 2014 at 9:04 pmHey there,
I haven’t done a ton of research on it but the little I’ve done seems to suggest that probiotics do seem to help with some kids (mostly I’ve seen it linked to colic – aka mysteriously unhappy kids) and it seems harmless so there is no major downside. Definitely talk to your pediatrician however because as with all suppliments they aren’t regulated by the FDA so you never know what’s really IN them.
Good luck! PS. 4 months also = huge sleep regression so that could be complicating matters too 🙁
mother to Charlie
March 4, 2014 at 9:30 pmthank you so much for your feedback! it was actually my son’s pediatrician who suggested kids culturelle probiotic. she also said the research is lacking and still quite unclear, other than the beneficial use of probiotics to improve health in severely ill babies. she said she had read some research that indicated there might be an increased risk of sepsis with use of probiotics in babies under 6 months, but we’re struggling every day to get him some relief. oddly enough, he has just, in the past 2 weeks, started sleeping 8-10 hrs at night. now, if inky we can figure out how to get him to nap during the day, we’d be set.
Jen Juhasz
April 11, 2014 at 5:43 pmHi – Just stumbled onto your blog. Seems like the past 18 months of my 19-month-old son’s life have been filled with hours of researching to work out his various issues.
At 2 weeks old he was choking and gagging in his cradle beside my bed…by 3 weeks old he cried more than not in a 24 hour period. I learned how to baby wear better than I ever thought possible (he’s my 2nd son – my first is as perfect as you could wish for); I bounced on a yoga ball in time to the Piano Guys for hours every night. Took my diet down to rice, veggies and lean meat and lost far more than just baby weight in a very fast way…and still he howled and yowled.
We tried the meds, which made things worse and increased his distress. We then added in probiotics, which definitely help at least move things through his system.
We weaned him earlier than I wanted, and for a time it made things worse (breastmilk acts as a natural antacid) – we gave him soothers (sucking helps soothe an irritated esophogus) – we added some foods back in and we tried over and over and over again to keep things on an even keel. He’s still fully dairy free, soy free, mostly nut free, mostly oats free. He adores naturally fermented foods so good quality pickles and sauerkraut and miso soup are major players in our day, every day…and still we get mystery bouts of screaming and refusal of foods.
Our doc says, well he’s still growing at an acceptable rate (really, really??? he still fits a size 12 month onesie, and he has since he was 8 months old!); one doc says he needs more liquid, another says cut all sugar from his diet; mostly I feel like they’re trying to just string me along until he out grows this on his own. Which, I get – if there’s no real solution, there’s no real solution…but as a parent it’s SO frustrating to have no testing done and to keep logs and diaries and video tape him when he’s doing his dragon-breath performance (seriously – when I say my kid wheezes, I am not kidding – people go out of there way to ask me if my kid needs to go to the hospital…if those red rimmed eyes are ok…if he’s hungry/sleepy “oh, he looks So sleepy” they say…and on and on. He can’t / won’t lay flat on his back. He doesn’t lay still. He’s never still – he’s my vertical hyper child who is always on the move. He hates to sit. He hates to lay down, except on his tummy…on an angle. If he could, he’d just sleep on my chest while I rock in a rocker through the night.
He’s never slept through the night. Well, once in 5 or 6 days he might just from sheer exhaustion. He doesn’t nap more than an hour a day.
His pediatrician just found us a spot at the end of April (we were going to be waiting until mid-May)…I wish they’d send us to a gastroenterologist and just test to confirm there’s nothing else there…that we haven’t missed something. I feel, very often, that I’ve been patient long enough and now it’s time to sort this mess out… But then, I’m a bit over tired these days 😉 and deaf…from all that screaming right in my ear for 18 months!
Steffanie
May 6, 2014 at 4:06 pmMy son is 18 months and for the last week, he has thrown up 5 times, or maybe the last month like 10. Every time he projectile vomits, it is curdled milk. I am wondering if he has acid reflux or is lactose intolerant. However, he drinks milk a lot of other times as well, and never throws it up. Ideas? Thanks!
Christine
April 25, 2017 at 12:17 amHi Steffanie,
My son, now 18 mth, has exactly the same symptoms since couple of weeks.
He still drinks formula aptamil 1 since born during the day and also “still” during the night. But I have a feeling sth gets wrong now. Maybe 10times last month he vomitted milk in the morning. So it could be reflux as he still mainly drinks milk. But I would wonder why he now after 18 mth starts having reflux. He does not drink excessively more than before but just still the same like also maybe the last 10 months or so?
I appreciate that very much if you could tell me your story. I know it is now 3 years back, but did you ever found out what was the reason that your baby vomitted out the milk that time?
Christine
Ashley
July 6, 2014 at 11:14 amThank you for this post. We’ve been dealing with reflux in our 10 week old and it’s quite the challenge. I’m wondering if you know whether it is safer for my baby to sleep at an angle on my chest (on a mattress on the floor with no blankets or other sleepers to minimize risk, no smokers in the house and I don’t drink), or in a Rock N Play? I know neither is recommended as ideal because their heads can fall forward and they can suffocate in seats like the Rock N Play and stomach sleeping is a no-no because of SIDS, but my baby literally won’t sleep for more than five minutes on his back on a flat surface. He immediately wakes up crying and sputtering, and he gets so congested I worry about his breathing. We can only get a normal amount of sleep (about 90 minutes at a time) using the Rock N Play or having him sleep on my chest at an angle. My pediatrician and midwife actually said either is okay given the fact that he really won’t sleep any other way, but I’d like to do the safest of the two. Any information on what is better?
Nicole
February 11, 2016 at 5:43 amHi all,
Yesterday at my sons 6mth check it became clear that he gained only 140g in 1.5 mth and that there is an issue here. Ever since birth he has had wind/burping issues but since he grew so well the pediatrician said it couldnt be GERD. Also I know that some reflux is normal so I continued to use non-med solutions such as napping in the sling. I also did an elimination diet and feel dairy, soy and wheat aggrevate thibgs but neither my husband nor my pediatrician believe that can pass through breastmilk. I saw he was getting worse and started fighting sleep crying loud and we thought it was time to sleep train even though my gut kept saying that he was in pain. Now I know I was right. We will now try rapid weaning and gaviscon but I feel anti-acids will likely be the only way to get some peace. My questions are 2:
– has it been proven that food issues through breastmilk can aggrevate reflux?
– we did start putting LO awake in crib but he screams so much still (10-40min); I think because he’s in pain AND because he needs to learn/accept. should we temporarily hold off and lose whatever learning we had so far (I have to be honest that I havent been fully consistent during the early morning wake up to accomodate his issues, but I can still correct that however I hate to see him cry like that if he’s in pain seemingly starting to hate his crib also)?
Thanks! Nicole (from Italy)
p.s. His 2,5 yr old brother also suffered reflux and stomach issues and still does when teething and I too have wondered how come there seem to be many more cases than when I was born. One thing I do know is that my and all parents at the time let their babies cry from early age and not feed at night. Very harsh from our current perspective but I guess it did force babies to figure out self-soothing / survival mechanisms. I grew up fine but I am not super self-confident yet I am not sure if that is simply character or can be linked to that
Reena
February 25, 2016 at 12:00 pmMy 4 month old is constantly congested. His nose is clear. His doctor thinks its reflux. He has no other symptoms. Ive tried saline and elevating crib matress. Any suggestions?
Alexis
February 25, 2016 at 1:14 pmI might get a second opinion from an ENT if you’re worried, because it could also be apnea. IT’s likely no big deal and your pediatrician is right, it’s just a bit of food getting clogged in his nose and he’ll outgrow it. But IF you’re concerned, a visit with an ENT wouldn’t be amiss.
Samantha
February 26, 2016 at 2:35 amHi Nicole, I think that foods can cause upsets with babies tummies. I also noticed that my son started to have a lot of trouble with wind etc and so I cut dairy from my diet and beans and other gassy foods. I most definitely noticed a huge difference in him and he was much happier and could bring wind up quite easily. I also noticed that if I don’t drink enough water he becomes much more grizzly and uncomfortable.
Mits
March 17, 2016 at 9:46 amMy LO was diagnosed with silent reflux at birth as he was premature. At 9 months he was weened off his medication to see if he had grew out of it. He did!
Now at 22 months it seems like it is back. Sour breath, vomiting, crying at naps and night, etc.
Also he isn’t speaking. Only words are momma dada ayen(Ayden) that’s his brother and wow. He will nod yes or no or point.
Is it common for reflux to return and cause speech delay?
Trying to make ped app but unfortunately it takes forever to get in.
Thanks
Reem
September 5, 2016 at 3:22 amThank you for this blog
I’m a first time mum and i feel miserable.
My son will be 5 month old , he has Gerd silent ,
He is 24 hours struggle with reflux , heartburn and burps that bring acid up , he is busy with his body and pain , not in a mood to play or laugh , hate carseat and cant set and hate setting , he sleeps on me so he can complete 2 hours at night its like something is waking him up coz he wake up rubbning and twisting , i bf him each 2 hours specially when he is in pain he wants milk to comfort , i hold him most of the time so he will be in less pain .
He has stomach aches , he forward his head and legs to be like c shape , plus stiffness when the acid is up , sucks his fingers most of the time .
From 2 weeks i start on medications nexuim and zantac , helped 20% to 30% , the best result that coughing nearly disappered . But pain is still there coz he squeal.
we did the ph test , result was refluxing 77 times in 24 hours ! Without medicines
I’m not sure what i can do to have a little normal life , i feel like i make a pause to my life coz i cant do anything , is there any suggestion i can make ? could he have something upnormal in his gut or is it only silent reflux and heart burn who causes all these issues ?
Sorry for my long message i just dont know what to do more . And any addvice will help alot .
s.agrawal
October 6, 2016 at 3:35 ami am going thru the same day in and day out. not tests done but symptoms are similar. please share if u get any solution.
Reeshiez
September 21, 2016 at 7:06 pmMaybe try a different medication? Zantac doesn’t work well for some babies. Some need a stronger PPI blocker such as Prilosec or Prevacid. Prilosec worked well for us. It’s generic name is omeraprazole or something like that.
Reeshiez
September 21, 2016 at 7:15 pmAlso car seats make the reflux worse because they put pressure on the belly. Try the fisher price rock n play or the dex day dreamer sleeper
Reeshiez
September 21, 2016 at 7:16 pmAlso you can join the Facebook group reflux rebels. Lots of people on that group have infants with severe reflux issues
sahaj agrawal
October 6, 2016 at 2:58 amMy 2 month baby is either feeding or crying and is difficult to put him to sleep. In between he used to vomit a lot. His feeding is also not settled. I am sure he has silent reflux. Please suggest/ help what should be my course of action. My doctor says as long as he is peeing/pooping all is well; but this is along with unsettled days for the kid and the mother. he weighs 4.3 kgs as compared to birth weight of 3.15
Please help/suggest asap.
Alexis Dubief
October 6, 2016 at 9:35 amSahaj,
So there are many reasons a baby my cry a log. Reflux is one but there’s also food allergies (pass through breastmilk), nursing issues, colic, etc. And the CHALLENGE your pediatrician has is that there is no good non-invasive conclusive test for reflux. So he can’t easily prove reflux one way or the other.
I hear you saying that your gut instinct is “something is wrong” and you may be right. Peeing means baby is not dehydrated and that’s great. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing causing your child discomfort. (Although truthfully colic does exist and is miserable and is not a sign of a medical issue.)
If you’re really firm that it’s reflux I would do 2 things.
1) I would go milk protein free for 1-2 weeks as a test. Read labels as milk proteins are in EVERYTHING. Studies suggest that 50% of reflux cases are actually an undiagnosed milk protein intolerance. Cutting it out of Mom’s diet is a quick and painless way to rule this out. If you don’t see a relatively instantaneous and DRAMATIC change in crying …
2) Ask your pediatrician if you can do a 10 day trial of reflux meds. Again if reflux is the issue and you have the med/dose right you should see a fairly unambiguous change within 5-7 days.
Hope that helps – good luck!
Alexis
Rosalynne
December 30, 2016 at 11:35 pmGreat post! Moms caring for a baby with GERD suffer greatly!
I will admit I have it a bit easier than most- my little guy is all smiles almost all the time. I hang onto that fact in the early hours of the morning when I’m soothing him back to sleep for the 8th or 9th time and I’m wondering if one can die from lack of sleep.
It was obvious to me from probably 3 weeks of age that something was Wrong. He would wake up a few hours after eating making sputtering, wet choking sounds. I soon made my diagnosis of GERD thanks to Google and began holding him upright longer, letting him sleep on an incline, etc. The incline did help, however he would wake every two hours (almost on the dot) struggling and choking and the ONLY way to get him back to sleep is nursing.
Zantac didn’t work, cutting casein didn’t work, probiotics didn’t with…Nothing worked.
We are now at 4.5 months and and although the choking at night has gone away ( he has learned to flip into his tummy and will only sleep this way) he still wakes every. two. freaking. hours. allll night long. I’ve been trying to get him to sleep in a swing as your other article suggests so wish me luck. His first tooth has just made its appearance so I don’t have high hopes for any kind of rest any time soon!
Kera
February 6, 2017 at 6:14 pmHi all.
Just found this post, my LO is now 6 months old, he suffered from reflux since he was born, it too me a while to understand the differences between normal spit up and reflux as I alway give myself hope that he will grow out of it when he’s about 3-4 months of age.
I bought him to see a pediatrician last week as I’ve noticed him go stiff a lot, especially when he’s lying down, I thought it was a muscle tone problem. But after telling the doctor all the history, he disgabosed my son with reflux and proscribed us with Gaviscon infant. Well it did help a little, he doesn’t go stiff much any more, but he still spits a little 1-2 hrs after each meal. He doesn’t like to seat nor lay on his back. He isn’t napping well nor sleeping well at night time.
I see there are so many of you going through exactly the same thing. And since this is a old post, I was wondering how did it go with your precious little ones? Did she/he grew out of it and when did the reflux actually stopped? is there any tips you could give us? I’m really desperate and I’m running out of hope:(
Kera
Tina
March 14, 2017 at 12:30 pmmy lil guy doesnt take good naps either and i too was hoping he would of grown out of this by now but seemed to get worse once he turned 4 months old. is there a certain formula that babies with reflux should be on? we transitioned him to a sensitive formula.
Tina
March 14, 2017 at 12:27 pmMy 6.5 month old was diagnosed with “Silent Reflux” at 5 weeks old and was put on medicine to see if it would work. We noticed a dramatic change in him within a few days. However, when he hit 4 months old and started foods things seem to take a change for the worse. He was almost sleeping through the night at that point waking up only once. Then we introduced some foods and my baby was up all night long crying and screaming. we have adjusted his meds a few times do to his growith and the last increase has not seemed to help. he doesnt eat anymore at night either. I was nursing him exclusively up until a week ago when we started transitioning him to formula. his reflux symptoms just seem to really get really bad at night. he will go right to sleep at 7:30 and then wake up between 10-11 screaming and doesnt settle down until held. i am not sure if we have created a terrible sleeper(spoiled baby) or if his reflux is really bothering him at night. we are exhausted and dont know what else to do at this point. i just cant handle that this is jsut how it will be i want to help my son.
Emma
June 25, 2017 at 9:08 amSounds almost exactly like our son, minus the meds. Weaning has definitely had a negative impct on our nights 🙁 how are you doing now?
Emma
June 25, 2017 at 9:05 amBeen endlessly searching the internet to research whetger reflux may be affecting my 6 month old. He suffered with some symptoms at a couple of weeks old but it all seemed to settle. I have found, since we started weaning, that he is now showing signs of reflux.
Specifically, he has bouts of coughing, swallows as though something is coming up and brings up some liquid. He really struggles at night and comfort feeds. Heis breastfed. Desperate for some advice on this. Is it something he will grow out of?
Laura Stratford
August 1, 2017 at 7:22 amI’ve been reading with interest as my daughter has silent reflux and after trying gaviscon which worked for two weeks and then stopped and then Zantac I am now wondering if she could have a milk protein intolerance. Can a baby have a milk protein intolerance but not get a rash? Most articles I’ve read have said baby would have a rash or hives and my baby doesn’t. I am wondering if I should try dairy free formula before anymore medication? If so how long will it take to know if it’s worked? Thanks
Alexis Dubief
August 1, 2017 at 11:08 amA rash is not a reliable signal of milk protein intolerance. If you went dairy free you should see a dramatic change in days. I would talk to your pediatrician bout it first though.
Laura Stratford
August 9, 2017 at 11:49 amThanks for the reply. We are now on nutramigen milk but only since yesterday as baby struggled with taste so have had to mix it with normal milk and slowly get her used to the taste. So far she is seeming more settled but is drinking less at a time so having 2-3 oz then long break so will see how goes. We have a check up with doctor in a week to review so fingers crossed it will help
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Amanda
September 16, 2017 at 6:49 pmHello Alexis,
I am desperate to try and get my 7 week old napping longer. We’ve had sleep and feeding issues since day one. (pulling off of breast screaming, frantically hungry, and my supply never really coming in.. probably from lack of stimulation from baby not eating).
At three days old we started supplementing and then had to completely switch to formula. She was constantly gassy, screaming, etc.
We changed to soy milk and it seemed to help, but still couldn’t get her to sleep longer than 2 hours at night and 30 mins for naps (after considerable work trying)
Now we’re adding rice cereal to the soy milk per our pediatrician. Our daughter has had the barium scope and it came back normal.
I’ve tried everything I can think of to get her to stay asleep, she goes to sleep relatively easily, but staying asleep is the problem. I know I’m not practicing safe sleep habits (we really really tried!! I promise!) We’ve tried a crib wedge, swing, sleeping on us for as many hours as we can tolerate and not fall asleep ourselves, and now the only thing that she will sleep on is the “babocush” which has her strapped in sleeping on her stomach (We’ve tried swaddling, white noise, black out curtains, making sure she’s getting put back to sleep around and hour – hour 15 mins later after waking. etc. We keep upright after feeds etc.)
Now with all of this work, It’s 7 weeks later and I’m back to work from my maternity leave.
She will now sleep one 3-4 hour stretch at night, then followed by two 2 hour stretches at night. Then throughout the rest of the day every nap is 20-30 mins. I may get ONE 45 min nap on occasion, but it’s rare.
I’ve tried jiggling her in a swing to get her to sleep or stay asleep at the 20-30 min mark, but she still pops awake screaming. (Total sleep time in a day, 24 hour period, ranges from 9-12 hours MAX since birth).
Is there anything else to try, should we inquire about meds at this point?
Any advice?
Jennifer Moody
September 22, 2017 at 11:14 pmI have a 9 month old who was born with reflux…had an apnea event at 12 hours old and again at 3 days old. These were determined to be the result of reflux. she was immediately put on Zantac three times a day and sent home on an apnea monitor. She has been doing very well. She doubled her birth weight by six konths and is taking solids really well now…still breastfeeding too. From the pediatrician recommendation, we are weaning the zantac, now down to once a day. I was wondering if anyone has any advice or things to look out for with weaning meds at this age? She was never a large volume spitter-upper, just tiny amounts. Im not sure if I should expect zero reflux symptoms at this point or not??? And also any experience/advice with when to stop using the apnea monitor? We only use it at night, its a love/hate relationship. She hasnt had any true apneic events since 3d old.
Mike
March 20, 2018 at 2:45 amLoads of rubbish saying that reflux does not equal pain…. There are no scientific research that follow this theory. My daughter is in constant pain as soon as I try to lie her down. We keep her upright for 1-2hours and it makes no difference. Gaviscon, zantac made no difference. Doctors like you say “it is nornal” and “it will go away”. But no one van guarantee that and the baby is in pain :'( she sleeps on our shoulders only. We have no sleep either… Constant vomiting and cry. Makes me mad to read that reflux does not need medications…
Alexis Dubief
March 20, 2018 at 10:24 am“There are no scientific research that follow this theory. ”
Actually there is.
Also the pediatrician here is making a distinction between reflux (which almost all babies have) and GERD.
Fatima
December 28, 2018 at 10:32 pmMy 2 month old has reflux and has been on medication since 2 weeks old. He recently has been having some bad days with the reflux. I want to know if this is normal for babies to have food and bad days. I am considering to change his formula to the Enfamil AR because he is constantly spitting up.