Reflux baby!

HI, my daughter is 5 months old and has reflux. She has the pain and the vomiting. she is on medication called Zantac 3 times a day, mylanta before every bottle. She is also on a thick formula, the doctor also tired a prepulsid to help with the vomiting but it didnt work. so we have stopped that. the vomiting doesnt borther me it is just the screaming when she is in pain....love to hear from other mums with babies with relux....Any ideas on how to help settling with the pain???

Hi Tania,

There are lots of current posts in the baby section and newborn section here on this forum about babies with reflux. My little son has it and is on Zantac. When he was a newborn we discovered one of the best things to do was to keep his head higher than the rest of his body for an hour or so after his feed. There are lots of tips about how to do that on those other posts.

What sort of mylanta is she on? Unless it is a specific reflux medicine and recommended by the doctor/pharmacist you probably shouldn't be using it for the long term as they can damage a baby's stomach and intestines. It could pay to check with the doctor. Are you administering the Zantac before the bottle, as it does affect the effectiveness of it if not taken before.

You might also find your baby has colic as a lot of reflux babies do get it and we're not talking about the colic that disappears at 3 months. It can hang around for 15 months or so, if not treated. Try things like Donnalix, Infant's Friend or Infacol depending on your baby's age and some may not work for you.

You could also try a chiropractor. As mentioned in the other posts by myself and others, it was the best thing we ever did.

Good luck. You should find some things that work for you.

Ange.

Hi Tania
My son Henry had reflux until 8 months, we tried everything, saw all specialists etc. I got on the web in the end and read that (as Ange writes) a Chiropractor can help. I am from the UK and have been with my family in Sydney and Melbourne and now live in Brisbane. I have the details of excellent Chiropractors in all these locations as Henry has to go every 2 weeks to keep him reflux free. Henry was on Zantac too but I was worried about what it did to him as its so strong. I know what it's like to cope with, do let me know if you want any numbers for the chiro's. fiona_daunt@hotmail.com.

Have you tried the Karicare anti-reflux (AR) formula?

My 4 month old used to scream and continually bring his milk back up and a friend put me onto this formula. It is thickened with natural carob flour. I have also read recently in a medical leaflet that you can thicken the feeds with cornflour. My friends baby is 12 months and she has tried this in cows milk 3 tablespoons to 200ml of milk and says it works fine. I think I will stick to the Karicare AR formula for a while longer and then try him again.
Check out website: www.gesa.org.au/consumer
Good luck

HI my daughter suffered from reflux from 3mths on and she couldnt have the thickened formula as she was lactose intollerent and the AR formula wasnt lactose free, She would take over an hour to drink 120mls of milk. all the doctors we saw kept telling me there was nothing wrong her but I kept asking for a referal to the peadrition until we got one. she had zantac for a while which made he worse. Three months later we got an appointment and he put her on Losec and she was a different baby, the crying stopped, she was alot more settled and she was generally a happier baby.
It was worth the wait to put her on losec.