Need Help DS Refuses To Eat Acid Reflux And What Else

14 Replies
Dia_ - September 24

Hi everyone. I am sooo stressed out about my ds. Something is wrong with his tummy and I can't figure out how to fix it. He is 3 months old and has been to the doc about this 3 times and is going back tomorrow. The first time the doctor said he had acid reflux and put him on zantac. That worked for about a week and then he was back to his fussy self around eating times. Then we changed his formula to soy w. the zantac...no good. Now we have changed him to alimentum with prevacid (first prevacid didn't help, so we tried the alimentum too). All of this is on doctors orders. Here is what my ds does...at night time he eats really well. No fussing, no spitting up, no crying. He will take a 7 ounce bottle with no problems. During the day he refuses to eat. The prevacid has helped with his arching his back and stuff, but ds just will not eat! I tried every 4 hours and failed...so I tried on demand. Ds will go nearly 18 hours refusing to eat until nighttime rolls around...then he will eat. I know that is not normal! Any ideas?? I go to the doctor tomorrow for another follow up but wanted to get some advice here first!

 

Kara H. - September 24

My 2 month old as acid reflux. Is he spitting up or crying during the day when he is refusing to eat? Is he napping during the day? How much prevacid are you giving him and what time of day is he taking it? Is he pooping ok? How much is he sleeping at night?

 

Bonnie - September 24

What's the Prevacid dosage, what form is it (i.e. solutabs or compunded), and how long has he been on it?

 

Bonnie - September 24

Dia...I wanted to wait for a response, but I need to get off here a bit. Can I recommend you try the message boards at www.infantrefluxdisease.com? (I am Mirra on those boards.) It sound slike you have a pretty hefty case of reflux going and there are a LOT of mom's dealing with non-eaters there. I'll come back to check here later, but I hope you can post over there too! Email me as well if you like (((HUGS))) bonnie@forevertreasure.net

 

Dia_ - September 24

Thanks Kara and Bonnie. I just recently moved and my previous pedi refused to diagnose reflux b/c he wasn't vomiting after every feeding...my new doctor (who was also my pedi as a kid) diagnosed it right away. Kara - here are answers to your questions: He doesn't spit up a lot, but he does cry when I try to feed him...but only after he has taken a drink or two...and this is even on the prevacid. He does nap during the day (2 hours awake 1 hour asleep), he is gettin half of a 15 mg soluable prevacid and he takes it 3 times a day. He poops fine and is gaining weight and he sleeps well at night - usually down about 8, up to eat at 4...then up for the dat at 6 or 7. Bonnie - He was on zantac for one week and he has only been on the prevacid since thursday (so about 4 days). I have browsed the website you have recommended and it is good to know I am not alone! Hunter ate at 11 pm last night and refused to eat until about 4 pm today. He didn't even cry for food at all. However he is a big boy...3 months old and 15.8 lbs and 26 inches long and still gaining! I don't know how though...he eats only 14-26 ounces of formula a day. Thank you both so much!

 

Kara H. - September 24

Since he has been on the prevacid four days, it probably hasn't reached its maximum benefit yet. So with the dose he gets half of a solutab, three times a day so 1 and a half solutabs total? I wonder if the acid is backing up during the night so his esophogus is irritated during the day. And it just happens to finally feel better by evening. I would try letting him sleep in his swing or bouncy seat for a few nights and see if it improves. If it does, you will want to either get him a Tucker sling and wedge pillow or put bricks under the legs of one end of his crib for a more long term solution. Also, we have had better luck with enfamil AR which is thickened with rice starch. It does seem to reflux as bad, but you should check with your ped about that. I would definitely check out that website Bonnie told you about. The prevacid and never allowing the baby to lay flat has worked for us, but every baby is different.

 

Bonnie - September 24

Dia, your LO sounds almost identical to Mason. I have soem good and bad news for you. the dosage she is on is more than high enough. 1 solutab is about the normal. Make sure you give it 30 minutes before a meal so it's on an empty tummy. And don;t mix it with any other reflux meds like Zantac, Mylanta, milk of Magnesia, etc.....3 times a day would be a pain in the toosh. So just something to keep in mind...Prevacid is not contact based like Zantac is, it has to get into the system. Most peopel give Prevacid in the morning, some do twice a day, I've never heard of 3 times a day. Since it has to be on an empty stomach, I'd reckon that's a pain for you. Mason is also on 1 1/2 tabs now at 8 months, he takes one in the morning and half in evening.........Zantac also only worked a few days for us. Prevacid will work for like 99% of the kids out there. The bad news is that it has to work itself into the system and start shutting down the pumps. It takes a good 2 weeks to kick in and 6 weeks at least for the full effect. In the meantime, your LO is probably WORSE because right now it's like she is getting nothing at all, ya know? Mason was exactly the same and people kept telling me to wait and I just kept thinking, "Yeah, but we should at least see SOMETHING!"...nope. After the 13th day of being on it, he was like a brand new baby overnight. And after 2 months he was GREAT. So truely, hang in there as it should get much better for you soon. There are the rare occasions where meds won't work and I know it probably feels that way right now, but they are REALLY rare. Though you will also find some of those mommies on that site too. :(

 

Bonnie - September 24

Thickenign sometimes makes things worse and sometimes better. It's a catch 22. Thickening adds more calories which is good for non-eaters. It can be hard on the tummy at young ages but they also make hypoalelrgenic thickeners. Thickening also traps air bubbles causign gas though so you kind of have to choose your evil. We thickened for a while because mason was choking so bad on the stuff and couldn't spit it out he was turning colors. For some peopel, thickening really helps a lot. You can talk to the doc and test it out. Same with elevating. Mason for some wierd reason did worse when elevated too much or was too flat. We had to have him about a 30 degree angle and I made a little nest in his bed to hold him. I rolled up some beach towels to make an upside down U and stretched the sheet over top and stuck him in it. I had a wedge for a while but he was elevated too high. That's unusual I think. And I also agree with Kara, sleep him right now wherever he sleeps best until his pain is under control. E-mail me anytime you need to vent or talk about it. I hope you come to the boards over there, it really helps to have other people that know what you are going through. (((HUGS)))

 

Dia_ - September 25

Hi ladies. Thanks so much for your help. I am going to the doctor this afternoon...I will let you all know what he says. I have been thickening his formula since he was 2.5 months (on pedi's orders). He seem to do really well sleeping on his back for half the night and then in his cradle swing the rest of the night. My pedi gave me samples of alimentum and they are ready-to-feed and much, much thicker. He won't eat it with rice cereal as it is too thick. I think I am going to tell my doc that I would like to hang out for awhile on the prevacid and formula I am using now to see how he does in a couple of weeks. I really would like to get on the message boards over there on the other website...I think I will try to register when Hunter takes his morning nap. I will get back on here and let you know what my name will be! Well, I am off to attempt a morning feeding...wish me luck!!!!

 

Dia_ - September 25

I have just registered on the website as Dia (real name is Lydia, but Dia is a little more original on these sites). I have not yet posted because there are so many threads with my exact problem. Bonnie ~ I have a question...is prevacid the highest form or reflux meds for infants? What comes next if it doesn't work? I have decided to give it more time with this and see how he does.

 

Bonnie - September 25

Prevacid is a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI)...and theoretically yes. One you get past the PPI drugs it gets mroe complicated. Babies who spit up a lot may have somethign called Delayed Gastric Emptying. That requires a whole different cla__s of drugs that work by moving the contents of the food through the tummy faster. Some of them have some very serious side effects. It doesn't sound like yours is dealing with that as she sounds so much like Mason. Reflux has so many of how bad it can get. The owner of that site has a daughter, I think now she is 4...she literally refused to eat anything. She ended up having surgeries and tubes to feed her. At this point she still hs a tube that was surgically placed and still does not eat anything on her own. But that's a very extreme case of reflux. I always thought Maosn had it real bad...until I read her story. :( Generally when Prevacid does not work they then try a different PPI like Prilosec. If that does not work, they usually start running more complex tests to see just how bad the reflux is and if there is anything else going on. They often do something called a PH probe where a tube is inserted down the nose and into the belly for 24 hours. It measures how often the reflux and how strong the acid is so you get more complete results. Sometimes they do a scope where they do down and luke at the esophagus to check for inflamations and other problems, they often take a sample to biopsy as well. This can tell if there other things going on like special allergies.........Try not to worry too much about this. Yes, it can happen and you will meet a few mom's on there who are going through it. But it IS definately rare. Prevacid usually will work great, it just feels like it won't do anything at all until it kicks in. I should go back and find you some of my first posts when I went there, I get teary just reading them. But now at 8 months, Mason is doing GREAT! He has an appointment next week and I have a feeling the GI may want to start weening him off his meds. On one hand I would LOVE to get this kid med free, but it sure makes me nervous!

 

Dia_ - September 26

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back! I went to my ped yesterday and told him the prevacid seems to make Hunter worse the the alimentum doesn't seem to make a difference. I also told him that at night time Hunter eats with no problems at all. My ped said that reflux should be a 24 hour problem and he thinks that Hunter may have his nights and days mixed up in regards to feeding. He also referred me to a GI specialist, but I am having problems with my insurance (military) and our new insurance doesn't kick in until November 11th. Hunter is back on Zantac since he did better on that than on prevacid and I am trying to wean him off of his nighttime feeding. He normally eats 7 ounces at 9 pm, then wakes up at either 2, 3, or 4 am to eat again. Instead of giving him the 7 ounces again I am weaning him off of that....hope this helps him!!!

 

Bonnie - September 26

I hope it works for you sweetie. In regards to the Prevacid, he wasn't on it long enough for it to do anything. Unfortunately pediatricians are not always too up to date when ti comes to reflux. For the most part, GI's know better. Yes, reflux is 24 hours. But that being said, it is common for it to be worse at certain times of the day. He is definately old enough to skip the night feed (though you may need to give more during the day to make up for it). Hopefully that will work for you. If it doesn't and it seems like he is getting worse, please get to the GI if you can. If the Zantac is not enough he may need that Prevacid and you've got it give it time to work and your LO wasn't on it long enough. But if he doesn't need it then dedinfately don't use it. Good luck to ou!! (((HUGS)))

 

Tripti - April 10

Hi Dia, Did you find a solution? My LO is having the EXACT same problem. I suspect that the Prevacid is killing his appet_te somehow. When he's on it, he is seemingly a whole new baby, no more fussing during feeding... But, he eats between 12-18 oz. That's too little for a 4 mo. old. I'm really worried. Please let me know if you have a solution:)

 

Tripti - April 10

BTW, I think that my LO feeds better at night because the Prevacid is wearing off by then. When we give him a new dose at 9 PM, it takes an hour to work. Also, he may feed well when sleeping because he feeds from reflex (versus hunger).

 

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