HELP! Mamas who have dealt with GERD

[suddenlyamama]

I am going nuts. My poor DD is in so much pain. Her doctor's office doesn't have an appointment until weds.
I know she has GERD, as she literally has all of the symptoms.
She will cry endlessly without sleeping, as in last night she was awake from 4 until 1230 at 1.5 months old, crying. I have eliminated wheat, dairy, soy, and I am going to try and eliminate corn too now.
It is really terrible because the crying is really getting to me, even though I can see she is in terrible pain. This morning she has been crying since she was fed at 6 and began the spitting up, refluxy routine.
I have tried holding her up at almost all times (minus diaper changing)
I have tried feeding her so that my milk does not come down so fast.
I burp her frequently during feedings.
And I am eliminating foods.
What can I do? Did anything work well for you? The first 2 days of food elimination she did great but then had a flare up last night and now nonstop.
I am worried about her poor throat and my sanity.

[aramat]

Poor mama. Just want to offer some HUGS! Continue with the elimination diet; I think I remember that it can take even up to 2 weeks to eliminate an offender completely. I've also heard that probiotics may be helpful -- for you AND for baby to take.

[jenfl]

Both of my kids were refluxers, so I know how very hard it is. One of my kids got better with dairy elimination, one wasn't diet-related. So the elimination might work or might not. Medication was the best thing that happened for us.

You're doing all the right non-medication things.

If you have a good relationship with the doctor, you might be able to ask them to just call in a couple of days of Zantac or Prevacid before your appointment. Call tomorrow to check for cancellations. Try an urgent care location. And just be there for her as best you can, do your best to hold and comfort her, even if it doesn't seem to be helping. Write off the next few days to just concentrate on her.

I hope the next few days go fast.

[Summersquash]

Oh Mama, it is so hard. Hugs to you and your little one. I agree with the previous poster - can the doctor call in a couple of days of Zantac or Prevacid until you can get in to have your baby seen?

One thing that seemed to relax DD was to lay belly to belly with me, skin to skin. I would lay down on my back and lay her on her belly on my belly and just hold her closely like that, sometimes I would rub her back. I'm not sure why she loved it so much, but maybe it was the warmth of my skin against her tummy? We spent lots of time like that.

Also have you tried burping her by laying her across your lap, face down? You are sitting up, lay her stomach across your legs, let her head rest on the couch next to you (cover it with something you don't mind getting spitup on!) Then just tap away on her back. That really helped DD also - we got some huge burps and stuff out that way.

Oh, and for my refluxy DD, we really had to BURP her. Light patting really didn't help. She LOVED being burped with a slightly stronger tap and sometimes it would help settle her right down.

Good luck! I hope that she gets her belly issues resolved soon.

[suddenlyamama]

Thanks for your sweet support. I had no idea the doc would believe me without seeing her, but lucky for us she called in an Rx for dd. Phew! I was really getting worried about my babe. I hope it starts to take affect soon!
Summersquash: never thought to burp her that way but she was a lot more mellow that way tonight...thanks for the tip!

[jenfl]

Oh, that's great! We saw some improvement within 48 hours, slight changes before that.

If you got Zantac, know that it doesn't work for all kids. If you're still having issues, press for a trial of Prevacid. And even if Zantac does work, it can stop working after a month or two (happened for our DS). If upping the doseage doesn't help, again, switch to Prevacid.

Good luck!

[PatioGardener]

sleeping at about a 30 degree angle helped for my ds. this meant no co-sleeping for a while, but the change was so dramatic it was worth it.

[omelette]

Both mine had gerd. One was done at 6mos, the other 8.5mos. It is hard to watch your little one so uncomfortable.
The thing that saved us with my first was getting a wedge for GERD. If you google GERD wedge infants you'll see some images. We were able to borrow one from the occupational therapist dept at the hospital. My son used to wiggle and fuss all night long and when we got the wedge he started sleeping 6 hour stretches. Unfortunately it did not work with my 2nd but it might be worth looking into.
We tried everything else with no success over here.

[Gray's Mommy]

All 3 of mine had GERD...two required meds & one didn't. It is hard, but it will pass. Keep hanging in there!!

[momto4plus4]

Mine have all had it as well. Diet changes have helped but not completely. Both my boys were (still ds2) criers, well screamers.
Ditto about the Zantac-it made mine worse so we've done Prevacid. I haven't seen as much of a help in ds2 so I'm asking about changing again.
My last 3 have had to sleep in a swing and only a swing that goes sideways-HUGE HELP for us. I know people suggest co-sleeping, which I also do, but the swing really truelly saved my sanity.
The crying is SO hard. {{{hugs}}} Keep talking to the dr too, that's what they're there for.

[Mrs.Music]

You're doing a great job. Your LO is lucky to have a mama willing to work so hard. That being said... sometimes medication is the answer. My DD had it and outgrew it when she was 12 months. They tried her on zantac (not strong enough) and then switched her to prilosec.

[marsupial-mom]

My son has reflux. Ent to the ER once. Had a few worrisome nights at home. Tried various formulas and tricks. Used medication for a week. And on and on...
Luckily for us it didn't cause him pain, just lots and lots of spit up, constant tiny feedings, lots of burping, keeping him upright at least 30 min after a feeding...
He's 8 months now and it's basically gone now. Today was one of the first days where he didn't spit up at all!!!
Hang in there!

[suddenlyamama]

how much does that stink that all of our babes have suffered through this!
Well she has been using the Zantac for the entire weekend and it has made a significant difference. She is a completely different baby. Much more able to sleep. In fact she sleeps a lot (possible side affect I read).

I really wanted to avoid meds all together, but I suppose it was what she needed. I just hope she doesn't have to be on it too long.

Thank you so much for your support. We moved her co-sleeper to be at an angle. Works well.

Marsupial mom: that is great news!!