Anyone else with reflux/colicky baby

[momma22boys]

 Looking more for support and suggestions here.

 My DS is 3 1/2 months old and is on his second med. for reflux yet we had our worst night yet since starting med. Looking back we have had problems since the day he was born. He would not sleep unless I was holding him even in the hospital. After 20min. of laying down he would by awake and screaming. We EBF and had latch issues at the beginning and am not totally sure they are resolved because I still  hear the occasional clicking when he is latched on. When he was about a month old I took him to the E.R. one weekend cause he was not sleeping, projectile vomiting, and had so much nasal congestion that he was having trouble breathing. He as in so much pain and no amount of "burping" was helping. We constantly had him our shoulder and was patting his back (I felt like I was beating him I was patting so hard but this was the only way he would not cry) and my husband and I took turns at night so we could get some sleep cause DS had to be up right completely at all times. My oldest DS had reflux, but not like this and my youngest DS had some of the same sings so I thought I could get some meds from the E.R. Well they just did an x-ray (still not sure why) and told me he had colic and to burp him more (like I wasn't doing that!) and gave me Zantac. Well that helped some but we still had bouts of fussiness. Then the meds. stopped working and doc would not increase but refereed us to a ped.GI doc. That apt. went well and she said he is growing fine and just changed his meds. to Pevacid. He has been on it for 2 days now (starting 3rd today) and he was a mess last night. He was stiff as a board screaming and would not nurse at all the one thing that worked was bouncing and back patting (again patting so hard it felt like I was hurting him) He would finally fall asleep and then we were up again 2 hours later doing the same thing. He would go from sound asleep to screaming. I just don't get it. We slept in the recliner last night because he would not sleep at all lying down. It makes me feel awful because I don't know what else to do for him. Nothing seems to be helping. So my questions are:

1. Have I not given the meds. long enough?

2. Someone suggested I try the full elimination diet. Has that helped anyone?

3. When do we start looking for other causes for his issues?

4. Has anyone had an infant with muscle tone issues where the muscles were too tight? This was another suggestion some made to me.

Any help would be great! Thanks! Sorry for the long winded story

P.S. He is sleeping fine now lying down, most of our problems only occur at nigh, at least the worst of them.

[Bokonon]

Is overactive letdown a possibility?

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

[Calliope84]

We had this same problem!!!!

DD is 8 weeks old and she has been much better for the past 2.

I read this terrible book called colic solved (terrible because of the annoying arrogant doctor who wrote it) and it suggested that dairy allergies and reflux are the main reasons for "colic." I tried to fix my overactive letdown and oversupply, but they were pretty well regulated by 6 weeks and it didn't get better.

I am happy to say I solved it by getting rid of ALL dairy and ALL soy. Start out with dairy. Just get rid of all dairy for a few days (and that means also casein and any dairy derivitives.) Within two days of getting rid of all the dairy the "colic" stopped. Then I upped my soy intake and the colic started again and she had mucus in her poo. So then I got rid of the soy. I am now eating a whole foods diet with no dairy and soy and watching that I limit spicy food because I suspect it might bother her (I had a few colic type nights after stopping the soy and dairy and had had heavily spiced food for dinner). She is still a bit fussy... I  think she is a "high needs" baby, so I will try eliminating some more things later to see if that helps but she is much happier now. I also wear her at night before bed. Even if she is upset, I will wear her and hug her tight until the crying stops, then before bed we change her and I nurse her to sleep. If you want to try this, let me know. I can tell you what I am eating now. I actually really like my food right now and I have lost a bunch more of the pregnancy weight!!!

[momma22boys]

 Had not even thought about that because I rearly feel like my breasts are overfull, but I guess they don't have to be to have forceful let down. He does pull of some, cough, gag and sometimes refuss breast when. He has never been a comfort sucker even though he has a high need to suck and wont take a paci, he will only suck my finger. I will look into this more and try a few things suggested on kellymom. Thanks so much! I will update.

[LadyCatherine185]

hugs mama! i have had 2 refluxy babies, and for both i have had to cut ALL dairy from my diet. also, DS1 had to be on Prevacid, but it was 2 weeks before it worked. with DS2 zantac is enough as long as i stay away from dairy.

[momma22boys]

 Thaks Calliope84. It is nice to know others have found some help. I think I will try the over-active letdown suggestions and go from there. If you don't mind though if I'm still having issues could I contact you for diet suggestions. I tried to remove dairy, but it is in more than I realized and that could be part of the problem still. It would help me to see what you are eating.

[Calliope84]

Originally Posted by momma22boys 

 Thaks Calliope84. It is nice to know others have found some help. I think I will try the over-active letdown suggestions and go from there. If you don't mind though if I'm still having issues could I contact you for diet suggestions. I tried to remove dairy, but it is in more than I realized and that could be part of the problem still. It would help me to see what you are eating.

Dairy was a major part of my diet. MAJOR. I was eating a lot of cereal with milk, pizza, cheese flavored stuff and putting cheese on everything. I also ate a lot of chocolate stuff, all of which had soy lechitin. It has only been two weeks and when I smell cheese I just get so grossed out. It is weird. I had to look for ideas two weeks ago, too.

I think I am going to post a blog post with all the stuff I eat. Am I aloud to post the link here or do I need to send it in a PM?

[Knitting Mama]

Yeah, unfortunately, when you do dairy eliminations, it's recommended that you remove everything that has dairy, including things with casein. It's so hard, but it might be worth it!! Thankfully, many babes outgrow the intolerance.

[angela67j]

Colic calm! It's amazing!

[SeattleRain]

Hugs mama. It's so hard to have a refluxy baby. SO HARD. My son has reflux, but not nearly what you're going through and I really feel for you. My son is thriving on 7mg 2X a day (he was at 1X for about 4 months but he was waking up at night and spitting up all the time so we increased it with HUGE success). We tried the Zantac but found he actually got WORSE. We almost took him to the ER one night for similar symptoms as the ones you're describing. That's when we got on Prevacid and things turned around. The thing is, we overlapped Prevacid and Zantac for a few days before we dropped the Zantac. Are you doing that?

Also (this is HUGE) it's really, extremely important for your baby to get the Prevacid on an empty stomach. Prevacid does not neutralize stomach acid like Zantac, it prevents acid from taking place. What this means is that it's relaly important that there not be any existing acid in the belly when the Prevacid hits it. With Zantac, it doesn't matter, but with Prevacid it really does. It doesn't particularly matter when you give it, but it needs to be 2 hours after eating and a half an hour before the next feeding. I give it to Daniel FIRST thing in the morning and follow it with food, and it doesn't seem to be a problem.

[northwoods]

Hang in there, mama!

I had similar issues, and removed dairy from my diet--it's like night and day. I really miss it, but I'm so frightened of the constant crying that it keeps me motivated to continue.

I also started nursing mt LO in a sling, so she's a little more upright. She often falls asleep like that, so it's keeping her upright for a spell post-feeding. It seems like that helps, too.

[Mis Trae]

DS had reflux pretty bad but not as severe as yours. I think it also made his swallowing issues worse. Zantac, bah, didn't do a thing. Previcid did work but it took some time before I started to see a difference (after 5-7 days then 2 weeks for full effect). Feeding him in as upright of a position as possible helped as well as keeping him upright afterwards (which I'm sure you're doing). I did buy a Nap Nanny for him to sit in after he ate. I was making my own "nap nanny" from a wedge and a boppy pillow.  He would nap in it but didn't sleep at night in it.

IMHO the Previcid needs more time to more. And if the change in diet works, also..go for it.

[CoBabyMaker]

Hugs for you Mama.  I know it's so hard.  Two things that made a HUGE impact for us were probiotics (bioGaia specifically)  and craniosacral therapy.  Hope that helps!

[momma22boys]

Thanks for all the support and advice. It sounds like getting rid of dairy is the way to go. I'll try anything to help me LO. I hate that he is so uncomfortable.

Cobabymaker- I like the idea of probiotics and chiropractic work thanks for the tip.

[gradstudentmommy]

I just skimmed the replies so I apologize if this has been mentioned. But what form of Prevacid on your on. My son did AWFUL on the compound. He screamed like I've never heard. He's been doing great on the Prevacid Solutabs.

And eliminating dairy and soy has made a difference too (though it hasn't cured the reflux).

Hugs. Having a baby with reflux is hard.