Help! GERD??? (sorry - long)

[USAFeyez06]

Ok... I am driving myself nuts and don't want to anymore. If anyone has any input on the situation, please give me all you've got.

Here's some background. My dd, who is almost 11 months now, started spitting up and even vomitting at around a month and half to 2 months old. I was originally given reflux meds (Zantac) but didn't use them since I was uncomfortable medicating such a little one and wasn't so sure that was the problem. At 3 months she was scoped and diagnosed with an anal stricture and allergic colitis (bloody mucousy stools etc). I was on a very restricted diet until she was 8 months old (can now tolerate most things). We had the allergies/sensitivities under control around 5 months of age. Throughout this entire ordeal, she never was comfortable sleeping on her back either from spitting up, gas, or bad belly aches from allergies. She mainly slept in her bouncer or swing and has slept in her car seat/carrier from about 4 months on. She will sleep THROUGH THE NIGHT in her carrier (with exceptions on teething or other pain occasionally) but never laying flat. However, ever since she was an infant, she has been gassy, especially at night.

My husband and I have tried countless times to get her to sleep in her crib or bassinet or just flat and it is like pulling teeth. She slept one time through the night in her bassinet and the most she has ever slept in her crib was 4 hours. Laying flat, we usually get 1-2 hours and consistent wakings like that, or we cannot even get her to sleep since she'll wake up when we try to lay her flat on some nights.

I have tried having her nap in her crib to get used to it, crib wedges and positioners (around her so she feels snug), putting the crib on blocks, and I currently have her carrier in her crib so she associates the crib with sleeping, but these all seem to be failed attempts.

She has proven capable of putting herself to sleep in her car seat, does this all the time, and has even put herself to sleep in her bassinet and her crib... which leads me to believe that when she is comfortable, she can sleep flat. I orginally thought that she wouldn't sleep in her crib because of the security issue (not feeling so snug as she would in her carrier) but now I am beginning to second guess that.

I believe she may have minor reflux issues that are causing this problem. *She won't sleep flat, she is gassy, she seems to be slightly uncomfortable when breastfeeding at night (wiggles, arches), she has always hiccupped frequently, spits up (occassionally), and she ALWAYS expresses gas while feeding at night. The other day I was watching her, and she burped up stuff, made a very nasty face, swallowed extremely frequently after this (like her throat hurt), and had that dry cough.*

Am I crazy, or do these seem consistent with reflux?

Does anyone have experience with this and their little one? I know there are a few meds (Zantac, Prevacid) and was wondering if anyone had any input on them or ones that seemed to work better than others. I'm still not crazy at the idea of putting her on meds, but she is almost a year old now and we have got to get her out of that carrier for saftey reasons. She is still tiny and will fit in it for a while, but she is mobile and crawling, can get her arms out of the swaddle and will use the sides to try and sit up in it. I have it in her crib, connected to the base so the actual seat can't tip, but she can get her body out of it if she wanted to (which she has never acutally attempted yet).

As a parent, I am extremely frustrated and don't know what else to do. I know that she has to get used to sleeping in her crib and that may take a few sleepless nights, but I would hate to put myself, her, and my hubby through it for nothing if it's just the reflux and associated pain that is causing this grief.

ANY advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Will I ever have a little one who can sleep in a crib or a bed??? UGHHHHH!!!!

[Psyche]

Sounds like a classic case of reflux to me.

Are you still avoiding the allergens in your sig? Dairy can be a huge reflux trigger.

Prevacid has soy I believe and I also think it has lactose. DS reacts to lactose so we didn't use that. We did use zantac and it was a chore getting him to take it. That stuff is nasty, but it works. However, it has to be adjusted all the time since it is very weight sensitive. There are other ones out there too but I"m not sure about them.

[Amy_G_]

put something UNDER her crib mattress to give it a slight incline and see if there is any difference.

talk to your dr about a trial week of meds.

consider going back to a bit more restrictive diet and see if that helps.

good luck!

[KatieLou]

IA with Psyche of course.

I think i remember you saying a while back you had introed everything back into your diet...correct?

It could very well be the dairy. If you have introed it back in, I would consider cutting it back out. (((hug)))

[USAFeyez06]

I thought about the whole dairy and food issue being a culprit, however even when we were allergy free and off of pretty much everything, she was never reflux free. She never slept flat comfortably since birth and as far as reflux symptoms are concerned didn't get any worse up introduction of foods.

She is a happy baby during the day and there are no outward signs that this is a severe issue, but enough so to make her uncomfortable at night. Overall, I think this has been a problem since birth, but I overlooked it since we attributed everything to her food allergies and anal stenosis. I also think she has gotten better since we can go a couple hours while laying flat (which is better than none), but it's obviously still a problem.

I just jimmy rigged her crib... elevated mattress (about same recline as carrier) and put the bundle me (carrier blanket) around the mattress and put her in it to act as a sling so she can't slide down. It's been a half hour and she's beginning to fuss in her sleep already, but we'll see.

I spoke to her ped today and she is talking about testing like upper gi and some ph test where they put a tube down the nose in a hosp for 24 hours. What??? Can we say a little overboard here? She thinks that her reflux should be gone because she is ten and half months old, which is not true. I know many parents who have had little ones with reflux well past their second birthday and is it really hard to believe with all of her allergy issues and an immature gut that she has reflux? Sorry for rambling, but I'm just so tired of all these tests and lets do this and that. She has been through so much and so many tests, and she's not even a year old. Enoughs, enough. I refuse to go through this for a little minor reflux issue. I called her GI doc and he's going to call me Monday, but even the lady at the front desk didn't think all the testing mentioned by her ped was necessary. UGHHHH... so frustrating!

Some days I wonder if all of these food and digestive issues are my fault... something I did while pregnant or when she was a tiny baby. I know that sounds stupid and I know deep down that's not the case, I'm just super frustrated and getting down on myself, I guess.

[Amy_G_]

honestly I'd try a trial of the meds for a couple weeks before putting her thru the testing like that.
it may just be that she makes too much stomach acid, there are people with that problem. it could be something that you didn't cut out of your diet, so maybe you need allergy testing to see?

[Psyche]

I'm not sure I agree with you that its over board. You don't want to use meds unless its needed right? Those tests are how they can tell its needed.

However, you could see an ENT and they can do an upper scope in office through the nose. It is not comfortable (though they do put some sort of numbing spray). DS cried fit to be tied and he is NOT a crier. However, the ENT could see irritation in his throat and said that it was likely due to reflux.

We also did an upper GI at the hospital. Also not fun. DS also didn't like it but it was a quick procedure like the upper scope. He just had to drink some barium and was under an xray machine that showed his swallowing. I thought I remember the ENT saying that was not a good test for reflux though.

The Ph probe will let them know how severe the reflux is. Is it while she's sitting up? After she eats? Only when she's lying down? How far is it going up?

Also I'm pretty sure there are side effects to untreated reflux. Here's an article from WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/complications-untreated-gerd) I'm not sure if it applies to infant GERD or not, but it is something I would treat by eliminating the old allergens first, and for *me* do the testing. I would have loved for the doc to prescribe the testing rather than just giving us the zantac since we couldn't 100% confirm that DS really had reflux (maybe the irritation was from postnasal drip from his EA, etc).

ITU though having a kid go through so much testing to look for problems. How frustrating it is when you think you're out of the woods for issues just to have something else pop up. Seriously though you have a doctor who is taking you seriously, which is more than DS's first pediatrician did (or for that matter his current pediatrician).

HTH. *big hug*

[still_me]

:hug: I don't have any advice to offer, but I will be thinking of you guys.

You've done unbelievably well so far and I am sorry you have hit another hurdle, but you can do this! I agree with psyche though that maybe a 24hr test isn't overboard. It might help fix the problem and might be easier now than on a 1 1/2 yr old who is insistent on running around.

[gravel10]

Hi there, My daughter has gone thru alot of the same, she is only 12 weeks old. She is on Zantac. I left my old pediatrician and found one a lil further away who has more experience and a bit more bed side manner.
She is taking zantac and it has worked wonders. My daughter had what sounded like congestion and symptom of reflux. Her dose was just upped to 3 times a day since she is growing.
I also find she needs to be on a strict sleep regimen. She is in bed around 7 every night, if not earlier, I look for her signs.
I make sure she get 2 longs naps and perf. a 3rd lil nap every day.
This helps her relax w/o being overtired at night.
I give her a bath every night and place warm wash cloths on her tummy to help her wind down too.
My new pediatrician recommend a book called healthy sleep habits, happy baby. Boy this alone was helpful. Is she goes to bed late she has episodes of reflux all day the next day.
good luck and maybe go for a 2nd opinion before putting the baby thru and invasive procedure.
keep us posted good luck.. :)