https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 26 May 2026 15:20:14 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068913 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 15:18:00 +0000 LuLu Mom 2068913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: I would give rice a try for a week too, even if that means pumping more than BF, it sucks and it's time consuming, but it might be an easier fix than costly (and possible side effects) from medicine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068905 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 15:14:42 +0000 winniebee 2068905@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs Green Grass: yeah I'm pretty over the Zantac. I said I would give it a week so I guess I will. I would be shocked if things are better without change of meds </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068875 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 14:55:17 +0000 Mrs Green Grass 2068875@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did Enfamil AR which is essentially rice cereal, just already in it. It really did help keep the feeds down...</p> <p>When we increased Prevacid from 1-2x a day it really did help, but I'd only give it a week or so before demanding something else...</p> <p>I didn't cut any foods either be side the docs said it really wasn't the most likely issue. Prevacid was the only answer we needed... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068661 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:02:09 +0000 BananaPancakes 2068661@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: This was a large part of the reason I stopped breastfeeding around 12 weeks. I needed to have the majority of his feeds be by bottle so I could add the rice, so it got to be too much pumping and too little time. And I believe it was around 12-16 weeks that he no longer seemed in pain. He still had intense spit-up until close to a year, but it wasn't painful, so I wasn't worried about it. And solids really did seem to help, too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068388 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:54:24 +0000 winniebee 2068388@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LuLu Mom: he said no link with dairy I should have clarified! He didn't mention cutting other foods though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068346 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:36:39 +0000 LuLu Mom 2068346@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: Wow I'm surprised by this? our GI doc made a big deal about acidic food and told me "imagine when you have heartburn and how bad it hurt to eat an orange or spaghetti now put that into an infant's body" I suffered from bad heartburn in pregnancy so I know the feeling, it made me want to cry thinking my child was going through that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068330 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:29:43 +0000 winniebee 2068330@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs.Someone: right now he's still bf well and gaining great but I'm totally cognizant that it could change! Do I'm holding the doc to one more week on Zantac and that's it. </p> <p>@LuLu Mom: this might sound awful but I'm not going to cut anything else. The gi doc said that there's no medical evidence that diet changes help reflux. Obviously I cut dairy Bc I thought it would help but I'm not sure it has. He hasn't had any signs of a protein intolerance so far. Happy baby with the exception of right after feedings uncomfortable. </p> <p>@BabyBoecksMom: yeah Zantac is gross! He takes it ok but I just don't think it has helped. </p> <p>Thanks so much for input on rice cereal. I was like errr say what? He's 2 mos! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068319 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:23:21 +0000 BabyBoecksMom 2068319@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: OMG - push for the Prevacid! It worked miracles for Cora. She had awful reflux, but within 24 hours of starting the Prevacid, she almost completely stopped the spit ups. After 3 days, she could sleep SO much better. </p> <p>We tried the Zantac 3x/day for a week and she *hated* it (I would too - peppermint is so strong!). I think the Prevacid is a better medicine and you only have to take it 1x/day. But, it's not on the list of covered medications for our insurance, so we have to pay a $50 copay for it. (But, we only needed it for about 6 months) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068296 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:12:22 +0000 Mrs.Someone 2068296@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our ped let us go right from 1 dose of Zantac to Prilosec, and never suggested rice cereal. </p> <p>Does it seem to be affecting his willingness to breastfeed at all? At about that age, DS got fussier and fussier feeding, to the point where he wouldn't eat enough and it hurt my supply. Then we had weight gain issues. So if you ever feel that he really didn't eat enough, make sure to pump to keep up your supply. Also, if you are having any trouble, I'd suggest seeing an IBCLC soon. I don't want to scare you, it was just such an rough thing to deal with, I'd hate to see anyone else go there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068263 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:52:57 +0000 MrsKoala 2068263@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our ped did not recommend the rice cereal. We changed medications and that's what finally helped. LO started out on pepcid and then got switched to Axid. The difference was night and day. If you feel like Zantac isn't working and your LO is so uncomfortable, I think switching medications might be the answer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068251 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:41:44 +0000 LuLu Mom 2068251@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with @spaniellove, reflux babies follow different rules for eating. It was also suggested for us to add rice to bottles to see if it helped keep it down, it did a little (around 3 months old) but not significantly. I would go with your doctor's recommendation, Zantac is a lot easier on a babies system than Prilosec with less side effects, as a mom of a Prilosec baby it makes me sad she's been on it so long. </p> <p>Beause you are exclusively breast feeding I would also do everything I could for your diet to try and comfort your child. You've eliminated dairy but I would also try to eliminate soy and see if that helps, also my doctor said to stop eating anything acidic (most fruit, tomatoes, ect) because it makes it more painful for them. I made the choice to switch to formula (I wasn't strong enough to only eat like 5 bland things which is what my daughter could seem to handle) but I know other mom's have better will power :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068242 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:38:04 +0000 Mae 2068242@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our GI specialist also recommended rice cereal but he also switched us from zantac to prevacid. The prevacid seemed to improve things so we didn't do the rice cereal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068174 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:15:42 +0000 spaniellove 2068174@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, Prilosec does have more serious potential side effects and I was amazed that our ped said our LO was the first he'd had to prescribe it to. But he was absolutely sure Zantac wasn't working and didn't think it was worth wasting time. He doesn't believe in causing babies pain. Just to show what happens without the Prilosec when it's needed, when we saw a resident GI who mistakenly took him off his meds, he ended up with persistent projectile vomiting until he started up the Prilosec again. </p> <p>About the rice cereal, I think the rules for feeding are a little different with reflux babies. I tried thickening with rice cereal and don't remember it making a difference but then he was already on a very thick formula so that wasn't his issue. Here's a link that might help, although you might have read it already!<br /> <a href="http://www.refluxrebels.com/Acid_reflux/Acid_reflux_formula_thickening.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.refluxrebels.com/Acid_reflux/Acid_reflux_formula_thickening.html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068117 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 08:52:03 +0000 jape14 2068117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our ped did not recommend rice cereal, but my LO has silent reflux and he doesn't spit up much at all. We did Zantac first (my LO was about 8 weeks old) and it worked for about 7-10 days and then stopped working. We upped the dosage once, and that helped temporarily, but then it stopped working again. As soon as we told our ped that the Zantac had stopped working (even at the higher dosage), she switched our LO to Prilosec (this was around 11 weeks old). Prilosec took about 3 days to start working, but it was seriously life-changing! We have since upped the dosage due to weight gain (LO is a chunker) and it continues to work great for us. </p> <p>The discomfort during/after feedings was our main issue as well - it was getting to the point where I basically couldn't feed LO unless he was asleep and/or swaddled. He was gaining fine but was very clearly in pain; our ped was able to observe this during an appointment and I think that helped. We actually have rotated through 3 different doctors in our office (just how our ped's office works) and all three agreed that Prilosec would be the most effective course of treatment. Was your GI able to observe any of your LO's symptoms? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068113 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 08:50:23 +0000 Mamaof2 2068113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We took DS to a GI doc for reflux as well - he did tell us that it would improve once on solids (and it did) but in the meantime he switched us from Zantac (which wasn't working) to Prilosec and it worked really well!</p> <p>It wasn't suggested for us to do Zantac 3x a day but I wouldn't have a problem trying that 1st before moving to Prilosec </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068033 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 07:48:21 +0000 winniebee 2068033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BananaPancakes: interesting thanks!! When did his reflux improve? I am BF him and so it would literally only be a bottle a day since I don't have much time to pump. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068029 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 07:43:25 +0000 BananaPancakes 2068029@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did rice cereal at every feed by our ped's recommendation and it really did turn things around. And DS's ped preferred not going to any medications of we could avoid them because of side effects, so I can see that your GI might just be on the conservative side, as well. But follow your gut and push for the Prilosec if you really think it's best. I remember feeling so helpless during the time we were tying to fight out what to do. The doctors don't have to deal with it all day so it's hard to see them so calm when your baby is crying his heart out after every feed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gi-specialist-consult-for-reflux-questions-for-reflux-mamas#post-2068023 Fri, 13 Feb 2015 07:37:40 +0000 winniebee 2068023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I posted a few weeks ago about getting referred to a pediatric gi specialist for Rs reflux. He is a spitter upper but more than that, he is very uncomfortable after feeds (arching, whimpering, grunting, never falls asleep nursing anymore). This has been going on since 5 weeks and he's now 9w. Been on Zantac since 6 weeks x2 a day with no improvement to his discomfort (but sleep which was horrendous is a little better now but I also cut dairy and have made some changes to his sleep schedule and arrangements). </p> <p>Had GI consult yesterday. Classic reflux diagnosis. GI doc wants to try Zantac x3 a day for a week to see if it helps before going to Prilosec. I sort of just want to go straight to Prilosec but for some reason he was steering me away from it. Main reason is he says Zantac x3 is really effective. Side effects of Prilosec can be more serious. Also said could try rice cereal Ina bottle feed once a day....which I'm not keen on at only 2 mos.....</p> <p>I am a little disappointed and feel like the rice cereal suggestion at 2 months has made me feel very skeptical of this specialist. </p> <p>Thoughts? </p>