Your Baby and Reflux

Doctors say that every baby has reflux, but each baby has a different severity of it.  With Lucas, I'd say we were somewhere in the middle-top.  Lucas spit up a fair amount from the very beginning of life, but by the time he reached 3 weeks old, he started becoming very fussy.  One day, Jeremy left to go to work, and Lucas started screaming.  After an hour, I had to call Jeremy and ask him to leave work to come home because Lucas still had not stopped screaming, no matter what I did to soothe him.  When we addressed the issue at the doctors, they did not think he had a reflux problem because most of the time he was a happy healthy baby, and he was still gaining weight at a significant pace.  However, it soon became clear to me that after each feeding, Lucas would spend about half an hour fussing, and nighttime feedings became very difficult.

When you research reflux, one of the first things they tell you is to keep your child in an elevated position for half an hour after a feeding.  This became increasingly difficult for me as a new mom.  Lucas' nighttime feedings were averaging 20-40 minutes.  Between feeding Lucas, and then holding him and burping him for a half hour, usually by the time I was "able" to put him back down in his bassinet, he was awake and ready for another feeding.  I was scared at first to try falling asleep while feeding or holding him.  He was so tiny, I was scared I was going to crush him.  Finally, I found a perfect arrangement with my Boppy pillow and my body pillow, that actually held my arms up while I held Lucas.  I would slightly recline while holding him in the burping position, and allow myself to doze off a bit while patting his back.  This worked for awhile.
One day, Lucas began screaming again, and projectile vomiting.  We took him to the ER and they diagnosed him with pyloric stenosis.  When we went back to our pediatrician a few days later to inform him, he finally admitted that Lucas may have some reflux despite his happy disposition and weight gain.  He prescribed Lucas some Zantac, which helped so quickly, we actually ended up only using it for about a month.
There were several other methods we used to help alleviate Lucas' symptoms.  The problem with reflux is how uncomfortable it makes your poor child.  Here are a few tips and tricks to help get you through the first few months with a baby that has reflux.

Reflux Tricks-

Don't shy away from the medicine- I know it seems rash to give your newborn medicine
when they are so little, but it really does make a difference.

Elevate their sleeping area- Whether you use a wedge, or a towel, or even let them sleep a few nights in
                     the car seat, it will make them much more comfortable.

Test out different relievers- Try gripe water, gas relief drops, or different reflux medications like Zantac,
                     Prevacid, etc.

Sitting Position- When possible, hold your child in the sitting position instead of laying them on the floor.
                     This is what made the most difference for us.  Once we got used to having Lucas "sit" on our
                      lap during playtime, we didn't need the Zantac anymore.

Check your diet- Try eliminating some of the items that can make babies fussy such as milk, spicy foods,                          gluten, and broccoli. (My personal advice is not to go completely crazy here.  You need your
                     own nourishment as well, depriving yourself of things you enjoy can make you crazy, which
                     isn't good either, do this in moderation.  Try it out, see if it makes a difference, and if not move
                     on).

The Cereal Debate- I will get into cereal on a different blog post for a different day, but it is something that
                    some people/doctors recommend for helping with reflux.  My suggestion is talk to your doctor
                    about it, and then use your own instincts to decide whether or not you want to do it.

Pacifier-  This is controversial as well, but our doctor suggested we introduce a pacifier for Lucas so that
                   he was not overeating and aggravating his reflux.  The first few days he wanted nothing to do
                   with it, but then he eventually took to it and it did help.  Instead of using me as a human pacifier,
                   he nursed.  He continued to gain weight normally, and seemed less fussy in general.

More Frequent But Shorter Feedings- Try to burp your child in between feedings, and see if they are
                   willing to have a shorter feeding in exchange for feeding them more often.  One of the things that
                   made a difference for Lucas was for me to decrease his nighttime feedings once he was old
                   enough as well. He ended up sleeping much better, probably because his stomach pain wasn't
                   waking him up in the middle of the night.

Trust your Instincts and Try Different Methods- If you have a feeling something might work, give it 3
                   days. If it seems to cause improvement, continue it; if not, move onto the next thing.  Also, if
                   something didn't work once, try it again a few weeks later.  Babies change so often, and what
                   didn't work last month may help now.  Also don't be afraid of them becoming reliant.  If you
                   allow your baby to sleep a couple of weeks in their swing or car seat or even in your arms, that
                   does not mean they will never be willing to sleep in their crib.  Do what is best for your baby
                   and alleviates their pain, and worry about the rest when the reflux isn't as severe.  Trust your
                   instincts and do what you can for your baby.