signs and symptoms of reflux?

[SeekerMage]

What are they? Can you point me in the right direction of what to look for, if its all the time etc?

I would recommend doing an advanced search in the old feeding forum on reflux because there is so much good info there... but to get you started, the classic signs are:

arching back and crying while eating
lots of spit up (sometimes not)
fussy all day and night
has a hard time sleeping
seeing thick clear mucous in the mouth after laying down
more distressed after eating

Those are just a few signs. I don't remember how old your baby is... we discovered it in Sara sometime between 6-8 weeks of age and she's been medicated for it ever since. Even now, she still needs meds although, in theory, htey are suppsoed to grow out of it between 6-12 monhts.

If you think your babe's got it, I would go see your ped. Never hurts to go and have a look. Good luck.

[mmaimp]

My son is a reflux baby. He was diagnosed at 4 weeks old. We were actually at a doctor’s appointment when he projectile vomited and then cried and cried. I told the nurse and doc that he spit up a lot and was not the happy baby I took home! But they did not believe me till they saw it themselves. He was put on Zantac and within a week his happy disposition returned. We weaned him off the Zantac at 9 months.

I noticed that he hiccup often, still does, and I can also hear his food repeat on him without always coming up and out. The spitting up / vomiting got much better once solids were started. He still throws up about 2-3 week but this is much better than the 15 - 20 times a day we were at. He is BF, though almost weaned to whole milk, and we tried pumping and thickening but that did not work. My doctor was supportive of BF because he gained weight at a good rate but family had lots of concerns. I had about 50 bibs and did laundry all the time. There are some formulas that seem to do better than others per what I’ve read on the web.

We also tried raising the head of his bassinet and then crib but I did not notice a difference. Some of his best naps were in his infant car seat but we did not use it at night. When he was very small he slept propped on his left side. Once he could roll over he slept on this tummy, I tried to keep him on his back but he would flip over every night. This may have provided some relief for him.

I think it can be very difficult to get a doctor to diagnose reflux if the baby is gaining weight. My son did not have any tests and did not need surgery. There are some babies are very sick and need many medical interventions. There is lots of information on the web if you do a search for infant reflux. It can also be called GER or GERD. There are message boards for infant reflux. There also are other meds if Zantac does not work.

I have a happy and healthy 12 month old but I’m lucky that his reflux was not serve and treatable.

Sorry this is so long. Please let me know if you have other questions, I may be able to help.

[Rachels]

For Abigail, the major symptoms were arching and struggling at the breast, trouble sleeping, gassiness, frequent hiccups, VERY frequent nursing, etc. She never spit up, and the symptoms come and go depending on how active the reflux is. She is very happy and good-natured and never fussed much, but when she lay down, things fell apart.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[jbowman]

Those are exactly the symptoms that Ellie had--I never thought a child could hiccup so much! The tiny amount of Prevacid we give her has done wonders!

[chlobo]

Does the crying occur mostly when you lay them down on their backs AFTER eating?

The reason I ask is that lately DD has taken to crying when we lay her down on the changing table when she gets up in the morning. Naturally, she has an empty stomach at this time and has had a full night sleep. I would have expected that she would be happy but she cries every day. She also sometimes cries after nursing but only for a minute or so. Do I just have a tempremental baby? Or could this be reflux?

[jbowman]

My daughter often showed signs of discomfort after eating, but was fussy at other times as well (sorry, that's not much help!). Does your daughter have any of the other symptoms? I would watch her and if you're concerned, ask your ped.