Acid Reflux: Symptoms & Treatments

[Charis]

Hey, does anyone have any natural ways to treat reflux in babies? My son was sent to the neonatal unit 1 day after his home birth. he had finished nursing and about an hour later started chocking on some pale orangeish colored mucusy stuff. The color of my colostrum which was all he was getting at this point. Any way he turned blue and wouldn't breath. I gave him oxygen via mouth to mouth after failed attempts to clear his airway. This finally worked and by then the paramedics had arrived. They sent him to a local emergency room where they poked and prodded and the pediatrician on call, who does not like women or midwives, immediately "assumed" that he was septic. Any way  after an 8 day stay in the neonatal with a plethora of tests, including an upper GI barium, all the tests came back negative. They put him on regglan and discharged him with a prescription which I did not fill. Regglan has some of the same side effects as an anti-depressant! He was an extremely cranky baby. I discovered that my drinking milk was causing his fussiness. He has been a different child since I quit drinking milk!? He also gets regular chiropractic adjustments which help with his infrequent bowel movements. Please! Any information will help! He is 5 months old now

[mamasboys]

Was he diagnosed with reflux when he was born?  Is he still spitting up most of his feedings?  Are you breast feeding or supplementing with formula? 
My oldest son spit up horribly even after he was a year old and it looked like most of what he drank.  When he was about 6 mos old I finally figured out he had a milk allergy and put him on soy which turned out to be even worse!  If you are breastfeeding, I would follow an elimination diet and cut out all common allergens from your diet and keep a journal and see if you notice any changes in him.  Common allergens are dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, wheat but also keep in mind that food additives and colors are allergens as well.  I've also found that my son reacts to pasturized homogonized milk but not raw cows milk.
If you are using formula or supplementing with formula, I would recommend using goats milk intstead.  Its proteins are closest to mothers milk and easier on the tummy than formula or cows milk.  If you can find a source for raw goat milk, then that's even better! 
Finally but most importantly, pray!  After watching my son suffer for 2 years (along with throwing up he also had horrible eczema that constantly itched and bled) he was finally diagnosed with severe allergies.  I mean he was even allergic to apples and bananas!  I prayed and sought out scriptrures about healing, brought him forward in church to be prayed for and annointed several times.  It was the day that I brought him forward and just gave him to the Lord to do with as He pleased that he was finally healed.  I felt like Hannah giving Samuel to the priest. 
Within a week his symptoms cleared up and when I took him to the doctor, all of his allergy tests came back negative!!  Praise God!  He is 6 years old now and gets an occasional bout of eczema on his legs when he plays outside in the grass but an adjustment at the chiropractor clears it up! 
I know how hard it is to watch your baby suffer.  I will be praying for you and your son.
God Bless!

[Charis]

Thanks for your prayers! He had an upper GI Barium to test for reflux when he was 5 days old. It came back negative, but they told me that often times they do. They put him on regglan while we were in the nicu, but as I wrote before, I took him off of it when he came home. It did nothing for the spitting up any way though. I only breastfeed and have eliminated dairy from my diet. My husband has found a source of fresh cow's milk from a friend so I might try that. I didn't know about the wheat and eggs though! So what can I eat? lol. My oldest daughter spit up a lot, but it was always right after she ate, not hours later like he is doing. His weight gain is great and he thankfully has no skin problems. I'll probably lose the extra pounds I need to with such a limited diet . Thanks for the info!

[mamasboys]

If you live close to a Trader Joes or Whole Foods or even just a good health food store then you have access to a whole variety of substitutions.  Spelt is a great substitute for wheat and is great for baking and breads.  You can also get a powdered egg substitute to use in baking recipes and do rice milk instead of soy.  Soy is a very common allergen as well and I would avoid it if you can.  There is a whole range of nut butters that can be used in place of peanut butter as well like almond, sesame and cashew butter.  Even someone with a peanut allergy can sometimes still have almond and cashew butter because they are tree nuts and your body often times reacts differently to those than to peanuts which grow in the ground.
Just try 1 mos of limiting your diet and keep a journal and see if you notice a change in his spitting up.  If not, well, you might just have a spitter on your hands.  As long as he is gaining weight and thriving, then I really wouldn't worry about it too much unless you feel like he is in pain due to a medical issue.  If your daughter was a spitter as well, then it might just be a genetic thing that they grow out of. 
One thing I did with my 2nd son (since I was so scared of having another with allergies!) was to hold off introducing solid foods until he was older.  If you introduce solids too early, they can develop allergies as well which might contribute to his spitting.   I'd start with making a homemade brown rice cereal (white rice is also an allergen, but brown rice is not).  We grind brown rice in a coffee grinder until it is powdery then add 1/4 c. to each cup of boiling water.  Boil 5 minutes and viola!  Homemade, healthy and a lot cheaper than buying rice cereal at the store.  Plus it's a great hot cereal for breakfast - my husband's favorite!  Add a bit of milk, some honey or brown sugar.... yum!
Anyway, I hope I'm not innundating you with too much here.  I spent several years educating myself about all this (we are in a small town and don't have a local allergist to provide any information) so I try to help out other mommies who might have kids with allergies.  If your son isn't showing any other signs (cradle cap?  Atopic dermatitis?) and is just spitting up, then it's pretty likely that he isn't anymore predisposed to allergies than the next kid, but I know as a mom that it's easier to handle when you feel like you can 'do' something.  And hey, it would certainly be a good way to lose those post-pg pounds!  haha! 
Good luck!!

[Charis]

Thank you! Thank you! I love this sight! I was given the book to "Train Up a Child" by my midwife to see if I thought it was something she should give to all her ladies. WOW! I've since found so much helpfull info from all of the suggested websights. I have 5 kids, 9,7,5,3,& 5 months! We live in the country and I stay at home, so this as all been so exciting! I feel like a new mom and wife. Thank you Jesus. I can't wait till my supermom gets here and I am looking forward to doing all the cleanses when I am through breastfeeding ( which will be a while lol) .  And yes she should give that book to every mom she knows! We might just start a revival! Love in Christ

[mamasboys]

This is awesome!  I wasn't sure if I was the only one who stumbled here from No Greater Joy or not but this is awesome to have so many like-minded people in one place to help and encourage one another. 
I have 3 boys 6, 4 & 16 mos, at home mommy and live in the country as well.  It's saturday morning and my boys are getting a special treat of a video (so daddy can sleep in).  Their dad just got up and walked in the room and Josh said "Yea!  Dad's up, now we can go finish taking out that stump in the back"     I love that they prefer digging holes to watching videos!

[4myhoonie]

Hi Charis, just posting my 2 cents worth.  my Conner is 9 mo now, but used to spit up a lot (breastfed too) and could be uncomfortable or spit up hours after the feeding too when he was littler.  i connect his troubles with mine, as i have had food allergies and digestive problems for a long time.  i have been getting accupuncture for it which helps us both.  also i have been giving him 1/2 caplet of tummy tune up (beeyoutiful.com) daily in his baby food (room temp) and it really helps to keep him regular.  just thought this might help your baby with his infrequent bowel movements.  you could try other acidopholis supplements, but i've used this one or Natren's Bifido Factor with no problem.  it also has helped Conner to be less fussy.  i like both of these kinds cuz they're not dairy based.  Natren has one for babies, but it's milk based.  sounds like a really scary time you had when your baby was very small, the kind we all hope not to have.  sure glad you were able to save him! 

[healthybratt]

Common allergens are dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, wheat

and...strawberries, tomatoes, and shellfish.

[Helen]

My baby threw up all the time, projectile vomiting, untill I put him on Goats milk, I used the canned,

[cbrownell]

Hey--I had a friend who had big healthy spitters for babies.  Fine now, but she got tired of changing her clothes.

   My premie had reflux, we gave him a baby zantac perscription and he was fiine.  We also had to keep him upright in a swing or seat and elevate his crib at one end.

 My daughter did well on goat's milk, canned, from Publix (7 years ago)

[cbrownell]

Another thought--if your baby goes blue--clear the airway before blowing in.  I learned the hard way and tried for horrid minutes to get him breathing.    YOU HAVE TO TILT THE HEAD WAY DOWN  for a minute and give some pats .   For all you mommies -good to know.    (He's fine now)

[Honey Bee]

For those who have babies with reflux, here is my experience.  My second son was born premature and suffered reflux until he was 9 months old. 

WE tummy slept him on an incline, I ate a very mild diet and breastfed him and we gave him prevacid which reduced his stomach acid.  This worked fairly well until my milk wasn't enough sustenance for him. 

When we introduced rice cereal, HE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH STOMACH ACID to digest food.  So, we stopped using the prevacid and put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a bottle of expressed milk to ADD ACID to his belly.  It worked great.  We did this twice a day for about two months.  By a year, my son did not have reflux.

[heuwood7]

I have a spit-up question for you.  My son is almost 5 months old and has had reflux since he was born.  When he was first born we supplemented a little with some liquid Similac before we addressed the reflux problem and he did fine with the formula.  He seemed to digest it well.  We then put him on Zantac but he still spits up a lot.  I, too have been thinking that my milk is just not enough for him now, but since he's been on Zantac, we have tried twice with the powder Similac and he has vomited PROFUSELY both times.  This past week we thought maybe it was the Similac and so we tried liquid Good Start, since it has those comfort proteins, but he did the SAME THING.  We actually took him to the ER because he vomited so much we were afraid he would be dehydrated.  My husband thinks that it's the Zantac that's doing it, so we are weening him now.  What are your thoughts and what would you do?

[nursegirl]

To the previous poster:

Zantac does nothing to help prevent reflux.  All it does is decrease the acidity of the stomach contents so that when reflux does occur, it doesn't cause as much damage to the esophagus.  I'm not sure about why he's spitting up the Similac so much, but if he is I would stop giving it.  If you feel like your milk is not enough for him, start him on some solid foods.  He's probably ready at his age.  Most people start with rice cereal, but I'm not convinced that that's necessary.  You could try mashed banana, squash, sweet potatoes, whatever your heart desires.  The key is to just introduce one food every few days, in case he has an allergic reaction to something, you'll know right away. 

My son also has reflux.  He was three months premature, and his is bad enough to cause a choking cough, and slowed weight gain.  So we have him on the Reglan and Zantac.  The Reglan really seems to help. 

You probably know this already, but always try to keep him inclined for at least 30 minutes after a feeding, and try to get his crib on an incline by elevating one end.  If he spits up with breast milk and formula, I think he's probably just a spitter.  If he gains weight well and doesn't choke on it, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  My first spit up ALL THE TIME and she gained weight and ate like a champ.  HTH!

Sarah

[healthybratt]

Here's some info from an article I just found.  Very interesting.

from HerbalHealer.com 
ACID REFLUX IS NOT A DISEASE!!!!

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or chronic heartburn is a serious problem that is on the rise. It is diagnosed by conventional doctors and their treatments vary from the new FDA approved invasive endoscopic/radio frequency bombardment to sedation drugs to simple over the counter Malox taken daily. I have heard the doctors say that you should raise up your bed at night and sleep upright as a solution! GERD afflicts more than 14 million US adults. The most common symptoms are significant heartburn and acid regurgitation, which can be triggered by acidic foods or ordinary exercise. If left untreated it is directly linked to esophageal cancer.

Now, I want you to know that in my professional experience as a healer and naturopath dealing with this ailment on a daily basis worldwide, I can tell you this is not a disease, it is a symptom of chronic candida (yeast) infection that in most cases is systemic (in the blood stream). The fungus backs up in the small intestine and causes gas, bloating, reflux, etc. It literally ferments the food and makes it very hard for proper digestion...

[Pennie]

You know Doug Kafumann is of the belief that all disease begins with fungus.(which seems to begin in the gut) THUS the name of his book The Fungus Link. I have believed it for awhile and with all the articles you seem to pull hb, I am believing it even more b/c now I see it coming from other sources as well.

[Mrs. Dugger]

My baby sounds just like yours.  Except he did not have to go to the hospital.  His choking never got that bad.  He is just fine now, but for the first month he was super cranky, spit up constantly, choked, etc.  Our doctor said it is common for babies to do that and it will peak at 6 weeks, and either go away, or if it continues, then they would consider testing for acid reflux.  Anyway, all his symptoms, except for occasional spitting up, went completely away within one week of me cutting out all problem foods from my diet.  I am personally allergic to wheat (BTW, spelt is a form of wheat, so truly allergic individuals CANNOT eat spelt as a substitute for wheat).  I cut out all dairy, citrus, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, chocolate, coffee, caffine, soy, peanuts, eggs, and seafood.  I ate a lot of green salads, beef, and brown rice.  It was SO AMAZING, the difference in him!  It was like night and day.  He turned into a happy baby. 

I had the flu once when he was about 6 or 7 weeks old, and I did NOT feel like nursing, I was SO SICK, so my hubby gave him a bottle of formula.  He broke out in a pimply rash and was super cranky and got REALLY congested from it.  A few days later, I ate some cheese, and sure enough, the same thing happened.  Anyway, long story short, he's sensitive to dairy.  So maybe you could try eliminating that.  But anything you eliminate, give it two weeks to get out of your (and his) system.

Now I can eat anything except dairy and he's fine.

[MicheleL]

Our son turns 5 in November and has been through a series of testing (several years ago) at the hospital and we were told he has severe reflux.  He has also been through allergy testing and is allergic to milk and has eczema.  He drinks goat's milk and eats goat's cheese daily and does well with it.  However, he has been on medication for reflux now for 2 years and we would appreciate a natural remedy and worry about him being on medication for his entire life.  We'd so appreciate hearing about alternative options.  Thank you and blessings, Michele

[healthybratt]

Our son turns 5 in November and has been through a series of testing (several years ago) at the hospital and we were told he has severe reflux.  He has also been through allergy testing and is allergic to milk and has eczema.  He drinks goat's milk and eats goat's cheese daily and does well with it.  However, he has been on medication for reflux now for 2 years and we would appreciate a natural remedy and worry about him being on medication for his entire life.  We'd so appreciate hearing about alternative options.  Thank you and blessings, Michele

In my opinion, you should treat him for candida and leaky gut syndrome.  He has many of the symptoms.  Read this thread Leaky Gut - The Cause of it All for all the information you'll need to treat these problems.

[amom3boys]

My son's ped. wants to put him on Reglan for his reflux. Because of the scarey side effects,I'm not ready to do that. I have read that digestive enzymes help empty the stomach faster just like the Reglan would. Can anybody give any advise about this?
Also,are digestive enzymes the same as probiotics?
Thanks,
Rachel

[healthybratt]

Also,are digestive enzymes the same as probiotics?

No, enzymes are virtually proteins.  Probiotics are bacteria found in fermented foods and naturally in healthy intestines.

If your baby has reflux, there's a good chance he has candida or leaky gut as reflux is a symptom of these.

Here's an article with more info.  ACID REFLUX IS NOT A DISEASE

[ShabbyChic]

SO, so, so glad you posted this question, Rachel.  You are not alone.

My almost 6 mo. old son has had TERRIBLE spitting up since he was born.  He cried for the first 8 days of his life until he was diagnosed with GERD.  I was given Axid for him to take, and we gave it to him just before bed (when it was worst) for about 2 months before I stopped.  He still spits up like crazy, and I am simultaneously so frustrated by it and feel sorry for him at the same time.  He is still 100% breastfed, and I am convicted that the spitting up is because I craved chocolate so much when I was pregnant with him and since he has been born.  It relaxes me.  But eating it actually causes him strife which is what has been stressing me!  It makes so much sense! 

I don't mean to split the thread, but how do I detox (for my breastmilk)?  I've heard that detoxing is not recommended while breastfeeding.

Thanks, HB, for that link.  I ordered the tummy tune-up and the supermom.  And we've never had a microwave.

[abbilynn]

Houston Neutraceuticals has enzymes.  I don't know what the dosage would be, but check out their site houstonni.com.  They have different ones and an explanation for what each one does.  They come in chewables so they are easy for kids to take.  There's also Enzymatica (don't know their site).  Definently check on the yeast thing though. 

[seeker]

My 2nd and 3rd babies both had reflux. The 2nd was not put on the meds until he was 4 months old. I resisted the meds before that, but didn't know anything about reflux. I didn't realize that the reason he was crying all the time was because he was in such pain. Finally, at 4 months, he was not gaining weight properly, so we did the meds. I recognized my 3rd child's reflux symptoms right away. She was put on the meds at about 3 or 4 weeks of age.  I had to wean both of them off of the meds and did that at about 18 months or so. My 4th baby has some reflux symptoms, but I am determined to not put her on the meds if I can help it. I know that many times reflux is from an immature esophageal sphincter, so I am hoping she will outgrow the reflux. I have also wondered about using digestive enzymes (or any other more natural way to help with reflux symptoms). I have tried something called Colic Calm. I feel like my baby got SOME relief from it. I did not give her as much as the bottle said though and I haven't used it very much. However there is at least one other mom on this forum that did not have a good experience with Colic Calm and said she will never use it again. Every baby is different! I'm sorry that I don't have any advice to give on the enzymes. Just know that you are not alone. It's heart-breaking to have an uncomfortable baby that you can't help.

[AgainstTheGrain]

I don't mean to split the thread, but how do I detox (for my breastmilk)?  I've heard that detoxing is not recommended while breastfeeding.

ShabbyChic - be careful with SuperMom while breastfeeding. I tried it a few weeks ago when my baby was only 5 weeks old (he's now 11 weeks) and I only did 1/4 of the dosage (1/2 tablet) a day and he still broke out in a rash on his face and abdomen. Your toxins leave your body by way of breastmilk, so they go from you to him   Since he's older you may be ok - i have a friend who is fine taking it at full dosage with her 6mo daughter. You may want to start out slow to minimize any reaction.  Just some thoughts for ya!

[ShabbyChic]

Thanks, AgainstTheGrain!  I'll keep an eye out 

[Honey Bee]

For those who have babies with reflux, here is my experience.  My second son was born premature and suffered reflux until he was 9 months old.

WE tummy slept him on an incline, I ate a very mild diet and breastfed him and we gave him prevacid which reduced his stomach acid.  This worked fairly well until my milk wasn't enough sustenance for him.

When we introduced rice cereal, HE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH STOMACH ACID to digest food.  So, we stopped using the prevacid and put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a bottle of expressed milk to ADD ACID to his belly. It worked great.  We did this twice a day for about two months.  By a year, my son did not have reflux.

[healthybratt]

I would like to let you ladies know that I've discovered that antiacids can be detrimental if you're not careful.  I know you have to decide what's best for baby but if they take too much antiacids, you will run into the problem of not enough acids and sometimes this can be a permanent condition which will damage something called the "intrinsic factor" in the gut.  If damaged, you can suffer deficiencies of certain nutrients, specifically B12 as well as other digestive disorders.  I haven't researched this heavily but it's worth looking into.

[Rita]

I use to work for a nutritionist who always suggested aloe vera juice for reflux.  The results were amazing in the adults who used this.  However, I don't know if it is okay for infants. 

[ShabbyChic]

Okay this is going to sound stupid--- but to drink the aloe vera juice?  I've seen it in the big jugs that is the kind you drink and not the kind with litacaine, etc.  What would a dosage look like?  Is it something you can have too much of?