[sheela]

Hi all,
I am new to this thread. My twins ( a boy and a girl) are now 5 weeks old. and they were born premature at 33 weeks. They both were in NICU for 17 days and both of them came home together. my little girl, Pankti had the reflux from the beginning. She grunts constantly all the time and she spits up too. But the amount she spits up is not that much , just alittle . But now after a month her reflux is getting worst. She is upto 3 -4 oz formula or breastmilk every 3 hours. And she started getting the stuff coming out from her nose and mouth with the reflux. And when it comes out from her nose i feel like she can't breath, but she clears it up by herself. So i am really confused. Is she breathing while she is spitting up or not? I really can't figure it out. Please share ur experiece with me. My little guy. Parv is little better than her sister. But he is also following her footsteps and going in the same direction , they both are on 0.4 ml zantac twice a day. I don't think so its helping that much. I keep them elevated all the time so that they can sleep peacefully. But during the sleep also they are making the grunting noise and arching theri backs. I do have ane appointment with GAstrointerologist next week adn i am going for their UPPER GI test also. But i am feeling very worried b/c of the reflux they are having. Is this normal with premature babies? And when it will go away? Please let me know if any of you have been through such an experience.
thanks
Sheela

[Kellileanne]

I think premies are much more likely to have reflux--I think it is from the connection between the esophagus(sp?) and stomach isn't as strong as a full term infant. Caitlin was born at 37 weeks but was iugr (check my siggy). We ended up on soy formula. She still has her days but she is sooooo much better. The doctor said that most babies that have trouble with regular formula still have the problem with soy because the protiens are soo similar. Well, it made a difference with my little girl. I don't know if you have tried different formulas or not but that is the route we took, meds didn't help. From what I understand, the meds just make it to where it doesn't hurt the baby as much, protects their throat but doesn't actually stop the reflux. Maybe different meds are different.

Hope my ramblings helped! LOL, if you have questions let me know!

[JustPeachy]

My son Aiden has pretty bad reflux and it definitely hit it's worse around the 2-3 month marker. We started on the zantac but quickly wound up on baby Prevacid and that has helped tremendously. We also use a special Similac formula called Alimentum. Crazy expensive but between that and the prevacid my baby was a different person in a week. The spitting up definitely got much better around 5 months when he started only wanting the bigger bottles every 4 hours instead of 3 ounces every 2.5 hours. Definitely tell the Ped. if this isn't working. We had to try 3 different medicines before we found the right combination. If it's a particularly bad day, you can also give the babies Mylanta. Buy just reg. strength reg. flavor and you can give them 1ml. Check with your Ped. but mine recommended this up to 3 times a day. Just don't do it within 2 hours of the prevacid or zantac b/c they will conteract each other. Good luck!! It does get much better once you find the right medicine and formula for your babies. The crying and grunting will stop and you will start to see lots of smiles!

[Kellileanne]

I forgot to say, we thought Caitlin had colic--it was reflux the whole time! She didn't spit up much at all but always had wet burps and would scream at the top of her lungs for 30 minutes or more. Then I think around 2 months old she started spitting up a lot! We can't use gas drops because they make her puke. It is crazy!

[amyccb]

It is interesting you say that about spitting up, because my little girl also had acid reflux but it was silent so she barely ever spit up. Finally around 2 months the doctor diagnosed her with acid reflux and put her on zantac, and now she throws up but is a much happier baby. I would try maybe a different formula they have RS sensative in similac it is made with rice starch, we use similac sensative and just add the rice to the bottles it is supposed to help keep the formula thicker and stay down in the belly. I am not sure if the zantac caused her to throw up or not but it sure has made a difference in her. I would call the doctor and just explain what is going on and see if they have any suggestions for you. She was not a preemie but was born at 37 weeks.

[cathyh]

my nephew had the same problem they thought is was reflux but he began losing to much weight he was only 1 month old he needed surgery to correct a problem within his esphogus. He was much better after and only had mild spit up after that.

Cathy

[keepthefaith]

Sheela,
well i am a mom to a 2 yr old born @ 24wk and am a pro at this reflux thing.
yes very common in preemies, most babes grow out of it by one yr. my daughter came home at 38wks(mid oct 06) had it in the nicu for most of the time, and was on reason she took so long to get off oxygen while in there. she was on prilosec while in the nicu but came off before coming home. after being home about 4wk i started to notice she was not taking as much( she drank pumped breast milk fortified with preemie formula to 24cal) then she started to show the true signs that it was reflux to the extreme, acid out the nose, hiccups,short scream like cries in the middle of sleeping. any ways long story short as possible, she was put back on prilosec, it help but not a lot,by January she was admitted and labeled failure to thrive , and with docs saying we don't know what is wrong or what you should do. well that got me in a up roar.
i brought her home and found all my own tricks to get food it her, i refused to get a g-tube placed, yes it was(is) a lot of work to get the food it but to keep it in was(is) a bigger problem,(to me the g-tube was a quick fix to only half a problem)
we have gone to lots of docs,specialist etc., we have been on prilosec, axid, and now prevacid, along with meds to help empty her tummy faster, and make her hungry.( at one yr she was doing better but the it came back worst then ever), she is now 2, we are pros at getting food in and keeping it in most the time, but it has affected so much including how we put her to bed and everything, she can not be aloud to cry hard because it will cause her to throw up even several hrs after eating etc.. she has a hard time with food texture and still need most things mushed up but thing get a little better everyday. she is up to25lbs and is finally at the 10% on a chart, we are oh so proud of her an all the things she as gone though in her short life she is a miracle to us.
my suggestions are: if you feel the meds don't work try different ones they all effect everyone a little different.
go to the specialist if they send you home with more ? than answers go to someone else.
keep fighting for your babies, no one knows them like you, you are their advocate and don't let anyone try to you that what you are seeing is different than what you see!
my tip if it gets harder to feed then, feed them when they are asleep, this was the only way we could ever get milk or any liquid in her till around 9m,then she would take it a wake some times, but after about a yr you can't do it as much because they lose the natural reflex.
hope i didn't over load you! let me know how the upper GI goes. and if things get worst i got plenty of tip and suggestions.
p.s. it does get a little better for them with solids. oh also do you use binkys? the constent suck swollow helps it to keep the acid down and will help them to clear it out of their noses and throats. my dd was a binkaholic as we like to say, it always helped, she had it 24/7 and we would not have made it though the first yr without it!

[megsc]

Uggh, I feel for you! C did Zantac and then we added Reglan but I don't think that helped much at all and ultimately we landed on the dreaded Nutramegen (Enphamil's version of Aliumentum (sp?)) and it does cost a fortune but goodness, she was SO much happier and a lot less spitting w/ in a couple of days. We tried everything from "lite formula" to soy and nothing worked. She totally outgrew the spitting at about 9 months and the spitting at maybe 5-6 months. Good luck.

[jenedens6102]

Sheela, my son had reflux for the first four months. Started about two weeks old and lasted until he was four months old. His pediatrician recommended keeping him upright for 20 minutes after feedings, so the food processes down and not sitting flat on his tummy just waiting to come back up. Also, in their beds roll or fold up some blankets for an incline. Again, laying them at an incline will help to keep the milk processing down. Also, be adament about their burpings. Ethan was and is a trouble burper. Try all the different positions you can think of and make sure they give you big strong burps, the little ones don't always get the job done. Ethan was a projectile vomiter from the start. It made him a little fussy here and there but he never went through a weight loss or refused feedings. They may also recommend a thicker formula. Ethan was on Enfamil AR for a while but that didn't help him but did help his cousin who is a day older.