Reflux Tips from the Baby Whisperer

How to know if your baby has reflux along with common symptoms of reflux. Get tips on treating reflux and know what to do and what not to do.

Baby on tummy getting back rubbed

In The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems, Tracy Hogg discusses reflux. This post includes information from the book as well as my own added thoughts since Kaitlyn had reflux.

WHAT IS REFLUX?

page 111
Reflux is basically heartburn. The sphincter in the esophagus is immature and doesn’t close properly. This causes food to come back up. With food comes stomach acid, which causes burning. If you have ever had heartburn, you know how uncomfortable this is. Imagine having it at all times.


Read: Babywise and Reflux


HOW DO YOU KNOW IF BABY HAS REFLUX?

page 111
Reflux can be tricky to diagnose in the beginning. The symptoms and reactions vary in babies. Plus, babies spit up. Spitting up even after every meal is normal for a baby without reflux.

These factors increase the likelihood for reflux:

  • Baby was breach
  • Baby had cord wrapped around neck during delivery
  • Baby was premature
  • Baby was jaundiced
  • Baby was low-birth weight
  • Baby was delivered via c-section
  • Baby has a family history of reflux

Here is a list of symptoms for babies with reflux. Baby will not necessarily have all of these:

  • Baby has a hard time eating a full feeding
  • Baby might sputter and choke
  • Baby might spit up or projectile-vomit a few minutes after eating
  • Baby might spit up as long as an hour after a feeding
  • Baby might have explosive poops (but most babies do 🙂 )
  • Baby might be hard to burp
  • Baby is only content (or most content) in an upright position
  • Baby screams when put in a flat position
  • Baby does not need to spit up in order to have reflux. This is called silent reflux.

Baby and reflux pinnable image

HOW DO YOU TREAT REFLUX?

Do Not

  • Jiggle baby. This can move acid up into the esophagus.
  • Burp too roughly. Again, this can move acid up the esophagus.
  • Avoid burping. Trapped gas in the tummy does not help baby feel better.

Do (page 113)

  • See your doctor. While reflux is getting to be more understood, it is still highly misunderstood and surrounded with many myths. If your doctor doesn’t think it is reflux but you do, get a second opinion. You can see a pediatric gastroenterologist.
  • Elevate Mattress. This is the Crib Wedge we used. I put it under the mattress. You could also try extra blankets under the mattress. I also used this Sleep Positioner to help keep Kaitlyn in place. One of my best friends used this Sleep Positioner/Wedge Combo for her baby with reflux. I borrowed it and tried it with Kaitlyn. It worked well, but it made Kaitlyn really hot. She hated to be hot (she even hated wearing socks), so it didn’t work for us. It would have been great for McKenna. If your baby has severe reflux, you might need something more elevated. See Crib Wedges on Amazon to see the different options out there.
  • Burp Gently. Patting can create spit up. Hogg suggests you rub the left side of his back in a circular motion.
  • Watch Feeds. Avoid overfeeding. If baby is fussy after a feed (common in the reflux baby), try using a pacifier to soothe–especially if you are bottle feeding. Many reflux babies find sucking comforting.
  • Solids. Hogg says to not give solids sooner than 6 months with the reflux baby. She doesn’t think it helps. I, however, found it did help with Kaitlyn. I know moms who say it did help and those who say it didn’t. I think this is a matter best discussed with your baby’s doctor.
  • Hang In There! Many babies start to improve around 4 months of age. 8 months is another milestone. Most are done with reflux by one year of age, though some do continue beyond that.
  • Consider Meds. See section below.

Read: How To Help Your Reflux Baby Sleep


MY EXPERIENCE WITH REFLUX

When Brayden was a baby, he spit up a total of two times his entire first year of life. Seriously. Reflux was definitely never considered with him.

Kaitlyn had reflux. I don’t know if I would have caught it myself, at least for a while. She had silent reflux. She obviously spit up a lot, but almost always swallowed it down. Sometimes she worked so hard to keep it down it ended up coming out of her nose. She never cried. She always handled it well. Kaitlyn was in the NICU when first born (turned out there was nothing wrong with her). The nurses there caught it. Kaitlyn’s reflux started to improve around 4 months, but she was not able to go off meds until she was one year old.

When McKenna was born, I was naturally worried we would have another baby with reflux. I watched her closely. She spit up a lot. I only had Brayden and Kaitlyn to compare, so I wondered if she had reflux. One of my nurses told me it is hard to tell at such a young age because newborns are so “spitty” anyway.

As she got a bit older (1-2 weeks), the spitting up improved rather than getting worse. She got to the point that I didn’t even use a burp rag anymore. So I knew she didn’t have reflux.

MEDICATION and REFLUX

My personal opinion is that if your baby has reflux, give her medication for it. I am not one who likes medication. I avoid taking it at all costs. I never take it when I have a headache. I don’t take it while pregnant. I even avoid taking it while recovering from delivery. I save medication for severe, intense-need situations (I did use it after Brayden). But I think if a baby has reflux, you should put her on meds.

First, consider how painful heartburn is. I get it when I am pregnant. It is not fun. You can’t eat. You can’t sleep. You can’t sit, lay, etc. Everything is uncomfortable.

Second, realize that stomach acid burning the esophagus repeatedly can cause long-term damage. Kaitlyn didn’t show any real pain with her reflux, but I didn’t want her to burn her esophagus over and over all day and night.

I believe that there is a history of undiagnosed reflux on my husband’s side of the family. Both his grandfather and his older sister have major throat issues. They have to get their throats stretched every so often or they start to choke on food. Not just a little sputter–cut off your airway choke.

When Kaitlyn was a newborn, a woman who lives down the street from me told me that her then 18 year old son had silent reflux as a baby and child and they didn’t know it. When he was seven, he started choking on food. It turned out that the acid had caused such damage to his throat that he needed to get it stretched at least once a year for the rest of his life. She told me to watch Kaitlyn closely.

I understand the desire to avoid unnecessary medication, but when it comes to reflux, my personal opinion is that medication is necessary. Do your research. Pray. Consult with your doctor. Make a decision for your child.

Kaitlyn’s doctor didn’t want to put Kaitlyn on medication since she was growing and wasn’t in pain. This is a common thought in the medical community. He is a great doctor, though, and really respects me as the mother. I told him I really wanted her on medication. I had research and talked with my friend about reflux. I felt meds was the best option. He put her on prevacid.

There are a lot of options out there for medicine. Be aware that most of them are weight-dependent. So as your baby grows, if she starts to get aggravated symptoms, she might need her dosage increased.

Kaitlyn never had her dosage increased after 3 months old. Her reflux improved enough that as she grew, the dosage was sufficient to manage the reflux.

If you do get prevacid, to to the Prevacid website to get a coupon for the medication. I wish I had known about it while Kaitlyn was on it!

RELATED POSTS ABOUT REFLUX

43 thoughts on “Reflux Tips from the Baby Whisperer”

  1. I just got my hands on a new version of Babywise (2006) and noticed there's a new chapter, "Colic, Reflux and the Inconsolable Baby." I didn't see it on you blog anywhere, so I thought I'd mention it. It's an encouraging addition to the book. My 11 week old sounds a bit like "Ross" and I'm thinking that some of her sleeping issues might be related to reflux…which makes me feel a little better, though I know not to use it as an excuse.Thanks for your blog!

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  2. Thanks for this post. My daughter is a classic case of reflux. She was a spitter and a gagger and didn't like to eat. (Another thing with her that the doctor said were signs of her reflux were constant hiccups and coughing.) She was put on Zantac at 6 weeks and had to go to Prevacid at about 10 weeks. She is 13.5 months and has had to have her dosage increased as she's grown, like you said. However, she did get to a point where she suddenly stopped spitting up, but still had it. I felt really guilty about "medicating" my child because she was also taking Mylicon and for about 4 months has been on allergy medicine as well. So I am so glad to hear you say you think it is okay to give medicine. I really don't think we could have made it without it. It was interesting as well to hear about the long term effects. I had not known that.

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  3. Answering my own question: So (rereading the post), what makes the reflux silent is the lack of spit up but other symptoms might still be there. Right?

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  4. I just wanted to chime in on the Reflux issue as well. My six month old had it really bad when she was first born. (she still has it but is on Zantac) I could not put her down for two minuest because she wanted to be upright all the time. Her sleeping patterns were horrible! I just followed babywise as best as I could. But I want to say don't beat yourself up if you are not perfectly following it. I spent a lot of time obsessing over the fact that we were not on schedule or that I thought she would never sleep well, this is not true. She now sleeps great for naps and nightime and is doing great. I wish that I would have just enjoyed her and not been so wrapped up in scheduling her. I know that reflux is not an excuse but she was in major pain and I should have been more flexable. Just a word of encouragement to any mom's out there going through severe reflux.

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  5. So glad you're doing a post on this, Valerie. My daughter (now 15 months) had severe reflux that kicked in at about 4 weeks and lasted until about 10 months. I felt horrible when I finally realized something was wrong because it took me about a month in a half. My daughter spit up at least 4-5 times a day, which meant I changed my clothing almost as much as I changed hers – it was bad. She also eventually became inconsolable – nothing could get her to stop crying – not me holding her, not the swing, stroller, car – nothing. That is when I finally realized that I wasn't a crazy first time mom. Some babies DO spit up a lot and have fussies and hiccup a lot, etc, but it is worth the visit to the dr if you suspect something more than the norm. We tried 2 diff't meds before starting Prevacid, which our insurance company wasn't anxious to cover – miracle drug for our LO! Some other things our ped asked:-Does she hiccup a lot?-Does she cry when you lay her down on her back?Also, our baby continued to gain weight (which really threw me off) because the milk soothed her throat going down. When it got to her tummy it wasn't sitting well – so nursing was the only soothing thing for her.Since my husband and I were first time parents we didn't know that all her spitting up wasn't normal. We aldo didn't know that GERD babies sometimes gain weight normally and want to nurse b/c it is soothing (initially) to their little throats.BW was difficult b/c of her GERD, but we stuck with it and WOW, what a blessing it is to have persevered. Also, Valerie was totally right – often GERD babies will be late to hit milestones like sleeping through the night and moving to longer schedules. My 15 month old just last week made it to 3 hours of wake time in the morning. Thanks for your post, Valerie!

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  6. What timing!I am so glad you posted this when you did. The night after I read it, our son (3 weeks) projectile vomited in his crib and started choking. We had suspected reflux because of his frequent spit ups, but this time when he stopped breathing because of it we rushed him to the emergency room. After a night in the hospital and MANY tests, it was confirmed to be reflux and nothing more.I learned a few things from this experience. One, it IS possible for a baby to have severe reflux and be gaining weight properly. He was 9lb 11oz at birth (wow!), and is almost 11 lbs now. Two, thickening formula really makes a difference. They have us on Enfamil AR which is working wonders so far. He seems much more content. Three, be your baby's advocate! If something just doesn't seem right or you don't agree with the doctor's advice, don't just brush it off. A mother really does know best! 🙂

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  7. Just wanted to leave my 2 cents worth on reflux. My son spit up after every meal, so much that nursing in bed seemed like an insane idea to me. I'd have to change the sheets if I did that! 🙂 He also cried every time he spit up. My ped. said that was a sign of reflux. He said that some babies (my sister's little boy was one of them) spit up a lot, but they show no other signs of discomfort. He called them "happy spitters". But if your little one is showing signs of discomfort you should suspect reflux. I also can relate to the other moms who felt like they were failing in implementing Babywise. But when your baby is in pain, the most important thing is to take care of the problem. Eventually once the pain is gone (or at least lessened) then you can worry about things like STTN. My son outgrew his reflux around 6 months. To moms struggling with it now, hang in there and like Val said, get medicine for your little one and be their advocate!

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  8. Thanks for all the insight! My question is that my 5 month old son is suddenly a terrible eater. He will eat well for about 5 min. and then is either distracted, or, more often, he pulls off and crys and then latches on, and this continues until I can't handle it anymore! The Dr. thought it was reflux, but after a week on the medicine, there was no real change. Is there a phase, or is this common, or should I continue to search for a medical answer?

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  9. Angipas, yes, silent reflux means baby spits up, but doesn't let the spit up out of her mouth. Kaitlyn fought so hard to keep it in, it often came out her nose. It might also just come up partially but not all the way to the mouth.

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  10. You are welcome Morgan Joy! Thanks for pointing out the hiccups. The funny thing for us is that Kaitlyn was my reflux girl and she was my only baby to not have constant hiccups 🙂 Even in the womb! But that is a sign of reflux.

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  11. CO Mom, I like what you said, " it is worth the visit to the dr if you suspect something more than the norm." So true. And I am the type to not want to be that "crazy" mom who is paranoid 🙂 But better to be paranoid than let things to unchecked.Thanks for all of your thoughts!

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  12. Good thoughts, Jenn! One of my best friends had a similar experience to yours. Her baby was 3 weeks. She stopped breathing well, so they rushed her to the hospital. Turned out it was all because of reflux.

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  13. AnnDee,That isn't normal. Have you looked into milk supply? And is your let down coming? Is he teething? It is normal for him to not eat as long at this age, but not to cry.

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  14. I think my son has silent reflux. He would seem to "choke" on whatever was coming up after he ate, but didn't really seem in pain, or upset to be laid down. My Dr. put him on prevacid, and like you I hate the idea of him being on medicine–especially a daily one. So, my question for you is this: 1) How long was your daughter on it, and 2) My Dr. has me give it to him first thing in the morning and then hold him off eating for like 20 min. This is way hard, and kind of messes up with our schedule (or our attempt at creating one! 🙂 So, what did you do? How did you hold her off, or did you find something else that worked? Thanks! It's so nice to be able to "talk" to someone who's gone through it!

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  15. AnnDee,1)she was on it until one year old. Most can go off by 1 year. Some extend to 2 years. Some have severe symptoms longer. Some stop as early as 4 months.2)I actually gave her half of her daily dose after breakfast and half right before bed. The pharmacist said to do it twice a day was better than once if I could remember to do it. If you want to wait 20 minutes, I think I would do it after lunch or before the last feeding of the day (not dreamfeed) instead. I think in the morning, they are hungrier, so that isn't the best time to make them wait.Most say to wait 20 minutes, so go with that. But I found it didn't matter.

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  16. My husband and I are having visits with a 4 mos old, that we will be fostercaring to adopt. We get her about 4 days out of each week and very soon we will have her full-time.Her family has a history of reflux and she sure has it. She used to sleep in her bassinet and now will only sleep with me or in her car seat. Since I sleep better and think it's more safe for her to not sleep with me, she's been in the car seat. She has bronchitis right now too and has breathing treatments every 4 hrs or so. But it seems like this all started once she got the bronchitis. I have heard about the crib wedges. Are the really safe? I have seen alot of people comment that the babies schootch down the wedge. Any other suggestions? We are setting up her crib and I really want her to sleep in that.. thanks, vicki

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  17. Vicki,I would suggest you stop having her sleep in carseat. The angle of it can cut off the air way, so it can be dangerous. Crib wedges are safe. You put them under the sheet or matress (we did matress). You can do something similar in a bassinet. We did that with Kaitlyn and it was nicer than the crib because she couldn't slide down the incline in the bassinet.You can also get a sleep positioner to go with your wedge. That helps keep them in place. See the other reflux posts (see blog label "reflux") for lost more suggestsions. Good luck!

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  18. Hello! My son was just diagnosed with Reflux and I have so many questions with trying to figure out how to do BW. He has been on a 3 hour feeding schedule since he was born pretty much, but I am starting to wonder if 2 and 1/2 would be better for the reflux baby. I don't know if we should switch this if he is used to 3 though. (He is 9 weeks old). Also do you recommend keeping the baby upright for 20 minutes after a feeding, even after the middle of the night feedings too? If this is the case, and they fall asleep, then is it bad you are not putting them in bed "awake"? Also does it take them longer to STTN if they have reflux?We have run into some sleeping problems, such as waking in the night a lot and waking early from naps and I can't help but wonder if he is just uncomfortable and that is why he isn't sleeping great. We are JUST now starting the reflux meds, so I need to be patient and see if when those start to help, if it possibly helps his sleep. But just wanted some advice on if reflux affects their sleep a lot. Also do you have a post with a sample of Katilyns schedule ? Since she had reflux too, I am trying to figure out what may work better than what we are doing right now!Thank you SOOOOO much for your help , you are such a blessing and so helpful to so many!

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  19. Ashley,With my daughter, we did keep her upright for about 20 minutes after every feeding, even in the middle of the night. Sometimes she did fall asleep but she never woke up when we finally did place her back in the crib. It didn't seem to affect her sleep training much since she was put down for all her naps awake/drowsy. We did notice she woke early from her naps sometimes, but the meds really helped. She still slept through the night by 3 months, so have hope that it can still happen even with reflux babies. HTH!

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  20. Ashley, Since he is used to 3 hours, I would probably just stick with that. But the fact that he is waking early from naps…I would probably take him back to 2.5.I didn't keep her up after night feeds, but did for day. But if you think he needs to be kept up in the night, that is fine. It shouldn't be a problem long term.Yes, it takes longer to STTN with reflux. It also affects naps.See the "sample schedules" post. I have sample schedules for each child on there.

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  21. this is a great blog! the advice and support really is encouraging. The biggest pick me up i get from this blog is hearing about how many other people don't have perfect babies and have trouble with babywise. i am a fan of babywise, it seems to really work to help create good kids, but i find it really hard to do. i often find myself discouraged about how bad my baby is at it. the book seems to portray that it works and if it isn't working for you, you are doing something wrong. at least that's how i feel. My son is a few days shy of 4 months, he has GERD and is on medication for it. the meds help greatly, but his condition still affects him when he eats and after he eats and during his sleep, but at least he is not crying literally all the time anymore. because of his GERD i have been hesitant to try any sleep training. He is on a 3 hr schedule and the hope is that he is awake a total of 1.5 hrs and sleeps 1.5 hrs. though i find that he usually sleeps 20-45 mins and that is all, nothing will put him back to sleep, so we wait to feed him till the scheduled time and he goes down when he starts to show signs of being tired again. So his waketime is actually often 2-2.5 hours and a short nap. trying to put him down before that usually results in a very upset baby who doesn't nap at all. Anyway, i don't really have a question, i just wanted to say that reading your advice and reading about others troubles has helped me feel less stressed that he isn't by the book. And that that is OK. I'm not sure where things will go from here, but i will be glad for the sleep he does get and when i feel stressed again i'll come back and read some more :O) thanks again

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  22. Hi! I have a question about reflux. My little one is 7.5 months old and has been on prevacid. I recently thought he was fine to stop , so we stopped and he started taking a lot less from his bottles. He used to take 6 or 7 oz, and now is not wanting more after about 4 oz. I think the reflux is bothering him again , b/c he is crying and arching, so I put him back on the prevacid. How long do most kids need to stay on the medicine? I feel like most kids are off of it by now, but just wanted to get an idea how long your babies struggled with reflux. Thanks!Ashley

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  23. There are some common ages kids go off of prevacid. 4ish months is one of them. Another is one year. Just keep watching and I think you will "just know" when he is ready. You can always try it again later and take him off if it doesn't work.

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  24. I have a question when it comes to reflux and sleepy babies. My 3.5 month old has reflux and I need to keep him elevated for 20 minute, but when I move him he spits up so I do a version of the football hold to nurse him and let him relax in the same place afterwards. The trouble comes because he is so comfortable he almost always falls asleep, and if I bug him to wake up he works himself up. Should I keep trying to wake him after his 20 minutes and lay him down for his nap a half hour later per him schedule, or is it ok to lay him down after he eats since there is much less crying and more sleeping?

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  25. Manda, right now I think I would do what you are doing. Brace yourself for the possibility of more crying later on when reflux is no longer an issue and you want him to fall asleep on his own, but for now, I think I would keep doing what you are doing.

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  26. Hi! This is my first time finding this website and I am really hoping you can help me. I hope this isn’t confusing….My son is almost 5 months old and has GERD. He is on .8 ml of zantac three times a day. He sleeps great through the night, but for the past 6weeks (maybe longer) we have had major problems with his naps. I have been doing Babywise with him and with my 2.5 year old daughter. My daughter had severe stomach issues when she was an infant (long story) and she still slept perfectly at 4 months. He has been waking up 45 min. to an hour after I put him down (he usually cried between 5 – 15 minutes before actually sleeping). First I tried feeding him – will not take the bottle and I tried for a couple days (about 6-8 naps). Then I tried the swing – would not go back to sleep(also tried 6-8 naps). Then I tried letting him CIO – would not go back to sleep( also tried for 6 – 8 naps). I called the pediatrician and they upped his meds. After one hard day, we had two PERFECT days and then it started all over again. After 6 days I called the dr. and they upped his meds. Again – after one hard day, we had two PERFECT days until it started up again! I thought it might be because he wants a dry diaper so I have gone through tons of diaper changes before and after he naps. I have tried binkies, colic calm, gripe water and I keep him upright after eating for 30 min. I also rub his back to burp him because I heard patting his back may make it worse (he rarely ever burps and always has the hiccups after EVERY feeding). I also introduced rice cereal to him(2 Tbs in morning and 2 Tbs for dinner), but after three days he had the WORST gas I have ever smelled so I thought it might be upsetting his stomach so I stopped. I have been doing this for 6 weeks. Also sometimes he will cry like he is dying for over 15 minutes and still won’t go to sleep. I would go in at 20 min., rock him, put him back down and he would cry again for 10 min and go to sleep (he only does this once in awhile). I know some people may think I am being picky and I should just be thankful that he is sleeping the night, but when he doesn’t take these naps he is SO tired and that makes him cranky and upset the whole day and he is usually one of the calmest, content, and happy babies I have seen. Plus, he is taking up all my time during the day and my 2.5 year old needs me too, My pediatrician thinks maybe I should put him on stronger meds , but even she doesn’t seem sure and she thinks the only reason my son needs stronger meds is because I think he needs them. I want to make sure that it is GERD and me not being crazy mom before I put him on the stronger medication. I thought that maybe I am doing something wrong with Babywise. I am the only one of my friends that does babywise (I am also the only one that sleeps ) so asking their advice is useless because they just don’t understand. Here is his schedule:7 – 7:30 am: Wakes up, feed 6 oz of formula (I stopped nursing because he was so much worse on breastmilk)8:30 – 9am: nap**if he sleeps the whole nap then…10 – 11am: Wakes up, Feed 6 oz of formula12 – 1 : nap2 – 3 pm: Wakes up, Feed 6 oz of formula5 – 6:30 pm: 30 min nap (this nap is the first to go when he isn’t napping)6 – 6:30 pm: Feed 6 oz of formula7 – 7:30 pm: BedWhen he isn’t doing well on naps I usually just keep him awake until his next feeding (he won’t take it sooner) and have to put him down early because his last nap was bad and he is barely staying awake and then he wakes up early and the bad cycle continues and then I am not doing babywise anymore, but not by choice. Also, sometimes right before I call the pediatrician He may have a couple of really solid naps and do well half of some days, but the rest of the day it is bad – I usually think he is just so tired from no napping for several days that he doesn’t have a choice. Do you think it is his GERD? Am I doing something wrong with the Babywise? Sorry to have written you a novel. You help is much appreciated!! ~Nikki~

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  27. Nikki, Some thoughts,For one thing, if he isn't burping with the rubbing of the back, I would pat it. It is important for him to burp. Another thought is that Zantac typically only works for so long before you need to switch to a different med. So I think switching to a different med would be a good idea. It would also be a good idea for you to check out the label "wonder weeks" for info on why he might have been having issues at that age.

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  28. My son is 7 weeks old. He has all of the classic signs of reflux, but I didn't catch on until just now. It isn't severe, but it seems to be getting worse and he is in obvious pain during and after nursing. We are checking into medicine now. My question is about sleep though. He falls asleep on his own just fine. He just has been waking early from 1-2 naps a day. He will go back to sleep if I hold him, but I can't always do that with other children in our house as well. My question comes with the schedule. I don't want to feed him sooner than 2.5 hours because he won't take a full feed. So when he wakes at 7:30am, eats and goes down for a nap at 8:15 then wakes around 9:30 what do I do. He is content to wait to eat until 10, but by then he has been awake for 30 minutes, eaten for 20-30 minutes and is getting overtired. So how do I keep his waketime to 45-60 minutes when he wakes early from naps and I am trying to keep to at least 2.5 feeding cycles? If I just let him stay awake, he becomes overtired and then that leads to short naps…and creates a bad cycle. I know you have mentioned before that Brayden only took 45 minute naps for the first several months of his life. How did you handle his wake time and not getting overtired with that? Thank you so much for you wisdom!Michelle

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  29. Michelle,With Brayden, I just kept him on a 2.5 hour schedule with a 1 hour 45 min waketime until he could go longer…which honestly, in retrospect, I don't think was the wisest way to go. But I did what I knew how 🙂 With Kaitlyn, I would put her in a swing. Sleeping at the incline helped her and it was a place I could put her when I was taking care of Brayden. So I would first suggest that.

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  30. I just wanted to add to this post about a strange symptom my son showed. My six month old little guy has reflux. At six weeks we noticed that he sort of lost his voice. His cry became very hoarse. We thought he had caught a cold, but his ears and lungs checked out to be clear and he didn't have a cough or runny nose. As it turned out, his stomach acid from the reflux was burning his vocal chords!!! After this it became clear he had reflux as he began spitting up more and would SCREAM inconsolably due to a full tummy or gas. Since the diagnosis around seven or eight weeks, he's been on Renitadine (Zantac) and Similac Sensitive formula (as I was not able to breastfeed 🙁 ). He's also done best eating less at each meal, eating a little more frequently throughout the day, and staying upright for a while after he eats. I also put gas drops in all of his bottles and really try to help him work his burps out. Lastly, I pace him! If I allow him to suck down his bottle in one full gulp, he'll do it… eight ounces in about five minutes!!!!! And then he gets incredibly uncomfortable and nearly inconsolable! So I let him drink his bottle for about three minutes, then put his pacifier in for a minute, then have him eat again for another three minutes, then put his paci in for another minute… until his bottle is gone. This seems to work really well for him. Anyways, just wanted to share that information with you or any of your readers! 🙂

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  31. Kristin,Thanks for that! Poor guy. I totally believe it–I got like that when pregnant. I get really bad heartburn and it totally burns my vocal chords.

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  32. My 17 week old daughter has reflux. She has been taking Prevacid for almost two weeks. She has been on a 3 hour schedule from birth. She has been sleeping through the night since 12weeks and her naps are fine. Her schedule is 7am -Wakeup/Eat 8:00-Nap10:00-Eat 11:00-Nap1:00pm-Eat 2:00pm-Nap4:00pm-Eat 5:00pm-Nap7:00pm- Eat 8:00pm-Sleep10:00pm-DreamfeedA couple of questions: 1. How many ounces should she be eating every day? (She's breastfed and we weigh her before and after feedings).2. She has good days where she'll eat 33 ou. a day and bad days at 26-27 ounces. a day. Is this normal for reflux babies? How long does it take Prevacid to kick in? 3. When a baby is on meds do they still have reflux symptoms? (Kicking back and crying while eating) 4. I think she could move to a 3.5 hour schedule/drop the dreamfeed (she is more alert during the day/we have to wake her for the dreamfeed) but I am concerned that she might not be getting enough to eat due to the reflux issues. How do I know when to make this transition with a reflux baby? Thanks!

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  33. MiniCooper,1. I don't know about ounces for that age. I breastfed and didn't weigh, so I didn't track that. I think there might be a post here on how to calculate, but if not I am sure you could google it and get some idea of a range. It seems like it is about 4 ounces per feeding, but I am not sure.2. Prevacid takes a week to start working. It is based on weight, so if you don't think it is working, talk to your pedi about increasing the dosage.3. If she still has symptoms, I would say she needs a higher dosage.4. You will watch for the same signs you would any other baby. Do just one at a time. Good luck!

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  34. Hello! I am "pretty sure" my baby has reflux because he cries after eating a lot. At first I thought it was gas, but I would put him to bed and he would be fine and then 30 minutes later he cries out in pain. He is only 3 weeks old but In the night it's hard because he eats and then we are sometimes up for another hour trying to console him to sleep. When we lay him down he cries out in pain so we have started rocking him to sleep and keeping him upright for at least 30 minutes (sometimes it doesn't even help his tummy). I just want assurance that we aren't creating awful habits. My oldest has always gone down in the crib awake and put himself to sleep without help. I'm afraid he'lol never learn to self soothe! What would you do? Thank you so much for your help!!! You are a huge God send and blessing.

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