newborn with possible reflux?

[daniela_r]

Our newborn daughter R is 4 days old and seems to be nursing well.  She is starting to gain weight.  This is our 4th child, and the others were breastfed as well.  Two of our older children had reflux issues as babies and did much better with Zantac (ranitidine), meaning that one child continued spitting up but was MUCH less fussy on the medicine and the other child stopped projectile vomiting and just spit up and was less fussy.  Both of those babies grew out of their need for medicine by 8 months.

 

So, baby R has multiple episodes a day of being very fussy soon after nursing, and I'm wondering about reflux again.  She does spit up sometimes during these times (sometimes through her nose - yuck!).  I do have a pediatrician appointment scheduled for a week from now, so I could get advice then.  Meanwhile, I see on-line that some people suggest that the mother cut cow's milk out of her diet.  How, exactly, would I see if that helped?  Cut out all dairy, or would small amounts be OK (e.g. a little milk used to make the casserole)?  And how long would it take to see if that did any good?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dory]

Spicy foods also seemed to trigger it with my dd. Dairy not so much.

[ocelotmom]

So, baby R has multiple episodes a day of being very fussy soon after nursing, and I'm wondering about reflux again.  She does spit up sometimes during these times (sometimes through her nose - yuck!).  I do have a pediatrician appointment scheduled for a week from now, so I could get advice then.  Meanwhile, I see on-line that some people suggest that the mother cut cow's milk out of her diet.  How, exactly, would I see if that helped?  Cut out all dairy, or would small amounts be OK (e.g. a little milk used to make the casserole)?  And how long would it take to see if that did any good?

 

When I cut out dairy, it was night and day - she spit up after every feeding and was horribly fussy before eliminating dairy, and spit up very infrequently, with much less fussiness, after. It can take a few weeks to get out of your system entirely, but I've noticed dramatic improvement in symptoms in about 24 hours.

 

Often you have to cut it out absolutely 100%, even as a trace ingredient, meaning you have to check labels and all. I've been cheating lately - we have a goat in milk, and I've been making ice cream for the kids every day because we don't have another good use for the milk at the moment. I've been having maybe a tablespoon a day in the course of tasting to make sure it's right, and she's been spitting up a lot more. But it's individual. Often the best thing to do is eliminate it entirely for about 3 weeks. Then you can try reintroducing small amounts and see if the symptoms return.

[athomeontheprairie]

Dairy and pork here were the worst offenders. to isolate it, the doctors put me on a plain diet for 3 days, then I slowly added foods back in. there are certain foods I can eat for 9 months ( I was so sad to lose Mexican!) my daughter was over to before she could eat certain foods.

good luck I hope you and your daughter get some relief, it's no fun to have a fussy baby.

[melbotoast]

All of my kids have been sensitive to dairy. I was able to see some change by cutting out obvious sources of dairy first, but eventually cut out everything. It may be easiest to cut it out all at once and then add it back in though. Also, consider soy. You can try googling "milk soy protein intolerance"

[bensonduck]

You would want to completely eliminate dairy for at least 2 weeks, I believe that is how long for the dairy proteins to get out of your system.

 

I feel for you. I had a severe, severe reflux baby with dairy sensitivity (still does not tolerate it at age 5.5). I know it seems daunting to eliminate at first but once you get into the routine, it is totally no big deal. There are great substitutes for pretty much anything. (That casserole? I would probably experiment with unflavored almond milk or perhaps a plain coconut milk yogurt depending on consistency and other ingredients).

 

Good luck and I really hope your baby feels better.

[staceyobu]

Do you have oversupply?  Very common issue.  You could have had it with your previous "reflux" babies as well.

 

http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

[Dory]

I don't know if this would help your dd. But my daughter was diagnosed with reflux as a newborn. She responded better to Gripe Water than to the Zantac. Maybe, you could consult with your Dr and give it a try as well?

 

I second the gripe water suggestion.

[Laura Corin]

I cut out all dairy (yes, everything) when Hobbes was small, miserable and spitty.  It took several weeks but his symptoms improved markedly.

 

Good luck

 

L

[eternalsummer]

Cutting out all dairy is difficult but not impossible - the main difficulty will be packaged foods (things you cook from scratch, you can substitute one of the non-milk milks for, like someone said above).

 

For us, there's I think one brand of bread (and one specialty bread) we can buy at a normal grocery store - but once you know which one it is, you just get that one every time and it is no big deal.  Many things are like this - you get used to the brands you can have pretty fast.

[linders]

Second DS had silent reflux - never spit up once, but fussy. I cut all - and I mean all - dairy. Not the slightest bit of cheese. Switched to rice milk for my coffee. If I accidentally got a bit of something, I could tell from DS behavior within hours. We avoided the meds this way.