Acid Reflux in Babies

My 5 week old daughter is breastfed and hasn't had problems spitting up until this past week. She has started to spit up after each feeding and has been very fussy after each feeding. My daughter is fed breast milk by bottle; I have been using Breast Flow bottles by The First Years. I decided to try different bottles to see if that would help I tried Mam and Dr. Brown; but, changing bottles didn't make a difference.  I started to get worried and wondered if she had acid reflex. I have suffered from acid reflux for years and have to take medication daily. Today was Emma's one month check so I talked to my doctor about my concerns. My doctor said that children under one often spit up a lot because the muscle at the top of the esophagus has not totally developed. My doctor recommended Zantac twice a day. So we will be starting this today. When I got home I decided to research acid reflux in babies and here is some of the information I found.

http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/reflux/

Following are symptoms of GERD — there are varying degrees and need your doctor’s involvement to diagnose:

• Frequent spitting up or vomiting; discomfort when spitting up. Some babies with GERD do not spit up – silent reflux occurs when the stomach contents only go as far as the esophagus and are then re-swallowed, causing pain but no spitting up.
• Gagging, choking, frequent burping or hiccoughing, bad breath.
• Baby may be fussy and sleep less due to discomfort.

Warning signs of severe reflux:

• Inconsolable or severe fussiness or crying associated with feedings.
• Poor weight gain, weight loss, or failure to thrive. Difficulty eating. Breast/food refusal.
• Difficulty swallowing, sore throat, hoarseness, chronic nasal/sinus congestion, chronic sinus/ear infections.
• Spitting up blood or green/yellow fluid.
• Sandifer’s syndrome: Baby may ‘posture’ and arch the neck & back to relieve reflux pain–this lengthens the esophagus and reduces discomfort.
• Breathing problems: bronchitis, wheezing, chronic cough, pneumonia, asthma, aspiration, apnea, cyanosis.

After reading this I recognized some of the symptoms in my daughter. After each feeding she has severe fussiness, hoarseness, and Sandifer's syndrome. I hadn't head of Sandifer syndrome; but, after reading this it describes what Emma does when I burp her.

I'm praying that the Zantac will help. I feel so bad when she cries and nothing I do helps her.  I will keep you posted as to how she does and any more tips I find that help with Baby Acid Reflex. 

~Karen