Our ped. is insisting that we put our DD through a barium swallow. I REALLY do not want to do this. I think that it's unnecessary. She has reflux, but she is a happy spitter. She is 27 lbs at 6 months already, so it's not like she's not gaining or anything. He has been pushing this test on us since she was first diagnosed as a newborn, and I've been resisting. I do NOT want to have my baby x-rayed.

Also, DD is EBF and does not know how to drink a bottle. He ordered the test because DD will not willingly eat solids and he wants to rule out abnormalities. This is soooo stupid in my opinion, because DD ate solids just fine before he put her on Prevacid. We took her off Prevacid last week, and she is still refusing solids. Is this really any reason to have the barium swallow done?

27lbs? Sounds like she might be a comfort feeder?

I don't know what to say...it's so hard when they want to do medical procedures on our little people. Even drawing blood is hard for me to watch him go through!

I know others here have done these kinds of tests...perhaps they will have some more advice for you!

(((HUG)))

She's a definite comfort feeder. She was also just about 29" long at her 6 month well visit, so she is quite long too though.

James had both a swallow study and upper GI done... both of which he drank/ate barium and was x-rayed. It wasn't bad at all and he did great. I didn't want to have him x-rayed either, but we were so desperate for answers. We knew something was wrong with him... we decided to do the tests (at 10 months old) because he was gagging and choking on liquids/food and not eating solids, and the doctors/feeding team wanted to make sure he wasn't aspirating on liquids or had anomalies with his system. We did find out he was close to aspirating on liquids, is slightly tongue-tied (has difficulty moving food around in his mouth), and his system checked out fine. These are not good tests for diagnosing reflux and of course James did not reflux during the test (even though we knew he was a lot). For us it was just one of the steps to rule out what was causing his reflux and irritability (he would scream for hours on end and we didn't know why... even when the Prevacid was working). We went on to do a pH probe, scope, and allergy panel in early June and got our answers... hiatel hernia and milk/egg allergy. James is doing great now that we got our answers and fixed the problems.

THe modiefied barrium swallow is very harmless and I would go along with the dr here to make sure that everything is okay. Sam had his first upper gi at 7 days old so there is nothing to worry about. His second upper gi was at around 5 months old and then he has his first modified barium swallow at 5 months and the second one at 10 months. He has had 12 chest x-rays done and is perfectly normal for as much radiation he has had.

From all the testing we found out that he is aspriating and has a weak swallow and thus all the chest x-rays. They also checked for abnormalities and actually found that he has an enlarged muscle in his throat and this is causing him to not want to eat certain types of food that get stuck on it and then he chokes. Now I know what size chunks he can handle safely thanks to the swallow studies. It was definaly worth the testing to find out this information. The dr may be on to something here.

How will they get her to drink the barium? She is EBF and won't take a bottle or a sippy cup. She is already so traumatized about taking anything but the breast by mouth. I'm so afraid that this test is going to be horribly traumatic for her that way. Also, how am I supposed to keep her from eating for 4 hours??? She's never gone that long between feeds. She will be freaking out! Is that really a hard-and-fast rule of this swallow?

I would think that if she wouldn't take the barium by bottle that they would use a syringe or dropper to get it into her mouth. Will she take medicine that way? Have you discussed this concern with the doctor? I know the people that did the actual test for us were great... they were very patient and understanding. James didn't want their bottle at first (he was use to his Dr. Brown's), but he finally gave in because he was hungry.

As for the not eating before the test, we got the first appointment in the morning so we didn't have to listen to James scream for his bottle later in the day. I got him up that morning, put him in the car, drove to the hopsital, and went straight to the test. I thought he would too scream and pitch a fit, but he didn't. He was too distracted by the early morning 40 minute ride in the car, the movie I put on for him, and all the things to see at the hospital. James was eating every couple of hours then and he did o.k. It was much harder on me than him.

We were told to with hold food for at least four hours to ensure he would eat when we got there. He was so hungry since he hadn't eaten for about six hours that he drank the barium down with no problem, they shot the x-rays, and we were out of there.

My little one got the test done at 5 months. It wasn't bad at all....I had heard so many stories but she got through it like a champ. She was hungry so we didn't have any problems getting her to drink the stuff. (even with her being a non eater) It did give us the answers we needed and I believe helped everyone understand just how bad she was refluxing. I would say if your little one is comfort feeding maybe the test is needed. Good luck with what ever you choose. But I wouldn't worry much about the test its not bad at all.

I would definatly not feed her within that time frame. The goal is to make sure she is good and hungry and thus take the bottle even though she usually won't. I would also talk to your dr about this so the people doint the test are informed about it before you get there.
I hope it all goes well for you!

My DD put on most of her weight between birth and 8 weeks. Our ped. would not perscribe Zantac w/o a barium swallow to "diagnose" reflux. Since everything we read said that this is NOT a diagnostic test for reflux, we declined the test for DD at that point. She was 16lbs, 12oz at her 2 month check-up. She's put on about 2.5 lbs/month since then, which is pretty normal I believe. Once he finally perscribed the Zantac, the comfort-feeding slowed waaaaay down. However, when he decided that we were stopping Zantac and changing to Prevacid, all of DD's feeding problems started.

The good news is that we stopped Prevacid nearly 2 weeks ago, and we are just now getting DD to eat solids. I am still finger-feeding her right now, but we hope to get her eating off a spoon again shortly. The solids have eliminated her reflux symptoms, including her cough. If her ped. still insists on the swallow after hearing this, we're switching peds. Forcing Prevacid into her mouth for 5 weeks caused 100% of DD's feeding issues, so forcing Barium down her throat to confirm this will undo all of our hard work in getting her to eat. No way!!!

My daughter had both the barium and the upper GI, they were both harmless compared to the rest of the tests she had done. They placed a lead cover over her reproductive organs. She probably did not get much radiation if any. They also had certain ways they get them to drink the barium. If she will eat solids they may mix it in her food.
Laura

I'm new to this site, but I have a 12 month old with reflux and laryngomalacia. She had a swallow study when she was only a day old. I know its horrible to think about, but it really did help Rachel, and answered some questions we had. She actually has had a total of about 6. On the fourth one we found out that she was aspriating fluids into her lungs and we didn't even know it. And that was with thickening her formula and everything. I know its hard believe me I can't stand to see her go through it, but it really might help.

Charla

It is tough when doc's want to do tests that you don't. I do question a few things. I generally think of a happy spitter as a child with reflux who has no pain. If she was a comfort feeder she was doing so to sooth her esophagus. I assume by a happy spitter you mean that she is doing great on the medication.

If the Prevacid made her worse than the Zantac (why did the doc decide to change in the first place if she was fine on Zantac?) than I would question as to why. The way you describe it sounds as if it were traumatic for her to take the meds...I assume you mean the solutabs and she did not like it in her mouth?

If she is having issues with not wanting solids at all, and the Prevacid was traumatic....I think the swallow study is a good idea to rule out any physical problems as your doctor said....to distinguish whetehr it is behavioural verses physical.

I di understand your reservations about testing. I CAN say that this is a fairluy easy test to do. They make you wait 4 hours to make sure they are good and hungry. Definately a good idea when she won't normally take a bottle. Is there ANY type of bottle she will take at all? If you can think of one...bring it. It doesn't matter what TYPE of bottle it is.


But if you are that against it....she is only 6 months. I can't see any harm in keeping her on Zantac and leaving her off solids another month or so (if she has no pain). (Anyone disagree on that one?) But if she continues to refuse solids despite having no reflux pain....you will certainly have to get her checked out. Goodluck and let us know how it goes!! :)

Hi There, I am new to this site and read your post. I would suggest to get the Upper GI done. My DD at 7 months got it done today. They found a hiatal hernia. She got xrayed a bunch of times, but now they found something and hopefully that will give my DH and I answers to her 7 months of vomitting. She's on AXID three times a day, at 7 months she weighs 16 lbs. She's gaining but i still think she should weigh a little more. she's such a peanut always hungry b/c everything comes up. I felt bad and thought that this test would give answers. The baby did fine, she drank the barium w/sugar and loved it. we watched the whole thing. It was done at a Children's Hospital, pedi friendly. My opinion, get it done for the sake of diagnosing the baby and seeing if anything else is going on in there. I never would have thought that she had a hernia. Best of Luck