Hello everyone. My name is Brooke and I just recently had my first child, John Eric. He is almost two months and has had reflux for about a month now. When the doctors finally figured out what it was, they had me thicken his formula with cereal and give him mylanta 6 times a day. That didn't help much so now he's having two teaspoons of cereal per ounce as well as Zantac three times a day. He spits up less frequently now but he still doesn't seem cured. He wheezes at night, cries after eating, but doesn't have a problem eating. He used to choke all the time when he would eat before I thickened his formula. He never sleeps longer than twenty minutes during the day, then he wakes up grunting, crying and trying to catch his breath. He also gets hoarse quiet a bit and drools a lot. Now, the doctor didn't make it sound to serious but after I found this site, I"m kinda worried now. Does it sound like he just has a slight case of reflux, or do you think it's GERD.

Hi Brooke and welcome. :P

My first reaction to what I learned through research of GERD on the net was the same as yours. Before you worry anymore, I would suggest contacting your doctor and asking him if John Eric has gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). It seems that there are different levels of severity even among those who have GERD. From what I've been reading, my son would be concidered to have a less severe level of GERD.

Welcome Brooke (that's Shae's middle name :P )!

Do you have John Eric propped up when he is sleeping and just after he eats? This is a must, if you don't do this already then this the first thing to do. There have actually been recent studies that have shown that this provides no real benefit, but for Shae it was (and still is) a big help. The second she'd lay flat she'd start refluxing.

Also, if he is hoarse you really need to tell the pediatrician that, it can be a sign of damage to the throat and or vocal cords...don't panic, even if it is, it is can be healed with a good proton pump inhibitor (see treatments page on main site), or at the very least an increased dose of Zantac. Also I am a little worried about the wheezing at night, this could be from aspiration, again, propping him may help with this. Again though, definitely tell the ped, and if he doesn't listen the first time, tell him again, and again and again until he listens.

At this point I think it's still probably too soon to tell if it's GERD or more standard reflux. How he responds to more aggressive treatment will tell the tale. I don't think that you have to be overly concerned about him not outgrowing it though, the odds are definitely in your favor.

I hope that helps some, I don't want to worry you too much.

Hi Brooke! Are you still around? Just wondering how John Eric is doing.

Sorry, i have been very busy lately. It's not easy being a single mom raising a son with reflux. I did see a GI specialist though and now Eric is on prilosec. Unfortunetly its in a capsule and i have to pour it in some formula and thicken the formula with a spoon and feed it to him that way. I tried putting it in a bottle but it wouldn't come through the nipple. I've heard some pharmisists (sorry it's late and I can't think of the right spelling for that word right now), can make a liquid form but I have yet to find that pharmasist. Anyway, he has been doing great. Still somewhat fussy, but nothing like it used to be. He smiles and coos constantly and I even get a few short laughs out of him now and then. Hopefully everything keeps going well. The doctor said he's going to try to ween him off of it in a couple months, see if he's outgrown the reflux but if he seems to get worse again, we will put him back on it. Thanks for all the advice.

Hi Brooke. My heart goes out to you. It must be so hard being a single mom of a refluxer. On the memberlist, it didn't say where you're from. Just wondering, because I know of a pharmacist in Ontario who makes liquid forms of these medications for children.

Our pharmacist mixes it with baking soda and water...I know the recipe for Shae but it would likely be different for John Eric.