Hi everyone. I am really glad to find this website, I would love to hear your thoughts on what I should do. I am a first time mom, my son Benjamin is a little over five months, and we have been treating him for silent reflux since he was six weeks. Our doctor never ran any formal tests on Ben, just treated him on symptoms of screaming, back arching, and refusing to eat, plus the fact that he smelled like acid. He started him on Zantac, and six weeks ago put him on Prevacid. Feeding Ben has always been a challenge. He simply hates to eat! I am able to get around 26-27 ounces down him a day, and so he has been growing although slowly. He usually will take around an hour to an hour and a half to finish a bottle, usually after an hour I give up until its time for the next bottle. His pediatrition only wanted him on the Prevacid for six weeks, and then said we'd see how he gets along. Now that he is finished with the Prevacid, I am concerned that he will get worse. He doesn't seem to be in pain anymore, but honestly he is driving me crazy because he just doesn't want to eat! After five months of dealing with it, the stress is stressing me out! The only way he will eat is in his bouncy seat with the "calming vibrations" on, and even with that he will only eat around 3-4 ounces before it becomes a struggle. He is such a happy baby otherwise! He never cries or fusses except when he is eating. I just don't know how to get him to eat! We have never seen a pediatric gastroenterologist, and I'm wondering if we should. I just keep praying that he will grow out of it. Do any of you have suggestions? Thanks in advance, Michelle.

Hi Michelle and welcome!

My son, Evan, is 26 months old. He would never drink more than 2 ounces of formula at a time, so 3-4 oz. sounds like a lot in comparison. I've heard that silent refluxers often eat/drink more, though. Since Benjamin is 5 months old, what solids have you already tried him on? Did he eat better for you while he was on the Prevacid? Is he gaining weight?

As for outgrowing his reflux, many children do by age one year. Roni would tell you that the odds are definitely in your favour!

We found that getting Evan to eat was the hardest thing ever. I would literally have to spend an hour and a half per meal force feeding him for the first year to year and a half. It was hard, but well worth it in the long run! He is finally eating better and his weight is going up somewhat a lot of the time.

Good luck and let us know how things go now that Benjamin is off of the Prevacid.

Hi there,
My son is just over five months as well and we've been dealing with his reflux since he was about 4 weeks old. I have trouble feeding Branden as well, although he does eat, it just takes forever sometimes. At this point, he's taking anywhere from 30-36 ounces a day(which takes nearly all day to get into him sometimes), but at our last appt. the ped suggested more solids to help with the reflux symptoms. So now, Bran has cereal 3 times a day and veg/fruit with his supper bottle. My suggestion is if your little guy isn't on many solids now, ask your ped. if this may help. Although we still seem to be struggling lately, he sometimes eats the solids better than anything. The back arching and crying usually aren't present until the bottle goes into his mouth. Good luck and look forward to hearing about your guys progress...

Ben has been on rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, squash and sweet potatoes so far. He eats cereal and a veggie about twice a day. We are increasing his cereal mainly because we can mix it with his formula and tac some more on for the day. I would love it if he would take 30+ ounces! 27 ounces is about his max, and that takes all day. He still hated to eat even with the Prevacid, but seems like maybe he gets fussier the older he gets. He's an expert at pulling the bottle out of his mouth! Just hasn't learned to put it back in yet! We're going in to see his pediatrition tomorrow morning. Hoping to get into see a GI doc. Thanks for your posts, its nice to know that there are others out there going through the same thing.

No problem, Michelle. Please let us know how your appointment with the ped. goes tomorrow.

I'm afraid I don't have much advice to give. I still have to sleep feed Trent and he is 14 months old. He has never drank more than 4oz at a time. I rock him to sleep 5 times a day and feed him. The most I can get in him a day is about 20 oz. But, we have him on Pediasure instead of milk, so it has really helped him to gain weight considering he eats so little.

Amy

Hi All,
Well, Ben's appointment was not as productive as I had hoped. His pediatrition put him back on Prevacid, but said that because he was gaining weight, he was not in a hurry to send him to a GI doc. So we will keep our GI appointment for August. I was disappointed that he didn't want to get us in sooner. He did suggest however, that we see an occupational therapist at Childrens Mercy to do a swallowing study. His best advice was to keep at it, and that Ben will grow out of it eventually. He has been so difficult to feed! I have been getting some of it down him with a syringe the past few days, but he's caught on to that. He does like to eat solids, but they don't carry that much nutrition or calories and he eats less formula the more solids he eats. His pediatrition said that we should make the formula first priority, and not worry about solids yet. We also think that he might have the beginnings of thrush again, and so just to be sure the pediatrition put him on Diflucan, which worked great the last time. Unfortunately he tends to eat worse when he has thrush.
I know that this could be so much worse than it is, my heart just breaks for some of you and your stories. It is so stressful! I just hope that Ben outgrows it in a few months! I wish there was a magic bullet so to speak. Thanks for your posts!

Ugggghhhh, the weight gain thing!!! Apparently the docs think that if a bab'y gaining weight, it's ok to let them cry in pain day in and day out!! :evil: I am going through the same thing, being that my son weighs almost 20 lbs. at nearly 6 months (the same weight my daughter was at a year). If you're not comfortable with waiting so long, make yourself be heard and demand to be seen sooner.
My son has had thrush a lot too, at least 3 times since birth and responds pretty well to the diflucan as well (he just finished a bottle matter of fact). I wonder if thrush is associated with reflux in any way? Anyone else know the answer?
Good luck!

Evan is one of the refluxers who has never had thrush, so I don't know if there is often a connection. I guess that when/because these kids don't get proper nutrition (ie, when they're sick and when the reflux is really bad), they often have a lower immunity.

I've researched the thrush/reflux thing a little and can't find much info. but will be sure that it's one of the questions I ask at our next appt.

Hi Michelle! Just realized I haven't welcomed you yet!! :oops: Sorry! Welcome to the boards, glad you found us!

Good luck with the eating thing... :cry: . Clearly, since I've lost the battle so miserably :lol: , I'm not the best one to give advice on getting them to do it. Having said that, can't let the opportunity to throw my two cents worth in :lol: :lol: . I think the first place to start is to get the reflux under control so that he is not in pain during and after eating. This is where the eating aversions begin, they associate the eating with pain, and begin to refuse it as a means of avoiding the pain. It would make sense to get the pain under control and begin to make meal time an enjoyable time.

A ped GI isn't going to offer much more in the way of treatments than you are already doing. He may add a motility agent or up the dose of Prevacid. Have you tried Prilosec? Perhaps the Prevacid just isn't cutting it for him and switching to Prilosec would help?

I've never heard anything about reflux and thrush being related, although that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Shae never had thrush, thankfully...although she was never an oral eater either though.