Sorry - I'm so new to this - and every day I think of new questions - I just want to know if anyone has tried homeopathics and natural rememdies for the reflux? My chiropractor wants to give me some things to try and adjust her but i'm just not sure it's worth the try. I go to him because I have such a bad back - but I'm not convinced it's for babies.

I've heard good things about chiropractics for this. I haven't tried it tho..
I take Kieran to a Chinese doctor who does Chinese Infantile massage on her.
A friend of mine took her baby to do osteopathic manipulation and she said it did wonders. If I could find an osteopath I'd do it too.

GL

My sister-in-law is a chiro and she adjusted my first GERDling all the time and as far as I could tell it didn't do anything for his reflux. However, she adjusted him nearly every week for the first year of his life, so I don't know what he would have been like with out it, so maybe it was helping and I didn't have anything to compare it to. Who knows? I have heard that some people have success with it and I also remember a post on one of these boards from a lady who said she'd had success by giving acidopholus and that somehow that helped the reflux. I imagine all these things do help some people and not others. It probably depends on what the underlying cause of the reflux is as reflux isn't necessarily caused by the same thing in every baby.

I imagine all these things do help some people and not others. It probably depends on what the underlying cause of the reflux is as reflux isn't necessarily caused by the same thing in every baby.
Exactly! It's really a trial and error thing. I personally try things when I feel that I really have nothing to lose. If you're comfortable having the chiro. do minor adjustments, I'd at least look into it a bit more. You won't know if it works for your dd until you try it.

There is someone here who's really into homeopathic remedies, but I'm completely drawing a blank. It came up for discussion a month or so ago.

We've given D acidopholus while he's taking antibiotics. The first couple of times it helped; this time his stomach is a mess. When he was eating orally, I fed him about 12 ounces of yogurt a day, and that has all the same good stuff in it.

Sorry for my delayed response -- I've been out of town for a while and it seems I've missed a lot in the past couple of weeks!

My little one's reflux isn't severe as most mom's on this site are dealing with, but bad enough that I've sought help from my herbalist. We use fennel seed and chamomile drops in her formula (Alimentum) to help reduce gassiness and keep her relaxed. The combination seems to work very well. We very rarely feel the need to grab the mylicon drops these days.

We've also begun using catnip tea to help with the reflux. My herbalist swears by it, and I've read online that catnip has long been used to support the healthy functioning of the digestive & nervous systems. Here's some brief info I found on an herbalist website:

"Catnip gently sedates and nourishes the nervous system. It is a traditional remedy for diarrhea and colic because it dispels gas and is anti-spasmodic."

I've been using it now for several weeks and have noticed an definite decrease in the occurances of the reflux spasms in her chest and when they happen they are usually less jolting. I failed to use it for three days in a row last week and noticed an increase of her symptoms until I had gotten her back on it for a couple of days.

Again, Alex's symptoms are mild in comparison to what I read about on this site, but what we're doing might be worth checking into if you prefer natural remedies. I hope this info helps!

Good luck to you and let me know how you and your baby are doing...

Kelli, could you give me some info on using the catnip tea? I have a 3 year old and 16 month old who may benefit from it. Do you just brew it up and let it cool? Mix in sugar? How do you serve it?

I have bought some acidopholus for the boys and will try it out this week as they must have next to no normal bacteria in their guts since they have had so many antibiotics since January.

Thanks,

Leigh

The herbalist I use makes Alex a blend of catnip and a few other things -- not sure of the exact composition. One of the herbs in the blend is naturally sweet, so sugar isn't necessary.

I brew one teaspoon of the tea with 1/2 cup boiling water, letting it steep for at least 15 minutes -- usually more like 30. I brew the tea loose in a small teapot and then strain it into a glass jar that seals tightly. I keep the preapared tea in the fridge and brew a fresh batch daily.

I give it to my two month old with a syringe -- about 2.5 ml at a time, several times a day (at least three, up to six or so) preferably on an empty stomach.

Hope this info helps -- but keep in mind I rely upon my herbalist for instruction on how to treat Alex, so please try to find a similar expert to consult before taking my word for anything.

If you'd like to contact the person I use, I'm sure she could work with you through the mail and by phone/email. Here is her contact info:

Diane Hackett
The Magic and Science of Herbs
2007 N Collins Blvd
Richardson, TX 75080
(972) 437-6351

Thanks for the info, Kelli. I never do anything without some research first, so I appreciate it. I do like to keep an open mind and natural remedies have come across my mind lately more and more.

Thanks again for the info!

Leigh

By the way, how has the acidopholus been working for you guys? I've got some but havn't yet added it t Alex's regime... tks!

Actually I have not tried it yet. With new meds for Iain and the peanut challenge for Curran I bypassed for now. I am probably going to start next week. Will let you know how it goes.

Leigh