In the spring of 2009, I was expecting my third son, Owen. As a veteran mom, I figured that I pretty much knew what to expect. My first two boys were terrible at nursing at first, but we worked through those challenges, and they both went on to be chubby babies who were good eaters and grew well. I expected that my third son would follow the same path.
Well, that wasn't what happened.
I first suspected that something was wrong at about six weeks of age when Owen would begin nursing only to pull off, arch his back, and scream just a few minutes into the feeding. If I stopped the feeding and put him down, he was content and happy. If I tried to get him to finish nursing, he became very upset. I had no idea what could be wrong with Owen, and I assumed it must be a problem with nursing. We put off going to the pediatrician because my husband was out of work and we were uninsured at the time.
When Owen was 3 months old, my husband had a great new job and insurance coverage. We went to the doctor the first week that we had insurance! By this point, I was exclusively pumping and bottle feeding because it was very difficult to manage Owen's "snacking" approach to eating with two other boys to care for as well. With the bottle, I could see better what was going on. I explained to our pediatrician that Owen would drink 1-2 oz. and then begin arching and crying. The pediatrician suspected silent reflux (meaning that the refluxed material does not come all the way up as spit-up), and sent us home with a prescription for Axid. He said that we should see a difference after a few days on the medicine if reflux was truly the cause of Owen's feeding troubles.
We tried Axid, and it initially seemed to work, but a couple days later Owen was back to arching and refusing his bottle. The doctor had us try Prevacid. It was very difficult to give, and Owen came down with a cold as soon as we started it, so that made us wonder if the Axid really had been helping and the poor eating was simply the result of the cold coming on. At four months, Owen began teething, and his eating was really affected. He rarely drank more than 1.5- 2 oz. at a time. At five months, Owen had an upper GI test done (normal results - did not show any reflux) and he spent a month on Axid with inconclusive results. At 6 months, we stopped the Axid, because according to our doctor, Owen was probably close to outgrowing his reflux.
Actually, he wasn't close to outgrowing it at all!
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| 7 months old |
At 7 months, Owen was crying when we approached the chair where we fed him. Teething seemed to make his eating much worse, and he was constantly teething! Much of the time, he would not allow us to hold him while we fed him his bottle - he preferred to be in his bouncy seat. If anything remotely more interesting was going on, he would not eat. He would not eat solid foods, and honestly, getting him started on solids was the least of our concerns! Also, most of his milk intake was in a sleepy state before his naps. If either of his brothers interrupted us, the feeding was over! He stopped nursing completely at 4 months, so I was pumping full time while also teaching part-time at a private school, and homeschooling a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old. When I look back at the stress of that time in our lives, I realize that it was only God's grace that got us through! Even now I am amazed at the strong feelings of stress that wash over me when I think about that stage. There's nothing quite like wondering if your child is starving himself.
Owen's reflux was ugly. And he didn't outgrow it at 6 month, or a year, or even 18 months. But he DID outgrow it!
10 months old and sneaking a snack from the diaper bag - a moment that I was so happy to see!
Where are we now? Well, Owen is 3.5 years old and enjoys eating and snacking! Because of the feeding aversions that he developed, he did not begin to eat solid foods in any sort of reasonable quantity until he was 18 months old. He drank high calorie formula for most of his nutrition until 18 months, and didn't give up formula completely until 2 and a half. But we made it! The formula and bottles are finally a thing of the past, and Owen loves to eat fruits, veggies (he loves carrots and broccoli), most meats, peanut butter on crackers or apples, and cheese. He had a dairy sensitivity, which he has outgrown. He has been off his medicine since age 2.What did we learn from our reflux experience?
- Silent reflux is hard to diagnose because the baby is not spitting up! We did not know for sure that Owen had reflux until he had a pH probe test at 10 months old. Some signs to watch for are crying and arching during feedings, screaming after feedings, frequent sour burps, and hoarseness from the acid.
- Choking during feedings can also be a sign of silent reflux. When our fourth son was born in January 2012, I noticed that he was sure choking a lot during his feedings! I called our feeding specialist, and she said that getting choked up more than once a day is not normal. We had a swallow study done at 6 weeks of age, and Jonathan's swallowing was just fine. But guess what the test revealed... reflux! He was having a "traffic jam" in his esophagus. Milk was trying to come back up while he was still eating. (However, Jonathan's reflux journey was much less severe! He is 10 months old, and has always been a good eater.)
- Reflux medicine does not stop the reflux. It does, however, make the reflux less acidic so that it will not burn and cause damage.
- Many breastfed babies with reflux also have a food sensitivity to dairy or soy, so it may be worth it to eliminate those from your diet. Owen responded really well to a hypoallergenic formula (Alimentum) at 10 months of age. I wish that I had tried a dairy elimination diet for me when he was still nursing because it obviously would have helped.
Owen during his 24 hour pH probe test
- If you feel that something is wrong, don't be afraid to keep pursuing it, even if your pediatrician thinks there is not a problem! Our pediatrician was not concerned because Owen's weight was in the 10th percentile at birth, and he hovered between the 3rd and 10th after that. He was growing along on his own growth curve. However, I saw what was happening at home - the refusing bottles, the never crying for a bottle, and the refusing to eat solid food. We saw a GI specialist on our own, and Owen had an EGD test done. The scope of his esophagus and stomach revealed gastritis - an inflammation of the stomach lining. A 6 week course of Nexium helped Owen quite a bit, and we would never have found that if we hadn't gone to the GI doctor!
- On the other hand, do your best to resolve any pain issues so that they aren't afraid to eat, but then relax about your child's growth. We were concerned about Owen's slow growth, but he now eats relatively well, and is still very small for his age! Our fourth son, Jonathan, grew like a weed despite his reflux. He choked during feedings until he was 5 months old, and yet managed to hold his own at the 50-60th percentile for weight. I think that genetic differences, not reflux, has been the bigger factor in the different growth patterns of my two sons with reflux.
Sarah Dees is a homeschooling mom to four boys ages 9, 6, 3, and 10 months. She blogs about inexpensive and easy activities to keep boys busy and learning new things at Frugal Fun for Boys.
This is such a great post. Thank you for sharing. I have a 3 month old with silent reflux. It took 8 weeks of him crying until he was exhausted all day to finally figure out that he has reflux and also has an intolerance to dairy. At the worst, he would cry for 9 hours a day. Melvin rarely spits up and I had registered nurses telling me that it was just "severe colic." I was lucky enough that my pediatrician explained to me that there is a BIG difference between colic and reflux and after discussing it, Melvin was put on Zantac. He chokes when he eats still, but has now begun to eat many more ounces at each feeding. It was awful watching my baby be in so much pain for so long, but my instincts told me that something was wrong and that there HAD to be a solution. I just had to find it. So thank you for this post and hopefully it helps other Moms. Acid reflux does NOT mean that there is always spit-up.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that the medicine is making him more comfortable! Thanks for your comment!
DeleteThank you for posting this! My 2 month old daughter Norah was diagnosed with Silent Reflux a couple days ago. I kept going to the doctor, telling them that she was seemingly choking after eating (she was exclusively breastfed at this time), even an hour later after waking up from her naps. They kept telling me it was reflux and she would grow out of it, but to make sure I did these certain things to keep it under control. About a week ago we rushed her to the ER after several episodes in a row were she stopped breathing for 10-15 seconds at a time. The ER doctor told me "if this is reflux, it's the worst I've ever seen." She was then put through a slew of testings including a MRI, Spinal Tap, EKG, multiple blood tests, and a whole day in the ICU (they were almost convinced that she was having seizures.) After the Upper GI they made the diagnosis. The thing is, Norah never fussed while eating. It was after, sometimes hours after that she would begin to have "episodes" were she would arch her back, her face would turn red, her eyes would bulge and she would stop breathing as small amounts of spit up came out her nose while her hands flailed in front of her tiny little body. We would suction her and she would start breathing again. Screaming for 10-15 minutes afterwards. I didn't sleep for days at a time. I am glad your son is doing well and it gives me hope for Norah. Sometimes you just have to know someone else has been there and gotten through it :)
ReplyDeleteWow, how scary! My second son with reflux had some scary choking episodes, but thankfully none of them were as serious as that. I think that having trouble with reflux after eating is more "normal" than not wanting to eat. You might look into getting a Res-Q wedge to keep her in a good position. We bought one for Jonathan because he hated his bouncy seat - that position seemed to make his reflux worse. Babies can even sleep either on their backs or on their tummies in the Res-Q wedge. They're pricey, but if you get an order for your doctor, insurance will often cover the cost!
DeleteAwesome! Thank You, I will look into it :)
DeleteGood post. My 3 yr old had reflux and mspi milk protein intolerance. She was exclusively breastfed and would cry for up to 6 hours and arch her back. She all had trouble sleeping and needed help around the clock, so we took shifts. Now I have a 2 mth old and he has it too. Both were prescribed ranitidine/ zantac. I elimated ALL dairy from my diet, and onions, cabbage, and oj. My son was choking a lot too and gasping for air. It is heartbreaking to see them be uncomfortable. Good luck, and elevate the head of the crib. They will grow out of it. Although my daughter still to this day has never drank a glass of milk or soy milk. She finally will eat I cream and yogurt.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your story Jennifer. Like Sarah's story I think it so helpful for those just starting this journey to hear that there is an end!
DeleteI wish this post was around when my son(age 7 today) had silent reflux! No one believed me and my son was misedable. Luckily at 6mo solida were pretty much all he wanted to eat because it didn't cause acid. He was on reflux meds until he was almost 4. He still has a sensitive stomach he has to watch his acid intake and when he is stressed. We use tums and other ant acids when that happens. If I had this information I would have gotten him treatment sooner. We had more issues than reflux we had severe sleep issues with it. His baby years were miserable with no one sleeping due to reflux. Now at 7 he has caught up on weight actually going over and having high cholesterol despite a healthy diet. We now try to manage all his health issues with diet :) his cholesterol is now normal and he uses tums maybe when he eats red sauce or lemonade.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear that you guys are on the other end of it now! Thank you, also for sharing your story! Wonderful that you are managing with diet!
DeleteI just recently found out that my 3 month old son has silent reflux (thats what the doctors THINK anyway). He only has about 16-20 ounces of formula per day and only 1.5-2.5 ounces at a time then refuses to eat anymore!! We took him to the doctor and hes actually going DOWN on the growth scale so we have to keep an eye on him. The thing is, he isnt that fussy. He just wont eat! They havent prescribed any meds, just switched him to Enfamil AR to see if that helps first. Ive seen improvement that last few days bu today hes back to the same old thing. The most stressful part about it is my baby isnt eatting enough to gain weight! :(
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with my now 16 month old daughter she was on Zantac as a baby and still has a dairy intolerance we are seeing a feeding specialist but she is on high calorie formula and purees it's a fight to get her to eat any finger or table foods.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your posts. My son was crying alot, he would eat only a few ounces. I remember asking myself whats wrong with this baby. I talked with his doctor about the crying, vomiting, and not eating. He advised me this was normal. My son was not gaining weight as he got older he continued vomiting and i thought he was a picky eater. I changed doctors and informed her about his problems. So finally at 2 1/2 he has been diagnosed with gastritis with the help of a scope and biopsy. Im very happy to finally get some answers. He is on medicine and we have another check-up soon
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your story- it will help someone else! I'm so sorry you had to go through all that! Hope some of the other posts here can be a resource for you as you progress forward!
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