It's been one month today since Violet's reflux started acting up again and making life a living nightmare for the both of us. It took two weeks for me to figure out that she probably needed more medicine (she went through a HUGE growth spurt and antacids are weight sensitive). We bumped her Prevacid solutab dose up from half a pill to a FULL pill (15 mg). Her pediatrician said he would prescribe that amount to a toddler...and suggested it might be time to switch to a different medicine (antacids also lose efficacy after a while for some children).
Bumping her Prevacid dose up was HORRIBLE. She was crying constantly, had terrible gas pains, belly aches all night, wanted to eat for comfort constantly, etc...I found a blog one awful, sleepless, tear-filled night and what I read there is what has motivated me to write this blog. It was a mom with a baby who has reflux explaining their experience with antacids.
Moms: I found that cutting Violet's Prevacid into quarters helped her NOT get terrible belly aches/gas. I was giving her a quarter of a 15mg solutab every six hours. Unfortunately, six hours started to not be enough - she would spit up stomach acid that left her skin pink and hot for a half hour :( Her ped recommended giving her a whole pill broken into halves twice a day - but...that was making her really uncomfortable..so...we switched to Zantac.
Zantac (Ranitidine) tastes TERRRRRRIBLE. She would SCREAM every time I'd make her take it (three times a day. uuuuugh). She'd spit it out. She'd choke and throw it up. Also? She wasn't 100% better. She was still coughing, crying when she was spitting up, unable to sleep at night, etc...
The MAMAROO was AMAZING for a few nights! Sleeping her at that angle was fantastic while she was on the Zantac. It was a total pain to snap her in and out of it over and over again all night (she was comfort eating every couple hours), but it helped her get a little rest at least.
We switched her off the Zantac to Prilosec (Omeprazole) after only a few days. Prilosec has been great...but taking the full dose has been really hard on her. She doesn't seem to mind the taste as much. I mean, she'll grimace and fuss and try to spit it out, but at least she isn't screaming her face off. It gives her diarrhea, gas, nausea, etc (which has eliminated the Mamaroo as a sleeping option - the strap hurts her tender belly). I'm backing her off the full dose now to see if we can find a happy medium...She was prescribed 1 &1/2 tsp every day. I give her 1 tsp a day in two, half-tsp doses. I'll let you know how that's working in a few days.
I'm not sure if this post makes total sense....I'm pretty tired. But I just wanted to get it out there for someone else who might be doing a Google search in the middle of the night, frantically searching for something to help their babies (and themselves) find happier times.
Antacids give babies belly aches. Giving them in multiple small doses per day helps! Also, give them at LEAST thirty minutes before feeding your baby - no matter what!! They won't work if you don't give them time to absorb in an empty belly (except Prevacid...those little solutabs absorb almost immediately and taste like candy. *sigh* why can't ALL antacids be like that!??)
Ok. That's all.
