Acid Reflux Symptoms And Treatment

Q: My baby had the following symptoms since birth (now he is 7 mo) but doctors in our country don't say anything about reflux or its possible treatment, all they say is that babies have horizontally positioned stomach and the opening muscle is weak and they have these symptoms and they will grow out of it. But I see my baby suffer a lot, so I want to know whether his symptoms show that he has reflux. If he does I want to give him Zantac. He: sometimes spits up after eating, fusses and when held upright burps a lot hiccups a lot, usually starts after a burp arches his back when being fed refuses to sleep, arching his back, wakes up a lot during the night he refused to eat from 2 mo till he was 5mo (I forced during that period) now eats only 3.5-5 oz per time (25 oz per day), little appetite he is little underweight Please, help me to determine whether he has reflux. I repeat, I went to lots of doctors they don't know about reflux.

A:My son had reflux he is 9 months old and did outgrow it. I would try elevating his bed by putting books or something under on side of legs. Also we tried several different meds and the only one that worked for us was Prevacid. Also if you are using formula, you may want to thicken it with a little rice cereal

or use Enfamil AR, this is formulated for babies with Acid reflux. If he doesn't have acid reflux disease, he may be allergic to the formula you're feeding him. (Unless he is breast fed, because babies tolerate that better than anything!) Some babies seem to have those symptoms if they don't tolerate the formula. My first born was like that and I switched him to Similac Soy. My daughter was the same way, but because she was premature (35 1/2 weeks and a twin...) she couldn't even tolerate the Soy and had to be put on Similac Alimentum (hypoallergenic for intolerances in cow milk and soy) I do believe that most babies will grow out of the acid reflux "stage." I'd say its your formula.