Two pukers.

[Momoftwins]

Hello, I am new here - I discovered this board while researching Gripe Water.

As my s/n suggests, I am a mom of boy/girl twins. They are now 4 months old and both have been recently diagnosed with reflux. We saw a feeding specialist this past Monday who gave us several suggestions, but I am still confused.

Both babies were on Zantac. Neither of them would tolerate the taste - I had it flavored with grape and it still did not help. I was afraid of having something bab associated with feeding time, so I discontinued it after 2 and a half weeks of no noticeble improvement anyway. (They each took 1ml 2x/day half an hour before a feeding.) They have now been on Prilosec for three days and I am praying for a miracle. They aren't colicky, but the fussiness and pain that comes with feeding is stressfull to all involved. It takes me almost 2 hours to get both fed. With them eating every 3 to 4 hours, it does not leave much time for anything else in the day (bottles, laundry, even baths are hard to squeeze in.) Neither of them sleep more than 2 hours total guring the day. She can sleep all night (10 hours) and he was going for about 7-8 hours until we had their four month vaccinations and now he doesn't sleep any more than 3 hours at night. If I can run through a punch-list of things I think may be causing issues, I would appreciate any feedback from those with experience:

I clean their bottles in the dishwasher. Is there any chance that the residue from the detergent would cause discomfort?

They are both on Enfamil A.R. He has been on the Enfamil LIPIL w/iron (yellow can) and the Enfamil Prosobee (soy) and is now on the A.R. She was on the LIPIL w/iron and is now on the A.R. Soy left him extremely constipated - only having a bm every 4 days or so. I was surprised that our pediatricians were not more concerned. She has not had any issues with constipation until recently.

Rice cereal - they both eat this twice a day. I prepare it with formula, some juice (usually pear juice) and some fruit (either peaches or pears.) They didn't like it when it was made with just formula.

Fruits - bananas, peaches, pears and applesauce. Any known problems with these?

Veggies - carrots, squash, peas.

Medications - Prilosec & Gripe Water. She gets 3.5ml of Prilosec and he gets 3ml once a day. I give them the Gripe Water as needed, but so far, not more than 3 times in a day. I started both of these on this past Tuesday.

They each a 5.5oz bottle 2-3 times per day. Cereal 2 times a day = 1 and a half tbsp. rice (soy-free), 2 oz. Enfamil A.R., a tbsp. of juice and 2 tbsp. of fruit. They each get a 3.5oz bottle with their cereal. They also get about 2 tbsp. each of veggies per day. Is this too much food? Too many different foods? Too little food?

As of right now, she seems to be doing a little better than he is although now she is constipated and he is quite the opposite with a few blow-outs per day. I am also concerned about their size. I know they are twins and they will be smaller, but I am worried about the pace of their growth. She weighed 7lbs 13 oz at birth and he was 6lbs 10 oz. She now weighs 13lbs 12oz and he weighs 13lbs 2 oz.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I am sure you can all imagine my frustrations if you take your baby and multiply it by two! Any feedback on what I am doing or on your own personal experience with formulas, medications or what worked for you is very much appreciated.

[cary]

Hi,

Wow you must be soooo busy with twins, I can't even imagine.

I was reading your post and had a couple of thoughts. I found that Prilosec really really constipated my daughter, and the pediatrician said that that was a common side effect so perhaps that is the cause for you daughter.

Your food repetoire sounds excellent and I don't think too much, my daughter also eats/ate a large variety early on and the amounts don't seem too much I my opinion! I haven't heard too many babies that like rice cereal though, have you tried the oatmeal instead? Jillian hated rice and once I switched her to the oatmeal she liked that better.

I'm afraid I don't have any formula advice, I breastfed until 6 months and now do half/half breastfeed and Nestle Follow Up.

Do you have the cribs elevated at one end to help with the reflux?

Sorry I'm not much help, I hope that you have a lot of family support. I can imagine that it would be impossible to get any daily chores done. I hope that their feeding improves for you and you find something that really works.

Take care of yourself,
Cary

[chele]

Wow, I can't imagine, my DD was such a handful on her own I can't imagine 2. From my experience, when I started my DD on cereal she loved it, but I couldn't get her to sleep more than 3 hours at a time. I took her off the cereal and she would sleep 6 hours at night. So you might try taking DS off cereal for a couple of weeks and see if it helps. As for formula, if you want to switch again, the Carnation Good Start is supposed to be the easiest on their litttle tummies. I only found the gripe water to work on hiccups other than that it seemed to do no good at all, that I could tell. As for the bottles in the dishwasher I am not sure, I hand washed all of our bottles and used Advents microwave sterilzer, it worked really well for me, but I am sure you don't really have time for that. That is about all I have, hope it helps a little. Good LUck and hang in there.

[LeeE]

My son never slept and was a puker too. We had a tough time convincing the Doctor that we were not exaggerating his symptions. He finally consented to an upper GI at 10 weeks where reflux was diagnosed. My son then started on Reglan and what a difference it made. He was able to sleep more than 20 minutes. Also, after trying Nutramigen, Pregestimil, Soy Based, and Enfamil AR we finally had improvement with Carnation Good Start. It has comfort proteins and helped tremendously with the gasiness. My son became the best baby with the Reglan and Good Start.

[fussybaby]

Meds.-
You can try Tagamet instead of Zantac (the taste is much easier to give) or you can try Prevacid instead of Prilosec (prilosec has lactose, and if you use a choco base that may have soy, all of which can cause some babies discomfort). Reglan can be great for some and not for others. Reglan will help with passing the formula and food down. Usually you would get both an acid blocker like prilosec and the reglan combination, you can ask your doctor about it. There are side eddects to all so try your best to read up on each and sometimes it takes the trial and error. (Always try to give at least 7 days before you can tell if it works or not.) *Especially with twins you are already noticing that each one reacts a little different.
I can not say either way about gripe water, if you think it helps and if it is not too expensive then keep it up, I do not think it will hurt. :)

Bottles in the dishwasher-
I can not imagine that this causes a problem unless you notice a film on the nipples or inside the bottles when you take them out. I put bottles in the top rack in the special containers you buy that seperate each part of the bottle.

Formula-
It sounds like you have already been through the trial and error a few times. The soy works great for some babies but others react very porly, gassy, etc. It sounds like they are both on the A.R. now? If so that would sure be easier for you, give it a chance to see if it is ok. It is hard if you switch too many things at one time, it will be hard to know which one is helping and which is not. You may want to stay on this formula for a little while so you can see if the other medication will help before you change anything else.

Cereal-
I agree that sometimes rice cereal can be a problem for some babies, I used Oatmeal instead, it is worth a try.

Fruits & Veggie-
The ones you listed are all the normal first foods. If you said strawberry then I would say possibly. The citrus fruits can cause some problems. All the veggies you listed are great to give. As far as the amounts, your baby will know when they are full and they will just not want to eat any more. You are not over-feeding your baby, they will spit up or refuse if they are over-full.
*If you have some serious digestion issues you can stay away from other fruits for a little bit and go very basic with just applesause with cereal for a little, one at a time introducing the fruits back in to see if one causes any problems.

Hope this helps.....:)

www.fussybaby.org

[refluxmom]

Our daughter was on Good Start formula to begin with and the doctor said it was the thinest formula so it was hard for her to keep down. Since switching to Nutramigen we have a totally new child.

[confusedmom]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading all about this reflux and I really think this may be the problem with my daughter...not just colic. She is fussy throughout the entire day not just at night and she does not sleep for more than 3 hours ( if I'm really lucky 4 hours every once in a while) at a time at night and she's 8 weeks old. May oldest daughter was sleeping through the night at 3 weeks. She has coughing/choking fits especially right after she eats at night and I lay her back down in bed. At her bad times I will try to feed her and she takes a bit and screams, takes a bit and screams. This along with many other symptoms makes me think this may be the answer.

My big question is as I am reading everyone seems to be talking about formula feeding and what to do, but I am breastfeeding. Is there any of you that breastfed while having a reflux baby. Is there anything that I need to do different?

She is scheduled to go to the doctor on Tuesday. I started her on Zantac 6 days ago, by then we will know if it is doing anything or not. So far no luck.

Please help -- Thanks

[cary]

Hi,

I breastfed my baby also. The lactation consultant's best advice to me was to try and position her so that her head was higher than her stomach (difficult when they're really young) and then to make sure that she sat up for a while post feeding. Also to elevate the crib on one end.

I found huge difference in my daughter when I switched to the breastfeeding method of one breast per feeding instead of trying to get her to feed from both sides. It only takes a day for your milk supply to adjust and that way the baby gets lots of fatty hind milk which keeps them full for longer and much less of the high lactose fore milk which contributes to gas formation. Have you tried this technique? Plus, it gives you a little break too!

Good luck at the doctor's I hope things get better for you.

Take care,
Cary

[twins]

hi...as you can see I am the mother of boy/girl twins too! They are now about 2 1/2 months old. My son has severe reflux and my daughter's is only mild. My son had an upper GI done....he's on Zantac and we switched his formula to Nutramigen...he isn't doing projectile vomitting anymore, but he still has LOTS of spit up...I don't think this is normal....My daughter's reflux is tolerable..she's on Enfacare (extra calorie formula for preemies) and no meds. It is VERY difficult to feed both of them...they tense their little bodies and cry while taking the bottle...then when they burp, half of the formula comes up with it. I completely understand what you feel like during the day. Mine feed every 3 hours and still don't sleep through the night...no sleep, no time for ANYTHING! My son has also become very colicky...he will cry for hours on end and no matter what we do, it doesn't work...the only thing that does work is holding...which I obviously can't do all day because I have his sister to worry about also...Has anything worked for your 2? I am hoping to get some suggestions from our doctor on Friday. Maybe you could give me some ideas of things that have worked for you.

Thanks!

[julianna's mom]

HI Everyone,
I am new to the board. My daughter is now 6 1/2 mos. I finally had her diagnosed w/ reflux at 3 mos. I had to tell the doc that it was reflux. We have been on Zantac since then. That helped her discomfort. She was never a big regurgitator. I found that using a 1cc tuburculin syringe worked the best in giving the medicine. Put it on the back of the tongue at the side. Be persistant-they will get used to it...

We have formula probs too. We have been on soy for over 3 months-it seemed to be great but now she is fighting the bottle again. She can't tolerate milk. I am thinking about one of the hypoallergenic formulas. I tried them when she was younger and she did not like the taste. They are pretty bitter. She still only takes in about 25 oz formula a day and some fruit and cereal. She is thriving but uncomfortable sometimes.

This has been very difficult for us. We start every day with hope. I pray that we all stay strong and help our precious children through this.

Thank you

[twinmom0824]

Hello,
I'm new to this message board but feel so at home! I am a mom of 2 1/2 month-old twin boys and yes... both have been diagnosed with Reflux. In addition, both boys were diagnosed with a cow's milk protein sensitivity before they were a week old so they are on a hypoallergenic formula (Similac Allimentum).

We have been through many ups and downs. Luckily, our pediatrician is a mother of twins who seems receptive to our concerns and is responsive to the reflux issues.

Both boys take .5ml of Zantac x2/daily. My one son seems to be doing well but my other son just recently started showing signs of reflux problems again. He is now pushing the bottle away during a feed and crying while feeding and burping (before, the problems started 20min or so after feeding). I'm waiting to talk to the pediatrician to see if this warrants an increase in zantac, a switch to prilosec or some other treatment (i.e., rice cereal in formula etc). Any thoughts?

We use the syringe to administer the Zantac and it works fine for us. Like most babies I've read about, my guys don't like the taste of the Zantac but we do get it down this way.

They both seem to do well on the hypo formula/Allimentum. It is expensive but worth it.

My lil' guys also suffer w/ bouts of constipation (apparently this is common for formula fed babies and babies on zantac... double whammy!). We now do a daily 'cocktail' of pear juice and water (1oz each) to help keep them regular. It is somewhat effective. I understand you can use prune juice too but my one son didn't tolerate it very well (he must have gotten that from me, I don't like prune juice either!!).

As far as sleeping: they are not in their cribs yet and sleep in their swings. We have cradle swings that swing from side to side which they seem to love (thank goodness!). The front-to-back swinging motion didn't sit well with them...

I don't have any good advice since we are just working our way through this but I wanted to share what seems to provide some relief for us. Juggeling two w/ reflux is quite a challenge. My guys still eat every 3-4 hours round the clock so sleep is a luxury. Between the lack of sleep and the heartbreak you feel when your babies are so uncomfortable, it is nice to share some comfort and know that you're not in this alone!