hi everyone my son will be a month on saturday -- and im convinced that he has acid reflux he..
spits up constantly
wakes up from sleeping with an ear piercing cry
cries after eating
only seems comfortable upright or on tummy
he tugs at the nipple and arches his back and cries when trying to feed and never wants to eat a full meal -- just snack
he also passes gas ALL THE TIME

doesn't this sound like acid reflux??? im sure thats what it is -- but when i call the doc today he made me feel stupid -- he said we couldn't diagnose a 3 week year old with acid reflux -- but they can right?? i just want to help my son -- he did so good then the last 10 days or so have been awful -- he also never sleeps for more then 40 minustes --

what should i do??? thanks!!

Well, to start, every baby has reflux when they are born...just to a different degree. Your doctor should never make you feel stupid! Every baby spits up and every baby is different! I breast fed my daughter for a year, so I can't exactly relate, but I can in a way. I had to learn the hard way just like everyone else. Yes, your baby grew inside of you, and you know your baby better than anyone else. However, you two are just meeting each other and it didn't come with instructions. It is a trial and error process.
It sounds like you are giving formula, right? Have you tried trying a different brand? I heard they all don't sit the same in every babies belly. Maybe try giving small feedings with plenty of burbing opportunites in between. I know that with my daugther after nursing, if I burped her over my shoulder she would puke every time, but not if I sat her up.

The crying in the night could be plenty of different things. Have you tried swaddeling your baby? That always helped my daughter feel safe and helped her sleep TONS longer. She was sleeping 6 hours by 5 weeks old.

Hope that helps,
Stacey

im breastfeeding

It is possible, especially if the child has a lot of mucus and post nasal drip. These are signs of allergies. excess drainage causes increased stomach acid with nothing to neutralize it.. thus generating acid reflux. My son got his and was treated from 2 mo on as a side effect of allergies and teething. He cut his first two teeth and 2 months and didn't slow down after that..

Sincerely,
MG

Since your Dr. isn't diagnosing anything yet (and maybe he/she knows best about the reflux thing at such a young age) I can give you some tips to deal with the reflux. My little girl had it and ended up on baby zantac, but we first tried these:
Feed more upright, not lying down
Burp a lot, but lightly too so he/she doesn't lose all the milk
Sleep propped up a bit to keep milk down
If possible, feed smaller amounts and more often. (this really helped when I tried it)
After a feeding, keep him/her upright for 20-30 minutes to let the milk settle (this really helped too)
If these tips don't help, talk to your Dr. again, but I'd try them for a few weeks.
Then, your Dr. may suggest thickening a bottle of formula or breastmilk (ONLY if your baby is taking a bottle though). Mine told me not to do this since I'm mostly breastfeeding.
A last resort is really medication... who wants to give their little neonate some meds.... it's sooo hard.
However, if you're baby chokes a lot or seems in a lot of pain... talk to the Dr.

By the way.... I stopped the zantac about 2 weeks ago because one day I for got to give it to her and she had no problems... so I think her system is developing. She's 4 months now... so it has seemed to improve pretty quickly.
Maybe your baby will get better soon on his/her own too... or not, just watch it and do what you can.

My daughter just turned one month and you will see from a previous post of mine on the board (a few posts down from yours) that she has LOTS of gas and just screams from it. Most people responded that it was probably acid reflux, and I'll tell you, many people I know have told me their child had acid reflux and was medicated for it.

I was going to try the acid medication; however, I didn't for two reasons:

1) I am formula feeding (I know you said you were breast feeding) - we switched formulas until we were on a hypoallergenic non-milk non-lactose formula. This has helped her quite a bit because she use to scream for HOURS and HOURS from the gas because she couldn't have a bowel movement to relieve the pain. Now on this new formula she is still gassy and will have times of screaming and discomfort, but it is for a short time now because her new formula allows her to have a bowel movement which immediately makes her a happy baby again.

2) When I spoke to the dr. on Monday morning about putting her on the acid medicine because she was still very gassy (because of those time when she will still scream for an hour until she does have the bowel movement), she told me the medicine will not help with the gas...and I realize now that is her main issue, so we're happy she is better and happy we understand her issue enough now to be able to try to soothe her during her uncomfortable moments.

Are you a first time mom? I am and I'll say this - I was originally going to have another dr. from this pediatric practice as my daughter's pediatrician; however, when I met her in the hospital she didn't seem to have the personality to be able to "politely" deal with "dumb" questions I would have as a first time mom...so I switched to another dr. in the practice who has been FABULOUS with all my questions and calls about this issue. Dr's are diagnosing and treating lots of babies for acid reflux these days and if you were not comfortable with your dr's response, try out another dr. - remember, they work for you!

Best of luck - and let us know how you make out - I'm very interested in knowing how they treat your child.

My DD's pedi said she had acid reflux at 2 weeks, but that all/most babies have it. Hers just seemed a LOT worse. She gave us some of the tips already mentioned, and mentioned the "little tummies" gas drops. Although those didn't seem to help her, I've read on other boards that lots of moms swear by this stuff. I can't remember the name of the active ingredient (simethicone or something like that...), but most drug stores have a generic brand.

Also, you can try introducing a pacifier... the non-nutritive sucking often helps their digestive system develop a bit. There are ones you can get that mimic a real nipple so as not to cause "nipple confusion".

Oh, btw... all the behaviors you mentioned are the same exact behaviors my dd had. Also, about 15-20 minutes after feeding, she would have tiny little bubbly spittle coming from her mouth. The pedi said that's a sign of the reflux. The doc gave us a prescription, but we never filled it. Just trying some of the behavioral changes on our part seemed to help a lot.

Most babies do not sleep well or for very long flat on their backs. They can also be very gassy without actually having reflux, though that is always a possibility. You may want to try eliminating things from your own diet, like dairy, if you haven't already done that. As far as the actual sleeping is concerned, try one of the following. I can almost guarantee that you will see immediate improvement:

Let him sleep on his tummy (SIDS rates are extremely low, no matter how they sleep).
Prop him on his side.
Put the carseat in the crib and let him sleep there.
Let him sleep in the swing.
Co-sleep.

All of those positions are not only more comfortable, and with the exception of co-sleeping they all help to relieve gas pains.

Nancy

another possibilty is pyloric stenosis (PS) if he is spitting up ALL of his breastmilk. my first son developed this a 3 weeks. it's common in first born males and easily fixed with an in and out surgery. gl!

I had a terribly fussy baby, just like yours. He showed all the same signs that you are explaining. I started off breastfeeding and found he had a milk allergy which was causing his discomfort. I cut dairy completely out of my diet and was able to get rid of his issues. When I finally stopped breast feeding, I used soy products. Good luck!

try goats milk. It works wonders on most babys. Also try a product called Babys Bliss (especially if the baby has a lot of gas)