I didn't have time to read all the posts, but Prevacid worked for us also. My DD was turning blue her refulx was so bad at one point. Thickening her formula worked wonders for us and while she still had refulx it did not cause major problems and did not seem to bother her too much. Good luck and lots of good thoughts for Noah!

Like Kara, we had a difficult time getting Alyssa on meds at all. Our regular pedi didn't want to do anything because she was growing okay, so we called our NICU follow-up clinic for an appointment. There she saw a neonatal docs in addition to a developmental pedi. They just saw how much she spit up and decided that she needed meds. They did a combo like Kara mentioned for Avery...reglan and zantac first but then she switched from the zantac to Prevacid. They didn't find any dairy issues so they had us stay with NeoSure though. Alyssa was like a different baby once we had the meds worked out. She did outgrow the reflux and I think we were able to wean her off of meds around her 1st birthday.

I would also insist on a med change for the reflux. I would call every day and be a PITA until they changed it for him.

I find it strange that your pedi is so against changing formulas if he's gaining so well. But, I also don't know about the reflux formulas and if they actually help. Alexander had a dairy intolerance as well as reflux and when we got him off Neosure (and onto a soy based formula) he felt much better. Neither of my boys could tolerate Zantac. It made Jonathan vomit more. We've had good luck with Axid (and Prevacid for Alexander when he was older). If it were me, I'd push the pedi (or talk to another GI doc) more because I don't think it's fair to keep a baby in that kind of misery without trying some other things.

I forget how old he is, but is he on solids yet? I gave my boys cereal at 5 months and always before bed so there was something a little thicker in their tummies before they were laying down. We're still waiting for Jonathan to outgrow his - fortunately, he's a "happy spitter" now.

Hmm, not sure. We got referred to an ENT immediately after Cate's neck xray showed her adenoids were so large they were narrowing her airway. The ent was the first one to say reflux! She is actually going to do a reflux test on Cate Thursday in the office (something that involves her laying down and the dr feeding her and them watching what happens?)I'm not sure how to get him in. It seems if they can do a reflux test, prescribe reflux meds (she had to get authorization from my health insurance co), and doing a bronchoscopy and stuff, they can treat reflux. She hasn't referred us to a GI specialist. The only other specialist we have been referred to is the pulmonologist. That is for the tracheomalacia and the asthma. I can ask my friend how she got her baby into the ENT? He was born 2/5 full term. That's how we got referred. The allergy docs wanted her evaluated immediately. So we got an emergency referral. Cate was so congested she could barely breathe, not too mention the asthma, adenoid, and tracheomalacia issues. I'll ask her and see what she says. Also, we see the ENT on Thursday. I can ask her how you could get a referral for reflux... I won't be able to update till that night. Her appt is at 3:15.

Sabrina- Good idea...but, won't an ENT question why Noah needs to see him/her? Noah has zero breathing issues, nor does he have any ear issues. What do I say?

Hey Dara, try an ENT dr instead as that is who prescribed the prevacid for Cate and my friend's baby (two different ENTs).

Ok we got a surprise diagnosis of reflux on Cate last month and the ENT dr started her on prevacid. It has cleared up most of her congestion. She wasn't a baby to actively spit up. Her ENT described it as more of it coming up and then going back down. She is going in for a bronchoscopy and a scope of her nose and upper airway to check her adenoids (radiologist said they were huge) and they suspect she has tracheomalacia. The tracheomalacia can be confirmed with a bronchoscope.

She will be having an official reflux test done on Thursday. Another friend of mine whose baby has bad reflux is on prevacid as well. In fact, she gave me advice on how to administer it. Cate LOVES the med. I have to say it has done amazing things in clearing up the severe severe congestion and mucous she had.

Dara,

We had to push extremely hard to get any medication at all for Avery. The last straw, I took my husband in to the pedi with me, fed Avery 10 minutrs before we saw the doctor, and let him watch her scream and vommit. Zantac did nothing for her, so we ended up on TWO other RX's. One was prevacid, and was amazing, and the other was Reglan (metaclopramide) which helped keep the reflux down. There was a huge decrease in her refluxing and screaming. The reglan does have side effects, so we were very careful about that one, and watching for signs of problmes. The prevacid can take several weeks to work, but we found it helpful even after a few days.

Avery did end up on a prescription formula due to dairy and soy protein intolerance, which contributed to her reflux. You might call the NICU and ask for a recipe for increasing calories using a different formula. That's what we did.

I don't know much about reflux but Mason has been labeled failure to thrive because he is so tiny and doesn't like to eat so I know all about the nutrition and calorie stuff! You could ask your GI to be referred to a dietician who can help figure out how many calories Noah needs to be taking in and can tell you how to mix different formulas for different calorie amounts. Maybe if you do weight checks every week or every couple weeks to make sure he is still gaining weight your GI doctor would feel more comfortable trying a different formula with Noah. The Neosure not only has extra calories but there are extra vitamins and nutrients so you may have to give a vitamin daily if you are not already doing that. Good luck, I hope you find something that works better for Noah!