Talk to me about reflux diet

[Deleted]

Theo has reflux and I'm supposed to cut dairy, caffeine (super sad face), legumes and leafy greens.

I've been eating a ton of Skinny Cow ice cream for dessert and I have Diet Coke every morning since I'm only getting about 4 hours of sleep.

Any dessert ideas? Ways to deal with caffeine withdrawal? Is this a complete elimination diet or just cut back on things? Is there anything else I need to remove?

I want breastfeeding to work this time but I feel like there are all these setbacks

[livinreality]

Poor baby & Mom! Both boys had severe reflux, so not fun. DS2 is still medicated for it but DS1 seems to have out grown it. It took about 18 days to see a difference with a change in diet so don't give heart if you don't see an immediate improvement. Did they put him on medication?

Desert ideas- So delicious coconut milk ice cream, um! Cookies without milk (ie oatmeal rasin)
Caffeine- weaning down is easiest for me, also chugging a cold cup of water is helpful to wake up (somedays)
Elimination Diet- tends to be top 8+ other foods, basically you eat turkey, rice and potatoes and slowly add things back in, google Dr Sears elimination diet.
Other things to remove- possibly soy, it can go along with milk intolerance

Checkout mspimama.com for dairy soy free ideas.

You can do this! It is hard but if you desire to breastfeeding you can do this!

[imimahoney]

What are his symptoms?

Ari had severe reflux and mspi. For his reflux we treated him with zantac. That was the only thing that appeared to give him relief. I did the mspi diet for about 6 weeks and then switched to formula when we was around 12 weeks.

If its just reflux I would reduce but not eliminate foods. If it's an intolerance then you have to eliminate these things all together. I second mspimama.com.

Are you seeing a specialist or just his pedi?

[silverjm]

Logan had some mild to moderate reflux and i was able to just make some minor diet changes. I had to completely cut milk and ice cream. I was able to just reduce my caffeine to only one can of diet coke a day, and I tried to drink it right after our morning nursing session so it would mostly be out of my system by our next session. I greatly reduced my portion sizes of green veggies to just one small serving every couple days. I also put Logan on a probiotic.

Hope you're able to get some relief soon.

[Deleted]

Thanks, livinreality, silverjm, and imimahoney...husband just got home so my first chance to come back in and comment! Long day.

Just saw the pedi based on symptoms Theo has...constipation, screams when having gas (which is frequent), is starving but has trouble eating, inconsolable crying at various points, eats every hour or two, etc. I have enormous babies (Theo is already 15 lbs at 2 months) and part of the problem is apparently that his digestive system isn't keeping up.

To minimize pain from that, pedi suggested gas drops/gripe water and changing my diet. He said dairy and caffeine are the two big ones, followed by legumes and leafy greens. If in a couple weeks there's no significant change, we can talk about Zantac or Prilosid (I think? My notes are downstairs).

I started him on a probiotic today (my friend swears they made her DS2 a completely different baby) and am hoping it helps. I hate seeing him miserable. I have nothing against formula (DS1 was FF from 3 months on) but I really don't feel ready to give up yet (despite pressure from my H and my mom).

[imimahoney]

In Ari's case, formula did nothing for his reflux- it was for his mspi. I hope you see a change soon! I was SO relieved once Ari was put on zantac and he actually felt better after eating.

[thedahliharpa]

How is his poop?
Both girls had very distinct green, mucousy, blood flecked poop until I cut dairy. With number one it took awhile to figure it out and she was a nightmare to nurse until I did. Arching back, screaming, fighting the breast, projectile vomiting at times.
Hang in there. I hope it is a transient issue or that Meds can help.
Let me know if you have specific dairy free requests.

[livinreality]

Sept 11, 2013 20:59:14 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

In Ari's case, formula did nothing for his reflux- it was for his mspi. I hope you see a change soon! I was SO relieved once Ari was put on zantac and he actually felt better after eating.

I agree formula was more beneficial for MSPI than the reflux, and medication and diet change better for the reflux.

[livinreality]

Sept 11, 2013 20:54:43 GMT -5 @thereigninglorelai said:

Thanks, livinreality, silverjm, and imimahoney...husband just got home so my first chance to come back in and comment! Long day.

Just saw the pedi based on symptoms Theo has...constipation, screams when having gas (which is frequent), is starving but has trouble eating, inconsolable crying at various points, eats every hour or two, etc. I have enormous babies (Theo is already 15 lbs at 2 months) and part of the problem is apparently that his digestive system isn't keeping up.

To minimize pain from that, pedi suggested gas drops/gripe water and changing my diet. He said dairy and caffeine are the two big ones, followed by legumes and leafy greens. If in a couple weeks there's no significant change, we can talk about Zantac or Prilosid (I think? My notes are downstairs).

I started him on a probiotic today (my friend swears they made her DS2 a completely different baby) and am hoping it helps. I hate seeing him miserable. I have nothing against formula (DS1 was FF from 3 months on) but I really don't feel ready to give up yet (despite pressure from my H and my mom).

I encourage you to do what you feel is best for you and little one, whether it be breastfeeding or formula. With DS1 I switched at 6 weeks and regretted it, with DS2 I switched at 5 months and was confident I was making the best choice even though no one understood the 4 months of crazy diet.

Depending on how bad/"colicy" he is I would recommend look into medicating his reflux sooner than later.  In my experience they are better with dealing with the reflux and give your little guy some relief and therefore everyone might be more supportive of breastfeeding.  You can always wean back off the meds once everything calms down to see if they are truly needed, or just diet change.  I guess I am a little more proactive for the sake of sanity from living with screaming babies..

I found this book Colic Solved (http://www.amazon.com/Colic-Solved-Essential-Infant-Difficult/dp/0345490681) very helpful and informative, I know it is hard to find time to read but just thought you can file it away incase you get frustrated.