Hellobee

Both my girls had reflux. Well, I guess Baby Pizza still has reflux, but we have definitely gotten over the worst of it. Those early months with Lil’ Pizza and her stomach issues made it physically and emotionally draining. I was anxious to feed her in public because I was scared she would cry during her feedings and spit up large amounts of milk. Even while I was pregnant with Baby Pizza, the idea of possibly having another baby with reflux made me feel a bit nervous. I wanted to name her Grace because I was hopeful she would show her parents some grace and be a calm and easy going baby. I guess she has a lot of years ahead of her to live out the meaning of her name right?

The interesting thing about both the girls having reflux was that it presented differently. With Lil’ Pizza, she would gulp down her bottle and only cry as soon as the bottle was finished. This made it hard to figure out how much she actually wanted because she seemed the most content while she was drinking milk. She was comfort feeding, basically feeding to alleviate pain. She would spit up what seemed like an ounce of milk at a time and was always grunting. She just never seemed comfortable. We tried probiotics, gas drops, gripe water, pumping the legs, but nothing really seemed to help a whole lot. One day, as she was nearing the three month mark, I decided to switch to a formula for sensitive tummies. I’ve heard that sometimes you have to wait over a week to see if a certain formula is even helpful, but Lil’ Pizza was drastically different after she finished that first bottle. She smiled and appeared so calm after the feeding. It made the biggest difference and I only wished I had tried the different formula sooner.

Baby Pizza’s reflux was different. During her feedings, she would cry when we would put the bottle in her mouth. She was so fidgety and would stiffen up her body during her feedings and also cough and choke. We would have to give her frequent breaks. Sometimes she would have tears running down her face as we fed her. Remembering how much of a drastic difference a switch in formula made for Lil’ Pizza, I decided to change formula much earlier. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much change and even at around three months, many of her feedings involved a lot of crying and projectile vomit. I decided to try another formula which seemed to have helped a little bit and also started her on probiotics. Now at nearly five months, she doesn’t cry during her feedings, but she still needs frequent breaks during her feedings to burp and is constantly spitting up throughout the day. I go through a lot of bibs everyday!

With our experience, the reflux wasn’t bad enough to require medication. My girls were both gaining weight so their pediatrician didn’t feel it was absolutely necessary to medicate them, but did leave it ultimately up to me to decide. I didn’t feel completely compelled to give the medication because in addition to my pediatrician’s views on the situation, I also heard that giving medicine for reflux doesn’t always resolve the issues either. Because I saw Lil’ Pizza pass through this difficult phase, I knew the light at the end of the tunnel was near for Baby Pizza each passing day. Every month I kept trying to hold off another month before I started to question again if she needed medication.

There are things that help lessen the spit up, such as keeping your baby upright for at least 20 minutes after a feeding, not jostling them around too much, and not putting added pressure by their stomach. However there are also a lot of other things that you just have to try and see what works for your baby. It also helps to talk to other moms who have a child with reflux. It helps to share about the struggles and also get ideas of different things to try to help reduce the symptoms of reflux.

When reading about infant reflux, there are a lot of suggestions about what can help, but I didn’t see much out there about useful baby products. Here are some of my favorite items that I’ve found helpful when dealing with reflux!

1) Dr. Brown bottles – While there are a lot of parts to the Dr. Brown bottles, it definitely is the go to bottle if you need bottles for your baby with reflux. It uses a vent system that eliminates air bubbles.

2) Udo’s Choice Infant’s Probiotic – Before giving probiotics, you should consult first with your pediatrician. With various different types of gas drops out there, it’s hard to say that one works better than the rest. However, probiotics are something that can be given to any baby to help develop a healthy gut. I’m not sure if it helped with Baby Pizza’s reflux, but it definitely helped her to poo more regularly. She went from going every four days to once a day after starting the probiotics. This is just the one that I tried, but there are many different options out there.

3) Matimati Baby Bandana Bib – While I am all about being practical, these bandana bibs are absolutely adorable. It’s always a bummer when Baby Pizza is wearing a cute outfit and I have to cover it with a bib. I haven’t tried these yet but if they are stylish and functional, then it’s a winner. They are very absorbent, which is essential for a baby that spits up a lot.

4) Gerber Cloth Diaper 6-ply with absorbent padding – If you have a baby that spits up a lot, this is definitely the only kind of burp cloth you need. It is by far the most absorbent burp cloth I have. I often lay this under a bib to prevent Baby Pizza’s clothes from potentially getting wet.

5) aden + anais Classic Burpy Bib – I love all the aden + anais products I have. This product is a bib and burp cloth in one. I like to use it as a bib for Baby Pizza because it covers a large surface area as a bib, which means hopefully less spit up on her clothes.

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If you have a baby with reflux, what are some of your favorite items that you found helpful?