Acid Reflux Causes Choking in Newborn Babies
Ten Days After He was Born, Choked and Turned Blue
Acid reflux, also known as "colic," causes choking in newborns. I would like to make a distinction between the two. Acid reflux is a specific condition. "Colic" is a number of symptoms under one diagnosis. My son was labeled as both "Acid Reflux, and Colic." Acid Reflux begins about 10 days after birth. His colic symptons began about 12 days after his birth. There are few distinctions between acid and colic syptoms but one I would like to make involves choking while laying on one's back.
Mickey arrived at 7:31a.m. on July 17, 2004. It was a Saturday. He arrived with no complications. He was strong. There were no signs that he might have Acid Reflux or have symptoms associated with colic. About ten days after his birth he had his first choking incident. His infant, vibrating seat was turned on. Mickey and I were settling into a nap after our breastfeeding session. I laid on the couch, but opened my eyes once more to look at my boy. From where I lay I could only see two little red, clenched fists. Suddenly the fists were flailing around him. I jumped off the couch to see what was the matter. His head and face turned a purplish blue. I immediately assumed he was choking, put him face down on my forearm and gave an Infant Back Blow. It took three back blows to clear his airway. He couldn't breath for about 10-15 seconds.
That was our first choking incident and it was caused by acid in his esophagus. After the choking he was so scared. He cried and shrieked. Then fear turned to misery when he realized he constantly had pain in his throat. I think he may have become colicky because of the acid reflux problem, but that is just my theory.
Acid agitated the back of Mickey's throat day and night. Before meals and after, he was tortured by acid in the back of his throat. While acid digested the food in his stomach, the opening at the top of his stomach did not close and the food and acid would shoot up into his esophagus and come out of his mouth. This vicous cycle kept repeating itself, which led to the non-stop crying. He cried for five hours in the evenings. He cried for three hours in the morning. He slept for 45 minute stretches, but many times would wake up to burning in the back of his throat. I was truly greatful when he started to sleep for an hour and a half.
Months of treatment and experimentation followed because his medical provider was a "teaching hospital." At seven weeks of age, the doctor wanted to perform his third invasive procedure, on my baby! My frustration was at its peak! I refused to let that hospital use my son as a lab rat. Because I would not allow it, the doctor refused to give him the needed medication. It was four months of trial and error with medication and special treatment until I got the "ok" to get a second opinion and finally got the medication he needed. Hershey Medical is the best. They put him on Prilosec, and we saw results in three days. The instructions said it could take up to a month to see results, but results could be seen sooner. I was so happy he took the medication well.
He was a different child after that. He wasn't crying as much. We both got more sleep. We had time to play and we finally got to know each other a little better. There have been a number of problems associated with that whole experience, for both of us, but every day our lives together just keep getting better.
I truly empathsize with parents of babies that have colic and/or acid reflux. I learned many techniques during this experience that I would love to share. If you have questions for me, please feel free to contact me.
Published by Lizzie Yoder
Central Pennsylvania resident, I live in the Susquehanna Valley. Born into the Nebraska Amish Community in Union County, I still live near my birthplace. Family is very important to me. I am a mom first. I'm... View profile
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35 Comments
Post a CommentHello.. My baby is 5 weeks old. About 2-3 weeks ago started spits out milk and sour looking milk. After my research i thought it could be reflux but my doc said its normal that she spits if it was reflux she wouldnt eat much and that she would cry alot. Taoday i noticed that after burp some liquid comes to her mouth and wakes her up. She makes faces in her sleep and sticks out tongue like its sour. Then she wakes up and start cry. Do you think it is reflux?
Hi Lizzie,
I found your article by accident while surfing for more information on acid reflux in babies. I must say I felt sorry for you and your baby and just wanted to share my thoughts. I have a 6 week old son (my first child) and ever since he was a week old he's had problems sleeping at night mainly due to the fact that he'd be in pain, grunting, squirming and tightening his stomach muscles and kicking his legs. He still does it all through the night and none of us get much sleep at all. At first I thought it was normal, that his intestines and digestive tract were forming, blah blah blah. However it's not getting any better and I just hate seeing him in pain. We are going to a paediatrician tomorrow and I'll will ask her whether he has reflux or colic or both as something has to be done. I find that he will fall asleep when he's in an upright position on my chest or on his stomach. But putting him on his back is a disaster. I hope he gets better soon.
Hi Aimee, it's listed on my profile page but the address is: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/202007/treatment_for_an_infant_with_acid_reflux.html
Good luck to you!
Aimee, read my other article on tips for caring for an infant with acid reflux. The best thing I did to help my son was always laying him on his side to sleep and adding ground up cereal to his bottle. Definitely read this other article- if you haven't already. Let me know if you have any other questions- I am here to help! Good luck with your baby- I'm sorry you are going through this. You will be a stronger person after having dealt with this. Please let me know if I can help you any more.
Allison, sorry to hear about your baby having trouble. If you notice he stops breathing or making any sounds at all- then he might be choking and you need to clear his airway. You can google the process if you've never had CPR and First Aid training. Learn about ways to clear his airway for his sake and keep taking a proactive approach- just being here shows that you care! Good luck to you my dear!
my baby just got home from the hospital a few days ago (I had a c-section so was in for longer) and since he has been home I feel like he has been having many signs of reflux. I told my ped at his first appointment yesterday and they keep saying it is gas (but I just got off the phone with the nurse and she agrees it could be reflux and are agreeable to seeing him again soon if I try a few more of the gas things).
I am just so scared. Can anyone tell me about this back blow thing too?
Got cut off..anyway, has anyone had this issue with reflux associated asthma? That is out biggest battle right now, since every minor cold can trigger and attack. We pray he will grow out of this all, they say if we control the reflux, we can control the asthma..rodbeach@bellsouth.net
Just days after bringing our son home from the hospital, I was "asleep"-(do we ever REALLY sleep?) when I woke to the softest sound coming from the bassinett-I flipped on the light and saw my son chocking (he was on his back like the doctors say to do) and his eyes were wide with panic. I grabbed him up and administered back blows..he was fine after that but soon thereafter diagnosed with GERD (reflux). We have battled this for two years, my son will be 2 on Monday, and it has gotten better with the help of previcid. Also, our gastro dr. put him on neocate early on. It's an expensive but wonderful formula that was a miracle for us until he was about a year old. Just saw the gastro again today and we had to cold turkey him from his night time bottle. Anything to control the GERD. In addition, my son was diagnosed with GERD related asthma. This is really the bigger problem we are dealing with now. He take aerisol treatments everyday and meds to control his allergies, since every
Hi,
my son who is now 2 has still not outgrown his reflux. He has been on prevacid since he was 3 weeks old. I have tried to take him off his meds, but he refused to eat and only gained 2 ounces in a six month period. we put him back on his meds and now he has gained 3 months in 3 months. He had a Upper GI
(he did not shed a tear!) done last week and he has still not outgrown the reflux so now the question is WHY?dmwilliams2@cox.net
my 3 day old baby was overfed and as a result acid reflux caused her to choke and turn blue to the point where her eyes were rolling. my husband used a nasal aspirator and suctioned her and literally saved her life. she is now almost 4 years old and has apraxia of speech and possibly auditory processing disorder. a speech therapist has taught her to somewhat talk. 2.5 oz of milk can cause alot of damage to a baby who is already full so be careful not to over feed your baby or let another person over feed your baby. slc