my son was diagnosed with acid reflux as an infant

have you had him tested for food allergies?  Also you might try feeding small amounts more often.  Is it possible he is over eating at his feedings?  If not, I would also get a second opinion with a different doctor.

Hi, every time when I hear that parents and children go through this phase of suffering where no one can help them with solutions it breaks my heart. I am a mom like you and it took me 4 pediatricians and 3 ped GI's to finally get the kind of attention that my little boy deserves. I am not an expert and I certainly am clueless about kids over 6 months of age because my entire experience is based on on my only son who is now 6 mo old and suffers from GERD.

However, one thing I know from my experience is that you have to ask the right set of questions in order to get help from your doctors.

Has your pedi ever checked your child for milk and soy protein allergies? Lactose is a sugar, not protein. Most kids do not have lactose allergies but instead "protein allergies" and show many of the symptoms that you are describing. Can you insist that his pediatrician checks him for those? Simple stool and blood tests can reveal protein allergies.

Alternatively, have you tried giving him amino-acid based formula such as Elecare? Please, ask your pedi if you can at least give it a fair try. Fortunately she doesn't even need to write a prescription. E-bay has some Elecare Vanilla flavor cans at great prices. The one with Vanilla flavor is approved for kids above 1 yr old. Try it for a week and if the symptoms go away you would know for sure that your kid has protein related issues. Read the mixing instructions carefully, they are different for toddlers.

 On the other hand if it is reflux and it's still bothering him, you need something stronger mediaction than just Zantac. Most Dr. would refer you to a pediatric GI specialist who would try prilosec or prevacid (both are very safe). However, you need to ask your pediatrician to refer you to a specialist, if she cannot help you find a solution.

 One final question: are you giving him vitamin supplements? Or rice cereal with added iron? There are many doctors who do not agree that iron is a culprit but there are many other doctors (such as our new pedi) who are willing to try out and check by "elimination". Eliminate all iron for a short time (1 week) and see if symptoms go away. If your child has mild iron intolerance, there are associated gastric symptoms and your pediatrican can recommend him a low iron diet but supplement his needs by using a "gentle iron" or what is called a "chelated-iron" supplement.

Ask questions, give suggestions and insist the doctor you need more active participation from her. If she seems unwilling to listen or is too busy, go ahead and look for a different pedi who is willing to be more open about this. Good luck and do keep us all posted. Hope your son feels better soon.

My son had the same symptoms and the pediatrician said he was allergic to the cream. After I gave him skim milk he was ok.

Hi! I am mother of a 7yr old , when my son was about 3wks he started projectile throwing up. My doctor tested him for acid reflux, they gave him and xray while he drank some special drink. Well we found out the his lower esophageal sphincter (LES) muscle wasnt fully developed. So the put him on a medicine and it helped keep it down and they said in time it would develop and he would grow out of it. So it did until  this year and it has gotten bad. We are waiting to see a specialist to see if he will need surgey on it. So what i recommend is having them do the xray and the special testing and find out now because it is very stressfull. My son was playing football and a very active boy but now he is limited to what things he can do cause he will spit up and its like the way you discribe your childs spit up. He has been getting sent home very day from school because of his acid reflux. So if you can try your hardest with the doctors to figure it out cause its sucks to see them suffer and not be able to much about it. I hope my story helped you out in some way and you get it taken care of now while your child is young and not in school.