Unfortunately you are not alone. But you MUST ask yourself "why does my child have it and the child down the street does not?" Why didn't think exist 30 years ago, or even 10 years to the extent that it does now? Does anyone in my family have this problem?
My brother had 4 kids with no problems, and my husband and I do not have this problem.
Look around you. Could it be bacterial or fungal? It was for my son.
I didn't wallow in self pitty and try to cope with my son's so called problem. I tried to fix it through thorough research and found that it was Candida and a course of Nystatin cured him.
These are precious babies from God that are perfect and when they are born they are exposed to certain environmental cuases and so the problems being.
As we get older we lack the proper acid in our stomachs to kill of that bacteria.
PLEASE LISTEN AND SAVE YOUR CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOD BLESS!!!!!!
This did exist 30, even 40 years ago, it was just not recognized and or talked about. Once again, as Jan has mentioned, reflux can be caused by a myriad of issues and of course if it were simply the one thing your son had we would of course all be doing it. Unfortunately it is not all caused by whatever caused your sons conditon. God Bless.
No this did not exist to the extent that it does today and don't try to convince yourself either. I don't know anyone in my family or circle of friends who has ever heard of this. Yet, I run into perfect strangers every day who know of a child or have one themselves. And when I tell that what helped my son, they all act like you and brush it off. Well, it is easy and simple yet since it doesn't come from a doctors mouth or written in some medical journal or magazine no one believes it.
My mother used Chamomile tea for colic and some moms today won't go near because some doctors don't see studies that prove that it works.
Give me a break!!! I don't need to see God to know that he exists, I just believe!
I believe it, but WHO would want their child to be in the first study? Granted they kinda are, but what parent would allow their child to be in the guinea pig group? It's the same as alot of drugs that are not studied in pregnant women, who would want to be in the study group? Alll in all it comes down to the Dr. Weighing the possible percieved benefit against the possible harm that could be caused....
So you leave it to the doctor to decide for you?
I think we've found the true problem. If I left it up to the doctor, my child would probably be labled "autistic".
And the phsyician I went to also cured children of that label. When these children were under the care of this doctor, they were reevaluated and they were no longer categorized as autisic.
The day I wrote this we were told we were using our daughter's illnesses as an "excuse" to avoid certain things. Unfortunately there are always going to be people who don't get it because they haven't really dealt with a reflux baby, a child who has "failed to thrive" to the point of nearly dying or one who has aspirated. One who has been in so much pain that is is unbearable for everyone in the family! Or one who empties out their stomach each time you try to take them somewhere.
Maybe their kid had a simple case and outgrew it fast so they believe all kids will outgrow it with out issue. Or maybe they have even looked the disease up and have become "experts" based on junk science. Unfortunately, as with many things, one child's reflux is not the same as another. Some do well with dietary and positional changes and some don't. My youngest daughter's is so severe that if she did not have treatment she would have huge problems with her esophagus. She already has dealt with esophagitis. My oldest totally outgrew hers. They were night and day in their reflux and used different medicines and/or treatments. Again, there is NO blanket treatment for reflux and to tell you otherwise would not only be completely false but also makes parents who have tried the "only treatment" feel like they failed their children.
I believe this was around years ago there were just no accurate diagnostic tools. They called it colic or failure to thrive. There were many babies who were starving to death with no cause found. Perhaps those were undiagnosed reflux? We will never know.
Perhaps there ARE environmental issues contributing. There are some studies showing that people with GERD have different types of bacteria in their esophagus than those who are healthy. Unfortunately it is unclear as to which came first, did the reflux cause the altered bacteria or the altered bacteria cause the reflux? (See next month's post for more info on this subject).
The bottom line isn't about who caused it or how to treat it. The bottom line is that we live in a society that needs to relearn the art of compassion. COMPASSION was the point of this post. More than any of the medical issues, more than the emotional toll of dealing with a kid with reflux. Most moms will say they just want a little compassion.
I am fortunate that over the past few weeks, dealing with other issues aside from my girls' health, to be covered in His peace. Knowing with all my heart that God provides compassion that man may not have the ability to give at times. That is enough for me.
I came across this site by accident - wondering what the chances are that the infant I am carring will also have GERD. I have three children, although my littlest isn't exactly born yet 
My first born had severe GERD - second didn't, wondering about #3.
As someone who has been there and is now on the other side I can SO relate.
My sons doctor didn't believe me at first and said "all babies spit up" it took seeing it to believe it - I fed my baby and allowed the doctor to SEE the projective vomit that went several feet as soon as he got some food inside him. My little one almost died - he spent days in hospital with tubes everywhere to keep him alive - ONLY because he was slowly starving with his GERD. This WAS NOT something that could have been cured by herbal treatments, diet etc. He had apnea, asperated several times, failure to thrive and global delays because of his GERD until he was around three years old. I have seen other GERD families who have had less severe cases and it isn't that big of a deal to them. BUT there are families who go through HELL with GERD and struggle every day to keep their baby alive. Zantac saved my babies life!!! So ya if given the choice between a drug that isn't tested in infants and him dying at 3 weeks old I'd take the Zantac. We used Zantac several times a day from 3 weeks to 3 years old it didn't cure all of his reflux he still spit up a LOT but it let him keep enough food down that he was OK - not perfect, not healthy, just OK. My baby is now turning 7 - he is strong and healthy - he is even a national champion athlete!. He never has reflux issues and doesn't even remember being sick. The only side effect so far is his teeth - due to the massive amounts of acid 8! of his teeth needed to be covered in crowns because they were 1/2 gone - this was treated as dental surgery in hospital at 4 years old. Maybe this doesn't answer why your child has GERD but my son's case had nothing to do with bacteria (is that even considered GERD?) my child's GERD was caused by having an under developed lower esophageal sphincter at birth. (this is a little flap that keeps the food from coming back up from the stomach) Over time his sphincter did develop and then he was fine.
To all those parents covered in spit up 
There are families out there who feel your pain. Seven years ago there wasn't any support for GERD families in my area - it's great to see there is a place online where you can go to talk to other parents and know you are not alone!
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Wow...you said it all, nothing more to add...I'm the mother of a 4 month old with reflux, and thought I was the only one experiencing the whole car seat scenario...have been on the couch every night since coming home from from the NICU so he can sleep upright in his swing. Just hoping and praying all our little ones "grow out" of it. My mantra has been "Stay strong and sleep whenever I can...even if it is for 15 minutes." God Bless!
I am sorry to hear that you relate but hopeful that knowing you are not alone will help in some small way. If you haven't checked out the "General beginner and infant" forum on the PAGER website pop on over there! We have a lot of parents in the exact same position.
Reflux is rough and only another reflux mom will ever know HOW rough. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope your little one will be well on the road to feeling good, and riding in car seats, very soon!! Praying for your family and all of us on this roller coaster.
~Jen