GERD and Shaken Baby Syndrome

Before I became a parent, the only time I ever heard about Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) was on the news.  Usually, the incident occurred in an inner-city area.  Drugs and alcohol were almost always involved, as was general family dysfunction.  I remember seeing images of distraught mothers or dazed fathers/boyfriends weeping and professing sorrow over the incident, and I remember thinking: how could you do that to your own child?  How could you put your child at risk by staying with a violent and abusive partner?!

This perception of SBS, though not directly supported, was nevertheless reinforced in the parenting class my husband and I took at the hospital where our first daughter was born.  SBS was addressed primarily from the standpoint of knowing the symptoms and being aware of whether a family member or babysitter were prone to violence and likely to harm our baby.

Recent studies, however, change all that.  Although it is still more likely for a baby to be shaken by an adult male rather than an adult female, the stereotype of an angry boyfriend shaking his girlfriend's baby while high on drugs is steadily being replaced by the more likely scenario of a loving but exhausted father shaking his reflux baby during a nervous breakdown without even realizing what he's doing.  Current research suggests that over 90% of all SBS cases are the result of a parent losing control due to the incessant crying of a baby with reflux or colic.  Truth be told, colic and pediatric GERD significantly increase a baby's risk of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Before I became a parent, I never would have described anger as a routine weakness in me.  Impatience and at times arrogance?  Yes.  Anger?  No.  Sure, things upset me at times, but never anything I couldn't talk out or work out or pray out of my system.

But when reflux raised its ugly head in my household and my girls cried incessantly--sometimes at the same time, sometimes one right after the other, sometimes for hours, days, or weeks on end with only a few intermittent periods of quiet--I was shocked and embarrassed and humiliated to discover a Hulk-like maternal rage born in me.

I wasn't really angry with them.  I knew deep down inside that they were crying out of pain and couldn't help what they were doing.  I was angry with the reflux, angry with the people who told me to just let them cry, angry with my own inability to console them, angry with my utter lack of sleep, angry with my own post-partum depression and fried nerves, and yes, I was angry with God.

There were times when every strategy to calm and soothe them failed, and I felt the rage boiling and rising inside like volcanic lava ready to erupt--times when I realized my grasp on them was becoming tighter and tighter--times when I had to put them safely in their cribs and walk away.  I hated walking away--hated the thought of leaving them alone in their room with their pain to cry while I withdrew my presence, if not my comfort, from them.   There were times when I sat in the hall outside their room and cried--times when I paced the house yelling at God--and times when I fell down on the floor pleading with God not to abandon my children or me, but to calm them when I couldn't, and to protect them from my anger, and to utterly kill and destroy every bit of anger and rage inside of me.

It has not been an easy road.  The transformation of my inner self has been a long and difficult time coming.  But we are past the stage of routine excessive crying now, and I have learned--primarily through prayer--to manage myself and subdue my own anger before even trying to deal with the girls.  We still struggle periodically at night with reflux triggered by illness or teething, and that can bring on hours of crying and fussing.  We still struggle by day with periodic and sometimes completely random meltdowns, which I understand are still par for the course.  But where I used to watch the news and judge the parents or guardians of babies who had been shaken, I now listen to those same stories and weep with complete humility and compassion, knowing to the core of my soul, "There but for the grace of God, go I."


For more information about GERD, SBS, and tips to cope, please visit the following sites:
http://www.pollywogbaby.com/refluxandcolic/shakenbabysyndrome.html

http://www.parenting-journals.com/81/colic-and-shaken-baby-syndrome/

http://www.colichelp.com/shakenbabysyndrome.html

http://www.dontshake.org/sbs.php?topNavID=3&subNavID=25&navID=283

Colic and GERD

When my daughters were first diagnosed with GERD, many people--both professionals and nonprofessionals alike--would roll their eyes and say, "GERD is just another word for colic.  Babies cry.  What's the big deal?  Get used to it!"

Our pediatrician was hardly in agreement.  Colic, he informed me, may have once been an "umbrella term" for a variety of conditions yet unknown and undiagnosed.  Acid reflux may have indeed been a condition caught under the umbrella of colic before doctors and researchers knew what it was.  Still, in his own words, "Acid reflux is ten times worse than colic."

What does that mean?

Colic is often diagnosed using the "Rule of 3's."  I have seen different variations of the Rule of 3's, but the following is pretty standard:

The baby cries for more than 3 hours a week
for more than 3 days a week
for more than 3 weeks in a row
or up to 3 months.

Using simple math and applying it to the cries associated with GERD would create the following "Rule of 30's:"

The baby cries for more than 30 hours a week
for more than 30 days a month
for more than 30 weeks in a row.


I realize this sounds ridiculously extreme, but from my own experience, the "Rule of 30's (or 10 x worse than colic)" had some surprising accuracies.  In their first few months, there were days when each of my girls cried for 8-10 hours in a row.  Although this incessant crying decreased after a few months, it returned at 18-20 months,  when my girls both clocked 9-10 hours of straight crying (usually during the night) brought about by reflux triggered by teething anxiety.

Of course, the first 3-4 months are always the worst, for GERD babies and colicky babies.  But whereas colicky babies grow out of their troubles, GERD babies sometimes do not.  Acid reflux can stay with an individual throughout life, flaring up and causing pain due to a variety of triggers, from food to anxiety, illness to teething.

Now, my purpose in this post is not to argue whether GERD or colic is worse: the truth is, they are both difficult to handle, they are both medical issues, and they share some similarities both in symptoms and treatments.  Because my girls' reflux is currently controlled through diet and natural remedies, and because reflux is most likely genetic, I am always on the lookout for new products that are natural, safe, and effective for infants.

And so I am posting the links to two tummy bands designed with colic in mind.  If used correctly on a GERD baby, keeping the tummy elongated rather than scrunched up tight, I imagine they will also prove beneficial.  My thoughts here circle back to the encouragement of homeopaths and therapists who recommend the gentle pressure of massage on the tummy and the vagus nerve.  Again, I have no personal experience here: only keen interest.

The first band, the Lull-a-Band, was designed by a mother and an International Relief worker, both looking for a simple and effective way to comfort babies with the pain of colic.  It works by applying gentle pressure to tummies that are bloated with gas and constipation, both of which can be also present with GERD babies.

Lull-a-Band
http://www.nocolic.com/



The second band, the Happi Tummi, includes a microwaveable pouch that can be inserted into the band.  The pouch serves two purposes: first, the warmth helps to soothe and relax the baby's abdominal muscles, and second, the warmth helps to release the aromatic oils designed to soothe and comfort.  Because warm baths and aromatic oils have at times had a positive effect on my girls, I am intrigued by the Happi Tummi's design.  My only caution, of course, would be to make sure you do not "over-microwave" the pouch, and always, always, always check its warmth before strapping it onto the baby!!  If it is too warm to your touch, don't put it anywhere near the baby!!  (You can also use the Happi Tummi band without the microwaveable pouch.)

Happi Tummi Natural Relief
http://www.happitummi.com/

Colic-Ease Gripe Water: a GERD Mama Best Pick

Being new to the public world of mom-blogging, let me say I am a mom of action, who firmly believes the least invasive method of treatment is best.  Because my girls' symptoms were so severe, I tried almost everything to help them--including prescription medication--and learned that sometimes it's the simple things that make the most difference.  Therefore, I am devoting this blog post to one of my favorite products for soothing pediatric acid reflux: Colic-Ease Gripe Water.


Let me confess that I did not originally start the girls on Colic-Ease, but I wish I had.  When my first daughter was born, she could not suck or swallow properly and began to dehydrate and lose weight within days.  By the end of her second week, she had dropped from almost the 90th percentile in weight to the 50th percentile.  Because GERD was new to me and I was so busy keeping her alive both day and night, I didn't have time then to research all my options for treatment.  I purchased our doctor's prescription for Prevacid, and medically speaking, it saved her life.  The same thing happened with my second daughter, who was born only 15 months after my first.  It was only after both girls had been on Prevacid long-term that I began to see the negative side effects that were cause for concern.  (But more on that in another post.)


For now, let me share with you why I love Colic-Ease Gripe Water.


My children started taking Colic-Ease Gripe Water since they were 24 months and 9 months old, respectively.  That was when I first learned about it myself.  I began giving it to them in conjunction with a strictly controlled diet, and the difference has been like night and day in reducing and eliminating their GERD symptoms.  Even now that they are 2 and 3 years old, I keep a bottle on hand for those occasions when they eat a new food that might upset their stomachs, and it does the trick to settle their systems. 


But what is gripe water, you may ask?  "Gripe waters" are homeopathic remedies composed of natural ingredients that are typically used to treat colic.  Some recipes have been used for hundreds of years in Eastern, middle-Eastern, and European cultures.  They are over-the-counter, so you don't need a prescription, but they are often sold exclusively in natural health stores rather than regular pharmacies or grocery stores.  


What separates Colic-Ease Gripe Water from other gripe waters is what it does not contain: alcohol, sodium bicarbonate, charcoal, parabens, sucrose or sorbitol, or artificial sweeteners, flavors, or colors.  Most gripe waters I researched and saw in the stores contained these ingredients, the most common being sodium bicarbonate and charcoal, neither of which I wanted to pour into my girls' systems.


In addition, Colic-Ease Gripe Water contains a mixture of what I would consider "normal" essential oils--in other words, herbal oils I recognize or oils that would pass from a nursing mother into her breastmilk while eating an average diet--dill, cinnamon, caraway, clove, and cardamum.   Together, these oils work to combat gas, indigestion, vomiting, and diarrhea.  They also help to kill harmful microorganisms, viruses, bacteria and fungi.


You can administer Colic-Ease directly through an infant medicine dropper or you can mix a little with breastmilk or  formula (or juice for older babies/toddlers).  It is safe to use for newborns as well as older children.


Because it is not sold widely in health stores, you may have difficulty locating it near you.  You may always go to the official Colic-Ease website for more information as well as to find a store near you or to order online. http://www.colicease.com/