GERD (acid reflux) and infant bucket

[Frenchgirl]

Hi!
This is my 4th child but my first time with the snugride35.
All my other kids used to sleep really well and enjoy being in the bucket when we were riding. We were using the Peg Perego bucket.

So, my new son is always sceeming in his bucket. If we do a 30 minutes ride, he will cry from the beginning to the end of the ride. He has GERD (acid reflux).

This is my questions:
- Do you think that the snugride35 is less comfy than others buckets? If yes, what is the better one (I'm in Canada)
- Do the buckets exacerbate GERD more than convertibles?

Thanks!

 

[ketchupqueen]

Buckets tend to be "scooped" (some more than others) and that can irritate some GERD and refluxy babies more than a flat-backed convertible. (Be aware: some convertibles are also scooped.) I know a lot of refluxy babies seem to do better in Radians than many others because they are so flat-backed. Convertibles also sometimes give more room to stretch the legs than some buckets (though not necessarily the SR35) which can help relieve pressure on the abdomen. Also, having him as upright as allowed by the seat as soon as he's able to hold his head up may help, whether in bucket or convertible.

 

[Frenchgirl]

Thanks ketchupqueen!!!
It's a good idea to try a convertible.
I've tried my baby in my old Safety First 3:1 Intera today. It's really weird: the seat has a minimum weight of 5 pounds. My baby is 12 pounds and the harness is still above the shoulders.
Anyway, I will have to wait until my baby fit in this seat.
My husband will kill me if I tell him that we need a new radian
I've received a brand new Monterey today for my DS1. So, no more new seats for the next months

 

[ketchupqueen]

The weight rating has nothing to do with when a child will fit by height. Most children don't fit that particular seat for quite a while, often six months or later. Good luck!

 

[SeattleRain]

Thanks ketchupqueen!!!
It's a good idea to try a convertible.
I've tried my baby in my old Safety First 3:1 Intera today. It's really weird: the seat has a minimum weight of 5 pounds. My baby is 12 pounds and the harness is still above the shoulders.
Anyway, I will have to wait until my baby fit in this seat.
My husband will kill me if I tell him that we need a new radian
I've received a brand new Monterey today for my DS1. So, no more new seats for the next months

The True Fit is less money than a Radian (I believe) and has a similar "L" shape. It also fits small babies well, much better than the Safety First. Food for thought

 

[Frenchgirl]

The True Fit is less money than a Radian (I believe) and has a similar "L" shape. It also fits small babies well, much better than the Safety First. Food for thought

Ah!!! You shouldn't tell me that!!! I want a True Fit now!!!


Ketchupqueen: The weight rating has nothing to do with when a child will fit by height. Most children don't fit that particular seat for quite a while, often six months or later. Good luck!

Yes, you're right. My 3 older children began to use this seat when they were 6 months old (when the bucket was outgrown). But, it's weird. I've checked the minimum height and it's 19 inches (the usual height for a newborn...). Anyway, I know, it's really a bad seat.

 

[ketchupqueen]

Some kids have longer torsos than others. My third daughter was born 20 inches long... with a 10 inch torso. Half her body length! So, kids come in all shapes and sizes.

 

[krfogle88]

dd2 has severe gerd and has a cco, sr35; t35, and kf30. shes actually more comfortable in the sr35 than the others. the angle is key for her though. is its too reclined it makes it worse same as if it wouldnt be reclined enough as she would have more pressure on her belly.

the convience of an infant seat is essential as dn is heading to kindergarden this year and dd1 is going to preschool and so we make do...

on a side note the heat makes her reflux worse so we keep more breathable covers on her seats so she doesnt get too warm in the car.

 

[xursusmaritimusx]

My son was a horrible refluxer. He's much better now that we have a system worked out.

I have a sr35 and a cco. He couldnt ride in the bucket without major spewing. For him I think the seat and the way the harness fit on his belly wasn't a good combo.

He did do much better in the cco with the infant insert. The angle was perfect and the harness is more forgiving in the belly area.

Might be worth a try

 

[ketchupqueen]

The Coccoro is not available in Canada. Plus she doesn't want to buy a new seat.

 

[Frenchgirl]

dd2 has severe gerd and has a cco, sr35; t35, and kf30. shes actually more comfortable in the sr35 than the others. the angle is key for her though. is its too reclined it makes it worse same as if it wouldnt be reclined enough as she would have more pressure on her belly.

This is a good idea. I will begin by that (changing the angle). If it doesn't work, I think I will try my Radian. But if my baby tolerates the radian, I will have a difficult time to decide what to do: buying a new radian or TF for the baby? turning my 2,5 yo DD ff in my Apex65 or safety first Intera? or letting my baby cry in his SR35.....

Thanks to everybody for your ideas! It helps me!!!!

 

[Frenchgirl]

Oh.... I have a better idea:
Take the Radian for the baby.
Move the MyRide from my Dh's car to my car (my dd uses her myride once a week maximum for a 3 minutes ride). And put the Intera for her in my Dh's car.
It's not perfect but in 3 months (when the baby will be 6 months old), maybe he will feel well in the Intera and my DD will be allowed to take her Myride back...

 

[xursusmaritimusx]

The Coccoro is not available in Canada. Plus she doesn't want to buy a new seat.

Sorry missed that point

 

[Mugsmom]

My reflux babies both hated their bucket seats, we actually had to pull over twice because DS began to choke in his. DS (my severe refluxer) did great in his TFP though! DD's reflux is nearly gone, but she does well in the My Ride.

We tried a Britax convertible when DS was little, and it was just as bad as the bucket.

 

[Frenchgirl]

My reflux babies both hated their bucket seats, we actually had to pull over twice because DS began to choke in his. DS (my severe refluxer) did great in his TFP though! DD's reflux is nearly gone, but she does well in the My Ride.

We tried a Britax convertible when DS was little, and it was just as bad as the bucket.

Oh! Good to know that the MyRide is fine. I will have to choose between my Radian and the MyRide. Great! I will try this week-end to change the angle of my SR35. If it doesn't change anything, I will try him the Radian and the Myride. The only thing is that my Myride doesn't have an insert like yours. I hope it gonna be fine but I'm not sure.

 

[safeinthecar]

Ketchupqueen: The weight rating has nothing to do with when a child will fit by height. Most children don't fit that particular seat for quite a while, often six months or later. Good luck!

Yes, you're right. My 3 older children began to use this seat when they were 6 months old (when the bucket was outgrown). But, it's weird. I've checked the minimum height and it's 19 inches (the usual height for a newborn...). Anyway, I know, it's really a bad seat.

The Intera has the same bottom slot height as a Scenera, so it should fit even a newborn really well. I vaguely remember the bottom-most slots being camouflaged somehow though.

Also, can the 2yo use the Intera rfing instead of ffing?

 

[ketchupqueen]

Camoflaged bottom slots?

Crap. That would explain a lot... (I've only had two Interas come in but neither fit the kid well!)

(And neither was my car so I didn't get to go over it myself- only see the kids in them before they left in passing.)

 

[henrietta]

A few added pointers that can help...if it's possible to plan your days so that you are feeding him *after* arriving somewhere and staying for awhile, rather than right before you leave, that can help.

Generally, breastmilk and/or the hydrolized formulas (Nutramigen, Alimentum, Neocate) are better tolerated, b/c less cow's milk protein=easier/quicker digestion. FWIW, cow's milk protein is virtually unchanged in breastmilk, so eliminating that sometimes helps, even though it can take weeks to see results. For my child w/failure to thrive, he began gaining weight again after weeks of losing, after I totally eliminated dairy. He also did okay on Alimentum.

If baby's already on meds, Zantac is flavored w/peppermint, a classic instigator of GERD. And it doesn't come made for infants any other way. Most peds are wary of prescribing anything else, but most ped GI's are happy to prescribe Prevacid, which both my preemies were on at a very young age. Giving those in the morning, when they would be the strongest before we had to go on car rides helped.

Good luck!! I hope he feels better and car rides are more pleasant soon. I still haven't forgotten nearly rearending a car in front of me at a red light, b/c of the screaming (ds2 b/c of reflux and ds1 b/c he's autistic and couldn't stand ds2 screaming!)

 

[Frenchgirl]

The Intera has the same bottom slot height as a Scenera, so it should fit even a newborn really well. I vaguely remember the bottom-most slots being camouflaged somehow though.

Also, can the 2yo use the Intera rfing instead of ffing?

You know, I'm probably really not good to evaluate if the harness is below or above. Even with the SR35 (and the insert with the cushion), it looked like that the harness was above for the first few weeks. I usually use a spirit level to make sure that everything is fine. But I haven't use it with the Intera.
So, I will try my baby again in the Intera, with my spirit level. I'm pretty sure that tere is no bottom slots camouflaged because the insert has only one slot and it coincidates with the bottom one that I see.

Unfortunately, I can't use the Intera rf because the maximum rf height is 32 inches (my dd is heigher than that) and the maximum rf weight is 30 pounds (she is 31 pounds).

Henrietta: You really have GOOD ideas. In fact, I've measured and weighted him yesterday and he passed from 50th percentile to the 15th in 1 month. My 2 other boys were around 75th percentile. My baby is already on zantac and I will switch to Prevacid soon I think. I hope it will help. I breastfeed him and I bought this week Alimentum in case that I needed it. I have a child with multiple food allergies so, my baby might be allergic too. With DS2, when I stopped to eat dairy products, his irritability has stopped too. I've tried twice to exclude dairy products with this child but it hasn't changed anything. Maybe I should try again....

Thanks again to everyone that try to help me; I really APPRECIATE it!

 

[ketchupqueen]

If you have a history of food allergies and eliminating dairy alone is not doing it, you might try eliminating soy, too. 30% or more of kids who are intolerant of dairy protein also can't tolerate soy protein. ("MSPI" is a common term for it if you're googling- Milk/Soy Protein Intolerance.) Some kids also react to nuts or other common allergens, so some mamas find that going top 8 allergen free is helpful.