Infant with Reflux

[Second Home]

I had 2 interviews for my infant spot within the last week .
Both interviews went well , both want the spot .

The second told me that the baby(5 weeks old ) has reflux . She takes medication for it . I don't like to give medication if I don't have to but with this baby I would have to . What really got me was that the mom mentioned that because of the reflux the baby has turned blue/purple while napping . She would need to be napped in an inclined position . I have to check with my licensing rep to see if this would be allowed and what I would have to do regulation wise .

Anyone have an infant with reflux bad enough to make them turn blue / purple because they couldn't breathe well when laid flat ? Is this common with reflux?

They were a great family and we seemed to get along , they have 2 children who would need care .
The first family was also great with only one infant needing care .

I have to admit that I am nervous about taking an infant with known problems breathing when napping .

[LysesKids]

I had 2 interviews for my infant spot within the last week .
Both interviews went well , both want the spot .

The second told me that the baby(5 weeks old ) has reflux . She takes medication for it . I don't like to give medication if I don't have to but with this baby I would have to . What really got me was that the mom mentioned that because of the reflux the baby has turned blue/purple while napping . She would need to be napped in an inclined position . I have to check with my licensing rep to see if this would be allowed and what I would have to do regulation wise .

Anyone have an infant with reflux bad enough to make them turn blue / purple because they couldn't breathe well when laid flat ? Is this common with reflux?

They were a great family and we seemed to get along , they have 2 children who would need care .
The first family was also great with only one infant needing care .

I have to admit that I am nervous about taking an infant with known problems breathing when napping .

When there are known health issues, I require not only Drs diagnoses, but written treatment plan before I will consider contracting; I ran into this situation late last year... interviewed a mom w/6 week old who had heart issue at birth - I asked for a plan of action from the DR before I would contract because she was saying she would give meds before baby came every day etc etc; guess who didn't sign because I needed a written list of regular meds also just in case something happened during the day even If I wasn't the one to give them to the child.

BTW, my son was born 7 weeks early & had a hole in his esophagus... I had to keep him inclined at all times especially after eating and I was nursing... I had no issue getting proof from the DR either, but this was in late '81

[hwichlaz]

Drs note. My tube fed dcb had to be kept almost sitting up for 30 min after the end of each feed. Dr gave a note no problem, just in case he fell asleep in the high chair, reclined.

[Baby Beluga]

I would pass on this baby.

Once a baby's reflux is so bad that their airway is blocked, it gets dangerous, quick. Also, if he/she is still "refluxing" (liquid coming up) it means his/her reflux is not fully under control and may get worse before getting better.

[mamamanda]

I have one with both reflux & asthma & she occasionally turns blue when she has an episode. It is very scary. Honestly, if she wasn't my niece I wouldn't want to deal with this. In my case I feel like she's safer with me than elsewhere as I know her warning signs & hover over her, but I wouldn't want the responsibility of this with someone else's child. I do nap her on an incline per Drs order, but I'm legally unlicensed so I don't have to worry about licensing on that. If I were you I would pass on the reflux issues.

[daycarediva]

I would pass on this baby.

Once a baby's reflux is so bad that their airway is blocked, it gets dangerous, quick. Also, if he/she is still "refluxing" (liquid coming up) it means his/her reflux is not fully under control and may get worse before getting better.

I have one with both reflux & asthma & she occasionally turns blue when she has an episode. It is very scary. Honestly, if she wasn't my niece I wouldn't want to deal with this. In my case I feel like she's safer with me than elsewhere as I know her warning signs & hover over her, but I wouldn't want the responsibility of this with someone else's child. I do nap her on an incline per Drs order, but I'm legally unlicensed so I don't have to worry about licensing on that. If I were you I would pass on the reflux issues.

My granddaughter haD reflux this severe.

PASS. It took a LONG time to get the right combo of meds/formula to make it better and in the mean time it was scary as hell.

IF you decide to accept them, I would nap the infant in the same room as you. Require a dr's treatment plan, diagnosis, list of meds, etc and make sure licensing is aware of the special sleeping arrangements.

[Ariana]

I just passed on a 12 month old who had breathing issues, a 5month old? Not a chance. Way too much liability.

I feel bad for these parents trying to find care but this is not normal at all and to have a parent that just accepts this is crazy to me!

[Baby Beluga]

I just passed on a 12 month old who had breathing issues, a 5month old? Not a chance. Way too much liability.

I feel bad for these parents trying to find care but this is not normal at all and to have a parent that just accepts this is crazy to me!

From a parental perspective: it becomes your new normal, sadly. So in a way you have to accept it in order to deal with it. As a parent when DS' airway was blocked it looked like it was no big deal, from the outside. I HAD to step outside of mommy role and into robotic "let's clear the airway role" in order to survive myself and not be overcome with fear and sadness. Some probably thought I didn't care when in reality I did/do care but this is what I had to do to save my little guys life. What they didn't see were the tears in the locked bathroom after DS was fine after his airway was cleared.

From a provider's prospective: I wouldn't want to touch that! :: WAY too much liability. And when you toss in reflux flare ups from immunizations and illnesses and potential deadly illnesses like pneumonia from a flare up...it's too much.

[Ariana]

From a parental perspective: it becomes your new normal, sadly. So in a way you have to accept it in order to deal with it. As a parent when DS' airway was blocked it looked like it was no big deal, from the outside. I HAD to step outside of mommy role and into robotic "let's clear the airway role" in order to survive myself and not be overcome with fear and sadness. Some probably thought I didn't care when in reality I did/do care but this is what I had to do to save my little guys life. What they didn't see were the tears in the locked bathroom after DS was fine after his airway was cleared.

From a provider's prospective: I wouldn't want to touch that! :: WAY too much liability. And when you toss in reflux flare ups from immunizations and illnesses and potential deadly illnesses like pneumonia from a flare up...it's too much.

You were home with your baby so it is definitrky a bit different as you were the one taking care of him. My question if my child was suffering like this would be what other options have I exolored? Have I sought out treatment from a specialist, a naturopathic DR? Have I tried a different diet if breastfeeding (for a few weeks), a different formula etc etc. I am not judging you in any way shape or form but for me this situation is frightening enough that I would be doing absolutely everything in my power to correct this situation. Unfortunately I see too many parents relying on meds to fix issues. This is just my opinion and in no way is it intended to tell anyone how to take care of their child. If I had a mom who just wanted me to accept this situation and “sleep baby on an incline or they might die” I would not be ok with that attitude personally!

[Baby Beluga]

You were home with your baby so it is definitrky a bit different as you were the one taking care of him. My question if my child was suffering like this would be what other options have I exolored? Have I sought out treatment from a specialist, a naturopathic DR? Have I tried a different diet if breastfeeding (for a few weeks), a different formula etc etc. I am not judging you in any way shape or form but for me this situation is frightening enough that I would be doing absolutely everything in my power to correct this situation. Unfortunately I see too many parents relying on meds to fix issues. This is just my opinion and in no way is it intended to tell anyone how to take care of their child. If I had a mom who just wanted me to accept this situation and “sleep baby on an incline or they might die” I would not be ok with that attitude personally!

I agree.

I think there are two types of people. Those who believe their doctors and don't question what they say. And those who realize doctors don't have all the answers and research, question, and advocate for themselves. I am the latter.

Unfortunately there is still a lot of mis-education regarding reflux and diet. Even from peds. Our pedi is wonderful but he took DS' reflux with a grain of salt. It took videos, printed paperwork and a list of symptoms we saw at home for pedi to prescribe zantac. And then he under dosed him. I basically printed off the dose range from the manufacture's website, did my own equation, went to the pedi and said "I am still seeing symptoms, per the manufacturer we can increase the dose to X. Please perscribe this dose. If you aren't comfortable doing so know that I will be home-compounding." He verified my math and perscribed the higher dose. At the same time DS had his ties revised and I switched him to alimentum ready to feed. ALL of this combined controlled his reflux. But it took months to get here. He was about 12/13 weeks when it was finally controlled enough to see a positive improvement with his sleep and his spit up stopped around 11 months. If I skip a dose of zantac though? He will spit up. Not vomit, but spit up. He still drools a ton.

Anyway, I say all of this to say I can understand from a parents perspective how difficult reflux is to navigate. There is mis-education and pedi's telling you it's normal and your baby is fine. Then there is the complete opposite of what you are seeing at home. Some parents don't make changes because they don't believe something is wrong. And some don't make changes because they aren't strong enough to advocate for their child, or because they simply don't know. There are math equations to deal with, learning about diet, PPI's, H2 blockers, what ingredients in the formula your child reacts to, learning about TED diets. It's a LOT. It's kind of why when I hear of a parent who thinks their baby has reflux I get excited to share the resources I have and successfully used. I want those babies to feel better. I want those parents and caregivers to feel better. There is a real stress that comes from having a child with reflux.

I should quit my regular job and become an advocate for infant reflux :: :: ::

Anyway, I don't know why I am rambling. I am kind of in my feels tonight over this epi pen business.

OP, I think you should pass on this baby. This momma needs to sort her child's reflux out and until it is done I personally think it's to risky for you to take the baby on lovethis

[Ariana]

I felt that way too when I first learned about the links between dairy and a whole host of issues and I would tell any parent who was having these issues with their kids. 100% of anyone I told did not want to remove dairy from their diet so it was frustrating! Hopefully you will run into more open minded people who are interested in getting to the root of the problem rather than masking it with drugs. I get excited when I know how to solve problems! Lol

I am not saying drugs are bad either, they help in the meantime but as a long term solution it is not something I would be comfortable with at all. I have a baby starting and she is on medication for constipation so the first thing that needs to change is her diet

[Second Home]

I thank everyone for their responses
I talked it though for a few days with my DH , and he agrees that it is just too much risk and he knows how much of a worrier I am and .
Even with napping in sight ( I must per regs) I would be second guessing every little thing .

I will be sending a message to this family about not accepting them for care . Any ideas on what to write ?
I would like them to know it was the reflux that was the reason or is that a bad idea ?

[Baby Beluga]

I thank everyone for their responses
I talked it though for a few days with my DH , and he agrees that it is just too much risk and he knows how much of a worrier I am and .
Even with napping in sight ( I must per regs) I would be second guessing every little thing .

I will be sending a message to this family about not accepting them for care . Any ideas on what to write ?
I would like them to know it was the reflux that was the reason or is that a bad idea ?

If you liked them otherwise, would have enrolled if refulx wasn't in play and would consider enrolling in the future once baby is older and refulx is truly under control, then I would mention that being the reason. If not, then I wouldn't mention it.

[mamamanda]

I personally wouldn't give a reason. Just the spot has been filled thank you for your interest. It was a pleasure meeting you sort of thing.