Zantac dosage question

[Mellissa]

Another zantac thread :lol: Sorry, just had an important question for those of you who have had the lovely experience of a child with reflux. Keagan was started on zantac at a little over a month old. They prescribed 1ml twice per day. Now, in the begining this was fine, he did great on the zantac. He is 4 months old now and has gained quite a few lbs and I just don't think the 1ml 2x per day is cutting it. It's no longer working. Does anyone remember how much zantac your child was on at 4.5 months? Did it help to up the dosage or did it just stop working all-together for anyone? He has a doctor's appointment this week, so I will talk to the doctor about this also...but sometimes other Mom's opinions are more helpful!!! TIA

[Jillian]

Janelle takes 1.5ml in the morning and 3ml at night along with her prevacid at night as well...but she is 3...I honestly don't remember what she was on at 4 months, at that point she was on both zantac and reglan.

[Mellissa]

Thanks Jillian :)

Anyone else have any advice?

[Karri]

I dont remember...sorry

[Mellissa]

Anyone know anything about reglan? The doctor had mentioned adding that, but I don't know anything about it.

[bunybomb]

I think Alex was on 1 full tsp by that time.

[Jillian]

Anyone know anything about reglan? The doctor had mentioned adding that, but I don't know anything about it.


Janelle took it from 2 months old till 6 months old. My ped at that point was only willing to prescribe it in severe cases where the reflux either causes weight loss or apnea (Janelle had both) cause it has some very serious scary side effects, the only one I can remember now was brain damage. Now our ped practice refuses to prescribe it for ANY reason. I think in general it is saved for the most severe cases. You could try stronger acid blocker/acid reducer medications first, like prevacid, and prevacid and zantac aren't even the same cattegory of drug, so you can take them together (Janelle does). Zantac, pepcid, prevacid, etc are meant to reduce the acid in the spit up, they do not decrease the frequency/amount of spitting up, they just make it so it doesn't hurt when they spit up. Reglan actually prevents them from spitting up as often/as much...it did work great for Janelle, but our ped had us on it till she gained some weight and was apnea free for 3 months, then he took her off it as soon as possible because of the possible long term side effects.

[Mellissa]

Wow, thank you Jillian. I don't think we'll go that route then. The reflux is causing him a lot of discomfort and he hardly sleeps, I feel so bad for him- he is always tired, but lately he'll only sleep like 30min-1hour intervals (the last week). He is gaining weight fine though, and looks healthy. I just wish I could make him a happier baby :( he cries a lot and I have to hold him almost non-stop everyday.

[Stacy]

Along with the meds have you tried going to a chiropractor?

[Shel]

Riley was on Reglan for 6-7 weeks, and the doctor pulled her off of it because all the nasty reports were coming out. They just did the same as Janelle's doctor. They upped her Zantac and put her on Prevacid. That was a LONG time ago (4 years!) so there is no way I can remember the dose. They did up it about every doctor's appt though, and sometimes would have her come in for weight checks to see if it needed to be upped again by her weight/

[Brooke]

Daniel has taken 1mL 3 times a day since he was 5 weeks old.

[Nichole]

This might be helpful:


Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and Erosive Esophagitis

For children 1 month to 16 years of age, the usual daily dosage is 5 to 10 milligrams per 2.2 pounds of body weight, divided into two doses.


From http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/ZAN1494.HTM

[AmyP]

Sarah was on 1 mL 3x a day at that age if that helps. I think she weighed around 12 lbs or so.

[Karri]

Norah & Elliott were on Reglan, as well, after Zantac didn't work, and once I read about the side effects, I yanked them off of it! There are some scary as hell things that can happen!!

I would ask about Prevacid, as well. We didn't go that route, but we did do chiropractic in tandem with medication for awhile.