Hello :wink:
My name is Jennifer and my 10 month old son Matthew was diagnosed with acid reflux two weeks ago. I have been calling his doctor on and off since he was about 3 months old because he has never been a good sleeper. I was told it was behavioral and he'd outgrow it. I was also told it was because he was breastfed and out of habit. When he began waking every 45 minutes and arching his back and crying in pain--refusing to nurse I KNEW something had to be wrong. I began researching medical causes of night waking and compared his symptoms.
I again called the doctor who scheduled and appointment with a nurse practioner to discuss Matthew's sleep problems and possibly "ferberize him."
I went to the appointment with my research and sleep logs (I have been reading Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution). I wasn't leaving that office until I had a diagnosis. Luckily the nurse heard his symptoms: frequent painful hiccups, excessive drooling, arching of the back and the night waking getting worse and she agreed it was silent reflux. She felt the night wakings were getting more frequent because the reflux had gone undiagnosed for so long and he probably has the start of an erosion.
He is on Mylanta twice a day and Zantac 2x's a day. He is now sleeping 2-3 hours at a clip, but still wakes up 2 times with pain during the night. We are starting Prevacid today and I am a little nervous about it.
I have been reading posts on this board and notice quite a few of you have your babies on special diets or feeding schedules. The nurse didn't suggest I do that. I did elevate his mattress. I have also noticed he is extremely thirsty since starting the meds. The nurse wasn't aware of this as a side effect.
Any thoughts, suggestions advise would be welcomed!
I am so glad there is a resource out there for us.
THANK YOU!
:D

Hi Jennifer and welcome! I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful suggestions here on the boards. Diet wise, for starters, you'll want to avoid any acidic foods or juices, such as tomatoes, pasta sauce, oranges, grapefruit. Some refluxers also struggle with dairy products. Chocolate is also a no-no for some of these kids. We've found that our son can have processed meats at noon, but when eaten at supper they cause him to be sick during the night. It's sort of a guessing game of trial and error. Also, try keeping Matthew in an upright position for at least half an hour after each feeding.

If I think of anything else later, I'll post.