High Maintenance Mom

Our son was born a healthy 9 pounds 7 months ago and in that time we learned a great deal about Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Our son had what his pediatrician and I considered to be a mild case and in hindsight, our daughter, now 2 ½ may have had an even milder case. When my son was about 2 weeks old he began what I can only describe as grunting. I remembered my daughter doing it also but hers was slight and soon went away. My son’s grunting was loud and kept him awake at night.

After a check up with the pediatrician we decided to try Zantac. That did not work at all so we moved to Prevacid Solutabs, which did the trick. I immediately searched the Internet for information and came across infantreflux.org, a great web site! I suggest going to the message boards, logging on and asking questions. There is one member there (hellbennt) that is a great source of information. Needless to say, we adjusted the dose a few times, learned the best way to administer the medicine and grappled with when to wean him off. Now, at 7 months old, my son is 100% off the Prevacid and has no grunting, little if any spitting up and sleeps like a dream. Our case was mild and it caused a great deal of concern so I can only imagine what it must be like for those with severe GERD and their parents. It is much more common than I ever realized and fortunately, most babies do out grow it by a year or so. If you suspect your baby or child has GERD, see their doctor, research it online and check out infantreflux.org’s message boards for support. If you have specific questions about our "adventure" I would be happy to answer them...just post a reply and I will get right back to you. I realize like with most parenting problems, support is a huge help!