Oh NO !!!

Ok, so Laura you gave Jonah a Tums every night before bed or just at nap time? She does wake sometimes crying at naps too.

Hmmmm… well, I gave her a Tums tonight before bed. Hopefully that will help until we figure out what else to do.

Well, it has been over a week, and she is still waking every night and often during naps too. It’s weird… usually about the same time every night too. We’ve tried giving her Tums before bed, and that doesn’t seem to help. Though, last night (a night we gave Tums), she made it until 3:30 instead of 12:30 before she woke up screaming.

I talked to her pediatrician and he said it’s pretty normal for them to have flare ups throughout life, but they don’t like putting them back on a ppi unless they are having trouble ALL the time. I haven’t tried the Pepcid complete, but I think we will.

I actually am thinking that it’s related to allergies… environmental, not food. Since we moved to NC, I have developed them (never officially dx’d) and Claire has been complaining of itching ears and a stuffy nose. Mine have been really bothering me this last week or so, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t have post nasal drip at night that is causing the reflux flare.

Does anyone know if allergy testing is fairly accurate at her age (3 1/2)?

My junkie child is actually excited about getting Tums now, so she will often say she is refluxing when I know she’s not!

Christine… interesting… thanks for posting! My allergy idea was just a theory, but reading Ellie’s story gives it some support, and I really do think that’s what is going on. The last time this happened several nights in a row was back when Ben was born. We thought then that it was due to the new baby, etc… but he was born in September, right during fall allergy season.

Did you have Ellie tested for her allergies or did the doctor just prescribe her the Zyrtec based on her symptoms?

Our allergist said that he doesn’t suggest testing for environmental allergies until they are old enough to start “doing” something about it (shots). Until then, he said that he prefers treating with allegra, zyrtec, claritin, etc and seeing if that works. If it does, then they have allergies. Not very exact, but it worked for Kaelyn and I didn’t want to put her through any more allergy testing.

As far as meds every night, I totally understand what you mean. Kaelyn was having lots of night terrors (or so we thought). Then I noticed that she was refluxing a ton when we’d go in to her. So, she’s now on zantac efferdose every night and it really seems to be working. I hate the idea that she may not actually need it all the time, but the idea of forcing her to live in pain seemed worse.