It’s been almost 20 days since that first $3.33 Prevacid Solutab disappeared on Caelyn’s little tongue. Back on June 7 in Hope on the Prevacid Horizon, I promised those of you looking for baby reflux help a progress report. And now the verdict’s in: pay the hundred bucks a month and get back to sleeping at night.
When Caelyn’s pediatrician said, “There’s a good chance she’s rejecting finger foods and even some baby foods because she’s being selective in order to help herself feel better,” I thought, “Yeah, right.” Don’t get me wrong. Like every good mom, I know my baby girl’s a genius. But really. An 11-month-old thinking, “No, sweet potatoes give me heartburn; I’ll stick with applesauce, thank you”? Come on! Even 9-months-pregnant, I didn’t have the discipline to reject the chips and salsa that the work gals inevitably craved twice a week! Turns out Caelyn’s smarter than me. Her pediatrician is too.
The day before she started Prevacid, I offered her toast and bananas (two very mild, very baby-friendly foods). She gagged on the first bites of both and wouldn’t open her mouth for seconds. She ate her baby food fruits happily and thrashed her arms at the baby food meats and veggies (which she used to love). That night she took a Prevacid before bed. The next day, she magically ate exclusively finger foods: toast, apples, turkey, green beans, carrots! No fighting. No flinging food across the room. No spitting green slime out of her mouth. No wiping orange mush from her tongue and smearing it all over her face. I could’ve lived on that high alone.
But what about the sleeping? Well, if you asked my husband two weeks ago if the meds were worth the big bucks, he’d have told you no. If you asked me, I’d have said, “Heck, yes they are.” He’d have said, “She’s still waking up once a night. And she’s had a few really bad nights.” I’d have said, “She’s still waking up once a night and she’s had a couple off nights, but she’s no longer waking up every 45 minutes and that’s a big improvement. We need to work on getting back into her bedtime routine. That will make a difference, I think. And she’s eating!” Chris did willingly sleep on the couch with Caelyn a few times when I just couldn’t take it anymore, but because I wanted him to be clear-headed for work, I was the one who “slept” beside her in the living room every night for at least a month (after four months of her getting little sleep in her crib) and patted her every hour before she could wake up in a full panic. And I’m the one who fed her every day, since he was working. If I had just been seeing what he saw, a baby who was still waking up at night, I’d have given you his advice too. But I saw a lot more than that. The improvement was massive to me and it happened within three days.
With the Prevacid, Caelyn finally had a chance to catch up on a little sleep, and I let her do just that without trying to force her back into her bedtime routines. I still let her sleep in her car seat while I slept beside her on the couch. I still let her fall asleep on my chest. I still picked her up that one time during the night and comforted her back to sleep. These are all alleged “bad sleep habits” for a baby. But I knew it would be too hard to get her back into her normal swing when she was so exhausted. So we waited it out.
A week and a half ago, with all of us a little more rested, we set out to getting her to be able to put herself to sleep in her crib and stay asleep. We started the old routine again: bath, PJs, two books, and rocking through one song. When her big brown eyes could barely stay open, I kissed her, put her down in her crib, said “I love you. Good night, sweetheart,” and walked out the door to her great protest. She cried for about 20-30 minutes, but she finally gave up. I’m not a huge “cry-it-out” promoter. Nevertheless, I have tried it before in desperation. And it has never worked. Never. Before Caelyn turned 6-months-old she went to sleep in her crib by herself with no crying. On the few nights when she didn’t go right to sleep, crying it out simply wasn’t a viable option. I’m not kidding. The girl could cry for hours. Prevacid changed all that. The medicine gives her the relief she needs to make her bedtime routine and any possible sleep plan doable. Last night, she cried for less than a minute and a half and went right to sleep. She’s been sleeping through the night for the last week . . . and sleeping in til 7:30!
Chris and I haven’t even known what to do with ourselves in the quiet between 8 p.m. and our own bedtime. It’s been months since we’ve had an uninterrupted stretch of time to eat a meal or sit on the porch or watch a movie or even take in a sitcom. And sleeping 7 hours at a time? Come now! But it’s all possible with Prevacid.
No one wants to medicate their kids. I don’t either. No one wants to pay for health insurance every month only to end up paying an additonal $100 dollars a month for soluable tablets anyway. I don’t either. No one wants to have a turquoise paper box sitting on the counter day-in and day-out so you can maybe, possibly remember to give your baby a pill before dinner. I don’t either. But I gotta tell you. It’s worth it.
Prevacid makes every milk moustache (beard) and happy milk moustache (beard)!
(Added bonus: The solutabs taste great too! Or at least Caelyn likes them.)
P.S. I know I haven’t been posting like I should. I’ll deliver everything I’ve promised soon. Look for these in the up-coming days: movie reviews, pictures from Chris’ first Father’s Day, tales of the weekend, and Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days 3. Thanks for your patience!
8 Comments
June 26, 2007 at 1:54 pm
You need to send this to the ad folks for said med. Great testimony!!!
June 26, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Did you say that this is a temporary condition, or is it a lifelong thing?
June 27, 2007 at 9:12 am
Jan, thanks! Maybe they’d send us free boxes of meds! More likely, they’d send us some free Prevacid t-shirts, sun visors, and beach towels, but we’re just happy she’s eating and sleeping better!
Lex, it’s usually temporary in babies. But it’s also usually better by 6 months and gone by a yr. (when their bodies can handle food better), and Caelyn’s got a lot worse after 6 months. I read somewhere that like 75% of kids outgrow it by a yr. and 95% by 2 yrs. Her b-day is this weekend, so hopefully she’ll be on the recovery track soon. But you never know. The Prevacid doesn’t cure it, just treats the symptoms. Eating finger foods should make some actual change. The good news is that the Prevacid you sallow instead of dissolve on your tongue is cheaper. (My dad takes it, but as he says his deal is, “More out of old age than genetics.”)
June 29, 2007 at 11:50 am
Katy, great news for the girl! I wonder if one of my kids had heartburn…he never slept when he was little, but we simply assumed he was “cholicky” (spelling?). At any rate, maybe Caelyn’s going to grow out of it, so that would be nice!
July 9, 2007 at 9:31 am
Thanks, Steve! I’m so glad she’s feeling better. I feel bad that she’s been hurting all this time and I didn’t know it! Yeah, it would be nice for her to outgrow it for sure. Her doc said this week that it could take two months of meds or two years, but she did seem hopeful that Caelyn would outgrow it eventually. Your little guy totally could’ve had heartburn, especially if he slept better upright, like in his car seat or swing or bouncer. It’s too bad they can’t just tell us what’s up. We were fortunate with Caelyn in the early months, because even though she had reflux and spit up all the (freakin’) time, she was happy as could be. That’s not the case with most kids. Poor little Luke Bailey as really had a time of it. He’s been on Prevacid forever and still has a little trouble!
February 2, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I was wondering if you gave it at night or day time and also if she seemed to have gas from it? Our little boy is 4.5 months old and we put him on it over 10 days ago and do not see any improvement. Actually it seems like his sleep got worse! The nurse also had us start rice cereal at the same time. Any advice? He is up every hour or more starting around 10pm and goes to bed a little after 8pm and gets good naps in the day time (about 3 hrs total). Thanks!
July 22, 2009 at 1:04 am
My little guy, 7 mo now, was switched to his third reflux meds in that short of time and is now on Prevacid. He was waking up every 45 min screaming in pain and would do this every night. The day we switched to Prevacid he started sleeping through the night and even cut out his nighttime bottle. It’s been several weeks now and he’s back to the screaming in pain at night and all night. Normall he gets his meds first thing in the morning but it’s 2:40am here in Philly and he’s been screaming all night. I gave up and gave him his Prevaced 3 hours earlier than normal and sure enough he’s now sleeping peacefully. We have an appt with the GI doc on Thursday, it’s early morning Wed now, so hopefully they’ll up the dose and change the meds to nightime since that is when he has the most pain. He doesn’t however vomit twice a day now and I can’t remember the last time he did that. There is hope people and Prevacid is that hope. It also helps that he’s getting older and is hopefully outgrowing this thing. Can’t take much more with no sleep!!!
September 30, 2009 at 7:38 am
We just started our 8 week old on Prevacid this morning. We had her on Zantac for about 2 weeks with an up in the dosage last week but with little to no improvement. Our little one wakes very regularly but sometimes sleeps for several hours (not lately). When we first got her on Zantac she started sleeping 6 hours and one night 7. She is now back to needing to be held and rocked (by hand) to sleep, sometimes for hours before she settles down and sleeps. She stretches and crunches up regularly and has the hardest time falling asleep. It seems like as soon as she is drifting off she crunches up in pain. Is it likely that she will start to feel more comfortable and less pain once the Prevacid kicks in? Her weight gain is great and we keep her upright for 20 – 30 minutes after feeding which has possibly helped a little. The swing seems to be the only place she sleeps with VERY rare occasions in the crib/play yard. I’m not sure how much more her mother and I can take of this. Any advice or thoughts on what else we can do or if the Prevacid will help her fall asleep easier?