Nutritional Nightmare

Hello, My son is 28 months old, 33.75 inches tall and 22.6 pounds. He was diagnosed with non regurgative reflux disease when he was a few months old. They did this with a PH probe and an overnight stay in the hospital. He was maintained on Zantac TID for a year. We then discontinued it. He subsquently was put back on it because he was not gaining weight. Now he is 28 months and they have changed him to Prevacid. He still is not gaining weight and refuses most food. Now the MD has diagnosed him with Failure to Thrive. He has had a complete blood workup which was determined to be normal. I have received so much pressure from the MD that I started giving him junk food out of desperation. Even this has not helped. I am medically trained and I know what a healthy balanced diet consists of. I have given also him nutritional supplement drinks, but it does not seem to help. He drinks a maximum of 2 cups of whole milk a day. No juice or water is given to him. He is even refusing ice cream. I am going nuts. Not only do I need to put the pounds on him but now I need a mental health evaluation.
PLEASE HELP ME!

[Renee Radenberg]

Your son is slightly below weight and height for his age from the measurements you gave me. I suggest changing his milk intake to a more nutrient dense drink, such as Pedisure. This way the 2 cups a day he is consuming will be higher in calories and nutrients. Also give him a daily chewable multi-vitamin. If he is eating any type of foods, fast foods or not, try to make sure he is eating meats, yogurts, or any protein source for all meals. I would ask his MD to test your son to rule out for other diseases, such as CF, cardiac or gastric diseases, and test for all allergies. This is not to scare you but you want to know that if there is more going on, and need to be treated so he does gain weight and grows. Thank you for your question.

[star queen]

It sounds like your son is allergic to dairy.  He seems to know that he shouldn't be eating it since he refuses milk, supplements (lots of dairy there), and ice cream.  It probably makes him feel worse.  To check for a dairy allergy, take him off all dairy--check labels carefully--for at least 2 weeks.  He will be fine for such a short period of time, so don't worry about vitamin supplements.  After 2 weeks, if he has an allergy, he will feel better, eat better, and his reflux will be better or gone. If nothing gets better, then you should take him to an allergist and have him tested for food allergies.  By the way---give the kid water.  All children need water every day, it is a part of his overall health needs.  If he doesn't like the taste of water, add a little flavoring to entice him.  good luck