8 month baby with reflux & apnea?

I have an 8 month old baby who has reflux.  When he was about 4 months old, he slept through the night for a couple of weeks.  Then, he got sick and didn't during that time.  Ever since that cold, he will not sleep more than 3 hours during the night.  Is it the reflux?  He is also snoring and seems to have labored breathing, so I'm very concerned about apnea.  Could the reflux be causing this?  He is currently on axid, which helps a little and we have tried reglan, but saw no difference.

[Enoch Choi, MD]

Boy, a 3 year old and an infant.  Gee, i remember those days, that was a lot of work.  

Not sleeping more than 3 hours a night is pretty little, mine needed 9 or more hours at that age, and a nap too.

GERD (gastroesophageal reflux) could certainly cause those symptoms, and axid and reglan often help.  Zantac is another medicine in the class of medicines like axid, histamine type 2 receptor blockers that can help.  Proton pump inhibitors like prilosec or prevacid can help as well.

Good luck!  My own kid had GERD and zantac helped a lot, to help get to sleep, stay asleep, and not have late-afternoon fussyness for 2-3 hours every day.  It was a godsend.

Dr. Enoch Choi, MD
Palo Alto, CA