Kristie McNealy, MD

When my girls were babies, they both suffered from reflux. Our oldest was an insanely fussy baby, who arched and screamed and spit up from morning til night. Thankfully, our pediatrician actually listened to me describe her behavior and promptly prescribed zantac. Then, her weight started to lag, so reglan was added and eventually an upper GI series was ordered. Despite all of our efforts, Riley remained fussy, and suffered from sleep problems and frequent bouts of hoarseness and wheezing well into her second year. Camden’s case was less dramatic, but still presented major problems because on top of everything thing else, she was a 31 week preemie who had episodes of apnea during feeds.

After all that we went through with our girls, I sincerely wish I’d had Dr. Bryan Vartabedian’s book Colic Solved: The Essential Guide to Infant Reflux and the Care of Your Crying, Difficult-to- Soothe Baby, which was published in 2007.

I read the book today, and was very impressed with its coverage of the topic of “colic”, reflux and other issues like milk protein allergy. I think any parent of an extremely irritable baby could benefit from this book, particularly parents of preemies, who frequently suffer with reflux. Dr. Vartabedian’s book is packed with useful info for both parents and health care providers, including myths about reflux, explanations of tests and treatments, other possible causes of fussiness and warning signs that a baby is really sick. Reading this book can help any parent become a better advocate for their fussy baby, preemie or not.

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