Personally I would take a doctor's advice over that of Internet people.
Even the doctor was basically "I don't know if acid is really the issue or not... we can try Zantac just to take a stab at it" :X
This is really tough. Obviously you don't want you kid in pain if he/she actually has GERD. On the other hand, you really don't want to give your baby any unnecessary meds, especially one than can cause long term problems, like, for instance, as the NPR article posits, necessitating continued use of the drug.
I read a bit of the link you posted and it says zantac can make a baby sleepy!? That's nuts, I can see how babies that don't even have GERD would continue to use it and then subsequently need it.
Most babies, as the link you posted states, have "reflux" to some extent. It's why most babies spit up. As a nursing mom, I had oversupply, overactive letdown, and I thought nursing was the solution to ALL of my baby's problems. Combine that with an over-eater, and DD1 was a spectacular vomiter. I called my LLL leader a couple times late at night because of the amount and projectile nature of her "spit up." But I never ended up with a GERD diagnosis, probably because even though I'm sure I told the doctor what we were seeing, I never said, hey,doc, could it be GERD? (But our ped is not really rX happy, fortunately for us...) I am very careful to only describe symptoms as they are to my doctor, I rarely suggest a diagnosis, since I'm an accountant, not a CPA. Because I sometimes think doctors are just quick to agree and give you a prescription and get you out. I once had a doc write my an rx for antibiotics for poison ivy. I didn't fill that.
Try to pay attention to the times that the baby is fussy. I have talked to moms who considered a GERD diagnosis, but after they realized that it was always between 6-10 pm that the baby was fussy, they reasoned that it wasn't GERD, GERD would probably be an issue all the time, not at the normal baby "witching hours."
I don't
want to derail this thread, but the irony of your statement (bolded above) combined with the warning to the OP about the dangers of PPIs makes my head hurt (fyi - Zantac is an H2-blocker, a "safer" alternative mentioned in the NPR link you provided in a previous post - not a dangerous *sarcasm* PPI like Prevacid/Prilosec/etc). You rarely suggest a diagnosis, but freely offer up information about medications to scare people (mild hyperbole)? And if Zantac causes baby to be sleepy, it's likely because baby is finally comfortable and can actually relax. They do typically need to sleep most of the day, so if you're used to a baby not sleeping much (especially due to discomfort), and then they start sleeping a normal amount of time after starting a medication you are giving them to make them more comfortable, you could logically connect baby's comfort with baby's new ability to get some rest. If you are still worried, you could also learn the mechanism of action of the medications, and discover that it doesn't cause sleepiness.
Until you actually have a baby who benefits from the use of acid reducing medications, it's difficult to understand. OP's posts have stirred up horrible memories of my baby's first several weeks of trying/failing breastfeeding and trying 6 different types of formula before settling on one that baby would actually eat and not scream in pain on. After 3 and a half
long months, we have settled on a nice regimen of Zantac twice a day and Nutramigen formula ($$), but the fact that baby is not screaming every minute he's awake makes it so worth it. We didn't take the easy route by any means, and unfortunately baby suffered because of it (for weeks we were sure it was colic, then sure we just had a fussy/crabby baby, etc.). If baby really has GERD, the constant spitting up of super acidic stomach contents can actually cause esophageal erosions, which could be a lifelong issue for your kid, just because you were afraid to try the medicine. If your baby really needs an acid reducer, you are doing much more harm to them by withholding the medication due to unwarranted fears. And if you try it and it doesn't help anything, you can stop.
I wanted to breastfeed so bad, but the toll it took on my mental health and bonding experience with our baby was not worth it at all. Every feeding was traumatic for all of us (and with every 1-2 hour feedings as a newborn, that meant our household was in constant stress-mode). I was devastated when hubs suggested we switch to formula. It's not always that baby gets the best nutrition, but also making sure baby is raised with one or two sane parents also plays an equal role in baby's wellbeing, in my biased opinion. Soon he'll be eating "real" food anyway, and it won't matter what he ate the first year of his life. We are all in a much better spot since switching to formula. I still wish breastfeeding would have worked out, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it (anymore). :)
You really do have to do what works best for your family, and it will likely be different with each baby you (might) have. They are, after all, humans and they will all have their own unique personalities and temperaments. Good luck to OP and others with parenting struggles :)