How To Deal With Baby Reflux
If you believe that your child is suffering from baby acid reflux there are several things that you can do to help them. A lot of new parents will panic at the first sign of acid reflux in babies, but you need to keep a cool head and act upon the advice in this article and everything will be fine.
What Is Acid Reflux In Infants?
Reflux in babies is a common problem. It is caused by food backing up from the stomach and this causes your baby to spit out. Another name for acid reflux is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and most of the time this is not a serious problem. It normally comes to an end once your child is around 18 months.
Having said that it is not easy to sit back and watch your baby suffer from newborn reflux. The good news is that acid reflux in newborns can be successfully treated by either making some lifestyle changes or through the use of medication (or both).
Recognizing Reflux Symptoms In Your Baby
Before you consider any lifestyle changes or the use of medicines it is important that you are able to recognize infant reflux symptoms. To do this all you have to do is watch your baby for signs of vomiting and spitting up, difficulties with eating or swallowing, irritation from your baby when they are being fed, a refusal to eat in general, hiccupping or burping wet liquid or your baby failing to gain weight. These signs of reflux in babies should confirm that there is a problem.
Lifestyle Changes To Treat Reflux In Infants
If you are feeding your baby using a bottle then you can change the ways that you do this. One way is to feed your baby with the bottle more often but give them less each time. When your baby‘s intake is lessened there will be a reduction of the pressure on the muscle that stops food from refluxing.
Swallowing air can cause or aggravate infant acid reflux, and you can keep this down to a minimum by ensuring that the bottle that you use for feeding and the nipple are the correct size. You can also discuss the problem with your doctor and pediatrician and try another brand of formula, and even thicken the formula with some rice cereal (this must be done under the guidance of your pediatrician).
If you are breastfeeding then you are less likely to experience a “reflux baby” but it can happen. This is because breast milk gets digested faster than formula does. If your baby is experiencing difficulties then some changes to your breastfeeding can help.
By breastfeeding more frequently and for less time you will create a reduction in the milk held in your baby’s stomach. Some foods that you eat can cause GERD in babies so start cutting them out of your diet to see if the situation improves. Foods to avoid are beef, dairy and eggs. If you express breast milk then you can thicken it in small increments with rice cereal.
You can also burp your baby more often by interrupting feeds. This should relieve the pressure in the stomach and stop reflux from occurring. Also don’t feed your baby two hours prior to their bedtime.
Hold your baby in the upright position to stop reflux. This is just a simple act of gravity that will keep the stomach contents down. Hold your baby in the upright position for around 30 minutes immediately after a feed.
The way that your baby sleeps could be causing reflux problems. Talk to your doctor about this and discuss sleeping on the side. Sleeping on the left side is best. You can also elevate the mattress slightly which may help. Ensure your baby’s mattress is firm and remove stuffed animals and blankets.
While in discussion with your doctor you can talk about the use of gripe water. If your baby is less than 6 months old it will probably not be recommended. There is actually no evidence that gripe water works, but it has been known to soothe reflux symptoms.
Consult Your Doctor And Pediatrician
It is always wise to get advice from your doctor and pediatrician especially if making the lifestyle changes recommended above does not cure the problem. There are a number of tests that can be performed, such as ultrasound and blood tests that can confirm that you have an acid reflux baby problem.
Your doctor or pediatrician may prescribe medication for the problem. Don’t be tempted to give over the counter drugs to your baby. It is likely that the prescribed medication will either be proton pump inhibitors or H2 blockers.
Feeding Your Child Properly Is Important
When your baby moves on to solids you want to ensure that you have the best feeding utensils available to reduce the risk of problems and make feeding time easier. Go for a set of soft silicone baby feeding spoons that are BPA free. You will find an excellent set of baby feeding spoons here and if you are in the UK then go here.