
Trying for a baby	Pregnant	Birth & labour	Baby	Toddler

Reflux in babies

Acid reflux, or Gastro-oesophageal Reflux disease (GORD) is a condition that can affect perfectly healthy babies in the first three months of life. The oesophagus is the pipe that carries your food from your mouth to your stomach and at the bottom of the pipe is a valve called a sphincter that lets food pass down to the stomach, but stops food or acid coming back up. In young babies whose feeding system in still developing, the valve is sometimes not developed enough to stop food from flowing back up, so having reflux means that your baby’s stomach contents flow back up into the oesophagus and into the mouth.

Although this condition normally occurs in the first three months of your baby’s life, the sphincter valve usually tones and matures enough to stop the food from flowing the wrong way in time, so in most babies reflux goes by the time they reach 12-24 months or sooner. Sometimes premature babies can be born with reflux because their stomachs haven't matured enough by the time they are born.

Symptoms:
Possetting is when your baby brings up tiny amounts of milk feed after feeding and is normal, but if your baby is constantly bringing up milk it may be a sign of reflux. Other symptoms are if:

Your baby frequently vomits up part or all of her feed
Your baby seems to arch her back during feeds (because of the acidic pain, similar to heartburn caused when she has reflux).
Your baby’s sleep is disrupted but she calms down when she is upright (reflux tends to be worse when your baby is lying down). Although this symptom is problematic as most babies have disrupted sleep during the first few months of their lives and are calmed when picked up.
Your baby has poor weight gain
Your baby has blood in her stools.
Your baby cries excessively after feed.

Diagnosis and treatment
The doctor will examine your child whilst you explain what symptoms your baby has had. Sometimes the doctor can diagnose reflux from what you say, but other times your baby may need further tests. These can involve putting a tube down your baby’s throat to measure the acid in the oesophagus, or an endoscopy, which is where a camera is put in your baby’s stomach.
Most babies will not need any treatment as they can be diagnosed on the spot and if they are healthy, content and feeding well, reflux will probably go away by itself.

Your doctor may suggest that you thicken up your baby’s feeds with feed thickeners and that you keep your baby upright after feeding. It might also be a good idea to give your baby smaller feeds to help his stomach cope with the food flow.
Most healthy children will grow out or reflux by the time they reach 12-24 months and their sphincter muscle matures.

If your child is having problems feeding and gaining weight, he may need to be prescribed medicine to help keep the acid from coming back up the oesophagus. If your baby becomes Anaemic, has blood in his vomit, has frequent chest infections or has difficulty swallowing he may need to see a specialist. If the condition does not get better with medication he may require further tests.

Weaning a reflux baby
There have been various studies on children who suffer from reflux which show that once they start solids they should avoid acidic drinks and acidic food and vegetables.
There is no right or wrong time to wean a reflux baby onto solids, especially if you feel that solid foods may help to keep your baby's all important milk feeds down. Weaning your baby somewhere between four and six months will be up to you, but if you decide to wean nearer four months you should take the process very slowly to let your baby's stomach get used to more complex foods. Always dicuss your baby's nutritional needs with your doctor first if you are considering weaning your baby.

First foods
Most babies are weaned on fruit and vegetables as their first foods, but reflux babies can find some fruit and vegetables too acidic. Avoid acidic fruits like grapefruits, oranges, lemons and limes and tomato-based foods. Stick to green vegetables like broccoli or cabbage and try using pumpkin, potato, cauliflower and parsnips in your baby's diet. With a reflux baby, getting milk to stay down is very important because this is where she gets her nutritional needs from. The first weaning foods are really just for taste and texture rather than nutrition. Having said that, some parents find that solid food helps to keep the milk feeds down so actually helps a baby with reflux, but all reflux babies will respond to food differently.

There are some reports that a small amount of olive oil added into your baby's food helps with reflux because olive oil binds to bile acids, which are secreted into the intestines and assist digestion. Always talk to your doctor first if you are planning a new treatment for your baby, even if it is a naturral method.

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