How Is Gastroesophageal Reflux Treated
Treatment for GER depends on the symptoms and how severe they are. In babies, doctors sometimes suggest thickening formula or breast milk with a little bit of oat or mixed grain infant cereal to reduce reflux. Making sure the baby is seated or held upright during and after feedings can also help.
Older kids often get relief by avoiding foods and drinks that trigger GER symptoms. Often, these include:
- citrus fruits
- food and drinks with caffeine
- fatty and fried foods
- tomato-based foods and sauces
- peppermint
Doctors may recommend raising the head of a child’s bed 6 to 8 inches to help with reflux that happens at night. They also may look at other conditions that can contribute to GER symptoms, including obesity and some medicines. In teens, smoking or alcohol use can play a role in GER.
If symptoms continue, doctors might prescribe medicine, such as:
- H2 blockers, which can help block the production of stomach acid
- proton pump inhibitors, which reduce the amount of acid the stomach makes
- prokinetics, which help the esophageal sphincter work better and the stomach empty faster. This can prevent reflux episodes.
Rarely, medical treatment alone doesn’t help and a child fails to grow well or has other problems. Then, a surgical procedure might be an option. In this surgery, called fundoplication , the doctor creates a valve at the top of the stomach by wrapping part of the stomach around the esophagus to strengthen the sphincter and prevent reflux.
How Can I Treat My Babys Reflux Naturally
If your baby is showing signs of reflux, consider these natural remedies for the digestive problem. Breastfeed, if possible. Keep Baby upright after feeding. Give frequent but small feedings. Burp often. Delay playtime after meals. Avoid tight diapers and clothing. Change your diet. Check nipple size.
How Is Reflux Diagnosed
Reflux is usually diagnosed by a doctor or child health nurse. GORD requires a doctors assessment and tests to confirm a diagnosis.
Sometimes there may be another problem that causes reflux. You should see your GP or Child Health Centre if your baby has any of the following symptoms:
- Green, yellow or blood-stained vomiting
- Difficulty swallowing, is gagging or choking
- Fever
- Irritability and consistently difficult to settle
- Sudden and forceful vomiting in large volumes
- Refusing feeds or wont eat
- Swollen or bloated tummy area
- Blood or mucous in poo
- Losing weight or only gaining weight slowly.
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Diet And Lifestyle Changes
In many cases, diet and lifestyle changes can help to ease GERD. Talk with your childs healthcare provider about changes you can make. Here are some tips to better manage GERD symptoms.
For babies:
- After feedings, hold your baby in an upright position for 30 minutes.
- If bottle-feeding, keep the nipple filled with milk. This way your baby wont swallow too much air while eating. Try different nipples. Find one that lets your baby’s mouth make a good seal with the nipple during feeding.
- Adding rice cereal to feeding may be helpful for some babies.
- Burp your baby a few times during bottle-feeding or breastfeeding. Your child may reflux more often when burping with a full stomach.
For children:
- Watch your child’s food intake. Limit fried and fatty foods, peppermint, chocolate, drinks with caffeine such as sodas and tea, citrus fruit and juices, and tomato products.
- Offer your child smaller portions at mealtimes. Add small snacks between meals if your child is hungry. Dont let your child overeat. Let your child tell you when he or she is hungry or full.
- If your child is overweight, contact your childs provider to set weight-loss goals.
- Serve the evening meal early, at least 3 hours before bedtime.
Other things to try:
What Are The Symptoms Of Gerd In Infants And Children
The most common symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux in infants and children are:
- Frequent or recurrent vomiting
- Frequent or persistent cough or wheezing
- Refusing to eat or difficulty eating
- Heartburn, gas, abdominal pain, or colicky behavior associated with feeding or immediately after
- Regurgitation and re-swallowing
- Complaining of a sour taste in their mouth, especially in the morning
Many other symptoms are sometimes blamed on GERD, but much of the time, we really aren’t sure whether reflux actually causes them. Other problems seen in young children and infants that may be blamed on the condition include:
- Proton-pump inhibitors such as esomeprazole , lansoprazole , omeprazole , omeprazole-Sodium Bicarbonate , pantoprazole , rabeprazole
Researchers aren’t sure whether decreasing stomach acid lessens reflux in infants.
For the most part, drugs that decrease intestinal gas or neutralize stomach acid are very safe. At high doses, antacids can cause some side effects, such as diarrhea. Chronic use of very high doses of Maalox or Mylanta may be associated with an increased risk of rickets .
Side effects from medications that inhibit the production of stomach acid are uncommon. A small number of children may develop some sleepiness when they take nizatadine, Pepcid, or Tagamet.
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Smaller More Frequent Feedings
Feeding a baby with reflux can be challenging. Breastfed babies who have reflux may try to soothe the pain by nursing, which can exacerbate the issue.
Formula-fed infants can go longer stretches between feedings, however, this is also not ideal for babies with reflux.
Aim to feed your baby every two to three hours while awake. This may mean reducing the number of ounces your baby gets at each feeding. Overfeeding can increase abdominal pressure, which worsens reflux symptoms.
You may also find nipples with smaller holes to be helpful for your baby. Look for bottles that are designed to reduce the amount of air your baby takes in during feedings.
Signs And Symptoms Of Reflux
Your baby may not show any signs of reflux or they may show the following signs:
- Spitting up milk during or after feeds.
- Refusing feeds, gagging or choking.
- Persistent hiccups or coughing.
- Excessive crying or crying while feeding.
- Frequent ear infections.
You do not need to be concerned about reflux if your baby is feeding well, happy and gaining weight as normal.
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Complications Of Spitting Up
- Most infants are “happy spitters.” Normal spitting up occurs in half of babies. It does not cause crying or colic.
- Normal crying occurs in all babies. Frequent crying occurs in 15% of babies. Crying and colic are not helped by heartburn meds. These meds also have side effects.
- If they develop complications, it’s called GERD . This occurs in less than 1% of babies.
What Treatments Might The Doctor Give For My Infant’s Gerd
If feeding changes do not help enough, the doctor may recommend medicines to treat GERD. The medicines work by lowering the amount of acid in your baby’s stomach. The doctor will only suggest medicine if your baby still has regular GERD symptoms and
- You already tried some feeding changes
- Your baby has problems sleeping or feeding
- Your baby does not grow properly
The doctor will often prescribe a medicine on a trial basis and will explain any possible complications. You shouldn’t give your baby any medicines unless the doctor tells you to.
Medicines for GERD in babies include
- H2 blockers, which decrease acid production
- Proton pump inhibitors , which lower the amount of acid the stomach makes
If these don’t help and your baby still has severe symptoms, then surgery might be an option. Pediatric gastroenterologists only use surgery to treat GERD in babies in rare cases. They may suggest surgery when babies have severe breathing problems or have a physical problem that causes GERD symptoms.
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Care Advice For Spitting Up
Why Is My Baby Vomiting Curdled Milk
Babies spit-up becomes curdled when milk from breastfeeding or formula mixes with the acidic stomach fluid. Time also plays a role here. Immediate spit-up after feeding will probably look like regular milk. If your little one spits up after some time as passed, its more likely to look curdled milk.
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Is It Normal For An Infant To Have Acid Reflux
Its rare for an infants symptoms to continue past 24 months. If they persist, it may be a sign of gastroesophageal reflux disease , which is a more severe condition. While they may vary, the 10 most common signs of acid reflux or GERD in infants include: 1. Spitting up and vomiting Spitting up is normal for infants.
GERD is a more serious and long-lasting form of gastroesophageal reflux . GER is common in babies under 2 years old. Most babies spit up a few times a day during their first 3 months. GER does not cause any problems in babies. In most cases, babies outgrow this by the time they are 12 to 14 months old.
What Causes Gerd In A Child
GERD is often caused by something that affects the LES, the lower esophageal sphincter. The LES is a muscle at the bottom of the food pipe . The LES opens to let food into the stomach. It closes to keep food in the stomach. When the LES relaxes too often or for too long, stomach acid flows back into the esophagus. This causes vomiting or heartburn.
Everyone has reflux from time to time. If you have ever burped and had an acid taste in your mouth, you have had reflux. Sometimes the LES relaxes at the wrong times. Often your child will just have a bad taste in his or her mouth. Or your child may have a short, mild feeling of heartburn.
Babies are more likely to have a weak LES. This makes the LES relax when it should stay shut. As food or milk is digesting, the LES opens. It lets the stomach contents go back up to the esophagus. Sometimes the stomach contents go all the way up the esophagus. Then the baby or child vomits. In other cases, the stomach contents only go part of the way up the esophagus. This causes heartburn or breathing problems. In some cases there are no symptoms at all.
Some foods seem to affect the muscle tone of the LES. They let the LES stay open longer than normal. These foods include:
-
Chocolate
Other foods can bring on symptoms because they are acidic. These foods include:
-
Citrus foods
Other things that may lead to GERD include:
-
Being obese
-
Medicines, including some antihistamines, antidepressants, and pain medicines
-
Being around secondhand smoke
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Is There A Cure For Acid Reflux For Babies
A University of Pittsburgh study confirmed that acid reflux medicine makes no difference for most babies with colic. Doctors caring for 162 infants with marked crying after eating gave half the babies a powerful antacid the rest got a placebo. What happened? Fifty percent of babies got better on the medicinebut 50% got better on the placebo, too.
It’s Frustrating For You And Your Reflux Baby
Logan didn’t have colic. I could not get that through people’s heads. When you tell people that your baby is fussy, they automatically think that it’s colic. But Logan didn’t have the typical signs of colic such as crying for hours on end at a certain time of the night or day. Many reflux babies do, I know. But mine didn’t. I hated that no one was understanding my specific situation.
I was always able to console my baby . So the pediatrician told me that I was lucky that I am able to console my reflux baby. He said I should be thanking my lucky stars that I could get him to fall asleep because many parents that have a baby that suffers from colic aren’t able to get their babies to stop crying at all for 3 or more hours at a time.
Right. Ok, so I’m really glad that I’m not in that boat, but I’m in a different, very real boat and it’s sinking fast. My baby was in constant pain, he couldn’t stay asleep and I was experiencing real anxiety about it. So why didn’t anyone have any answers for me? Does anyone else feel this way?
Logan was miserable for a long time. He cried after most feedings, he made this awful grunting, straining sound all night long, and he always threw up more than what I could possibly believe was normal. The most stressful symptom of all though? He never slept. He would fall asleep just fine but constantly wake throughout the night and never took more than 20-30 min naps during the day.
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Is There Medicine For Acid Reflux For Infants
Proton pump inhibitors . They can heal the esophageal lining in infants. Doctors often prescribe PPIs for long-term GERD treatment. An infant needs to be given these medicines on an empty stomach so that his or her stomach acid can make them work.
What Causes Gastroesophageal Reflux
A ring of muscle, called the lower esophageal sphincter, separates the esophagus from the stomach. GER symptoms happen if this ring relaxes at the wrong time or doesn’t close as it should. This lets acidic fluid from the stomach flow backward into the esophagus, into the back of the throat, and sometimes out the mouth or nose.
Often, reflux is minor and no cause for concern. But in people who have GERD, reflux happens more often and causes noticeable discomfort. After many meals, they have heartburn .
In babies with GERD, breast milk or formula regularly refluxes into the esophagus, and sometimes out of the mouth. Sometimes babies regurgitate forcefully or have “wet burps.”
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