If your baby is dealing with reflux then you’ll know all about the horrendous crying and pain that your little one will be going through.
So you’ve likely turned to the internet for some tips on how to help relieve your baby, obviously, they can’t just pop a Rennie!
Some babies will show signs of reflux from a very young age and if you know what to look for you can sometimes help relieve it before it gets too bad.
We have put together some of our tips for dealing with acid reflux that we learned from our experience and we hope that they help!
Symptoms of Reflux in Babies
The NHS has quite handily listed some of the most common symptoms you will see and some great facts about it too.
Reflux is most common in children between the ages of 2-12 months old but can start earlier and finish later.
The symptoms include:
• Sicking up their milk during or after feeding
• During feeding, coughing, or having hiccups
• Not being calm during feeding, like they are uncomfortable
• Swallow or gulp after burping
• Being restless, not settling, and crying.
• Not putting on any weight due to drinking their milk/food up.
• Sounding congested but wasn’t
Occasionally your baby with show signs of reflux but won’t be sick or bring any of their milk up, this is called silent reflux.
Tips for helping your baby deal with acid reflux
If you think this sounds like your baby or you are worried that they are having some of these symptoms, then maybe some of these tips can help you.
Cut Dairy
If you are breastfeeding, your diet could be causing reflux in your baby. Luckily, you can switch out most of your favourite dairy products with non-dairy options. Non-dairy yoghurt is an alternative that you wouldn’t know the difference in, other non-dairy options are chocolate, biscuits, milk (Coconut milk is a personal favourite) and to increase your fruit intake.
Whilst you are changing your diet you should also think about cutting out eggs, soy, and especially coffee. Coffee can give heartburn in excessive amounts so avoid passing that onto your baby.
Elevate Baby When Sitting
Firstly, you should never let your baby sleep elevated but if you are using a bouncer or swing then you can raise the back position setting and allow them to sit at an elevated or more upright position which can help with their reflux.
You can also use your swing or bouncer whilst you feed them in a slightly more elevated position, this only really works with bottle feeds or once they are on baby food as it can be awkward to try and breastfeed and keep your baby elevated.
Hold your baby upright after feeding
This is quite an easy one and can help the baby with wind after feeding. Once they have finished lightly burp them for 30-60 minutes. If you feel like they are trying to go off or they fall asleep whilst feeding you can pop them over your shoulder.
give baby a probiotic
Reflux or no reflux it can be healthy to give your baby a probiotic. OptiBac Probiotic can be used from birth until they are 3 years old and can be used with breastfed and bottle-fed newborns.
It’s GMO-Free and Vegan friendly and really easy to use. You can give it to your baby directly from the dropper, on your finger, nipple, or from a spoon. If it’s easier and you are bottle feeding you can add it directly to the milk.
We think that a probiotic should also be one of your baby essentials which we actually featured on our baby checklist.
Limit their time spent in uncomfortable positions
As a parent, you’ll know when your baby is uncomfortable and there are some positions that are inevitable for them to be in but are uncomfortable.
Try to avoid leaving them in these positions where possible and make them as comfy as possible whilst still keeping safe.
When to contact your doctor or GP
Reflux should be too big of cause for concern but there are some points where you should see your GP.
If your baby’s reflux hasn’t improved after 2 weeks whilst you are trying the things on this list to ease the reflux, then you should see your doctor. This could be due to a different problem altogether and it’s worth just check it out.
If your baby doesn’t have reflux for the first 6 months of their lives then suddenly starts getting symptoms then you should see your GP, again this could be due to an underlying problem.
Likewise, if your baby is older than 1 year old and still has reflux you should seek advice on the next step to help start preventing it.
And most importantly you should get medical advice immediately if your baby starts losing weight or is failing to gain weight.
