found that feeding preterm babies on their left side and lying them on their left side for a short period after feeding reduced reflux symptoms.
This is a great position for babies who have reflux or who are prone to vomiting. If you place the baby on its left side to feed it increases the space from the bottom of its stomach to the oesophagus making it less likely for them to vomit or reflux.
For babies with reflux, upright or semi-upright positions are best, like the koala hold or laid-back position, since gravity will help with digestion, Sriraman says. “If baby is reluctant to nurse because of reflux, try standing or walking while breastfeeding,” Nguyen says.
Use positions for feeding that keep baby's head higher than her tummy, such as a laid-back position or having baby diagonally across your chest in a cradle hold. Avoid positions that have baby bending at the waist, putting more pressure on her tummy.
Reflux is less common in breastfed babies. In addition, breastfed babies with reflux have been shown to have shorter and fewer reflux episodes and less severe reflux at night than formula-fed babies [Heacock 1992].
Switching to formula may not be the answer
As one cause of reflux can be a delayed emptying of the stomach, the fact that human milk leaves the stomach twice as quickly as formula means that breastmilk lessens the possibility of reflux.
Reflux tends to peak around four to six months and then improve. The reason: Older babies start eating solid foods and consume less liquid — and solids are easier to keep down. But reflux isn't something babies just have to live with until they grow older.
Sleeping with your left side down reduces reflux episodes. View Source and exposure of the esophagus to stomach acid. Sleeping in other positions, including on your back, can make reflux more likely.
Always burp your baby when feeding time is over. To help prevent the milk from coming back up, keep your baby upright after feeding for 10 to 15 minutes, or longer if your baby spits up or has GERD. But don't worry if your baby spits sometimes. It's probably more unpleasant for you than it is for your baby.
Do not over-feed your baby. Feeding your baby too much can make reflux symptoms worse. Their doctor or health care provider will tell you how much they should be eating with each feed.
Feed your baby a little bit less than usual if you're bottle-feeding, or cut back a little on nursing time. Take time to burp your baby. Frequent burps during and after feeding can keep air from building up in your baby's stomach. Put baby to sleep on the back.
Sit Your Baby Upright: Placing your baby on their back or in a car seat after feeding can lead to more spitting up and reflux. To help reduce reflux in your baby, keep them upright for 20-30 minutes after feeding. One potential idea: a walk around the block in their carrier.
While the side-lying position for breastfeeding can allow women to get needed rest, it can increase their risk of falling asleep while in this position and potentially smothering their babies.
Side-lying breastfeeding can be a great way to avoid your baby putting pressure on your abdomen while breastfeeding, which can greatly reduce discomfort as you heal. Another way to position and latch your little one.
Silent reflux in babies
Sometimes babies don't spit out what comes back up but swallow it instead. Even though there isn't any spitting up, they may show other symptoms similar to reflux, such as crying or being unsettled after feeds, or having a cough or hoarse voice.
Supragastric burping: This involves a person suctioning in air, often subconsciously, from their mouth into their esophagus. The person then expels the air through their pharynx, the tube that carries air, food, and fluid down from the mouth and nose. People may do this to relieve symptoms of acid reflux.
When you're laying down, you lose the effect of gravity on the food traveling through your digestive system. Laying down also prevents gravity from keeping bile and acids from traveling up into the esophagus, causing heartburn. Because of this, many people find their heartburn is worse at night.
Baby Reflux FAQs
Pacifiers may stimulate saliva and the downward push of the esophagus, both of which may help to get fluids back into the stomach sooner rather than later. However, doctors are still not recommending pacifiers as a treatment.
It usually starts around the 2 to 3 week mark, peaks around 4 to 5 months, and typically goes away by about 9 to 12 months. Reflux is more likely to happen if a baby's belly is too full, if they're moved too quickly from laying to sitting or if they're experiencing pressure on their tummy after feeding.
Infacol is an anti-foaming agent with the active ingredient being simeticone. The remedy claims to reduce the surface tension of bubbles of trapped gas by joining the smaller bubbles together. This makes it easier for the gas to be passed by the baby.
After feeds, ideally keep baby upright against their carer for at least 30 minutes. Patting to wind may make the reflux worse, so simply hold baby with their head on your right shoulder and their stomach in the middle of your chest. It is better to avoid bouncing or jiggling the baby at this stage.
Symptoms of GERD
Infants with this problem cry numerous times per day. They also act very unhappy when they are not crying. They are in almost constant discomfort.