If your baby has GORD, they may: have pain and discomfort in their chest or upper abdomen (stomach), which will make them irritable, cry a lot or arch their back.
A doctor or health care provider may order these for your baby to diagnose GERD: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy – A small, flexible tube (catheter) with a camera on the end is used to see the inside of the esophagus and stomach. Esophageal pH-impedance monitoring – A catheter is put in your baby's nose.
Any infant can have GERD. GERD is more common in premature infants link. Infants with certain health conditions that affect the esophagus, nervous system, or lungs are also more likely to have GERD.
Symptoms of GERD
Heartburn from acid on lower esophagus. 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.
GERD is very common during a baby's first year of life. It often goes away on its own. Your child is more at risk for GERD if he or she has: Down syndrome.
Check if your baby has reflux
bringing up milk or being sick during or shortly after feeding. coughing or hiccupping when feeding. being unsettled during feeding. swallowing or gulping after burping or feeding.
When babies are suffering from acid reflux they prefer to be held upright. Fussy behavior from reflux can occur all day, rather than just at night. However, if acid reflux is uncomfortable it can cause restlessness in your baby and difficulty sleeping at night.
Pyloric stenosis versus GERD
If your newborn projectile vomits in the first few months of life, keep an eye out for symptoms of pyloric stenosis, since it can sometimes be confused with GERD in infants.
Without treatment, GERD can sometimes cause serious complications over time. A pediatrician should monitor children with GERD to prevent or treat long-term problems, such as esophagitis, esophageal stricture, and Barrett's esophagus, as well as complications outside the esophagus.
Additionally, a medical study found that the 'non-nutritive' sucking (sucking without feeding) with a dummy can improve the rate the stomach empties and also decrease the number of reflux episodes in a group of premature infants.
With a baby that vomits or spits up a lot, it's relatively easy to understand that the baby may have reflux, where as a baby that might just have excessive bouts of crying but is rarely sick and still gains weight would often be deemed to just have 'colic'.
While both breastfed and formula fed babies can experience reflux, research has shown that formula fed infants have episodes of reflux more often than breastfed babies and they last longer.
Many babies with reflux find it uncomfortable to lie down, and difficult to sleep because the pain in their body is keeping them awake. Colic is a subset of reflux, that is focused on digestive discomfort and it seems that babies “grow out of it” by the age of 12 weeks.
Reflux is one of the most common infant feeding problems. 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.
In most cases, GER is normal, does not need treatment, and improves as the baby gets older. Normal reflux — GER happens most frequently in babies between three and six months of age.
In infants, gastroesophageal reflux (GER) happens when stomach contents come back up into the esophagus, which can cause regurgitation and spitting up. GERD is a more severe and long-lasting condition in which GER causes repeated symptoms that are bothersome or lead to complications.
The best way to burp a baby experiencing reflux is by holding them with their tummy side against your chest and burping them over your shoulder. This will allow for removal of trapped gas and acid from your baby's system before giving them further milk to drink.
Did you know? Bottle feeding your baby in an upright position can help reduce the symptoms of reflux.
The best sleeping position for a newborn baby with reflux is on their backs (supine position), even better if they lie on a surface with an incline angle of about 30 degrees. If their head and chest are elevated slightly in relation to the rest of their body, the backflow of milk from their stomach is reduced.
Acid concentration in the stomach is higher at night. The baby is likely lying down, so there is no assistance from gravity to help keep the contents of the stomach down.
Babies often spit up bits of food, but vomiting beyond the typical mealtime regurgitation should be examined by a doctor. Reflux symptoms, often accompanied by signs of distress (such as back-arching and restlessness), can be a symptom of cow's milk allergy.