Baby Acid Reflux is a Medical Condition

Baby acid reflux is a medical condition, which is aptly defined as the condition that allows food eaten earlier by the baby and stomach acid to surge back up into the baby’s esophagus. This usually happens to the baby before their digestive system stabilizes and functions as it should. In a person’s body (babies included), there are muscles at the lower side of the esophagus that allows the food to enter the stomach after swallowing. These muscles usually close after food passage and only open when gas (often air swallowed with food) is being released. They are known as the lower esophageal sphincter. In young babies, the muscles may let out the gas in addition to food contents swallowed earlier. The contents then flow back into the baby’s esophagus and into the mouth. Most babies spit up the contents. Parents may mistake this as the baby vomiting, although most of them refer to this condition simply as spitting up, when in fact it could be due to baby acid reflux.

Severe Baby Acid Reflux May Cause Poor Eating Habits

Babies with severe baby acid reflux may have poor feeding habits, which affect their weight gain. In some cases, the baby may even loose weight. The baby may also be diagnosed with conditions such as bronchitis, asthma, wheezing and pneumonia. Acid reflux babies with the condition may also have excessive drooling, and may frequently develop sinus or ear infections. When the baby cries, the parent may notice that the baby’s voice is hoarse.

In most cases, infant reflux occurs minutes after the baby is fed. However, this may also happen with a crying baby or one that coughs or strains. This baby reflux condition is very common as most babies experience it in the first three months of life. However, the acid reflux in babies usually disappears when the baby is between twelve and eighteen months of age. In some few cases, medical intervention may be required.

Baby Acid Reflux Symptoms

Treatment for baby acid reflux should only be sought when the symptoms are severe, therefore posing a risk to the baby’s development. Some of the infant reflux symptoms that parents should be on the look out for include a frequently spitting up baby, frequent baby vomiting, a constant baby crying, the baby arching backwards while being fed, frequent hiccups, frequent coughing, bad breath, poor sleeping habits and irritability. In more severe cases of baby reflux, the baby may have difficulty swallowing food and may be diagnosed with a sore throat.

The treatment of baby acid reflux varies with the severity of the condition. In most cases, pediatrician’s advice parents to follow some simple baby feeding directives in order to reduce the severity of the condition. When this happens, it is usually because the pediatrician suspects that the condition will clear as the baby gets older. Some of the common treatments offered by the doctors include antacids, which neutralizes the acid contained in the baby’s stomach, Acid suppressors, which suppress the rate of acid production in the stomach and acid blockers. These block acid production in the baby’s stomach.

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