HOW I FOUND OUT MY BABY HAD REFLUX

How I found out my baby had reflux

My baby was born with laryngomalacia.

He was in the NICU for 7 days n then in the hospital with me 7 d and he was sent home.

For the next week he was normal. Except for laryngomalacia and the resulting stridor which used to fill up our room

One night he started crying n had to be held in my arms even then he was crying hard

Then his burps changed. From what was normal n cute burp, at times, it sounded like an old man after a meal after which he cried even harder. When he pooped he passed lots of gas.

I showed him to a pediatrician with the hope that he could help my baby. The only thing he told me was to hold baby close while feeding and burping and basically everything which you are told before you leave the hospital.

I think he believed me to be overwhelmed being a new mother and I was but it was only because I hadn’t slept in three days. And at this point I was afraid I might fall asleep holding the baby and drop him.

Then after a week which I had help from family to look after him so I cud get some rest I took him to another doctor.

He told me that the baby could be having colic. That was the first helpful thing I had heard. At last I knew I wasn’t completely ignorant because with a baby that small you don’t know if you r doing something wrong and u always think that you are.

He gave me some digestive drops which helped a little baby was able to pass gases easier. But he still cried lots.

Me and my husband used to take turns and stay up at night n hold him. He used to spit up lots.

Then we showed him to another pediatrician this time abroad who after listening to symptoms suggested that he might have GERD. (gastro esophageal reflux disease)

He was put on colic aid i.e. Infacol in US to remove gas and zantac. She suggested that the tone of is sphincter muscle at junction of stomach and esophagus maybe weak allowing stomach contents to come up and cause burning which explained all the crying. That night I saw improvement.

She also told us which symptoms r typical.

He was spitting up whatever he was eating. Once he has a feeding the milk goes into tummy which is acidic. And then the spit up comes which irritates him.

I was given some more useful tips just as useful as the medication.

First was doing put him down immediately after feeding. Hold him in a sitting position for time well supported, or keep him in the car seat for a few mins.

The other tip was to elevate the bed by 30 degrees which help improved his sleeping time considerably. I had been having him sleep in the cot with all the  things removed except the sheet which was well fitted and as pillows were a big huge no no I hadn’t even been putting a pillow under his head. Now I learnt that having him lie down so flat may have aggravated his condition because then the contents of the stomach would have been able to travel up through his esophagus more easily making it more painful for his thus the crying whenever we put him down.

Also we were asked to increase the tummy time and that helped lots too.

We started having his all day time sleeping naps in tummy position, of course completely supervised. I can’t emphasize how important it is never leave the baby even for a bathroom break on tummy if u have to go then put him on his back before you leave.

Tummy time was supposed to help him pass gas

His feeding increased after we put him on meds. He started gaining weight more steadily and sleeping longer.

So if ur new born baby is crying uncontrollably then here r some things you can see for yourself I wish someone had told me.

Does your child sit more comfortably in the car seat ? Then this can be because his reflux doesnt give him issues in this position.

If he is doing chewing motions with him mouth like he is trying to eat after u has burped him or he has spit up in his mouth.

If he starts to cry when you keep him down then try elevating his head not with a pillow which isn’t advisable but by raising the head end of the crib or special sleeping wedge.

If he takes longer naps in his car seat or rocker this could also be a sign.

My baby had all this signs.

Some people told me I was coddling him that’s why he wasn’t laying on his bed. But he had no problems with his cot after the head end was elevated. So now I know this wasn’t the case.

I was also told that if I left in his crib long enough he will stop crying now I’m glad I didn’t do this because if I found out later that’s he was crying because it hurt him to lay down I would have been able to forgive myself for making him suffer.

Something I also heard was that some children just cry a lot and they will grow out of it. And maybe some do but try to rule out everything before you go there. The baby doesn’t have a voice its ur job to let it be heard. He could be just trying to let you know something. After a while after I knew the symptoms I learnt that the hungry cry the pain cry was very different.

Anyway if ur baby is crying try elevating his head.

Give more tummy time.

Supervised tummy naps

Try swaddling him usually if there is no problem most babies calm down.

There are many great videoes on swaddling on youtube.

I hope i helped your crying baby a little.

This is just my opinion and in no way medical advice.