A lot of newborn babies throw up a lot and spit out a lot of food quite constantly. Not a lot of parents will pay much attention to that since it is quite common. However, in some cases the baby might be actually suffering from newborn acid reflux. The other name for this disorder is Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD.
What is newborn acid reflux?
Newborn acid reflux occurs when the contents of the stomach return into the throat and mouth. When the stomach acid does find its way back the baby may also spit, vomit, cough and sneeze. A lot of people wonder why something like that happens. Everybody knows that the food goes into the stomach after consumption. However, before it gets there it passes through the esophagus. Between it and the stomach there is a tiny gap which allows the food to get to the stomach. The gap closes once the food passes. The problem with newborns is that the esophageal sphincter is not developed enough and cannot hold the food in. That is when the food goes back up. It takes three months for the esophagus to fully develop and a baby might be suffering from a newborn acid reflux until it does. Adults also suffer from the same condition but it is called heartburn.
Newborn acid reflux symptoms
The parents need to get to know the symptoms so that they can see them on time and help the baby. In some cases the parents are not even aware that the baby is suffering from this condition. Some of the most common symptoms are spitting the food up, bad feeding, signs of irritability after or even during feeding, no signs of normal weight gain, green or brown bile along with the food when the baby spits it and frequent feeding resistance. Some of the other symptoms are problems and reluctance when swallowing, spitting that accompanies the burping, constant crying, problems with sleeping, fever, diarrhea, shortness of breath and less wetting of the diapers. Newborn acid reflux treatment
The parent should provide proper treatment as soon as the symptoms are spotted in order to avoid complications later in life. In order to prevent that from happening a mother should breastfeed the baby and not use formulas.The baby should be held in an upright position when being fed. The baby should also be held in that position for half an hour after the feeding. The baby should be fed smaller meals more frequently. The amount should be gradually increased. It is important to burp the baby as often as possible. On first signs of newborn acid reflux a parent should take the baby to the hospital.
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