Tips And Tricks For Babies With Acid Reflux

After weeks of daily projectile vomiting we were told by our doctor what our newborn was suffering from: acid reflux. Unsure of what little things I could do (after of course forgetting to ask the doctor at our appointment) I turned to google for help. After some trial and error, I've listed what helped us the most in our journey.

-Inclined sleep: Whether it's a tilted crib mattress or a rock n play sleeper, an incline makes a HUGE difference. The day we got the diagnosis I practically sprinted to Target to pick up a rock n play sleeper, unfortunately for me our daughter still was unhappy until she was in our bed but she spent most of her naps in it. The incline helps tremendously with rising bile and spit up, and the rocking feature certainly is a nice touch.

-Nursing Habits: One breast per feeding helps from an overindulgent newborn from eating too much, which inevitably results in emptying of the stomach moments later for an acid reflux baby, we have practiced this since we brought her home and are still doing it eight months later

-Burp Clothes: For a mom struggling with a reflux baby, you will NEVER have enough burp clothes; and when you have dirtied all the burp clothes, move on to the dish rags (they are larger anyway!)

-Upright Eating: Whether nursing or bottle feeding, try to keep baby as upright as possible so all of the milk gets down as fast as it can, this will prevent more from coming up.

-Breastmilk: Although breastfeeding is not possible for all mothers and babies, I wanted to note that due to breastmilk being easier on your baby’s stomach and faster digestion, they are less likely to spit it up, and when you are dealing with several large vomits a day just one less can make a big difference! If you are unable to breastfeed, try pumping some milk and feeding it to your little one as much as possible to help with frequent spit ups.

-Bibs: Spitting up typically results in several changed outfits throughout the day. Throw a comfy bib on your cutie in the morning and avoid ten onesie changes!

-Bottle Preference: For an acid reflux baby, drinking from a bottle can be a challenge due to increased spitting up. If you are bottle feeding or supplementing, try a bottle specifically designed to decrease this; Dr Brown’s bottles have worked best for us and are marketed specifically to lessen vomits and tummy upsets.

-Medicine: Our doctor put my daughter on Zantac twice daily to combat her painful upchucks. This made a huge difference in her sleep and overall happiness. While medicine isn't everyone's first choice, it did a world of difference for my baby and she was weaned from it completely by four months.

For almost all babies acid reflux gets worlds better with time. Once our daughter could hold her head up by herself, her spitting up decreased by half and now at eight months is never an issue at all. For all you mom's and dads struggling, it will get better!