Help Baby Sleep Well In Spite Of Infant Reflux
Infant reflux (GER and GERD) is annoying and painful - night time acid reflux is bound to keep baby and you from sleeping well. Luckily there are simple infant acid reflux tips to keep nights at best.
Not sure if it really is infant reflux or which type of reflux your baby has? The Baby Reflux Symptoms Guide helps you decide.
Infant reflux tips to get the best sleep
When diagnosing GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disorder), your doctor will probably suggest thickening baby's milk for a while and/or taking anti-acid medication (like Gaviscon, Ranitidine, ...).Whether your baby has GERD, or the less serious GER (Gastro Esophageal Reflux), you can do the following to help your baby feel better and sleep more comfortable:
- Holding upright and burping: After feeding, always hold your baby upright for at least 20-30 minutes. Pat her back and/or put her high on your shoulder to help with burping.
- Burp during feeding: Every 3-5 minutes or so, pause the feeding and hold baby upright.
- Feeding upright: Have your baby sit/lie as much upright as possible during feeding.
- Feed less more often: Having to deal with less food at a time helps reduce the infant acid reflux effects.
- Breastfeed when possible: Another 'thumbs up' for breastfeeding: breastfed babies have less chance to develop a serious form of baby reflux.
That
is because breast milk is lighter and digested much faster. And the
sooner the food leaves the stomach, the less chances for it to go back
in the wrong direction.
Being so close to you
during feeding also helps baby soothe and relax better.
Try
out different breastfeeding positions: lying down, sitting up, rugby
position, ... and you may also try walking around. All to help baby
feel more comfortable. Ask
me if your baby has difficulties feeding (is restless, cannot
'cope' with the milk flow, coughs, gags, ...).
- Use a
baby
sling:
Carrying your baby upright after feeding becomes so much easier
(hands-free) and is very (!) efficient at helping your baby soothe. A
good sling will also allow a breastfeeding position. See specific Hug-a-Bub baby wearing benefits.
- Lift up the crib mattress so baby's head is higher than her feet.
- Experiment with food: even though finding the right diet for acid reflux in babies is often trial-and-error, some foods do trigger or make acid reflux worse so it is worth trying to eliminate those. Keeping a log will help you discover food-reflux connections.
- When breastfeeding: mind your own food and experiment with leaving out dairy products or typical allergens like citrus, tomatoes, strawberries, nuts, ... and also fizzy drinks.
- When formula feeding: consult your doctor or pharmacist to see if you can try out different formulas and note how your baby reacts.
- When baby is on solids: avoid the allergens as above.
Or would it be ...?
But it is worth to keep trying different things (always give one idea several days before deciding if it works or not - unless it is having horribly bad effects of course!) - you may find just the thing that works for you.
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