Natural Options in Infant Acid Reflux Treatment

If you have ever suffered with heartburn, you know how painful the symptoms can be. This knowledge leads many parents to worry when their babies show the same symptoms. However, spitting up is a fairly normal occurrence in young children and is often due to the fact that a muscle at the base of the esophagus is not quite mature enough to close properly. In many case, infant acid reflux treatment is as simple as a few basic feeding and lifestyle changes until the child outgrows the problem. This will usually be the case once the child is around nine months old. In the meantime, the following types of infant acid reflux treatment may keep symptoms at bay.

Feedings
The first step in infant acid reflux treatment is to modify the feeding schedule. First, keep your baby on breast milk for as long as possible, since breast milk is less likely to bring on acid reflux symptoms than formula might. It is also a good idea to feed less in a single sitting and instead make feedings more frequent. A fuller stomach will be more likely to bring on the acid reflux. Finally, some parents find that thickening formula slightly with some rice cereal will help to keep spitting up to a minimum. If these efforts do not create an effective infant acid reflux treatment, there are some other options you can try.

Other Changes
Positioning can also make a difference in the frequency of acid reflux symptoms. Another infant acid reflux treatment is to avoid upright positions right after eating. Vigorous activity should also be avoided right after meals since this can place additional pressure on the abdomen and increase spitting up episodes. Increase the number of times that you burp your baby during feedings to release as much of the air as possible, since this can be another infant acid reflux treatment.

When to Call the Doctor
In many cases, this infant acid reflux treatment will reduce the amount of spitting up that your child does and the problem will be resolved. In other cases, a call to the doctor might be warranted. If your child’s acid reflux symptoms are accompanied by poor weight gain, lack of appetite, irritability while eating or frequent coughing, it could be a sign that something more serious is going on. An appointment to the doctor will help rule out more serious causes of the acid reflux and provide you the opportunity to discuss the best treatment for acid reflux with your doctor. The good news is that most children will outgrow this problem by the time they turn a year old and no further infant acid reflux treatment will be necessary.