Acid Reflux & Your Children

Acid reflux isn’t just for adults. More than half of all newborns experience the condition within the first three months of life.

“If you look at the research available, 60-70 percent of infants will have significant reflux episodes,” said Dr. Steven Schwarz, a professor of pediatrics at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and attending pediatrician at Long Island College Hospital.

Acid reflux is caused by a back-up of the contents of the stomach, including gastric acid, into the esophagus. But with infants, the contents of the stomach often reflux past the esophagus and out the mouth, resulting in regurgitation and vomiting or spitting up.

Acid reflux in infants usually occurs right after feeding, but until the muscle between the esophagus and the stomach matures, it can occur anytime a baby coughs, cries or strains.

Generally, if spitting up is the only symptom, doctors recommend some simple feeding and lifestyle modifications, Schwarz said.

Some suggestions include:

— Decreasing feeding volumes if the baby is formula fed;

— Decreasing feeding times if the baby is breast fed;

— Thickening formula or, on occasion, switching to a hypoallergenic formula;

— Smaller, more frequent meals.

In most cases, infant acid reflux will clear up on its own by 8-10 months of age, but in some rare cases, babies can develop breathing problems and/or acid-induced injury to the esophagus, called esophagitis.

So it’s important for parents to know the signs and symptoms that could indicate a bigger problem, including:

— Failure to gain weight;

— Irritability during feeding;

— Refusal to feed;

— Presence of blood in spit up;

— Breathing problems.

“Pharmacologic therapy should be reserved for those infants who demonstrate signs or symptoms of a complicated problem,” said Schwarz. “There’s nothing parents can do to prevent it, and basically for the vast majority of infants with reflux — which is most infants — as long as the baby is thriving and happy, there is no reason for concern.”

Much like their adult counterparts, children can also employ simple diet and lifestyle modifications to control their reflux-related symptoms.

“There are certain foods which we know are worse for patients with reflux,” Schwarz said. “Avoiding tomatoes, citrus products, caffeine, chocolate, and peppermint, can help, but lifestyle modifications should always be done under the care of a physician.”

Bonnie - unfortunately, many physicians do not adhere to Dr. Schwarz's plan. There has been an epidemic of overprescribing reflux meds to infants and young children for years. I wrote Reversing Reflux in Your Child Action Plan several years ago to address this issue. The unfortunate thing is that most parents have no idea the harm they can do to their child by allowing them to be on reflux meds if not truly necessary.