11:41 pm: Baby awoke, crying. Nursed him & back to sleep.
4:27 am: Baby awoke, again. Crying, again. What the heck? All he wants to do is nurse. I give in, nurse him and go back to sleep.
6:39 am: Baby awoke, CRYING!! Wants to nurse, AGAIN. I am tired so I give in, again… try to go back to sleep.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY BABY?” I thought.
This is a typical night, as of late, with my 8 1/2 month old son. What is wrong? Well, my first thought, when this all began, was growing pains. I know he’s teething & teething happens when a baby is going thru a growth spurt (learned this from a pediatric dentist). So, I naturally assumed it was due to growth. Nursing calms babies & feels good so it’s only natural he’d want to nurse, right? Ok. I was alright with that explanation up until last Thursday.
What happened on Thursday? Well, let me tell you. It was like a scene straight out of a horror flick. I fed my son lunch, same as always, a jar of veggies & about 1/4 to 1/2 jar of fruit. I then proceeded to nurse him (to wash down lunch, of course). About 1/2 way thru nursing him he got really distracted (typical at this age) so I sat him up and began talking to him. After about a min he burped then spit up. Yuck! Then another burp. Then… OH MY GOSH! He projectile vomited all over me! YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! I could not believe it! Basically, most his lunch & all his milk – on my shirt, pants & my comforter. Nice. I took one look at him & he laughed. Huge smile and giggled away. Good to know he wasn’t feeling bad but what just happened? No fever. No diarrhea. No symptoms, at all.
Fast forward to Monday. Baby eats Oatmeal (breakfast), like any other day. Take him to nurse. He nurses, gets distracted. I sit him up & BAM! He does it again! Spews ALL OVER ME! This time my husband sees this & FREAKS out! What the heck is wrong with this kid? Baby looks at Daddy & laughs. Still feeling fine. No symptoms.
Next day. Has breakfast. Naps. Nurses after nap. Lay him down to change his pants & ICK! Does it again. Ok. Now I call the pediatrician. This is not my first child but this never happened with my other two. I don’t get it!!
The nurse tells me she thinks it’s Infant Reflux & gives me a few tips. Nurse him more upright. Be sure he’s upright for at least 10 – 15 min after eating. Try this & call back in a day or two. Alright, I kind of thought these two things were no brainers but maybe I just needed to pay more attention to detail. I do have twin 5 1/2 year olds that I’m attending to, also. They require a certain amount of attention, as well.
That night I went online & began researching… WOW! I couldn’t believe what I read. I thought, “It IS reflux AND he’s probably had it since 2 months old but it just hasn’t been this bad.
A little back story, since my son has been about 2 months old, he cried every time we laid him down. He would fall asleep in our arms but the moment we’d laid him down he’d wake & cry. We just figured he didn’t like sleep. Low & behold, this is a symptom of infant reflux.
Waking in the night & only wanting nurse is something else babies do that have reflux. The nursing feels good on their throats & in their tummies, which may be slightly sore from the acid reflux. Another thing they tend to do is over eat, which aggravates the condition, yet eating also feels good on the throat.
After reading these things I was thinking that maybe the nurse was right. Maybe our son did have reflux after all but I wasn’t completely convinced until I read this last symptom.
TEETHING can worsen reflux!! My son just popped his first tooth last week & is currently working on his second, as I type. I didn’t know this but your saliva is incredibly acidic. Anyone who has seen my son in the past month knows he’s be drooling like a mad man.
So I am completely convinced now. My son has infant reflux & it’s exacerbated by his teething. Things I am doing to help him & prevent him from “spilling his cookies” after every meal are:
- feeding him less at each sitting but more frequently (was 3x/day now 4x/day),
- nursing him before his meal & not after (as upright as possible),
- letting him play in his high chair for 10 – 15 min after eating
- pat dry his face whenever I see it’s loaded with drool
- laying him on his side for sleep
- ALWAYS have a burp cloth within reach – this one is for my safety.
In writing this article my hope is to share my first hand experience & maybe help someone else out there going thru the same mysterious situation. I am not a doctor & don’t play one on TV. There is tons of information regarding Infant Reflux online. I only wrote about what was specific to my family. Please, contact your pediatrician if you have any questions whenever you are concerned about your child’s health… then research what they tell you, online, late at night, when the rest of your family sleeps.