Did you know massage can help with infant reflux? It didn’t occur to me until I was steeped in the experience with my daughter.
Is it Allergies or Reflux?
It was the spring of 2016 and my first born was one year old and was throwing up almost every day. In January, we learned that she was allergic to tree nuts, which was confirmed by an allergist. Nuts, wheat, sesame seeds, and more were found on her allergy test. As an Indian vegetarian family, this would be difficult. We cut everything out completely and even purchased special white bread for her from a local bakery. In spite of avoiding the whole list, she was still throwing up. She had no other symptoms, and she felt fine immediately after.
A few months into this, we visited my parents and unknowingly she was given roti, made from wheat flour. And…nothing happened. This confused us as the allergy testing showed otherwise. We went to see a functional allergist for more information and returned to the pediatrician. This time around they suspected acid reflux and said her sphincter, which keeps the food down was undeveloped and so the food was coming up. They put her on Zantac for 6 months. It took care of the problem, and she was no longer throwing up. Her allergies ended up being primarily to nuts and we got involved in food challenges to help reduce the list of what she couldn’t have. See my post on How I am Helping my Daughter Overcome her Food Allergy.
What is Infant Reflux?
Infant reflux is when a baby spits up liquid or food. This happens when the stomach contents travel back up into the esophagus. It affects approximately 50% of babies. Infant reflux emerges around four weeks and can last for many months. Healthy infants can experience reflux multiple times a day, daily. If your baby is healthy and growing, it can be resolved. Check out this article to learn more about infant reflux.
Fast forward, to 2021 and my second daughter went to an ENT appointment to have her tongue and lip tie removed, which were getting in the way of her breastfeeding. The ENT told us that she had acid reflux though we didn’t see any of the same symptoms, which is known as silent reflux. I asked if she was going to be taking Zantac, since that is what my older daughter was given. “No”, they said “they’ve found it to cause cancer so no longer prescribe that”. You can imagine the anger I felt in that moment when an allopathic medicine again could cause permanent harm to my baby for something so minor. They prescribed something else and I never filled the prescription, to be honest.
Instead, I returned home and turned to the tools I had come to rely on, such as homeopathy. I found a remedy, Chamomilla, to address acid reflux and dissolved the tablets in her pumped milk. Yes, it’s safe for babies. This, I combined with tummy and chest massage using fennel essential oil. Acid reflux eliminated in a day.
Symptoms of Infant Reflux
I see so many families struggle with reflux and while I am not a doctor, I share my experience and recommend doing no harm first, especially when it comes to our littles. Here are common symptoms of reflux:
- coughing or hiccupping when feeding
- bringing up milk or being sick during or shortly after feeding
- being unsettled during feeding
- swallowing or gulping after burping or feeding
- crying and not settling
- not gaining weight as they’re not keeping enough food down
Sometimes babies may have signs of reflux but will not bring up milk or be sick, which was the case with my daughter. This is known as silent reflux.
If your baby is spitting up or throwing up frequently and you feel like it is reflux, please consider looking to Eastern Medicine to support healthy digestion. You can seek out a homeopath or herbalist even before making changes to your own diet or having to medicate. To resolve one problem by creating another may bring immediate relief but won’t help in the long run. I learned that the hard way. If you want to learn the strokes to support and maintain healthy digestion, check out our full course here.
