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Sunday, August 5, 2007

Does Your Baby Have Acid Reflux?

By Tom Houser

In today’s world, extra care is needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Numerous ailments pop up all the time. Infants do not have the ability to fight toxic substances and diseases with the regularity that adults manage.

Given the vulnerability of infants, it becomes extremely important for today’s parents to go that extra step to protect their children. Research on infant health care becomes imperative. One must know the various possible ailments in infants and study the early symptoms that would sound alerts to parents.

Acid reflux symptoms in infants are a common complaint to look for in today’s society. The nature of the complaint, the symptoms and the impact of the same in infants has to be known in depth to take the necessary precautionary steps.

The medical term used by doctors for acid reflux symptoms in infants is ‘Gastro esophageal Reflux’. It describes the condition where the food consumed and the stomach acid flow back into the esophagus. A set of muscles below the esophagus called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) opens and closes to give way for food to enter the stomach. After meals, the LES opens to release the gas.

Some of the stomach contents are released back to the esophagus and the mouth in some instances. Parents will often see the baby spitting up, or throwing up when this happens. GER can occur at any time even other than during or just after a feeding. Acid reflux can even occur when babies cough or cry.

Acid reflux symptoms in infants occur usually in the first three months. Normally, no medical treatment is required for this complaint and the symptoms automatically disappear between 12 to 18 months of age. However if symptoms persist, then the complaint is to be perceived as serious and treatment is required.

Acid Reflux Symptoms in Infants
The common symptoms found in Acid Reflux are as follows:
• Frequent Spitting or vomiting
• Irritability or discomfort while feeding
• Reduced or no food consumption
• Constant or sudden crying
• Infants bending or rather arching their backs while feeding
• Burps accompanied by spitting
• Frequent hiccups and coughing
• Reduced sleeping hours
• Bad breath

Apart from the above not-so-serious symptoms there are other serious symptoms that have to be observed and treated medically. These are as follows:
• Difficulty in swallowing
• Sore throats occurring frequently
• Loss of weight or very less weight gain
• Breathing problems such as asthma, wheezing, bronchitis and pneumonia
• Ear or sinus infections
• Small spells of breathlessness
• Voice turning hoarse
• Excessive drooling

The above are less common symptoms that occur in a few infants. The above distinction between common and uncommon symptoms must be known in depth by parents to know when exactly the child needs medical attention.

Thus, parents with extra care can identify and solve the acid reflux symptoms in infants!
Thomas D. Houserhttp://www.acidcurereflux.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Houser

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