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Home › Articles › Crying Issues › Infant GERD

Infant GERD

Signs, Symptoms and Treatments of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

By Teri Brown

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

"Some parents do not understand that a baby can have reflux and little or no vomiting," says Gambino. "This is often referred to as silent reflux. The acid and stomach contents reach the esophagus and perhaps the throat and get swallowed back down. The silent reflux may be more painful and cause more irritability than typical vomiting and spit up."

What to Look For
Dr. Denesh K. Chitkara, assistant professor in pediatrics for the University of the North Carolina School of Medicine, says there are many signs of GERD that parents can recognize. "The signs are fussiness after eating, weight loss, feeding problems and arching after feeds and in rare cases vomiting blood," says Dr. Chitkara. "Signs of infantile discomfort after feeds are all possible signs of GERD. In addition, infants and children can have wheezing [and] recurrent nose and ear infections that may be precipitated by GERD."

Respiratory problems such as coughing, wheezing and choking are also seen, as well as a stuffy nose and ear infections. It can be confusing because a baby with reflux may have difficulty gaining weight due to poor eating and pain. However, a baby with reflux may also be normal or above normal weight.

"Although no one can assess how painful GERD is for infants, parents frequently describe prolonged crying and arching associated with episodes of GERD," says Dr. Chitkara. "In adults, GERD can mimic signs of a heart attack. Thus, symptoms of GERD can be quite painful for children and adults."


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Re: Infant GERD by Grandma Michelle on 10/28/2008 11:13AM

This article really hit home for me and my daughter. My granddaughter had a similar episode at the age of 14 days. She stopped breathing and did the arching of the back, eyes in the back of her head, etc. We rushed her to the ER and then were transported to a NICU for several days. She too had all the test and the pH probe. She is home now and on Reglan and Pepcid and we are do to follow up with a GI specialist this week. These episodes are scary and we still went to the ER with one the other night. Thanks for the insight and information! It feels great to know that this will get better.

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