Baby With Reflux

By Stacey Price
My first child William (now 2.5 years old) was a reflux baby and my now 2 month old (James) seems to be following in his footsteps.
When we had William, I had never heard of reflux but boy did I work out what is was in a hurry.  Thankfully both our children have what is known as silent reflux so they are not in pain and often vomit up milk after a feed without so much as a peep.
When this first happened I was horrified.  It is not a pleasant thing to happen – especially when all our friends and family want to come and meet the newborn baby, only to be covered head to toe in milk.
I was forever cleaning the floor, couch, cushions, clothes, rugs, table legs – pretty much anything.  With William, it got to the point where I did not want to take him anywhere because the fear of him vomiting on someone else’s clothes or carpets, or heaven forbid inside a store or restaurant.
I tried different formulas, thickening agents, a wedge in the cot so he slept elevated, holding him upright – all to no effect.  And God forbid if I even tried to do tummy time or use the jolly jumper.
The only thing that seemed to work was taking him to see an Oesteopath – but by this time William was 10 months old.  That is a long time to live in fear of what people’s reactions will be if they see him vomit everywhere – especially those horrified looks as if the reflux is a disease and could be contagious.
How life changes with our second child.  Although James seems to also have silent reflux, my attitude has changed.  My son is not in pain and quite often has a cheeky smile afterwards.
His reflux is not something I have caused so why should I be embarrassed to take him anywhere.  So now we are out and about and we couldn’t be happier.  I simply warn everyone who wants a cuddle of what could happen –  it is their choice (I just make sure I take plenty of wipes with me !)
Stacey Price
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