14 month old Cateyann entered the world when she was only 36 weeks old, a preemie, she weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces. It was crucial for Cateyann to gain weight…but, as weeks and then months passed, she not only didn’t put weight on, Cateyann began losing pound after pound.
“It was a constant stress every day for my husband and I worrying about how much she ate, is she going to eat today? We would be weighing her every night to make sure she didn’t lose any weight,” says Danielle, Cateyann’s mother.
Feeding time was extremely stressful for the family because Cateyann would refuse to eat any solid foods, spitting out every spoonful. “She didn’t care that she didn’t eat, she could go all day long. Typically with a baby you think they would let you know they were hungry by the way they were acting and she would act fine you would never know that she hadn’t eaten for the entire day,” says Danielle.
Unlike Cateyann, most babies will cry and howl in pain from reflux…many new parents think it’s colic. “Reflux is the old colic because predominantly over the years the parents report to us that their child is irritable and fussy and not taking and it is called colic and just because it is a generic term and yet we find very often when these children are seen by a gastroenterologist or a another physician for diagnosis, invariably they have reflux,” explains Dr. Ramasamy Manikan of St. Mary’s Hospital.
Gastro esophageal reflux is the backward flow of liquid and food which has made its way back up from the stomach into the esophagus. “I think the reason it gets classified under colic is the misunderstanding that you think reflux means you have to throw up or spit up or vomit, which is not the case because reflux can come up to a certain level the child experiences discomfort and or pain depending upon how long they are experiencing reflux or it can come up as high as the throat and the child may feel the food down there and re-swallow the food,” says Dr. Manikan.
Typical symptoms of reflux can often mimic colic- like constant or sudden crying and poor sleep habits with frequent waking. In addition, with reflux, babies usually arch their backs and necks during or after eating, spit-up or vomit, have frequent hiccups, ear infections and sinus congestion.
Dr. Manikan suggests, parents go with instinct…if you think your baby is not colic and those cries are really trying to communicate the discomfort of reflux, contact your pediatrician, feeding therapy and different medications are available. “If children have persistent crying and are fussy they should be looked at by a gastroenterologist to rule out some severe reflux,” says Dr. Manikan.
For Cateyann feeding therapy has been a tremendous help. “It is exciting to weigh her now because we want to see how much weight she gained, and it’s just wonderful, it has really been life changing.”
Feeding therapy helps parents with behavior management during meals, like positioning the child in a thirty degree reclined angle when feeding and keeping the child upright for 20-30 minutes post feeding to avoid reflux. In some cases, pureeing food and cuddling or swaddling post feeding is also recommended.
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