RISA – Supporting Dads
Are you a dad of a reflux baby, child or children? Feeling tired, frustrated, guilty or helpless? You are not alone. The...
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Management tips
- Feed your baby while they are upright. Keep their body straight with their head higher than their stomach.
- Try to keep your baby upright for at least 30 minutes after a feed. Try to avoid the upright seated position during
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How reflux presents
A child with reflux will not necessarily display all of these, and the number of signs exhibited does not indicate the severity of their ‘reflux’. If you suspect your child may have reflux, or have any questions or concerns, it is important to discuss them with your child’s doctor or child health nurse.
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Jo and Charlotte’s “biomed” story. Part 3: What we actually did and used
Again, I am not a medical practitioner. This post just documents our journey with a biomedical doctor in order to give others an idea of what might be involved if they pursue this approach with a doctor themselves. Initially, the...
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Jo and Charlotte’s “Biomed” story. Part 2: The Theory
A warning: I’m not an integrative medical practitioner. This is my interpretation of the vast amounts of information I’ve been given by our doctor over the past several months, re-voiced into layman’s terms. I hope it is of use. Infant...
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Surviving hospital with a refluxer – what to pack.
For some infants suffering with GORD, hospital admissions are more common than for otherwise healthy babies. Hospital visits are never easy, but having the right gear can go a long way to making the experience more bearable. Below...
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Reflux survival strategies
These tips may help you to overcome the enormous amount of stress created by caring for a baby with ‘reflux’. Don’t expect that you have all the answers from the beginning- it is a really steep learning curve, and chances are you did not know much about reflux before you had your child.
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Checklist for visits to the doctor – children over 2 years of age
This is a checklist of reflux symptoms in children over the age of two years. RISA also has a checklist for children under the age of two years. This checklist does not offer a medical diagnosis, but rather assists parents to record their concerns and provide a framework for a productive discussion with their medical professionals.
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Proton Pump Inhibitors – an introduction
Secretion of acid by the stomach is a normal function of the body. Acid is secreted by parietal cells found in the stomach lining, involving a mechanism known as the proton pump. Acid in the stomach is useful for breaking down foods, making them easier to digest, and also for helping prevent infection by providing an unfavourable environment for growth of infective organisms.
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Tube feeding – Part 1
One of the lesser known (and obviously less frequent) consequences of severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is the need to tube feed some children. Babies can learn very quickly that the act of feeding hurts and as a result will refuse to feed. Despite the notion that feeding should be instinctual, there are some instincts that take precedence, like preserving oxygen flow or avoiding pain.
