Reflux in babies is often a reference to a condition referred to by members of the medical profession as gastro esophageal reflux. What’s that, you might wonder? In layman’s terms, were talking about a situation whereby the contents of what’s inside a baby’s stomach flows backwards into the esophagus. Without getting into too complicated of an anatomy lesson, the esophagus is basically the pipe that connects the babies mouth to its stomach.
To be fair, and so as not to create too much alarm, the medical condition referred to as gastro esophageal reflux is actually something that most people experience at various times throughout their lives. It’s considered fairly normal, natural, and it has a tendency to occur after meals. Reflux in babies can naturally be a bit worrisome for parents. This is especially true since reflux in babies typically results in some amount of regurgitation. This basically means that the baby will spit up from time to time after it is fed. So really, whenever you hear the term reflux in babies, it is really a reference to the baby spitting up in the manner just described.
You may be wondering whether or not reflux in babies has a tendency to occur more often after being breast-fed or bottle fed. Oddly enough, even though one might assume that there would be no statistical difference between the two, emerging science strongly suggests breast feeding produces less instances of reflux in babies. Why might this be the case?
Numerous medical studies have shown that human milk has a tendency to be digested by the human body in a far more natural and efficient manner. In addition, human milk has been shown to be absorbed into the body and emptied from the stomach almost twice as fast as baby formula. When you really stop and think about reflux in babies, it becomes apparent that gastro esophageal reflux is less likely to occur because the milk is not spending as much time in the baby’s stomach. Does that make sense? The less time milk spends in the baby’s belly, the lower the chances of that milk flowing backwards into the baby’s esophagus causing this condition we are referring to as reflux in babies.
Generally speaking, reflux in babies has been shown to occur most frequently within the first four months of the babies life and in most cases is completely gone after the baby reaches its first birthday. From a statistical sampling, reflux in babies can occur in as many as 65% of all babies at some point or another. This is especially true during the first six months of a baby’s life. However, this percentage has been shown to drop to less than 5% once the baby reaches its first birthday. That is certainly something hopeful for parents who are dealing with the issue of reflux in babies.
As you can see, reflux in babies — while certainly not fun for parents to have to deal with — is largely considered a very natural and normal event that takes place as part of the babies early development.