Acid Reflux Disease Symptoms in Infants and Children

There are many illnesses that adults have to deal with that don't generally happen to children.  They are meant for adults as we age and get older and less healthy.  There are some illnesses,

Acid reflux disease is often more clinically known as GERD.  This stands for Gastroesophageal reflux disease because it affects the esophagus the most.  This is the canal that connects your throat with your stomach.  When you eat food or drink liquids, these items pass through this canal.  In a normal, healthy body, there is a valve between the esophagus and the stomach.  It usually only opens when there is food or drink that needs to pass from one organ to the other. 

People with acid reflux disease, including children, have a malfunction with this valve.  Instead of staying closed when you aren't eating, it will get stuck open.  The stomach contains acid that eats away at your food to break it down.  Your stomach has a lining that is resistant to this acid, but your esophagus doesn't.  if the acid migrates to the esophagus, it can cause a lot of damage and pain.  This is where the acid reflux symptoms come in.  it will generally cause a chest pain similar to common heart burn.  There are other symptoms that are less common, though.  You may find that you have trouble swallowing.  The burning sensation may also travel up farther than regular heartburn would. 

When you are an adult with these symptoms, it can be easy to tell if you have this health problem.  That isn't the case with children and infants.  They can't tell you about their acid reflux symptoms.  This is especially the case with babies who haven't yet learned the art of communication.  Because of this, it can be hard for parents to figure out what is wrong with their baby.  A lot of cases of infant GERD is misdiagnosed or ignored because of this lack of adequate communication.  There are ways that you can tell if your baby has this health problem, though.

First, you need to pay attention to how your baby cries.  As you become more experienced as a parent, you will be able to distinguish between the different types of crying.  If they are in pain, you will be able to tell.  For both infants and adults, there are certain foods that can aggravate the condition.  If your child cries in pain much more often after eating acidic foods such as oranges or tomatoes, then this may be an indication that they have acid reflux disease.

If you suspect that your baby or small child has acid reflux disease, it is time to go to a doctor.  Since this is a health problem that most people think only happens to adults, you may need to visit more than one doctor in order to get taken seriously.  Hopefully, your regular pediatrician will have experience with this and will be able to help you out.  Since it isn't a good idea to give children hardcore medication, you may need to adjust your child's diet in order to alleviate the symptoms.  Often, this is the only thing you can do.  On the plus side, this is a very cheap way of taking care of the problem.