Gastro-esophageal reflux is caused when stomach contents come back up into the esophagus, during or after a meal, and this means that food is coming back up through the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. A ring of muscle or sphincter around the bottom end of the esophagus opens and closes to allow the predigested food to pass through to the stomach, and this sphincter opens to release gas after meals in normal infants, children, and adults. When the sphincter opens in infants, the stomach contents often go up through the esophagus and out of the mouth, and often commonly noticed in infants as spitting up.

Most infants with gastro-esophageal reflux grow to be perfectly happy and healthy babies, even though they may spit up or vomit, and it is only with unique cases of acute bouts of reflux that one should consult a doctor or your child’s pediatrician. With gastro-esophageal reflux, the infant may experience a variety of symptoms such as vomiting and spitting up, but also symptoms like irritability and poor feeding. Blood in the stool is also not uncommon. Only a small number of infants have severe symptoms due to the esophageal reflux, and most infants will stop spitting up around twelve to eight months of age.

In a small percentage of those babies with gastro-esophageal reflux, symptoms may result that are of concern, such as poor growth due to an inability to hold down food or refusing to feed due to pain or perhaps even breathing or blood loss from acid burning the esophagus. Though, again, these are in the extremely rare cases where severe symptoms have occurred. By all accounts otherwise, gastro-esophageal reflux in natural in newborns and infants up to a year old, and this should rest those worries and concerns with a more informed viewpoint on the subject.


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