Whenever your baby starts crying, you are likely to panic.
The same is true for almost every parent.
In many cases, the cause of crying among babies is acid reflux.
This is when the stomach juices of the baby up of the gastric tube and result in irritation and discomfort.
Fortunately, there are quite a few baby reflux sleep solutions that you can adopt.
Even if you adopt only one or two of these solutions, you can easily provide relief to your baby.
10 Natural Baby Reflux Sleep Solutions
1. Put a Gap Between Feeding and Sleeping
One of the best ways to ensure that acid reflux does disturb your baby is to take some time between feeding your baby and putting them to sleep.
If you rush your baby to sleep after feeding, and the digestive system will not have enough time to work on the food.
This is especially true for babies.
Babies have a slower digestive system as compared to adults.
When you make reflux baby sleep soon enough, they will lie flat, and it will become easier for the gastric juices to come up further through the esophagus.
When that happens, acid reflux will occur.
On the other hand, if you put enough gap between the feeding and the sleep of the baby, the food will move downwards, and the gastric juices will be well utilized.
It means that the chances of gastric juices coming upwards through the esophagus will be minimal.
2. Introduce Probiotics in the Diet
What if you could introduce something to the baby which helps his/her digestion?
Sure enough, it can reduce the sevirity of the acid reflux.
That something goes by the name of probiotics.
Probiotics are nothing but healthy bacteria.
These bacteria not only improve immunity but also decrease inflammation and promote good digestion as well.
In a nutshell, with this bacteria, you can aid the digestive process to digestive food in a faster way.
The question is how to do so when the baby is just on baby food?
Fortunately, there are a few baby food variants that consist of such probiotics.
Introducing them into your baby’s diet will aid the digestive system.
In case your baby has already started consuming foodstuffs in the form of slurries, you can include ingredients like:
- Broccoli
- Sweet potatoes
- Spinach
- And so on
These foodstuffs work as probiotics and prebiotics that can reduce the severity of acid reflux.
3. Elevate Baby’s Sleeping Position
As we have highlighted above, one of the primary reasons the gastric juices move upwards in the esophagus is because of the flat sleeping position of the baby.
If your baby is prone to acid reflux, you can elevate the position of the baby.
In case you’re wondering how to do so, you can opt for a baby acid reflux pillow.
This reflux wegde pillow elevates the upper body of the baby as compared to the position of the stomach.
Once you do so, the gravity will work against the gastric juices moving upwards.
Consequently, the juices will not move upwards and will not cause acid reflux.
As per research, such a pillow reduces the instances of acid reflux significantly in adults,[1] and I see no reason why it should be different in babies.
Moreover, such a pillow will provide proper support to the baby as well.
When that happens, the baby will have a comfortable sleep as well.
Whichever way you look at it, elevating the baby with the help of a baby wedge pillow is certainly a great idea.
4. Try Infant Massage
There is a natural way to aid not only the growth of the baby but also his/her digestion – infant massage.
Of course, you will have to learn how to do it right.
However, once you learn that, it will become easier to give an infant massage to your baby.
Infant massage has various benefits, such as:
- Strengthening the bones of the baby.
- Helping the blood flow in the body of the baby.
- Speeding up up the metabolic activity in the baby.
- Making it easier for the baby sleep better.
The food will get digested and will move through the digestive system at a faster pace.
Thus, if you’re looking for a completely natural way to eliminate reflux in your baby, you can try out infant massage.
Infant massage has numerous benefits, which makes it one of the best solutions.
5. Try to Increase Breastmilk Proportion in the Diet
According to a study, a great way to reduce reflux in infants is to increase breasts feed.[2]
Breastmilk consists of hormones that help the digestive system of the baby.
Since it aids the digestive system of the baby, the chances of reflux decrease greatly.
We understand that it is not easy to produce more milk for moms.
However, there are some solutuions to make breastfeeding more tolerable.
One of the best solutions is to use a breast milk pump.
Once you pump the milk, you can store it as well.
Doing so not only enhances your milk production but ensures that milk is ready for the baby whenever the baby needs it.
Once you increase the proportion of breast milk in your baby’s diet, it should aid the digestive process, which will reduce acid reflux.
6. Make Sure the Baby Burps Before Sleeping
What do you normally do after feeding the baby?
Most parents make the mistake of making the baby sleep.
Also, after being well fed, the baby will be sleepy.
However, you shouldn’t make the baby sleep right away.
A much better option is to keep baby upright after feeding for 15 to 30 minutes.
You can move through the house while holding the baby upright as well.
That way, the baby will also be entertained.
Only after several burps make the baby sleep on the bed.
7. Feed Baby in Smaller Portions
The more the quantity of the feed, the higher will be the chances of acid reflux occurring.
This is because the stomach size of the baby is pretty limited.
Not only that, but the digestive speed of the baby is also limited.
It means that the food will remain for a longer period of time in the baby’s stomach.
If you provide too much food in one meal, chances are that there won’t be enough space in the stomach to hold it in.
In that case, acid reflux occurs.
It is followed by vomiting as well.
Provide your baby with small but frequent feeds.
According to a study, smaller thickened with rice/oatmeal help avoid reflux in babies.[3]
Feeding your baby in small but frequent feeds ensures your baby is full and reduces the risk of reflux at the same time.
It is another baby reflux sleeping solution which you can try out.
8. Keep Baby Upright While Feeding
The position of the baby while feeding will also determine whether the baby suffers from acid reflux or not.
If your baby is old enough, you can make them sit.
If the baby cannot sit on their own, you can provide them with proper support and make them sit upright.
A pillow and/or your own support can work pretty well.
Whenever you feed the baby in the upright or the elevated position, the food will go down into the stomach more easily.
After it goes into the stomach, the digestive system will start doing its job.
On the other hand, if your baby is in a flat position, gravity won’t assist it to go down to the intestines.
In that case, the chances of acid reflux increase significantly.
Thus, you have to monitor the position of the baby not only after the feed but during the feed as well.
9. Choose the Right Bottle Nipple Size
Are you using a bottle to feed your baby?
If so, the nipple size of the bottle might be causing acid reflux.
Confused?
If the nipple is too big or too small, it can lead to a larger intake of air along with the feed.
If there is a larger air intake, it results in excessive gas in the baby’s stomach.
That might lead to acid reflux.
The food might come out as well in conjuction with vomits.
It means that your baby will lose the nutrients if this happens over and over.
Choose the right nipple size for the bottle. But, of course, you have to keep in mind the mouth size of the baby as well.
There are nipples available according to the age of the baby as well. Choose one according to that.
Once you do so, it will become easy for you to avoid the excessive intake of air by the baby.
That will reduce the probability of acid reflux.
10. Change Your Diet
Are you a nursing mother?
If so, the diet you consume will have a definite impact on the reflux situation of your baby.
What you eat affects the composition of your milk.[4]
A poor dieat of the mother can lead to higher gas in the stomach of the baby as well.
When that happens, the chances of reflux increase as well.
Eliminate dairy products from your diet immediately.
Dairy products are often associated with acid reflux of the baby.
The reason is that it increases a certain amount of protein in the breastmilk, which can irritate the baby’s digestive system.
The digestive system of the baby is not mature.
That is why this extra protein can certainly be irritating.
When the digestive system is irritated, it leads to acid reflux and vomit.
There are a few other allergens as well which you should avoid in your diet.
While these allergens might not be problematic to you, they can be problematic to the baby since you’re feeding your breast milk.
These allergens include:
- Nuts
- Coffee
- Citrus
- Gluten
- Wheat
Once you eliminate these foods from your baby’s diet, the chances of your baby suffering from acid reflux due to this extra protein are low.
It is one of the easiest ways to avoid acid reflux in babies.
Final Words…
So, when you’re looking for baby reflux sleep solutions, these are the 10 solutions that you can try out.
It is not necessary to try out all these solutions to tackle baby reflux.
Merely trying out a couple of these solutions can provide relief to the baby.
Nevertheless, you might have to go through some trial and error to find the best solution.
Our guide above can help you achieve it.
