Pain associated with untreated acid reflux can cause babies to display long periods of inconsolable crying, wakefulness leading to sleep deprivation, and distressed and avoidant feeding behaviour resulting in poor growth.
Oliver is our second child, a sister to Ella (you can also read about her story).
I was terrified that Oliver would have reflux, as we had gone through such a hard time with Ella. The decision even to have him was tough, as Ella was still suffering and we still weren’t getting much sleep. However, I told myself that if we waited until Ella was sleeping well, then we could be waiting years, so along came Oliver.
This article should probably be titled ‘Reflux and Lack of Sleep’, as many refluxers experience both day and night time sleeping problems. Indeed lack of sleep is one of the main causes of distress for parents of refluxers and can put immense strain on your relationship with your child, partner, family and friends. It is helpful to start by clarifying what is ‘normal’ sleep behaviour and I use that term quite loosely, as every child is very different.
RISA library titles about crying, high needs babies.
Parents describe some of the behaviours and characteristics that may be displayed by babies and children who have gastro-oesophageal reflux. Keep in mind that all children are different and the listed characteristics may not be indicative of your child’s condition.