Can we talk about a topic that might not make me very popular? What if just maybe your baby doesn’t have reflux when you thought they did? Many do--but just hear me out. I am not a medical doctor--just sharing what we see everyday.
Now we see a lot of babies that are struggling with digestive issues, and while many of them are having true digestive issues, or MSPI, there are two other issues we see often that we are able to help with, and help get baby some relief-- the first is oversupply or overactive letdown with mom, and the second is how effective baby’s latch is. Now we aren’t IBCLC’s, and for breastfeeding support, check in with Milkworks as they do amazing work with the families in our city--I’m just going to talk about the biomechanical contributions that can add to reflux in a breastfeeding, or in a bottlefed babe.
When a family comes to us with a babe who has been diagnosed with reflux, we always pay extra special attention to our evaluation of their mouth, jaw, palate, lip and tongue for any ties, and neck---this is because in an ideal world, when a baby latches on to a breast or a bottle, they are able to form an airtight seal, and in order to be able to do that, mechanically they need to be moving really well--their jaw needs to be able to open and close fully and evenly, they need to be able to turn their head freely, their tongue needs to be able to move all the way up to the palate to create a seal, and then move down all the way to create a vacuum for the milk to flow into. .
In the event that this isn’t happening you may see or hear the following--you may be able to hear that it sounds like babe is taking in some air with their sucks and swallows, you may see that they are uncomfortable in a certain nursing position, or that they only prefer one breast or the other. They may have especially large burps after feeding, or have especially large farts. While some air is normal, when you look at the whole picture--does it seem that they are just a little too gassy?
Do you feel like your baby nurses well, but they are struggling with digestive issues, or being uncomfortable? Do you have a hunch something is keeping baby from having a super sealed latch? We’d love to help.
