What could be the signs of this?
The signs of a reflux disease are manifold: coughing, vomiting, hiccups, crying and screaming are frequent after meals. The disease becomes worrying when milk is vomited again more than five times a day, when the baby refuses to eat and/or does not gain weight. Swallowing difficulties and frequent coughing as well as recurring infections in the lungs should also be clarified. If there is blood in the vomit, this indicates that the oesophagus has already suffered more serious damage. In this case a doctor should be consulted.
Pain after meals
With reflux, especially directly after meals, chyme flows from the stomach back into the esophagus. The ingested food is mixed with the gastric acid in the stomach. This acid is mainly intended for digestion, and it is also supposed to kill potential pathogens.
If the acidic food chyme gets back into the esophagus through reflux, small injuries can occur there. The esophagus is not sufficiently protected against the strong acid. These small injuries can become inflamed and bleed. If the baby takes food again, these infected and open places in the esophagus can cause pain.
Bad breath
The bad breath, which is often noticed in babies suffering from reflux, is caused by stomach acid. In the stomach, the absorbed milk is mixed with the gastric acid and digested. If this mixture comes back into the esophagus due to reflux, you can smell the sour component of the chyme. Possibly the chyme is also vomited. In this case the vomit also smells sour.
Associated symptoms
Accompanying symptoms of reflux are initially pain, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms result directly from the refluxed stomach contents, which makes its way up the esophagus. On its way, the chyme mixed with gastric acid attacks the mucous membrane of the esophagus and damages it.
This can lead to infections and bleeding. Often the half-digested mixture not only gets back into the mouth from where it is vomited. Some of it also often ends up in the trachea, where it causes lesions similar to those in the esophagus.
This is expressed by increased infections of the respiratory tract (such as bronchitis in babies). A tendency to pneumonia is also not rare. If the acidic chyme is also deposited on the vocal chords, it can cause hoarseness and equally painful inflammation.
Because of the often painful experience of eating the food, babies often reject it after a while. This causes them to gain weight more slowly or not at all. Another accompanying symptom is the infants’ conspicuous tiredness. Reflux leads to complaints, especially when lying down, which is why the children often sleep very badly and little.
