A shocking 40% of all babies suffer reflux from birth! This typically gets worse at 4-5 months and is mainly cured at 12 months, by which point the baby is usually weaned onto solid food. 

12 months old doesn’t seem a long time, but for any reflux babies parent or guardian, every day of your child’s painful screams, sleepless nights and limited life seems like a lifetime. 

As a first time mum, with a preterm baby at 37 weeks who sadly developed silent reflux I can honestly say that until you have experienced this, the impact is impossible to word. 

Whether you are a first time mum, or this is your eighth baby, all you want is them to be happy, content and comfortable. But when you are faced with a hungry baby who cannot manage to eat without excruciating pain, and unable to console them because the one thing they need, they cannot tolerate has a horrific impact on your mental health. 

I was lucky enough to have good family support and mentally well post birth, but I can only imagine those without this would find this even harder to deal with. 

Teddy was born on the 18th august 2021 and after a short stay in NICU with a tube feed and jaundice came home and was diagnosed with reflux on the 15th September after a short admission to the hospital. 

Teddy couldn’t tolerate over 3oz bottles and would scream relentlessly throughout his feed often taking us over an hour to get him to take a bottle. We would spend over 45 minutes at a time using different techniques to wind him and we were advised of what we could do to help him. 

Teddy had multiple apnoea episodes becoming increasingly distressed with pain, and he was inconsolable. 

I was advised by the GP that reflux is incurable, and I could manage his symptoms by reducing his feed amount and feeding him more regular. Prescribed medications and sitting upright post feed for 45 minutes. 

We tried this, different bottles, different teats, different formulas including lactose free, prescribed medications, gripe water, colic relief, sleeping upright, herbal medications, different sleeping devices and different chairs to sit in. 

Nothing worked. I spent sleepless nights crying wondering how I could take away my babies pain, but failing to understand how. Silently accepting that this was my child’s life for 12 months. He couldn’t sleep on his back or he would stop breathing, he couldn’t go in the car seat as it caused him too much pain, we couldn’t take him out for the day because it was too distressing for us and him, it put a strain on our family and a strain on my mental health because I couldn’t help my child. I was a failing mother. 

I was not willing to admit defeat. After some research my final glimpse of hope was a chiropractor session. On the 9th October, almost two months of pain, I messaged a chiropractor for advice, and was booked in on the 15th. After two hour long sessions we saw a dramatic difference in Teddy. The pain and discomfort he once felt was gone. 

i was told I couldn’t cure my child, I was told I needed to accept the pain he was in… but after two chiropractic sessions at £60 each he is now symptom free, happy, enjoying 5-6oz bottles, able to go out on day trips comfortably and able to sleep on his back. He no longer has apnoea episodes and hasn’t had a hospital admission since. 

I often questioned, if this service works, why isn’t it well known? After doing some research, I was soon to figure that this is understood to be a complimentary treatment. This service that gave my child the life he deserves was never offered by the NHS, a GP, or even online. The NHS website states nothing about the help a chiropractor can provide. 

It also dawned on me that I was lucky enough to afford this private treatment for my son, but many mothers with stories similar to mine will still be counting down the time to 12 months of age because they either cannot afford the treatment or they are not aware of it. This isn’t proven to help every baby, but it is proven to help some. 

i didn’t ask for my child to be born with reflux. I was offered many symptom management options on the NHS but the one thing that cured him I wasn’t offered. Without this treatment on the NHS, we will have mothers wondering why they are not good enough, fathers questioning their abilities, mental health and depression rate increases due to a lack of control and babies in pain for no apparent reason. 

My goal from this, is to show that this option may work for your child and to raise awareness, but not only that, if a child needs this service for reflux purposes, it should be financially available for all parents. A baby’s health isn’t defined by its parents wealth.   

Let’s help try and raise awareness for mums like me, who were at their whits end of trying to cure their babies pain, when symptom management is all that was offered to me on the NHS.