At-Home Strategies

• If your baby is suffering from reflux a simple change in feeding habits may be all she needs. Try positioning your baby in an upright position while feeding her, then keeping her upright for about 30 minutes after each meal; this strategy employs the help of gravity to keep stomach contents down. You should also try to minimize jostling and movement during and after the feeding.
  
  Feed your infant smaller but more frequent meals and burp her regularly throughout the feeding to get rid of gas bubbles that can cause food to move into the esophagus; avoid burping positions that put pressure on her belly, such as the over-the-shoulder hold. If you bottle feed, make sure you're using a nipple with the correct hole size--a few drops of liquid should fall when you hold the bottle upside down. Holes that are too large or too small can cause your baby to swallow excess air, aggravating reflux.
  
  

Methods to Try With a Doctor's Approval

• Elevating the head of your baby's crib by placing a folded sheet or towel under one end of the mattress can help minimize reflux during sleep but check with your doctor before trying this method and only use it for babies who sleep on their backs. You should also ask your doctor about thickening your baby's formula or your expressed breast milk with infant cereal. If all of these home remedies fail to improve your infant's condition, tell his pediatrician; she can recommend alternative at-home methods, or if the reflux is severe, she may need to prescribe special medication for your baby.
  
  Remember that reflux is very common in babies and most will outgrow the condition between the ages of 1 and 2, according to the NDDIC); if your baby seems happy and is growing normally he may not need treatment at all but your pediatrician should always be informed about reflux so she can watch for any possible problems.