Almost everyone, adults and children alike, have some degree of acid reflux, also known as gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Food refluxed into the esophagus doesn't necessarily damage the esophagus, but it is unpleasant and can cause burning pains in the stomach area. When food backs up into the mouth, a child or teenager may develop a raspy voice or chronic cough and become hoarse. Other symptoms may also appear. Learning to prevent acid reflux and relieve symptoms is easy and can be done at home with simple dietary changes.
How to Treat Acid Reflux in Children
Step 1
Recognize the symptoms of acid reflux in your child. Wheezing, recurrent pneumonia, chronic sore throat without other concomitant symptoms, vomiting, heartburn, weight loss and breathing difficulties are some of the more common signs. Your child may have some or all of these symptoms.
Step 2
Teach your child to eat slowly, chewing food well with each bite. Explain how to chew each mouthful 40 times to mix food with saliva, the first digestive juice in the chain. Make a game out of it and chew along with your child.
Step 3
Serve your children more frequent, smaller meals and snacks, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Up to six a day is fine, as long as they contain the nutrients needed for that day.
Step 4
Give sweets, fruit and desserts separately from proteins to avoid fermentation in the stomach causing putrefaction. Fruits and sweets digest faster than proteins, so it's better to serve the sweet stuff as snacks, leaving the whole grains, vegetables and proteins for meals. Allow at least one hour after eating a meal before serving sweet snacks, advise Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young in their book "The pH Miracle."
Step 5
Give your child a pillow wedge or raise the head of his bed 4 to 6 inches to allow gravity to help keep stomach digest in the stomach rather than in the esophagus.
Step 6
Help your child alkalinize his body by serving foods that support the system and help neutralize acids. In his book "Alkalinize or Die," Dr. Theodore Baroody suggests using organic apple cider vinegar for creating an alkaline state in the body. Use it on salad and in place of white vinegar when cooking. Mix a drink containing ¼ to ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar with 6 oz. water and a teaspoon or two of organic honey for a snack instead of sugary, carbonated drinks. A mix of apple cider vinegar and honey makes a great substitute for lemonade and is a soothing treatment for acid reflux.
Step 7
Teach your child to avoid trigger foods that create reflux, recommends the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, and replace them with healthful foods. Carbonated beverages, sugary snacks, fast foods with lots of grease, chocolate, caffeinated beverages, fatty meats, citrus fruits and juices high in acid content, plus hot, spicy foods should be avoided.
Step 8
Skip the milk. Nutritionist Gloria Tsang of HealthCastle.com explains that although milk is initially soothing on the stomach, it later triggers a rebound and acid production, aggravating reflux.
Step 9
Buy a children's cookbook or two and teach your child how to cook. Sharing time together, you and your child can create healthy, fun and delicious foods that relieve reflux related conditions, preventing more serious problems from developing.
Tips and Warnings
- Teach your child about kitchen safety while teaching her how to cook. It's a skill that will last a lifetime.
- The information offered here is for educational purposes and is not meant to replace medical advice.
Things You'll Need
- Pillow wedge
- Organic apple cider vinegar
- Organic unprocessed honey
- Children's cookbooks
References
- "The pH Miracle;" Robert O. Young, Ph.D., and Shelley Redford Young; 2003
- "Alkalinize or Die;" Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, 1991
- NDDIC: Gstroesophageal Reflux in Children and Adolescents
