It is very common that babies in their first months of life expel from time to time what they have ingested, what we commonly call "return." Although, when a baby throws up We are not facing the same situation if we talk about a simple regurgitation than if it is a gastroesophageal reflux disease. But how can we differentiate these situations?
A baby who regurgitates (simple reflux) does not suffer with milk expulsions. In fact, it is very common that they are even better and smile after returning, because what they had were gases and these are expelled when belching with the liquid. On the other hand, if the weight curve is found to be adequate week by week, the baby does not lack food despite these puffs.
The amount expelled when regurgitating is usually small, although quite frequent, and is returned without notice, without discomfort and effort. The cause of regurgitation is the immaturity of the valve that closes the stomach, which sometimes causes part of its contents to come out.
Instead, we can suspect that it is about gastroesophageal reflux disease (commonly abbreviated in "reflux") if we are facing violent vomiting, the baby cries and twists to expel them. This vomit is the active, abrupt and annoying expulsion of abundant gastric content. Generally we can detect nausea that precede them, and these vomits are also expelled with arches or convulsions and are less frequent and more numerous than "mild" regurgitations.
In these cases we see that the baby suffers and perhaps does not gain weight as it should. Then we have to go to the pediatrician, because we no longer talk about simple regurgitations, but we can face a gastroesophageal reflux disease, which we have also talked about Babies and more.
With gastroesophageal reflux, stomach acid irritates the mucosa of the esophagus and as they can have reflux without returning, the disease is a possible diagnosis in babies who are continuously restless and crying, a diagnosis to be confirmed by the specialist.
In the case of confirming the case of reflux disease, the doctor will indicate what is the appropriate treatment if deemed necessary, treatment that can range from changes in the position or feeding of the baby to medications or surgery in extreme and exceptional cases.
In this way, when the baby returns, we can distinguish whether we are facing regurgitation or a case of gastroesophageal reflux disease.
