Parent Resources

“They’ll grow out of it” may be true for many babies with reflux—but that doesn’t mean significant discomfort should simply be endured. Dr Jennifer Harris explains why she believes symptomatic reflux deserves thoughtful evaluation, and why treatment, including medication when appropriate, should follow current evidence.

By Dr. Jennifer Harris Your baby has finally been prescribed medication for reflux. You hoped this would be the turning point. But days—or perhaps weeks—later, your baby is still crying, arching, refusing feeds or waking uncomfortable. Maybe the medication seemed to help initially but gradually stopped working. Or perhaps you're seeing absolutely no difference at all. Parents often reach this point feeling incredibly discouraged. “If reflux is the problem, why isn't the reflu

By: Dr.Jennifer Harris “Famotidine worked amazingly at first. Now we're back where we started.” This is something I hear frequently from parents of babies being treated for reflux. Perhaps your baby started famotidine (Pepcid) and within days seemed noticeably more comfortable. Feeds improved. The arching decreased. They seemed happier after eating. You finally felt as though you'd found something that helped. Then, several weeks later, the symptoms started creeping back. Nat

By Dr. Jennifer Harris Your baby is hungry. They eagerly latch onto the breast or bottle and begin to eat. Then, sometimes only seconds or minutes later, everything changes. They pull away. They arch their back. They cry. They turn their head. Maybe they take the nipple again because they're clearly still hungry—only to pull away and become upset all over again. For parents, this pattern can be incredibly confusing. If my baby is hungry, why won't they eat? The answer isn't a

By Dr. Jennifer Harris Spit-up is practically synonymous with babies. For many infants, milk coming back up after a feed is messy but harmless. They eat comfortably, grow well and seem completely unfazed by the milk running down their chin. But for some babies, reflux looks very different. Feeding may be painful. They may arch, cry or repeatedly pull away from the breast or bottle. They may begin refusing feeds altogether. Sleep can become difficult, and parents can find them

By: Dr Jennifer Harris If you have a baby who cries for hours, is incredibly difficult to settle, draws their legs up, arches their body or seems uncomfortable much of the day, you may have been told: “It’s just colic.” For some families, that explanation is reassuring. Colic is common in young babies, it generally improves with time, and many babies who experience periods of excessive crying are otherwise completely healthy. But for other parents, the word “colic” doesn’t fe