Tell me you have a baby without saying you have a baby…

A whole can of dry shampoo in your hair CHECK.

A cup of (most likely) cold coffee in hand and some serious designer bags under your eyes CHECK.

Unidentified stains on your clothing accessorised with a nappy over your shoulder to catch the seemingly endless amount of vomit coming from your little one CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!

Here at LittleOak, we hear time and time again from our mum community that reflux is one of the key challenges you are facing and an area that can be very confusing. While we know reflux is very common in babies and that most will grow out of it by the time they are 1, it doesn’t make it any easier to cope with, particularly for those with more serious symptoms such as refusal to feed, poor weight gain or prolonged bouts of crying.

Symptoms of reflux

According to the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne, if your baby has reflux, they may start to vomit milk, especially after feeds, but are otherwise generally well. However, in some instances, reflux can lead to those more serious symptoms we mentioned previously as well as complications such as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Your baby will need to see a doctor if they have GORD.

Reflux and cow’s/soy milk allergies

The RCH also noted that some infants who have severe reflux may have an allergy to a milk protein. The most common proteins that babies are allergic to are cow's milk and soy.

That’s just one of the reasons we’re such big fans of goat’s milk – it’s full of the naturally occurring A2 protein that’s gentler on little tummies. Goat’s milk also has lower levels of lactose than cow’s milk. (Lactose is the sugar found in milk which is digested by the enzyme lactase). Many children naturally do not have lactase or are deficient which means they may struggle to digest lactose, leading to trapped wind, bloating and constipation or diarrhea. Finally, goat’s milk is also high in naturally-occurring carbohydrates that feed the good bacteria. Prebiotics promote good bacteria in the gut, which supports and maintains overall health…which ultimately is what we all want for our little ones and why we can talk about goat’s milk until, well, the goats come home.

From one mother to another, Elke.