Most babies with gastro-oesophageal reflux do not need any medical treatments, unless they start to exhibit health conditions because the reflux has become excessive. However, some parents may seek treatment for their baby if they are concerned and/or anxious about their baby's vomiting, or their baby appears to be frequently in a lot of pain, or they feel they are unable to cope with their vomiting, crying and unsettled behaviour.
Initially,
support strategies such as feeding your baby in more upright positions or giving them small, frequent feeds, should be tried before any medications are used. Changing formulas is not a cure for reflux, nor is changing from breast to bottle-feeding. Bottle-feeding does not help reflux. In fact, it has been found that healthy, breastfed babies are less likely to experience gastro-oesophageal reflux than bottle-fed babies.
If you doctor recommends a medicated treatment, you should ask them about any side effects and consider if they will outweigh how unwell your baby is. Sometimes sedating the baby (rather than treating the condition) may be suggested, although this is becoming less popular (and only makes your baby very drowsy and less keen to feed).
If you start medications and don't notice any improvement in your baby after a couple of days, you should seek the advice of your doctor to either stop the medication, or change it to something else. With some medications, maximum improvement may not be noticeable for up to 2 weeks.
Be aware that medications do not always resolve the problem. This can be very disappointing if you were relying on it to stop the crying, and it doesn't. It may be that your baby is experiencing the normal unsettled newborn behaviour that is often labelled as '
colic'. Also be aware that the side effects from medications used for reflux can sometimes outweigh the problem you are trying to treat.