2021/2022 vs 2006 In 2006 the Gastric Reflux Support Network carried out a survey “to identify the problems that may exist with diagnosis in New Zealand of gastric reflux disease in infants, the impact that this has on families, the treatment and support that is offered and finally the most useful treatments and the ages which children outgrow gastric reflux disease.” The results of the survey were used as the basis of an article entitled “Gastro-oesophageal Reflux: Children’s Experiences and Family Well-Being in the Face of an ‘Invisible’ Disability” – co-authored by Judith Duncan, Children’s Issues Centre, University of Otago and Roslyn Ballantyne, Gastric Reflux Support Network NZ. We were…

Negative impacts: Anxiety and guilt (they may feel they have caused their sibling to be unwell or that they too will get unwell) Anger or resentment over the amount of time their parent spends with their high needs sibling, or embarrassment over their siblings’ behaviour. Feelings of grief and loss over how life was before the arrival of their sibling. Breakdown in family communication and bonding. I have to say the negative impacts on Peter have been more noticeable. Peter was just 16 months old when Tobias was born, he was still breastfed and had never been apart from me for more than a few hours. We have no local…

Where do you fit if you have an infant who just spills a lot? What about if they are just irritable? What happens if all your health professionals say that there is nothing wrong with your baby, that they are perfectly healthy and they will just grow out of the spilling, and/or the crying is just a phase? What happens if despite being reassured that this is all normal, you can’t cope with the washing, mess, crying, lack of sleep…? What happens if your baby does appear to be perfectly healthy – is it all in your head? What happens if your baby isn’t gaining weight or you and others…

There are a number of conditions, diseases and disorders that are related to gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR). Conditions that co-exist with GOR.  It is hard to know which ones come first, or if they truly just co-exist e.g. allergies, food intolerance, coeliac disease. Disorders that affect the functioning of the palate, oesophagus or the gastrointestinal tract in some way e.g. cleft palate, laryngomalacia, cerebral palsy, any neurological condition. Diseases that mimic GOR e.g. eosinophillic oesophagitis (EoE) or eosinophillic gastrointestinal disorder (EGID). Eosinophillic oesophagitis (EoE) or eosinophillic gastrointestinal disorder (EGID) are distinct from gastro-oesophageal reflux, but may co-exist or may mimic GOR.  There may, however, be no symptoms of GOR at all.…

What is SUDI? Recently I completed The National Sudden Unexpected Death in Infants (SUDI) online prevention program and it has got me thinking a lot about safe sleep. I know for me, pregnant with my first son Peter, SUDI or SIDS and “Cot Death” as it has previously been known; was one of my biggest fears. Luckily for me, Peter quite happily slept on his back, swaddled and in his own bassinet. But when Tobias came along he fought the swaddle and hated being on his back. In fact, he rarely slept unless perched over my shoulder like a drunk parrot. In those early days I didn’t know that he…

A post by GRSNNZ member Shannon in our private support group.  Every night when I’m feeding my 4mo (2nd child with reflux) and reflecting on the day, I keep thinking how people with children without reflux, just don’t get what it really is. So I mentally write a list in my head about what it really is. Tonight I wrote them down… some light hearted, some not so much… Feel free to add any of your own, I’d be interested to know if others feel the same Reflux is not just a spilly baby. Reflux is…  Hearing a burp and jumping to find a spill cloth. Rubbing in spew with…