The Reflux Book Review

The Reflux Book
A Parent's Guide to Gastroesophageal Reflux
written by Beth Puisifer-Anderson

This book is geared towards understanding and addressing the issue of reflux with babies and young children. Some of the information can be applied to older children. The book begins with defining gastoesophageal reflux, the different diagnosis of it and treatment. The author offers advice in how to address the needs of your child, how to deal with medical staff, and taking care of yourself.

Having a child with gastroesophageal reflux can be hard on the whole family. It is difficult to diagnose in a baby and often considered to be colic. Parents who are concerned that their is a problem with their baby are often treated like over emotional, insecure, and unintelligent. Doctors often tell parents that there is no problem. It is normal. In time, your baby will outgrow it.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case. What is assumed to be colic is actually gastroesophageal reflux. If you are concerned that your baby is suffering from more than just colic, you should get this book. It provides an explanation of reflux and the different aspects of it. The author breaks it down into levels from normal, expected reflux of babies to outside the norm, seriously dangerous.

I found the author's advice in keeping a log of each reflux event and the activities leading up to them, including what was eaten or drank, to be sensible. Keeping a log is something that an ASD parent often has to do to be taken seriously by the medical professionals. It is difficult for your doctor to argue with documented occurances. I also appreciated the tips in how to comfort or ease some of the symptons your child may be experiencing. There is the obvious course of treatment with medicine. Then there are the simple ones like, "keep her upright after a meal" and "Some babies with reflux hate to have pressure on their tummies. She might prefer to be against your chest rather than over your shoulder. If she is slumped over your shoulder it can put too much pressure on her tummy."

I had a little bit of difficulty getting through the science part of the book. The explanation of gastroesophogeal reflux was not easy for me to read about. The author did a good job breaking it down into terms that I could understand, but I have to admit, I was never really good at biology. Once you get through that part, the rest of the information in the book is easy to comprehend and implement in your household. I think this book could benefit parents that are concerned about or have just recently been given the diagnosis for their baby. I recommend getting a copy of this book and taking the time to read it.