When my first baby was about 14 days old, he started having some weird breathing sound like mucus in his nose. Being a clueless parent, we thought he was having a cold. So, we used saline spray for him and it didn’t improve after a whole week. I also find it weird because he didn’t seem to have any runny nose or mucus that was visible. Finally, we brought him to the hospital. And we were told that his problem is none other than reflux. It was the milk that went back up and got stuck in his nose. That was the first time I heard about infant reflux.
What you need to know about infant reflux?
Infant reflux is apparently more common than you think. Infants spit back the milk that you feed them due to an immature digestive system. So, if your baby is constantly spitting milk after your feeding but doesn’t look very affected by the spitting it’s probably just reflux. However, if your baby is doing projectile vomit and looked very uncomfortable then it could be gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). For GERD you do need to seek doctor’s advice immediately.
My baby has been having a very bad reflux since the day he was born. As a new mother, I felt really helpless seeing my newborn suffer like that. Every time after I breastfeed him, he would vomit a big amount of milk back out. Especially during the first few days when I have to watch him spitting out my milk which was full of colostrum which is really beneficial for him. His reflux used to be so bad that once we lay him down, he would immediately spit milk back out and cry.
There’s nothing we can do really. Burping doesn’t really help much with him. Then again, my baby didn’t burp much. We would try for like 15-30 minutes and he just wouldn’t burp. So, we had no choice but to hold him upright instead for like 30 minutes for the milk to go down his system before putting him back down flat.
What can you do to help?
As advised by our doctor, we put a wedge of about 30 degrees in his cot to raise his head a little in the cot. Burping your baby after each feeding and holding the baby upright for at least thirty minutes helps tremendously too. Try not to feed your baby until he is really full. Make smaller feeds and increase the frequency of feedings instead. There’s nothing else you can do to help except to wait for their stomach’s digestive system to be matured. This takes somewhere between six months up to a year old.
Be patient and it will pass. It is not easy for us to deal with the milk spitting especially with all the crying, fussiness and changing that you had to do. I started looking for the term infant reflux on the internet internet and mommy’s forum. I came across a product by Red Castle called Cocoonababy. Some mommies swore by them, saying how much it helped their baby to sleep etc. I became intrigued. Can Cocoonababy help with infant reflux? And of course, I was frantically searching to buy one. I was desperate. The reflux affected my son’s sleep so much that he is very cranky all the time. When he’s cranky, he is crying a lot and swallowing a lot of air that gives him a painful belly in the end. It is like an endless vicious cycle.
What is Cocoonababy?
Cocoonababy is designed by the Red Castle company from France dated 25 years ago. Cocoonababy is basically an ergonomic small pillow like baby mattress that is shaped like a cocoon, which enables your baby to be fitted snugly into a semi foetal position. It claims to help your newborn transition into the world and is recommended for usage from newborn up till three months old. You can read more details and other real parent’s reviews about the Cocoonababy here. Meanwhile, continue reading to find out whether Cocoonababy can help with infant reflux for me.
It comes with a tummy band to contain your baby within the right position in the cocoon to mimic a womb like environment. The Cocoonbaby also comes with a small wedge that you position under the baby’s bottom to prevent your baby from sliding down. It is very important for you to read the manuals and set it correctly so that your baby is in the best position in the Cocoonababy.
How can Cocoonababy help with infant reflux? Or at least that’s what Red Castle claimed.
New born babies spends most of their time of the day sleeping and this is where Cocoonababy comes in. As the Cocoonababy helps to hold your baby in a curved semi foetal position, it claims to improve your baby’s sleep quality and prolong their sleep duration. It will also help to lessen the Moro reflex or commonly known as the startle reflex that newborns have as the Cocoonababy wraps your baby snugly in his cocoon.
It mainly helps by reassuring your baby by creating a womb like environment for them to nestle in. With the ergonomic design, it helps to prevent flat heads in babies. With a tummy band and a wedge to secure the baby in its position, the baby is free to move their head, arm and leg. Cocoonababy claims that it helps to limit reflux problems in babies with it’s slight inclination.
How did my baby respond to Cocoonababy?
Unfortunately, my baby did not like to be in his Cocoonababy. In all fairness, by the time we got him the Cocoonababy he was already a month old. For the entire first month of his life, he was falling asleep in our arms, so of course he would prefer sleeping on us than the Cocoonababy.
What do I think about the Cocoonababy and did it help with his reflux?
Can Cocoonababy help with infant reflux? Honestly, for the reflux I can’t say if it helps or does not help as my baby did not spend enough time on the Cocoonababy for me to judge. He really hated being in it. As I was still in confinement then , we didn’t really use the air conditioning. Hence, my poor son would sweat so much in the Cocoonababy. That’s probably the main reason why he does not like to sleep in the Cocoonababy, because it’s very warm.
Otherwise, I think that with the slight inclination as recommended by my doctor the Cocoonababy would have helped. The foam material does feels pretty firm yet soft, I think it would have prevented flat head because of the ergonomic design. One thing for sure that I have observed is that it does helps in lessening the startle Moro reflex for my baby.
I think that, if I would have started using the Cocoonababy right from the hospital it would have been able to help in his reflux. But that is just my assumption. I will try that with my next baby in future and post an update in this post then. Apart from that, I do think that it’s nice to put in a baby cot as it elevates the baby up in the cot. It makes it easier for me as a mom who is recovering from the Cesarean surgery to pick my baby up.
I also liked how easily we can remove and wash the fitted sheet if the baby makes any mess on it from spitting or diaper leakage.
The million dollar question: Can Cocoonababy help with infant reflux?
It’s a nay for my first born because he doesn’t like to sleep in it. He’s used to and he prefers to sleep on our arm. Of course, there is no comparison there between his parents or Cocoonababy. But I do want to give it another go with my second baby in future. I think that if we started using Cocoonababy from the very beginning, it could have helped with the reflux. It is pretty helpful to hold my baby securely in one position. I think it would help to lessen risk of Moro reflex as well as flat head syndrome.
However, it’s worth mentioning that this is not cheap. So, it would have been better if our baby can at least use this for a few more months. As my baby was pretty big, the Cocoonababy didn’t last him very long. He actually outgrows them very fast.
Anyways, we persisted by holding him upright for at least 30 minutes after feeding and burping him after every feed. We also put a wedge under his cot mattress to elevate his head a little. Eventually, by around seven months old, he did outgrow the reflux issue. He stopped spitting milk and was able to breastfeed effectively.
It’s amazing how our baby can grow so fast as time passes. And just like what the doctor said. Sadly, there’s nothing much we can do to help except letting our baby’s stomach system mature. So, hang in there and know that it shall pass. I can do it, and so do you!
Hopefully I’m able to help provide some insights about infant reflux to you. Leave me a comment below on what you think about the Cocoonababy. Does it work wonders for you or was it a nay too?
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Disclosure: All the product reviews are based on my own opinion and I’m not paid for it. This post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links with no additional costs to you. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Featured image by Sergio Valenas on Unsplash (2019)