How Long to Hold Infant Upright After Feeding

In this case "upright" only means don't lay him down. You can put him in a bouncy seat or his car seat with toys or, if he's strong enough into one of those round "walker type" exersaucers with toys. You don't have to hold him the whole time.

My daughter also has acid reflux and the doctor gave me the same advice at first. But that seemed to make the spitting up and discomfort worse, I spoke to another doctor and got a different suggestion that worked perfectly. I know it's going to sound counter-intuitive, but she spit up less when I layed her down flat to sleep after eating. She was actually spitting up more and having more trouble when I was keeping her upright for 30 mins and having her sleep at an incline. I don't know why, but I do know it worked for her.

Another suggestion that the doctor gave me was a change in my burping technique. After feeding (bottle or nursing - I did both), I would burp her VERY GENTLY for just a minute. If she didn't burp, I would either put her in a bouncy seat or lay her flat on my lap for a few minutes. Then I would bring her upright again and usually she would burp immediately with the change in position.

My daughter is now 9 months and she still has some trouble with reflux during the day sometimes, but she never has any problems at night. She sleeps flat in her crib without any issues. Good luck finding a solution that works for you and your baby boy.

have you tried a pouch type carrier?

Hi R.,
Congrats on the birth of your baby boy!
How "upright" are we talking? Can you hold him over your shoulder? My kids loved that position when they were babies. Have you tried placing him in a bouncy? Maybe while you're holding him you can walk around the house, listen to music, sing, read a book, look in the mirror . . .This may help the time fly by.
Personally I had no problem holding my kids for that long. I never wanted to let them go. :)
Good luck and I hope this was helpful! Have fun with your little bundle of joy!
~W.

In stead of holding him that whole time I would recommend either putting him in his car seat, a swing or bouncer - all of which will keep him propped up enough to help with the acid reflux.

I just had a baby and left the hospital on Monday. I took the baby care class while I was there, and they said that all babies should be held in a 45 degree angle for at least 25 minutes after feeding. (most baby chairs are 45 degrees (ie bouncy seats and car seats etc...). They said this is what helps the baby digest the food and it goes from the stomach to the intestines in that time. Not sure if it is accurate, but that is the advice the hospital gave out.

My granddaughter had acid reflux. Holding your son up doesn't really work. It will come up anyways. Ask you doctor for some medicine to help his throat because it does hurt. If my granddaugter fell asleep when feeding her we just put her to bed. Always on her side never on her back. When she started eating real people food, she started to grow out of it. My granddaughter is now 6 and is fine with no problems.
Good luck
K.

Try either a front carrier that you strap to yourself or a bouncy seat. You don't have to hold the baby in your arms, straight up...just don't allow him to be totally horizontal!

Our younger son had acid reflux...During the day, I could "get away" with about fifteen or twenty minutes of having him upright. In the evening, though, he would need a good hour or more - not completely upright, but more upright than prone. DH used to lay back in the recliner and lay Eric on his chest - probably around a 45 degree angle - and there were nights this would occur for up to two hours (fortunately, DH is a night person...).

I would try two things - a recliner, if you have it, so he's not bolt upright, but rather at an angle, and try cutting back five minutes or so at a time a few days at a time.

Hi R.,
I know I'm late in responding but I just wanted to tell you that my son had reflux for the first year of his life and he spent a lot of time in his bouncy seat and baby swing. Those two seemed to serve the purpose of keeping him upright. They were at just the right angle to keep him comfortable and to minimize the vomiting. Plus it was very easy to take apart the bouncy seat and throw it in with his laundry for the times that he puked on it.
Reflux is rough, but hopefully he will outgrow it by his first birthday. Also, my doctor put him on medication. I wasn't thrilled about it, but it decreased the amount of acid in his stomach, therefore minimizing the pain he felt when everything came back up. Best of luck to you!

From what I understand and have been told, keeping them upright just means not laying them flat. I had to keep my oldest upright after feedings also, but I usually just held him for about 10 minutes until I got a good burp and then put him in his swing, bouncy seat or car seat and he went to sleep. Check with your doctor to see how upright they want you to keep him.

I went through the same thing- constant spitting up! And my son hated the car seat, so he refused that option. We used our Bjorn (which he loved!) or the bouncy seat (without actual bouncing). It sometimes worked with him just laying next to me in bed, but propped up on a pillow or my arm.

I don't think I made it to the 30 minute mark very often. And even when I did, he'd barf everywhere all the time anyways. And to be honest, I'd often nurse him to sleep without incident despite the doctor's orders. If your son can fall asleep without spitting up, then keep doing that as long as you want to! It gets harder once they'e soothing themself to sleep, I know.

You're doing great, don't worry!

My daughter had severe acid reflux and the doctor said to keep her upright for about 30 min. She told me thought that I didnt have to hold her the whole time. I would hold her for about 10 min and then I would put her in her swing in the upright position and that worked. She didn't like to be held so if I had to hold her the whole time it never would have worked. Hope this helps and good luck to you.
Jenn

R.,
Try the car seat, you can rock him at the same time. That helped my little guy when he went through that. Of course, he out grew it at 4 months.

You can switch between upright cradle and over your shoulder.

Another option might be a swing. That's what we worked with at night until he outgrew that, too. :) He can play with toys too.

Good luck,
M.

Hi
My older daughter had acid reflux. I would suggest smaller and more frequent feedings. As far as sleeping goes wood blocks under one side of crib, swing or bouncer seat.