Condition
Reflux
Beyond just spit-up
Spit-up is normal. Arching through feeds, crying after eating, sleeping fitfully, and never seeming satisfied — that's reflux, and it's almost always a nervous-system regulation story before it's a digestion story.
Understanding Reflux
What it is & why it shows up
When parents tell us their baby has reflux, they usually mean more than the occasional spit-up. They mean a baby who finishes a feed in tears, arches their back like they're trying to escape, and never quite settles. They mean middle-of-the-night wakings that feel like every meal hurts.
The standard answer is medication (and sometimes that's the right answer — work with your pediatrician). But what we see is that reflux often has a structural piece nobody's looked at. The vagus nerve — which controls digestion — runs through the upper neck and jaw. When those areas hold tension from birth, the digestive system can't sequence properly. Add a tongue or lip tie and the baby swallows air with every feed, which makes the spit-up worse.
Gentle care that addresses the upper neck, jaw, palate, and cranial bones often shifts the picture quickly. Care works alongside (never instead of) your pediatrician and any lactation consultant or feeding specialist your baby is seeing.
What parents notice
Signs that bring families in
- Frequent spit-up after most feeds
- Arching, twisting, or pulling away during feeding
- Crying or fussiness within 30 minutes of eating
- Sleep that breaks up after feeds — short naps, frequent night wakings
- Wet-sounding burps or chronic hiccups
- Milky breath, hoarse cry, or chronic congestion
- Slow weight gain despite frequent feeds
How we help
Our approach to reflux
- Birth + feeding history — every reflux baby has a story worth listening to
- Gentle assessment of upper neck, jaw, and cranial mobility
- Intraoral palate work if a tongue/lip tie is part of the picture
- Featherlight adjustments where tension is interfering with the vagus nerve
- Coordination with your pediatrician, IBCLC, or feeding therapist
Services that support this
Care we offer for reflux
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and we'll never ask you to stop a medication your pediatrician prescribed. Our care addresses a different layer (the structural and nervous-system side). Many of our families find they can taper medication over time, in conversation with the prescribing doctor.
Maybe. About a third of the babies we see for reflux also have a structural feeding piece (tongue tie, lip tie, jaw asymmetry). If we suspect it, we'll explain what we're seeing and coordinate with a pediatric dentist if a release is appropriate.
Featherlight contact, parent's hands always on the baby, no popping or forcing. Many babies fall asleep mid-visit. Specifically for reflux, we work intraorally only if it's indicated and only after your consent.
Want a personalized look at
your child's nervous system?
Start with a complimentary consultation. We listen first, evaluate gently, and recommend only if there's something we can help with.