Gaviscon - powder which can be added to infant formulas. Feeding your baby with slightly smaller volumes of milk given at more frequent intervals may also be helpful. Gaviscon contains antacids and tends to float on top of the feed, thickening it. Any medicine can have side effects but these are not known to be common with these drugs. Any unusual reaction to a medicine should always be reported to your doctor and the drug should be stopped, at least temporarily.
Medication often has to be continued for many months.
It can be gradually removed when the reflux has improved. In some children, reflux is persistent but mild, causing occasional heartburn or discomfort but never severe enough to need surgery. In these patients, antireflux medicines need to be used occasionally or only when they have symptoms. Sometimes children do not get better with the medicines or have major problems such as repeated stricturing, chest infections from overspill of refluxed material into the lungs, persistent severe oesophagitis or inadequate weight gain. In these children antireflux surgery has to be considered, most commonly the Nissen fundoplication procedure .