GERD in a 6 year old that never had it as a baby, anyone else hit this late?
I feel a little silly posting here because I'm a pediatric nurse and I should probably have all the answers, but being a parent is a completely different thing and I just need to talk to people who get it. My daughter is 6. She was a totally easy baby, no spitting up, no arching, slept fine. And then a few months ago she started complaining that her throat hurts after dinner. Not every night, maybe three or four times a week. Then she started saying food comes back up a little when she lies down. Then one morning she told me her mouth tasted sour when she woke up. I know what those symptoms point toward. I work with kids every day. But knowing what it probably is and sitting with it as her mom are two very different things, especially because I always assumed GERD was a baby thing that kids outgrow. I genuinely had no idea it could show up for the first time at 6 with no history. We've already seen her pediatrician and have a GI referral in the works. I'm not looking for a diagnosis or medication recommendations, I know better than to ask for those here. But I'd love to hear from anyone whose older child developed reflux symptoms with no infant history. Did anything in their routine or diet seem to make it worse? How did your child describe what they were feeling? My daughter is not a dramatic kid, so when she keeps bringing it up I know it's really bothering her. Just want to hear from other parents tonight, that's all.
Replies · 10
Oh Aylin, the nurse-parent split is SO real. I've watched you give steady advice to people here and I just want to say it makes complete sense that being on the receiving end of this feels different. You're allowed to need this space too. My middle one (now 7) had something similar pop up around kindergarten. No baby reflux at all. It crept in gradually, and the way she described it was almost exactly what you said, a sour taste in the morning and this vague "my throat hurts" after dinner. She couldn't explain it better than that. At her age she just didn't have the words. What seemed to make evenings harder for us was eating close to bedtime and anything tomato-based, pasta nights were rough. We just shifted dinner a little earlier and kept her upright for a while after. That's obviously very specific to her, every kid is different, and your GI team will have much better insight. But yes, late-onset GERD in a child with zero infant history is absolutely a thing. You are not imagining it and you are not missing something obvious.
Selin, thank you. The tomato thing is interesting because we did have a lot of pasta dinners lately, she's been in a mac and cheese phase and one of my shortcuts has been jarred marinara with it. I'm not going to make any big changes until we see the GI team but that's something to keep in the back of my mind and mention to them. And yes. Being on the receiving end is humbling in a way I didn't quite expect.
not really in the same situation bc my baby is 11 months but i just want to say i hope you get answers soon. you sound like such a caring mom. the fact that you noticed such small details like the sour taste says everything.
My little one had reflux from basically birth so I'm coming at this from the other direction, but I remember reading somewhere that reflux can actually resurface or appear for the first time in school-age kids, especially when there's a growth spurt or a change in eating habits. I don't know if that's relevant for your daughter but it made me feel less alone when we were in the thick of it, knowing it's not always a straight line. Also the way she's describing it, the throat thing after dinner, that sounds really uncomfortable for a 6 year old to have to sit with. Poor kid. I hope the GI appointment comes through fast.
wait did you say it can come back after a growth spurt? my baby has been in a huge growth phase and her reflux has been SO much worse this week, ugh. sorry for the tangent just hit me right in the chest.
My 13 year old's GI stuff started showing up around 9 or 10, also out of nowhere. No history at all before that. So yes, late onset is definitely a real thing in my experience. One thing I'll say is that getting my kid to describe symptoms accurately took a long time. At 6 your daughter is already doing well if she's telling you about the sour taste and the throat feeling. My child at 9 was just saying "my stomach feels weird" and we spent months trying to figure out what that meant. So the fact that she's communicating it clearly is actually helpful, even if it's hard to hear. Good luck with the GI referral. I hope you get a good one.
The marinara is such a classic culprit. Like I said, totally anecdotal from our experience, but absolutely worth flagging to the GI doctor. They'll ask about patterns anyway and that's a concrete one you can point to.
Honestly yes, at least in my experience with my 21 month old, growth spurts seemed to stir everything up. Harder to know with infants because so much is changing all the time. Definitely worth mentioning to your pediatrician if it feels notably worse. They'll know if it fits the pattern for her age.
Thank you all, genuinely. I came here feeling kind of embarrassed to be the one asking for once and you've been so kind. Something a few of you said is sticking with me, that kids this age just don't always have the words. My daughter kept saying her throat was "sad" for a while and I thought she was being vague but actually I think that was her best attempt at describing that burning feeling. It makes me feel less like I missed something and more like she was actually trying to tell me for a while. I'll update when we finally get in to see GI. Could be a few weeks out. In the meantime I'm just keeping mental notes on timing and meals, not changing anything drastically, just observing. That's all I can responsibly do right now. Thank you for reminding me I'm a parent first tonight.
Coming back to this the next morning. "My throat was sad" is going to stay with me. Kids really do communicate these things, just not always in the way we expect to hear it. Wishing your daughter (and you) a smooth path through this.