Colic, Reflux & Infant Allergies - Level 4

Your map for the course: what you will be able to do by the end, and what each module covers.

Why human babies are born so early and so dependent, and why that shapes everything about how they need to be fed.

Why every mother's milk is unique, and how her body samples the world to protect her baby.

How the gut is colonised in the first months, why it is set by age three, and why prebiotics in formula are not the same thing.

Why a baby's body is built differently from an adult's, and why the newborn gut is deliberately leaky.

How a mother's body samples her baby's world and answers it in her milk, within days.

Why family history matters, how gene expression is inherited and can revert, and what to tell a bottle feeding parent about protein levels.

Where this module comes from, and where to go next on the gut, the microbiome and infant feeding.

Your own attitude to breastfeeding is part of the care you give. A short closing thought before the quiz.

How colic has been defined from the rule of three to Rome IV, why it is a symptom rather than a diagnosis, and how to support exhausted carers.

Trapped gas as the most common culprit: how air gets into the gut through crying, feeding and poor teat fit, and how to help it out.

Posseting that is noticed but harmless, the red flag signs that point to reflux disease, and why reassurance often beats a prescription.

Reflux without the posseting: what distress can look like when milk is swallowed back, and the stepped care NICE recommends for each feeding method.

When poor attachment, swallowed air or lactose overload sit behind the symptoms, and why projectile vomiting should always raise the question of pyloric stenosis.

Tongue tie claims examined, the two-way loop between reflux and lactose intolerance, and the quarter of severe cases triggered by cows' milk protein.

Why lactase production naturally declines after weaning, why only some populations retain it, and why primary lactose intolerance is never the explanation in a young infant.

Recognising the transient form most babies meet, its frothy explosive stools and acid nappy rash, the dehydration signs to watch, and why vomiting points elsewhere.

Lactose overload rather than intolerance is usually the issue at the breast, why maternal diet cannot alter milk lactose, and why feeding should continue, not stop.

Checking feed preparation, water and volume first, confirming the diagnosis by improvement within two to three days, and why low-lactose formula should not become permanent.

Telling IgE from non-IgE symptoms, recognising Minchin's picture of the crying, miserable baby, and taking an allergy-focused history when non-IgE allergy has no validated test.

What Infacol, Colief, gripe water, comfort formulas and infant probiotics actually do, and why each only addresses one possible cause of colicky symptoms.

What the Cochrane review on dietary change for colic really found, and why finding the cause matters more than reaching for a hydrolysed or soy formula.

What it really feels like to care for a refluxy baby, and why listening to parents and believing them comes before offering any solution.

Reviewing feeding when a baby refluxes: protecting the dyad, smaller responsive feeds, upright winding and holding, and why breastfeeding should never be stopped to manage symptoms.

Finding the root cause behind colicky crying, from swallowed air and feeding technique to gut flora, plus safe winding positions and why cot wedges are unsafe.

Using the BRAIN mnemonic, symptom checklists and Minchin's allergy questionnaire to help families weigh benefits, risks and alternatives before deciding how to manage symptoms.