If a child is struggling to breathe, is floppy or will not wake, or their skin, lips or tongue look blue or grey: call 999 now. Colour changes are harder to see on brown and black skin, so check the palms, soles, lips and tongue. If you are worried but it is not an emergency, call NHS 111. In Northern Ireland use your GP out-of-hours service.

MarionSleep help for families

Reflux

What is normal, and one safety correction many sites get wrong.

The short version

  • Do not raise the head of the cot or Moses basket. A baby sleeps flat on their back. Sites and products advising tilting are wrong.
  • Contact 111 or a GP urgently for green or yellow vomit, blood, projectile vomiting, a swollen or tender tummy, or signs of dehydration.
  • Most babies bring up small amounts of milk when they burp. That is posseting, and is usually nothing to worry about.
  • Reflux typically starts before 8 weeks and improves by 12 months.
  • See a GP if it is not improving, starts after 6 months, continues past 1 year, or your baby is not gaining weight.

The rest of this page explains where this comes from. You do not have to read it tonight.

About 1 minute to read

Reflux

Most babies bring up small amounts of milk when they burp. This is posseting, and is usually nothing to worry about. You can tell vomiting apart from it, as the NHS puts it, because there will be a lot more coming out. Reflux typically starts before 8 weeks and improves by 12 months.

Do not raise the head of the cot or Moses basket

The NHS is explicit: do not raise the head of their cot or Moses basket. A baby should sleep flat on their back. Many commercial sites and products still advise tilting or propping, and they are wrong. If reflux is making nights hard, take it to your health visitor or GP rather than changing where the baby sleeps.

See a GP if: things are not improving; reflux appears for the first time after 6 months; your child is over 1 year and still has it; or your baby is not gaining weight, or is losing weight.

Contact 111 or a GP urgently if your baby:

Where this comes from

  • NHS (nhs.uk) bronchiolitis, sepsis, croup, colic, anaphylaxis, fever and baby weight guidance, for the 999 and 111 criteria, croup, colic, the crying advice and the centile rule. These pages are cited by name; we have linked the ones whose exact addresses we hold.
  • NHS, reflux in babies, for posseting, the timescales and the instruction not to raise the head of the cot or Moses basket.
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital, obstructive sleep apnoea, for the child-specific signs, the 1 to 3% figure, risk groups and the overnight sleep study.
  • ICON, the UK infant crying programme, for the crying curve, the four ICON messages and the walking-away instruction.
  • Cry-sis, for the helpline number and hours and the average two hours of crying a day.
  • The Lullaby Trust, Baby Check app, for the 17 checks for babies under six months.
  • The Sleep Charity, National Sleep Helpline, for the hours, the age limits and what the service cannot cover.
  • Sheffield Children's Sleep Service and the GOSH Respiratory Sleep Unit, for how tertiary sleep services take referrals.
  • NHS, postnatal depression and Samaritans, for the parental crisis red flags and the 116 123 line.
  • Allergy UK, for the IgE and non-IgE timings, the symptom groups, the over-attribution caveat and the 01322 619898 helpline.
  • NICE guidance on referral for snoring and for autistic children, reproduced second hand: nice.org.uk blocks automated checking, so we have avoided quoting any threshold from it.

Last checked 1 August 2026. This page is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child, speak to your health visitor or GP.