Effects on behavior state of prone versus seated positioning for infants with gastroesophageal reflux.

To evaluate the effect of positioning on behavior in infants with gastroesophageal reflux, 48 infants younger than 6 months of age (range 1.5 to 28 weeks, median 13.5) with reflux were positioned continuously prone (24 infants) or seated (24 infants) during a 120-minute postprandial period, during which behavior was monitored continuously. The prone position was associated with more sleep time, 83.5 (16 to 113) vs 43 (0 to 117) minutes, P = .01. This increase in sleep time in the prone position could be largely accounted for by a tendency toward a decrease in crying time, 19 (0 to 82) vs 38.5 (0 to 91) minutes, P = .07, which is expressed further by the significantly smaller number of prone than seated infants who cried longer than 30 minutes, P = .02. A parallel reduction in noncrying awake time in the prone vs the seated position was not significant: 15 (0-51) vs 31 (3 to 84) minutes, P = .13.