Do you think this is silent reflux?

[Shineystar]

I hope im not just reading things and taking it that this is what my baby has but..

For the past few nights she has been really hard to settle after a feed, she will only sleep lying on one of us, therefore on her side or on her tummy while im sitting up with her on my chest.

She wakes up hungry so i feed her then she begins to wrestle with the bottle and arms going everywhere. She then starts to scream and her face goes bright red. At first I though it may be wind/colic but try to wind her and nothing happens. She goes rigid and arches her back now and again too.
She gets hiccups several times a day and they sound like her stomach contents are coming up with them!

I spoke to the chemist today but she cant give gaviscon without a prescription at this age.

We have now taken to holding her up as long as possible after a feed, and have elevated the moses basket at the head end. That along with white noise and a dummy seems to be all that will settle her.

Am i jumping the gun and taking this as reflux when it may just be wind? It is awful seeing her look in pain and then her to be so tired from it all and cant sleep!

 

[Shineystar]

hmm ive just realised its been 48 hrs since she has pooped, maybe this is more what is wrong?

Should i try water? how much?

The chemist did suggest it but i honestly dont know how much to give her, 1oz at most id guess?

 

[c1403]

Sounds like it could be silent reflux, take her to the doctors and explain the symptoms and see what they say.

My LO would be unsettled after feeding, she fed well and was never sick, but she would cry constantly for hours on end after feeding, arching her back. No amount of comforting would help she would just cry herself into exhaustion and then sleep, I felt useless as she wouldnt even let me cuddle her.... we thought colic at first so did the dentinox/gripe water thing...no joy I was tearing my hair out every day for the first 2-3 weeks.

When we saw the doctor and explained that she would cry always after a feed and wouldnt sleep for the crying/pain she diagnosed silent reflux. We got gaviscon and shes been on it 3 weeks and is a different baby. We have occasional episodes where it re-appears but she eventually calms down.

As for poop, our LO didnt poo every day, mainly every 2-3 days. Since shes got a bit bigger we have more regular poos (the gaviscon does make them more solid but shes not been constipared)

Hope you get some help and LO settles soon x

 

[Shineystar]

Thanks, she did a poop after the bath yesterday and hasnt screamed during feeds since!

She is still slightly unsettled after feeding but not as bad as it was. I'll keep an eye on it, maybe it was a touch of reflux but was just bad as she was having a growth spurt and eating lots and often?

Thanks for your help though!

 

[c1403]

Glad shes ok now.

From our experience you know when shes having a 'reflux' moment as she will scream about 45 mins after her feed. This has all stopped now but she does have fussy times which arent as bad but still frustrating when you know shes hungry and wont eat.

X

 

[sethsmummy]

aww hun im glad shes settled a bit.

sounds as though poor bubba was just really constipated. If you want to give water by the way just boil the kettle, leave it to cool right down and then put about 3oz into a bottle and let her take as much of it as she wants to.

If shes going red whilst feeding... maybe she needs next stage up teat? if shes sucking a lot and not getting it out as fast as she wants it then shell be taking in a fair bit of air.. which could cause the tummy pains.

Good luck hun and i hope she stays settled for you xxx

 

[Shineystar]

Thanks sethsmummy,

It wasnt so bad that it was hard poop coming out or anything but I def think she was backed up!

Good advice about the teat sizes, as it happens we have occasionally used the no3 teats, which i thought was way early but i think avent teats are pretty slow. Anyway she gets on fine with it so im going to phase out the no2's - seems such a waste to have these early teats for the sake of a few weeks!

I reckon we will be on the no4 before we know at as she still seems to be sucking really hard on the no3's !!

 

[c1403]

Its annoying that some of these things only last a few weeks, we put our LO on size 2 teats last week and think she'll be on no3 soon, although she doesnt seem to be taking more milk just drinking it quicker (always leaves some)....I may try an extra oz soon.

 

[devon_91x]

My LO is exactly like this and she has reflux. Why can't she have gaviscon? I thought it was from birth? My LO had it at 10 weeks but didn't help her, she is now on raditine (sp) and seems a bit better, only been on it for 2 days tho. Also switched to cow and gate anti reflux milk which helps alot with the sickness!

 

[Shineystar]

dunno the chemist just said it says from 1 yr on the pack ?

im gonna mention it to hv nxt wk as she does spit up a little after every feed and just did a big projectile number...

 

[sethsmummy]

from that last post sounds like she might have reflux. Gaviscon can only be prescribed by a doctor for children under 1 year old, as they have to be monitered whilst using it. It's the same if you use any of the special milks such as the anti reflux previously mentioned.. your meant to mention it to H.V or doctor so they know about it and can keep an eye on baby.

It is annoying about how quick they go up the teat stages. It could save you some money if you bought a multi-teat where its more than one stage on the same teat.. just depends which way you hold the bottle.

hopefully if it is reflux she will grow out of it soon. Took my lil guy till 11 months to grow out of reflux, and thank heavens when he did. He struggled to gain weight and now at almost 3 years old has only just hit 25lb and still in 9-12 month clothes x

 

[Shineystar]

yeah she was really unsettled only sleeping for 45 mins at most yesterday. And only when being held..

She then fed off and on until 11ish when after about 7 attempts to have her sleep in her bed I had to let her sleep next to me. She settled right away and I obv must have fallen asleep. I woke at 330 and put her in her bed thinking she would wake for a feed soon anyway. she didnt! slept through until 7am.

she took 140mls at 7am but i thought she would be hungrier? Then at 945 she seemed hungry but only took 40mls and was quite moany during the feed.. Im a little worried about her now to be honest. Ill just need to keep an eye on her intake today.

 

[sethsmummy]

i would write down hun how much shes having and when. If you don't see any improvement by tomorrow then give the Health Visitor a ring or out of hours doctor. They should be able to give you some advice... and if they think its needed either the H.V will come see you or the out of hours will make an appointment for you to go in.

Its not nice when they just don't seem right. I remember struggling with my lil guy too. x

 

[Shineystar]

thanks yeah thats what im going to do. she isnt napping well which i guess dont help but maybe she is just more alert now and im reading too much into it! We are going out later so im sure she will sleep when we are out.

def going to keep a note of her eating today though!

 

[sethsmummy]

yeah at 4 weeks they start being more alert and attuned to their surrounding. Her vision will be a lot better now so she will be able to see things she couldn't, and she'll have the energy to stay awake for longer.

if shes anything like most babies... car seat/walking in pram = sleepytime lol my son is still like that now if he's tired

 

[Shineystar]

hehe yeah usually all i have to do is put her in the car seat and she is nearly sleeping!

we are going a wee walk and out for a cuppa and cake later so Im fairly confident she will sleep and then be alert enough to take a good feed (I hope!). Id like her to get into the habit of taking at least 1 nap of an hour or two during the day so she doesnt get over tired, instead of the catnapping she is up to now!

 

[sethsmummy]

hehe she will adjust herself after a few days. When you feed her hun try holding her away from your body (not sure if iv already said this so if i have sorry).

If you hold her head in your arm with her body running along your arm so she is looking at you but not cuddling you. Don't talk to her whilst doing it, that way its less like a "cuddle" and more a feed. Midwives made me do this with my son when he was first born as he would only take 10-15ml every feed. It didnt help him as to be honest.. the poor boy just had a tiny tummy... the most milk he ever took up till 1 year old was 5oz at a time. But anything is worth a go if it will make her feed a bit better.

damn tea and cake sounds good oh the joys of cravings x

 

[Shineystar]

thanks! We are just back home and she slept well while we were out, even managed to get lunch (and a cake!!)

she then took a full 4oz bottle in ten minutes so gave her another one and she took about 1.5oz. I actually gave her the last wee bit sitting in her bouncy chair and she just passed out afterwards! - I wish it was possible to do that during the night

Also lots of V wet nappies today so im not worried about her being dehyrdated at all now. I wonder if we will be back to the overnight feed tonight or not though, maybe with her taking over 5oz a feed she might eat enough to sleep through again - or more likely it was just a fluke! but at least I know now she is capable of it!

ahh the cravings! hope your keeping well and ur next LO doesnt have the dreaded reflux!

 

[sethsmummy]

woo thats fab hun 5.5oz of milk is really good

lol yeah it would be nice to do that through the night.. haha i love if my lil guy gets up you just pass him a bottle and go back to bed lol

Good to hear about lots of wet nappies too that's always a good sign. you never know if shes taking more milk she may just settle for longer

lol im not doing too bad, sore hips and a pain in the ass husband lol. Iv got my fingers crossed for the no reflux too x

 

[Shineystar]

yep and another 4 and a bit at 7pm. Had to wake her!

She is in her bed now but making a fair amount of noise I hope she manages to nod off..

aww no whats your OH bothering you with?

the hip pain, oh i dont miss that! i didnt have spd or anything but i just couldnt lie on my side longer than an hour without being in pain!