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Behaviour/development

Silent reflux

3 replies

Elland · 22/01/2017 01:53

I think my 4 week old might have silent reflux

Can anyone with a baby with silent reflux tell me what symptoms their baby has and how it's affecting them please.

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whitewolf84 · 22/01/2017 19:29

my now 8 month old had silent reflux (as diagnosed at 6 weeks old by doc)

she was a very fussy newborn, very high pitched wailing...clearly uncomfortable abdominally after a feed. lots of gulping. i thought it was colic. i couldn't settle her...she wouldn't sleep longer than 1 hour at a time and would wake up screaming. she was better upright, held close, in a sling, etc.

at our 6 week check, i mentioned to doc who prescribed infant gaviscon and literally 15 seconds after giving baby the first dose, she changed entirely. her mood was happier, she screamed far less, she slept better (although still not brilliantly) she continued with the gaviscon for about 3 weeks...it helps thicken up the milk and thus making it more difficult to bring up! I bf so you mix the gavison in a bowl and then i used a calpol syringe to slowly give to baby.
I was recommended to wean her a little earlier than 6 months, so made a start at 5 months, 1 week, with a small amount of baby rice and porridge.

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cloudjumper · 23/01/2017 21:04

There are lots of little things to look out for in babies with silent reflux -

They don't like lying flat
Snuffling/sounding as if they have a blocked nose/coughing
Gulping
Little gasps/sharp intakes of breath (often when asleep)
'Face pulling', mostly while asleep, sometimes together with gulping
Their breath can smell metallic/acidic

You don't always get every symptom, but you know your baby best, so you can look out for little things.
Gaviscon can help, but it can make them really constipated! My DD has silent reflux, and the initial relief with Gaviscon was great, however, it was soon replaced with really struggling to poo. If you are formula-feeding, you can get special anti-reflux formula, which we gave her, but alternated with normal one because it also causes constipation. Alternatively, you can just give half the dose of Gaviscon.

Other things you can do are:
Feed little, but more often
Take breaks when feeding
Keep them upright for 30min after each feed
Get a sling/carrier (it was a life-saviour for us, as she would scream hell down when lying in the pram).

It's awful, we had a really rough time with it for a while. Our DD was eventually put in ranitidine, which really helped, but I had to fight for it, the GP was not keen at all... good luck!