Silent Reflux - DD 7 months tomorrow. When will she sleep longer than 3 hours?!

[laughinglemons]

That says it all really.
She has ranitadine and infant gaviscon for nearly 2 months and has just (this week) started to sit up. So I am hoping that things might improve soon.

I never leave her to cry and am relishing everyday BUT it does get me down when other people's babies sleep at night. As a tiny bubba she would never fall asleep in the pram part of the travel system but was always happy in the baby bjorn. Now she falls asleep in the buggy part of the pram.

I now put her down to sleep in her cot on her tummy and can sometimes sleep in the single bed in her room for a few hours. Once she wakes up I take her to bed with me and BF her to sleep. She has never had formula (fortunately as this would have made the relfux worst). I have given up dairy and soya and DD has never had either.

She is chubby, smiley and happy. I dont want to leave her BUT it might be nice (ie necessary for my marriage) to go out for a few hours and have dinner with DH before she is walking.

Ds was about this age and slept better. Dd took longer. Both had silent reflux.

Don't compare your baby to others. It's not the same basis.

Dd also had tongue and lip tie which made things worse. So she takes down a lot of air when feeding which makes her unsettled and she wakes (she's EBF, no formula or soya tolerated). So I have to wind her and get a burp out even now at 15 months! So do you wind your dd? Have you ruled out a tie? Lift her top lip up - if there's a line of tissue from the gum to lip the could be your issue here.

Other thing with my silent reflux babies is that they didn't just react to soya or dairy. Windy foods were an issue too (like brocolli, peas, onions). So had to minimise their intakes (no onions at all for the first year and even now it's minimal). Worth considering that too.

But hang on in there. It feels hard now - it is hard but you wil get your meal. Why not try a lunch for now? You'll only worry when you first leave her of an evening anyway

For me it's chocolate that makes the reflux worse and grapes that make her windy.
Do you have a cot wedge? Cot propped up with books?
Hang in there :-)

Sorry. DD is 22mo and still wakes 2-3 times a night. We went dairy-free and it helped hugely - she's actually slept through now on 3-4 occasions. Worth a try?

Iggly - thanks.
Did you feed / push / rock to sleep and was managing the reflux easier second time around?

Yes DD had tongue tie - she had the snip when she was 2 weeks. Spotted purely by chance by a cranial osteopath whilst I was at breast feeding drop in. I was using and still am shields because I have flat nipples.

Burps do come up on their own but I also wind when I can see she has wind. Top lip goes white or bluish. I have even winded her in her sleep!

Sorry that you are still winding at 15 months.

I don't know anyone in real life who has had a baby with silent reflux so was just curious to how it develops.

Dessie - yes cot is propped up. Had a wedge but unless its v steep it doesn't seem to help. Now she is sleeping on her tummy I don't want to use wedge as well. I will stop eating grapes and onions. Leeks are a good sub for onions. Sorry to hear about the chocolate! Was only having dark chocolate because of the dairy! But anything for more than a couple of hours sleep!

Moel - this is what I was hoping not to hear! I am now dairy and soya free and DD has never had either. Does / did she sleep on her tummy?

Reflux continued in my infant for a whole year - he was admitted to hospital for daytime investigations at one point because he developed quite alarming apnea with it, which apparently was caused by the silent reflux. obviously don't want to alarm you but it was fine, just meant that we had to continue his medication until he was a year old, and then slowly reduce it. We managed to do so successfully but he's still a bad sleeper although it's hard to tell whether it's due to reflux or something else. I gave him a pillow at the age if 2 to see if that helps but it doesn't seem to make much difference.
My mother-in-law says my hubby didn't sleep through til he was 3, but as far as she's aware it wasn't due to reflux, so it can be hard to know what's what when it comes to sleep problems. I do commiserate with you, as I'm due to have my second this summer and am dreading being up in the night to both of them - they're not very likely to wake up together to make my life easier! !!!!!

Yes I did whatever it took to get them to sleep. I did notice at around 6/7 months that they preferred to be lay down on their tummies and stroked to sleep. (after winding of course). I did this by rocking them until drowsy then putting down. We had set backs where they wanted to be cuddled longer but I'm getting to the stage now where dd lays down and only needs my hand for a minute if that then drifts off alone. I can also leave her for a minute or two when she wakes and she settles herself again.

It was easier second time around - dd actually settled a lot easier than ds and naps much better. Worse at night because of her lip tie but she's getti there. Second time around I just accepted that she wanted cosleeping (I felt more rested too, we did it until 9/10 months) and preferred the sling until 4/5 months.

I didnt have any onions or spicy food for the first year. Same for dd. also no tomatoes or citrus or green veg.

My ds had reflux, he was bf until 8 months but started weaning at 4 months (they keep changing the recommendations). He didn't sleep through until I did controlled crying at 11 months in preparation for returning to work. We found keeping him upright as much as possible helped, often napping in his reclining high chair or pushchair. Before this he always passed out in my arms after screaming, as we didn't realise it was reflux and could be treated as it was silent. DD2 had all the reflux symptoms and was on gaviscon, which didn't help much, my boss suggested lactose intolerance and we changed her formula (at about 1year) and it was like magic. The child that was always up chucking to a greater or lesser extent stopped. I found what I ate or excluded made no difference to either child.

Yes, DD prefers her tummy. For the first 4 months she slept on me or DH, lying face down on our chests. She hated being on her back and still does mostly, to the point where it's still weird seeing her lying on her back.

What helped...? Tried it all. She slept better in the buggy because it wasn't 100% flat, so we'd take her for an evening walk and leave her sleeping in the buggy when we got back. She slept better outside in the fresh air too.

Bananas help her as a last snack before teeth and bed. Dry cracker also helps. Acidic fruit can make it worse so she only has satsumas etc in the morning now. Dairy free takes at least a week to show up and longer to clear the system. Maybe try gluten free if dairy isn't the answer. Make a food diary and see what causes the biggest issues, also what helps her sleep.

It IS getting better. I find the biggest annoyance is the constant harping on from family / friends with 'isn't she sleeping through yet' comments, as if we just allow her to be an attention seeker. They aren't there at midnight, at 3am, with a small child screaming in pain, desperate for sleep but suffering severe stomach cramps. DD had one week with it so bad she gave herself a hernia.

It'll improve once your baby can roll and shift positions in bed. I also found she sleeps better when slightly cool, so that might be worth a try? Nightie and a thin sheet, tummy down on a sheepskin?

It will get better. It's have peaks and troughs bit you'll learn how to handle it and will be quicker at soothing back to sleep too.

Good luck!