Silent reflux??

[Burtrix7]

My little boy is 4 weeks old and has the following problems:-
• feeds very well on the bottle but will get very distressed about ten minutes after. He will often be drifting off to sleep but will suddenly scream/cry in distress. This can continue for an hour at least and is starting to affect his sleep during the day. Night time after 11pm tends to be slightly better.
• frequent hiccups almost after every feed or tummy massage.
• pushes his tongue in and out continuously after a feed and again this often leads to upset.
• strains, goes bright red and arches his back after most feeds.
• has bubbles of saliva around his lips when asleep after a feed (if by chance he goes to sleep). Grunts and cries out in his sleep often waking himself up.
• wet sounding burps during winding but rarely brings anything up.

He went through a stage of milk coming out of his nose an hour or so after his feed so we took him to the doctors who prescribed baby gaviscon. This is our third day on it and it seems to make him more distressed although milk hasn't come out of his nose since. All other problems remain. I have read it can make them constipated but we haven't noticed anything yet. Should we continue with it?

Does this sound like silent reflux? We try to keep him upright for at least 30 mins after a feed and have raised his Moses basket at the head. What do you think our next step should be? Anybody got any experience to share. It's horrible to see him in such distress.
Thanks in advance.

Doctor prescribed us baby gaviscon but symptoms persisted and made him more constipated in the long run! Are you ebf or ff?

DS grew out of this but Infacol seemed to help initially.

Ff. Infacol made him bring up most of his feed so we gave up on that.

He also sounds congested a lot of the time and sneezes and coughs frequently.

It sounds like it could be silent reflux. If the gaviscon doesn't work you could ask for ranitidine or omeprazole (which is amazing stuff, it's what my dd has as the other 2 didn't work for her).

Also, as an aside, silent reflux is often a symptom of cows milk protein allergy so that may be something you could look into too.

It could be worth changing the formula - sometimes there's something within that baby is reacting to? Also when you went to doctor did you say you thought it could be silent reflux? I did this and the doctor thought I was overacting (basically because I had self diagnosed the baby before he had..)

If baby is producing too much acid etc there are medications they can prescribe however they really don't like to do this unless last resort (basically baby losing weight etc) has baby had good weight gain and staying within percentile lines etc?

Was it prescribed by your gp? Ours only mentioned gaviscon or thickened formula which we have dabbled with a little already without much luck.

Dry skin could indicate a cows protein allergy however at 4 weeks probably quite hard to tell with all the skin changes they go through!

Yes his weight is good. I said I believed it was silent reflux and the health visitor thought he was suffering from some kind of reflux. The doctor mentioned colic but we notice that in the evenings surely this can't be all day after every feed! I got the feeling he just thought I was an anxious first time mum- maybe I am but gut tells me something isn't right.
We have experimented with different formula and he is slightly better on the ready made cow and gate which is obviously expensive! We do feel it's getting progressively worse though.

We got our dd's meds and formula prescribed by a paediatrician. Our gp was useless and kept telling us she was fine and that "some babies cry". It was only when she had screamed non-stop, without sleeping or feeding, for 12 hours and we took her to A&E when she was around 9 weeks old that we were finally taken seriously. We than had a couple of months of trialling different meds and formulas until we found the right mix and she has been fine since then, apart from needing her meds increasing when she was around 8 months as her reflux symptoms came back (she's 15 months now and still on a high dose of omeprazole).

If you're concerned and your gp isn't helpful ask for a referral to a paediatrician who will be able to offer more help/reassurance.

I agree with Kim my doctor was the same and said babies cry - they don't see the distress after every feed etc. Go back to the doctors explain the situation, possibly see another doctor and ask for a second opinion! You know when something isn't right!

Hope you get things sorted

Thanks guys. Hopefully we will get there in the end.

Hi take a look at the FB page 'Living with Reflux' for loads of support from other mums. I would say def reflux.

What are bowels like? Any mucus? Blood? If any of these, then this can suggest cows milk intolerance/allergy. Baby will need prescription dairy free milk (either 'partially hydrolysed' or amino acid based).

Please contact GP and request immediate paediatrician referral if this are worsening as you say. Referrals take time and your GP should be able to prescribe specialist formula in the meantime.

Gaviscon can really constipated so you may need to use less than amt prescribed. Milk thickeners such as carobel can help too.

If cows milk is an issue then cow and gate reflux formula will not help at all and as I say a low dairy or dairy free milk is needed.

Feel free to pm me as I've had loads of experience (DS grew out of silent reflux after 10 months). We finally got prescribed correct cows milk free formula aged 7 months from a dietician. Consultants we saw at 2 different hospitals were awful and we are now on our 3rd paediatrician who is lovely. I had PND and was dismissed entirely as a paranoid FTM. Trust your instincts and Good Luck! XX