Reflux cough

[OrionNebula]

Hi DD is 5 months, EBF. She has had reflux on and off since birth and it seems to have been particularly bad in the last 2 weeks, manifesting as a cough which only seems to happen after feeding. It sounds like a gagging type cough, I had her at the GP who listened to her chest and couldn't hear anything so seems to agree it's reflux rather than a respiratory issue. She is gaining weight well so doctor said we just have to wait it out and didn't want to prescribe anything. It can sound quite alarming though and is affecting her sleep, so wondering if anyone has experience of similar and how long it took to clear up?

Thanks.

Bump

We had to introduce a pillow when my daughter was 10 months due to the reflux cough keeping her up all night. She's 3 now and has 3-4 pillows and when it's really bad I sleep holding her upright

Has the gp suggested any treatment for the reflux? Also has cmpa been explored? My daughter has both plus other allergies and whilst her reflux is independent of the allergies they did make it a lot worse

My daughter was gaining well following the 9th percentile. Just a 9th percentile baby I was told. Removing her allergens put her up to the 35th percentile. Her reflux has always been predominately silent and silent reflux doesn't have the same relationship with weight as they don't lose the feed but they can reflux the same milk repeatedly which can mean the reflux is there for hours after the feed.

GP said that so long as baby is gaining weight ok, they are reluctant to prescribe anything. Allergies haven't been suggested. She's spitting up small bits, had a couple of scary projectile vomits in the past but none of that for a while. She's tracking on 50th percentile at the moment for weight and length.

I'm bringing her to the doctor again on Tuesday, I just want to be 100% sure I am not missing anything.

How old were you when your DD's allergies were diagnosed?

How old was your DD I mean 😂

Well my daughter started on gaviscon at 7 weeks and omperazole at 9 weeks.
Good weight gain but along the 9th percentile. She was a very unhappy baby though.
At 18 weeks we saw a paediatrician for something else and he moved her to the highest dose of omperazole and said it wouldn't hurt to try me going dairy and soya free. She was a different baby within a week. She had developmental delays at 17 weeks but within a month was perfectly average developmentally

Ok thanks. My DD is a pretty happy baby generally, I think the cough is bothering me more than it is her!

My son gets a cough with reflux too. He also has CMPA. I remember going to the GP at 2 weeks old and being told not to worry about it, he will grow out of it by 6 weeks. He's 4 years old and still gets it. What frustrates me is that if an adult has reflux we just take something, we generally don't just suffer with it so why do some drs think this is acceptable for a baby.

I suppose in a way I am reassured that it sounds as though reflux is the cause, as I am
still slightly worried there could be a respiratory cause. But it is a bit worrying to hear of children age 3-4 who still have it and doctors won't do anything!

In my experience paediatrics are less dismissive than GPs
Our GP just told me "reflux is just a washing issue" - when she mostly had silent reflux so didn't create that much extra washing and we did cloth nappies so had loads of washing anyway it wasn't that reassuring

I still have to hammer home the quality of life angle. My daughter although 3.5 can still have nights where she is awake every 40 minutes. She starts school in September so that's not sustainable. She also has a cavity in a molar and two other molars also are showing acid damage.

@Koalaslippers my mum has reflux poorly controlled by meds and waiting on an op. Every time she has a bad night she says my poor GD this was all she knew for months.

@Superscientist that's it, I really don't want it to become a long term thing so I will push a bit more on Tuesday when I see the Gp again. Obviously I don't want her to be on medication that she doesn't need but your stories have shown me that it isn't necessarily something that will just go away on its own.

I think about 10% of babies with reflux will still have it at 12 months.
About 40% of babies will have had reflux by 4 months

Those that still have it at 3 are definitely in the minority for sure and doesn't reflect many parents experience but the mantra that reflux disappears the moment they start weaning or sit up is probably doesn't reflect many parents experiences either

It's always a tricky decision to introduce medication to little ones but they also need to thrive and sometimes medication can help that