Reflux baby now teething - help and advice please

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Hi everyone, I'm hoping to find someone who has been through a similar situation and can offer some advice or support please.
My little girl is 15 weeks old and has screamed for most of her life so far. At 5 weeks old she was diagnosed with silent reflux and has been on various medications and seen different paediatricians and gastroentologists. She is currently on omeprazole and ranitidine and has been on neocate milk since 5 weeks old. She also has probiotic drops and now has thickener for the milk. Although the screaming has got a little better, the professionals had told me she would improve hugely by 12 weeks and that hasn't happened. She still screams daily without fail, is inconsolable several times a day, she doesn't want to sleep, can't self soothe or settle and when she does finally fall asleep (I have to take for long drive or walk In car seat or rock/bounce through the crying), it's not a deep sleep and she will wake within 40 minutes. One sleep cycle finishes and she wakes. She was given a dummy some weeks ago as the saliva production helps soothe reflux and sometimes this can help her go back to sleep if she's not fully waken but she can do this up to 10 times an hour throughout the night!
We are shattered, she isn't getting decent sleep, neither is my husband and I'm lucky to get 45 mins. This has been going on for 15 weeks and I'm exhausted.
Now my baby is teething and we're back to screaming most of the day instead of just intervals and the smiling which had started and was very rewarding, has taken a back seat.

She often only eats a little of her milk and can go some days with just 10oz. It's also not made anything better so I'm debating putting her onto cow and gate anti reflux as that may fill her up more than the neocate and may help her to get into a deeper sleep. I've also thought about removing the dummy as she wakes and looks for it umpteen times a night and can't sleep without it - and that isn't helping her but I've been told this is a little cruel as she has a dependency on it.

I feel so useless and such a rubbish mother, I would love to hear from anyone going through similar or if they've been through it and come out the other end. Any advice or thoughts are very welcome and appreciated. The sleep deprivation is killing me.

If you're still reading this - thank you!!

Keepnthe dummy. It's a painful phase but it does help her.

Also speak to the paediatrician and ask about other milks as well.

Some of the screaming might be massively overtiredness due to poor sleep. Do you have a sling or baby carrier? I had much more success at getting my two refluxy babies to nap in the first 4/5 months using a sling, going for a walk and sticking the dummy in.

Also are you keeping her upright after each feed, keeping her waistbands loose (mine stayed in sleep suits until 6 months - no tights, leggings, trousers, skirts) to keep pressure off the tummy.

Don't blame yourself - you've been dealt a tough tough hand. It nearly broke me but mine are 4&2 and life is easier now.

I meant to add don't worry about self settling etc. she's got reflux ie heartburn (did you have it when pregnan?) and is hurting.

Thank you for your reply. Yes I had a lot of heartburn towards the end.
It's great to know you've come out the other end and your little ones are well now. I just want my little girl to be better and for us to be able to enjoy one another. Instead, I have no idea what to do for best and just feel like I'm getting it all wrong :(

Hi, Im sorry to hear it's been so bad but I know exactly what you are going through- I've been through it 3 times!!

Yes, all 3 of mine had it for the first year of their lives. They were only on Omeprazole as Gaviscon doesn't work with breast fed babies and I didn't want the extra stress od giving meds with every feed. I was given Domperidone too but though it was also useless.

If she takes the dummy use it. My two DS's did but my DD refused and it was worse. What I did was, before they were 6 months (and much happier anyway) was throw them away so there was no issue later.

I also slept DD and DS2 on their tummies. I had a sensor pad attached to the monitor so the light flashed with every breath and an alarm would have sounded if they hadn't taken a breath after 20 seconds - which of course never happened!

Babies with reflux sleep so much sounder on their tummies as they are not suffering the pain they get when lying on their backs.

Have you propped her bed up with a good amount of books?

Never over feed a baby with reflux and keep her upright for a good 20/30 mins after every feed.

You probably know all of this but just incase.

Apart from that im surprised you have had no relief from all of that medication. The Omeprazole is the best and most expensive drug. What I did was split the dose. Make sure she is on plenty. I upped mine slightly and slowly until they settled then split it.

oi id give say 10 ml in the morning then 10 mls in the evening instead of 20mls (pink tablet dissolved in water)in the morning as I found it would wear off half way through the day. Obviously I checked all of this with the GP first.

The more she grows the more meds she will need.

I just feel your meds aren't working properly. Are you checking in with the GP's or Pediatricians?

You should be getting more relief by now than how you describe.

I wasn't afraid to tweek the meds myself by DC3 but you will feel more comfortable speaking to the Doctors id imagine. Some GP's are a bit clueless and waiting to see the Pediatricians can take that long the baby has grown out of it! I found the GP wanted me to give 5mls and the Pediatricians would say 20mg straight away.

Renitidine is faffy isn't it? Not convinced about that one.

The only other thing to remember is she will get over it. You will too even though it feels like hell. If she screams so much you are going to die, switch the hairdrier on. The white noise will stop her in her tracks and give you 5 mins to regain yourself. Just don't fall asleep with it on. I had to get it downloaded onto my I pod for this reason!

When the meds are bang on she will improve. When she gets solids she will improve more. When she sits up she will be fab and when she is running about it will all be forgotten - trust me. My 3rd baby is 16 months and it's only reading your post that has jarred my memory and reminded me why I can't have anymore!

I can't believe you had it go through this 3 times! You must be a Saint! I know it's early days really but I can't imagine ever going through this again!
Yep, mattress is raised as is the base too. I hold her upright for at least 30 mins after each feed.
Have a baby Bjorn but she's still not keen on it and wasn't keen on the moby sling either.
I also have a swing which she likes but it doesn't send her to sleep unfortunately.
I have no problem with the dummy itself but if only she could keep it in her mouth or resettle when she wakes and realises it's dropped out.. But as she can't she's waking and crying multiple times an hour every night and it's killing us! I have to keep putting it back in and getting her back to sleep repeatedly. She's only got a month at most in that Moses is I need to get her into her cot in her room.
The GP can't help me, tells me they've referred me to paed but the paed referred me to another paed and my next appt with them is not for another few weeks. I also think that sometimes they give you an appt far in the future, in the hope it's all gone away!!
I did wonder if the omeprazole needed upping. She has the liquid, not dissolvable tablet but I may up it by 1ml. I'll talk to the other half.

Thank you both for replying. It really does help x

PS - have thought about laying her on tummy (have the angel care sensor pad) if that would help her but she doesn't seem to like it. Should I persevere?

I have a five-month DS with silent reflux, though it's thankfully mostly controlled with omeprazole.

You have my hugest sympathies. The only suggestion I can make is swaddling? We still use an ergo cocoon swaddle pod as he sleeps so much better with it. Even if he struggles with it a bit when first put in, he stops fighting it fairly quickly and calms. It also sometimes relaxes him sufficiently to take a feed when he's refusing the breast or bottle. You can get them on amazon in different sizes and thicknesses.

I put mine on their left hand sides (not right) as supposed to help. Then from 5/6 months they rolled onto their tummies themselves.

I'm going through the same, my DD who has had silent reflux since 3 weeks old (now 6 months so things have gotten slightly easier), has just started to teethe and it feels as though we have gone straight back to those darker days. Tummy sleeping has helped us massively!!

There is massive support on the Facebook group Babies with Reflux and Silent Reflux, I find it so helpful.

We don't use it but I have read on there that the liquid form of omeprazole has a very short shelf life and loses effectiveness after about 7 days. Could that be the problem? I've heard of people having it made up fresh weekly to prevent this.

Chocolatesolveseverything - didn't think I could still swaddle at this age but if I can, will definitely look into it as she wakes herself up with her writhing and arms around her head.
Widlt- I'll look into the fb group and effectiveness of meds, thank you so much.

Thanks all x

Oh OP I feel your pain, we had an unhappy silent refluxer and we found it hard to tell if he was teething, unwell, overtired, refluxy at any one time because crying grizzly unhappiness was just our everyday. It sucked sucked sucked, that first year. Immensely exhausting and distressing. It DOES get better. No one week, but gradually, with steps back then forwards, things will change and get easier. I promise! We happen to still have a grumpy strop that challenges my will to live at times. But that grinding hardness isn't there now. Do WHATEVER makes your lives easier and nicer. We ended up co sleeping when I had sworn that was something I would never ever do. It made sleep and rest possible, and DS actually fed okay and relaxed lying down. But it will be different for every bubs I'm sure. Anyway, just wanted to commiserate. Princess pants I can't believe you did it three times! I am sticking to one DC partly because I don't think I could go through it again! Bowing down to you!

Bless you, I know how terribly hard this is (15wo with reflux here). One thing that has been (quite literally) a life saver for me has been carrying DS in a sling. He has all his daytime naps in one and can sleep for up to 2.5 hours in it. Will not sleep anywhere else during the day. Would you consider trying one?

Omeprazole dosage is very weight dependent. Ask your GP to call or email paediatrician to agree dosage. The oral solution shelf life is 28 days in the fridge.

How about declaring a two day baby moon? If sleep is better together, sleep together. If she wants to feed by having a little bit then a little more, let her. Even if that means you basically watch box sets with a bottle and a baby for a couple of days.

You have my sympathies, 2 refluxers here, now starting to level out at 13 months for dd. Hers was 'premier league' in the words of our consultant and it's hell. I shall always be jealous of those who don't experience it! But at 4 ds' is a distant memory.

But shout from the rooftops to get more support. With ds I didn't argue enough in the early days. He was my first and I had no benchmark. Dd took a crisis at 3 weeks to get going but I've definitely had better help this time because I've demanded it. And if your GP/consultant hasn't lived with a reflux baby then they won't understand the grind of it unless you tell them. Don't minimise, don't get fobbed off. I assume you've been checked for tongue tie properly? Have you got a baby massage class near you? Osteopathy relaxed both of mine, albeit only temporarily but it was a nice break.

And when the crying is too much put your headphones in and dance them to music up loud. Unless they like it loud too, ds today demanded loud fast music to dance to!

You will survive. Access every gram of support you can get.

Hugs.