Potential Silent Reflux - Insight/Help Appreciated!

[ELW85]

I’m hoping for a little insight or advice for our 5 week old.
He usually cries about 10 mins after every full bottle feed, with hands to mouth, showing hunger cues.
If offered BF after this (combo feeding) he falls asleep after a couple of mins so I don’t think he’s hungry, more just looking for comfort? He usually falls asleep after this.
A couple of times whilst he’s slept on me, I’ve noticed him pulling a face and swallowing about 30 mins after feed. This, along with the above and some grunting noises led me to think reflux.
One GP has prescribed Gaviscon but thinks the noises are normal. I don’t want to medicate him unnecessarily but also don’t want him in pain or hurting his voice.
Last night was something else...
On his 6pm feed, he went screaming red and rigid afterwards and we could only temporarily soothe him. Hands were up to face, screaming the place down until About an hour later we tried another bottle. He had all of that.
The interesting thing was that when he was leaned forward to be winded, he was calm but even slightly sat up/back, he was crying.
After the second bottle though he fell asleep and we put him down in his crib. He was totally fine being on his back.
If it was reflux that caused him to scream I’m not sure he’d be ok on his back? He was awake too and gurgling away.
Fed twice through the night (roughly half bottles) with no issue.

So in summary:

• cries with hunger cues after every feed but often gets settled with a pacifier, rocked to sleep etc as he has a full bottle at feeding times
• usually no issue in being put on back, doesn’t wake up
• noisy breather, grunts etc but these sound different to his ‘voice’

I’m worried today his voice itself sounds a little raspy but he’s been asleep most of the morning, so hard to tell.

TIA for any help at all!

Anyone?

Sounds to me like reflux. The grunting is it alot when he is asleep? Does it sound like hes straining and is he pulling up his legs when he does it? X

My DS had awful reflux, he could be sick 6 times in a two hour period. Silent reflux is tricky. Maybe treat it as if it is silent reflux and see if there is an improvement.

I also suspected my DS had CMPA and I went dairy free - lost half a stone in weight as a result but that is another story.

Worth researching CMPA alongside reflux and see if any of the symptoms fit.

@Laylor - he grunts when he’s stirring in his sleep or stretching; yes, sounds like he’s straining. Showed the GP a video and she said normal baby noises but not sure?

@HathorX - thanks; I’ll definitely look at CMPA. DS is rarely spitting up. I know they usually don’t medicate reflux but I hate the thought of him being in pain or his voice being affected

@Laylor - should also say sometimes grunts when moving and upright/awake such as being moved to wind x

My 8 week has just been diagnosed with milk allergy. I would try colief first as that breaks down the lactose in the milk and if hes well after that I would suggest speaking to the doctor about cows milk allergy. You have been warned though,- the milk is 40quid for 400g so the doctors are reluctant to give is you and tend to palm you off. I threatened to call them every day she started crying until they took me seriously. Good luck x

@Laylor - I’m totally leaning towards reflux given the thing I’ve just found on grunting and snack feeding. Does your lo g HCG ave this too? And thank you x

My DS had silent reflux which was caused by CMPA.

Helpful info here, check out the symptoms and see what you think:
www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice/conditions-and-symptoms/469-cows-milk-allergy

If baby is formula fed, it's very easy to find out if it's CMPA. You trial a dairy-free formula for 2-3 weeks and see if it helps.

If you're breastfeeding it's harder because you have to cut out dairy yourself and it can take up to 6 weeks.

It was worth it for us though since we confirmed it was CMPA and DS finally got some relief (as did we!)

@ELW85 what does HCG mean? My little boys been well able truely around the houses. Back in March we went to see the paediatrician because his sleeping was so erratic and he seemed air unhappy, they prescribed omeprazole. A week later for a follow up appointment they decided he didnt have reflux he had colic and basically we just had to ride it out. They took us off omeprazole which I was glad about because he was constipated so we were prescribed lactulose. Fast forward two weeks and no improvement so spoke again and they said sounds like he has milk allergy and prescribed us some formula. Personally I haven't seen a change in the last 2 weeks but my husband has slightly. Spoke again to the doctor on thursday as the 2 week trial is up tomorrow and voice my concerns that I don't think it's an allergy i do think its reflux so he prescribed gaviscon and i have noticed a massive difference. Hes more settled. I do go against guidelines and put a small blanket under his legs in bed because it hurts him to lay completely flat. There is no way it can ride up. His symptoms are fussing whilst feeding, fussing after, arching back, bringing up milk but not a lot, choking on what I can only imagine is acid and swallowing whilst upset a while after. The reason why I think its reflux is because I had severe heartburn whilst pregnant and had similar symptoms. Also we struggle like hell to wind him although I've just done a bum change, feed and back in bed in 35 minutes which is record time. X

Me personally would try other stuff like colief first before changing formula like the other poster suggested but its entirely your choice. Colief breaks down protein in the milk making it easier for your baby to digest, if this works then great swap formula but for now me personally would stick to what your on x

@namechange30 - thanks so much for the info! Seems like the two really go hand in hand? I can tell already I’ll get fobbed off with it saying ‘rare’ - can’t be that rare if everyone here has experience with it!

@Laylor - sorry, autocorrect! I was trying to say did your lo have those symptoms.
They sound really similar to be fair. DS grunts, wants to constantly snack, swallows nothing and has developed a bit of a cough and stalled breathing. I nearly have into one doc who said it was totally normal and I didn’t understand as I’m a new mother. But I’m convinced and listening to my instincts. X

Had a horrible night - first time he kept waking up grunting in pain. He usually sleeps through and we have to wake him for feeds. I’m ringing the doc in the morning; I can’t bare him being in pain. And it’s beyond me why they say ride reflux out. How?!

Really appreciate the support everyone!

Hi, my DS was absolutely awful with silent reflux which developed into full blown reflux for years so I can sympathise with you on how stressful it must be for you. I was abroad at the time and Drs there told me he was fussy!! I was in pieces for months and even when we found a Dr who could help, my DS's reflux was so bad that it was a constant battle. At 18 months he had a barium meal X-ray which confirmed it with the valve at the top of the stomach not working properly and we managed to keep it under control with PPIs for about 8 years. He is now a healthy 14yr old not on the drugs anymore. So please don't despair - you will get through it but it takes a lot of patience. The good news is that most babies grow out of it at around 6 months when they learn to sit so fingers crossed for you. A couple of things we did might help you - we changed his formula to lactose free and funny enough, it was the only one he would drink ( we tried the taste test many times) and breast feeding really didn't work as he never drank for more than 5 mins at a time before screaming for an hour. We put towels under the mattress at the his head end of his cot so his head was raised slightly and we tried to keep him more upright after his feeds and really tried to burp him well. Hope you have luck at the Drs.

@alwaysinjured - thank you for the insight!
My big worry at the minute is he sounds hoarse when grunting but his cry and gurgles aren’t hoarse so I’m hoping the acid hasn’t affected his voice. He’s only 5 weeks so I’m sure it’s not as bad to have done that yet or he would have been in a lot more screaming pain than he has been.

Really similar to @Laylor - we end up spending ages trying to wind him and then keep him vertical for 30 mins after. Last night was the first time he didn’t sleep through so hoping it was just a one off bad night but going to try and stick to 3 hourly feeds at a lower ml. Problem is, he’s so hungry with growing and maybe comfort eating, I’m not sure how much this will work.

So interesting about how many people are having dairy/lactose issues too..

The issue is not lactose. It's cow's milk protein. There are many, many more babies with CMPA (cow's milk protein allergy) than there are babies with lactose intolerance. It's a common error to get confused between the two. But lactose intolerance is more common in adults than babies. There is lactose in all milk so it would be a major evolutionary flaw if lots of babies were lactose intolerant!

We had an really awful time with silent reflux with DS. We got fobbed off left right and centre. He screamed and screamed and screamed and everyone kept telling us is was colic which is bollocks. It’s not normal for a baby to cry and stretch and pull their legs up like that.
I was at the GP twice a week for weeks insisting they sort it out. Nothing they tried helped. Finally I landed on a GP who happened to have a baby relative that suffered from it and she prescribed ranitidine (can’t get it now I don’t think) to tide us over until he had his paediatrician appointment (thankfully he had a routine appointment as he was prem) and advised using an anti reflux milk (we used HIPP which worked a treat it I presume they’re all the same) and he was much much better.
When I saw the paediatrician he moved him to omprezole and this did the trick for him. The next day he was a completely different baby.
I was furious at how much we were fobbed off by people saying it’s ‘normal baby behaviour’. We couldn’t put him down for weeks on end without him screaming and that’s not normal. I remember the first time he slept in his crib for a couple of hours, I cried with relief.
Anyway he definitely didn’t and doesn’t have a CMPA although I’m aware that In many cases this is the root cause.

@abouttimemum - thank you for sharing that. The GPs keep telling me it’s normal noises he’s making but he sounds like he’s constantly clearing his throat.
That on top of the fact that if he’s not asleep, he’s pretty much 100% crying or about to.
I really hope we can get a paed appointment because the Gaviscon aren’t working today and I really want him seen with his noises. His ‘voice’ doesn’t sound hoarse if you know what I mean but I’m so worried.

Video the noises.
What is a full bottle, how many ml or oz?

@GenevaMaybe
Filmed them and 120ml

Have you tried offering more milk from the bottle to see if takes more?
My baby had silent reflux and was on omeprazole from 3 weeks old. She simply could not lie on her back, that’s the only thing that makes me question it in your baby.
Getting a diagnosis and prescription is really hard. Don’t be fobbed off. It may be reflux or CMPA or something else.
The insane crying in the evening is quite standard for this age and is because of overstimulation usually. What are his naps like?

@GenevaMaybe - that’s a fair point. I was just saying to DH that he’s been lying flat on his back for about an hour now gurgling away talking to us (co-sleeper) but it’s been nearly 3 hours since his last feed so not sure if he’d be able to as the acid would have settled?
He’s got other signs of reflux like swallowing when he’s not feeding, choking a little etc and the grunting noises.
It’s so hard!

@GenevaMaybe - and he sleeps through the day but manic at night!

Following as sounds exactly like my 3 week old! I also think silent reflux, but as soon young reluctant to medicate-he also will sleep flat in the day but displays all the symptoms in the book at night.

Mine had silent reflux then full blown reflux until she walked at 12 months.

She wasn’t a crier, but she was so hoarse and grunty and even started choking a couple of times in her sleep. We trialled completely dairy free formula for a month but it didn’t help - ranitidine made the difference, and then weaning at 4 months reduced the discomfort (not the puke, but that’s a different matter) and sitting independently at 5 months removed it entirely. Walking seemingly fixed the whole thing.

What also helped was sleeping with a VERY tilted crib, and lots of time upright in the day on our shoulders or in a carrier.

@thunderthighsohwoe - this!! He’s so grunty it’s unreal. Whether just picking him up etc, he’s constantly making really odd noises and we’ve experienced the choking thing. I’m terrified he’s swallowing the wrong way.
Did your LO’s noises/hoarseness disappear?
Mine sounds like he’s constantly trying to clear his throat but when he gurgles, coos etc, his ‘voice’ doesn’t sound hoarse?

@Zooforhouse - Sorry to hear that! I keep swinging back and forth between it being reflux or nothing but his noises bother me.
3 weeks is when reflux makes itself known so I wouldn’t be surprised!