Does this sound like silent reflux to you?

[Mazzatron]

Hi all. My health visitor has said my son has got silent reflux. I'm not 100% sure and wanted to run it past everyone. She diagnosed it after a very brief chat on the phone about his poor sleep and a feeding question I had.

He has the following 'symptoms'

Crying after feeds but not always.
Inconsolable crying and screaming usually in evenings but can be earlier in the day also.
Eats a lot - always accepts bottle and always drains it. Gets upset when it's time to burp half way.
Gassy - holds on to wind
Takes a long time to settle to sleep although some slight improvement recently.
Doesn’t stay asleep long. Sometimes 1.5 hours at night. Sometimes 20 - 40 mins
Squirming, grimacing throughout the day
Trapped wind, hard to burp.
Hates to be on back but manages 2 hour sleeps sometimes at night. Some days wakes up instantly put on back.
Sneezes
Noises - grunts, gagging
Bubbles around mouth occasionally
Constipated Occasionally
Very sensitive to sounds

What do people thing? Is this all just explained by being a (cranky) newborn? Or does this sound like silent reflux?

Thank you

Just to add some days he has all of these symptoms intensely and other days he seems to not be suffering quite as bad. Would silent reflux take a day off?

Forgot to say he is 6 weeks old tmw

Sounds like reflux. May also worth looking into CMPA (cow's milk protein allergy) as my eldest was the same as this.

It does sound like reflux, My little boy has been the same he would only settle 20-30 mins at a time if that and scream, he would also spit back up but was hardly ever sick or if he was it would be a tiny bit, he was hiccuping constantly and would scream in pain everytime he’s got to get his wind up & just wouldn’t be put down if we managed to get him down it would be for 20 mins or so and he would be back up and just generally really unsettled he has just been prescribed baby gaviscon for silent reflux & he’s honestly like a different baby! So settled, takes his bottle, gets his wind straight up and goes straight back down without any screaming/pain, he’s just gone 7 weeks too x

Yes really similar to DS also any hiccuping?

Mine arched her back lots which is a classic sign of reflux - have you seen him do that?

I'd go to your GP and ask for info on meds - they may try switching your formula or give infant gaviscon to add to your current formula which is easy to do (assuming you're formula feeding as you mention bottle but correct me if wrong - I have lots of tips with gaviscon and breastfeeding if needed!)

@KatieKat88 he does arch his back a bit yes.

He does have short periods of being settled but the main thing is the sleep, waking after so little sleep and he can take hours to settle.

I'm seeing the GP this afternoon with him. Will let you know what happens

@Paige29 ok thank you sounds very similar. How is the baby gaviscon administered?

Hope all goes well with the GP @Mazzatron

Hi ladies - following this one with interest as my 6 week old is in exactly the same boat @Mazzatron - we've been prescribed infant Gaviscon too but I'm breastfeeding and don't have enough time in the day to pump enough for more than 2 or 3 bottles for the Gaviscon to go into, so not getting up to the max. 6 sachets daily. Any tips would be great @KatieKat88!

@wannabemum1989 so my DD had a bottle in the morning which was easy. Then I gave her gaviscon mixed with water (as it says on the box) in a bottle for breastfeeds. It says to give it midway through the feed but I found that impossible because DD would get 4 minutes in and be inconsolable like clockwork. So my GP said it was fine to give it before the feed as long as she did feed afterwards (but if you need to go down that route check with yours first!). I had a tray where I'd have a baby bottle of cooled boiled water, gaviscon sachets, scissors (to open them), clean bottle/teats - basically everything I needed - and then would take this upstairs with me at night too. It was a massive pain in the neck but sorted the silent reflux and I can't express how much of a relief that was.

I was lucky as I had the meds prescribed just before lockdown 1 and then as I didn't need to go anywhere it was easy to make up at home. DD was 4 months when this happened (I think it can peak around then) but by around 5 months I was able to reduce it to morning and evening and by the time she was trying food at 6 months she didn't need it at all. I think just her getting older helped.

Thanks for sharing your experience @KatieKat88 - I think I'll check with the doctor if I can take the cooled boiled water approach too (they gave different instructions than the ones on the packet, maybe because my baby is still so young, not sure) 😊

It does sound like reflux but reflux is a symtom which meds will just mask. I would look at cmpa as a potential cause.

Sounds exactly like my DD at 6 weeks old, she was started on Omeprazole and within a few days was like another baby. She is 8 weeks now and so much happier

@RizzleRazzle ok wow that's good to hear. How do you administer the omeprazole? We've just been prescribed it too. What time of day and with a feed or without??
Thank you