Colic? Silent Reflux? Just being a baby?

[Nobaddays]

DD is four weeks tomorrow and for the past week she has been getting more and more tetchy in the evenings and being difficult to settle.

She is constantly wanting the boob but then pulling off and screaming. Sometimes she also chokes when having a feed (almost like there is too much milk or it’s coming too fast?) this only seems to happen in the evenings. She seems to feed ok in the mornings.

Her burps (when she burps) sound wet or it sounds like she’s gulping when she burps. She’s had the sniffles since she was 1 week old. She doesn’t actually vomit like my DS used to - he had reflux but it was easier to diagnose as he had projectile vomiting from 3 weeks old and wasn’t gaining weight well.

Tonight DD has been crying since roughly 4pm only stopping for feeds. But even during the day I can’t leave her down for long as she just starts crying.

My DS had reflux but it was easier for the GP to diagnose as he had projectile vomiting. DD is just boobing nonstop and crying nonstop.

Is this just colic or could it be silent reflux? The main GP I see is on holiday and the HV is useless (not even been round to weigh her since I gave birth).
My DS was also an unsettled baby. I was really hoping things would be different this time round 😔

Choking on the feed, distressed during and after feed, and the wet burps does sound like there's some reflux going on there.

Thank you @Tulpabean - she seemed fine this morning when feeding and did a few good burps. The fussiness has kicked in again this afternoon though (but she’s sleeping on me now). Really hoping it’s not reflux 🙏

@Nobaddays for me, a lot of babies have reflux but the difference is whether it causes a bigger problem and is really distressing. If it gets to a point where baby isn't happy more of the time then it's maybe worth looking at. If baby is more settled and you can keep her upright more of the time and manage it yourself then . My wee one is on omeprazole for reflux and I'd defo rather have managed it without, but it got impossible.

Hi we're having similar issues with our 8 week old DS. He is EBF and was fine up until he was 4 weeks old (apart from some latch issues we had at the start but that was resolved). He is gaining weight well and his nappies are consistent of a typical breastfed baby but he is constantly unsettled and if he's not feeding or sleeping he seems to be crying and it's definitely worse of an evening. He coughs and splutters during feeds, pulls away and cries a lot during feeds and afterwards, he wants feeds often but then comes away quickly and fights his sleep- it's a vicious cycle of feeding, rocking, settling with lots of crying (and nappy changes) and very little sleep.

We haven't got to the bottom of the problem yet but a few things you may want to consider based on what we have been advised by our local NHS infant feeding specialist (who has been brilliant and really supportive). Like already suggested, it could be colic- we tried Infacol with no luck.

Another thing to consider is a diary intolerance and/ or allergy- I've now cut this out of my diet 2 weeks ago but it hasn't helped as of yet but something you may wish to try.

It was then suspected that the symptoms were as a result of a forceful letdown and an overactive milk supply (both of which I already knew I had), as this can result in the baby getting too much foremilk and not enough hind milk (and thus too much lactose). I've spent the last week or so feeding off one side for two consecutive feeds before switching with the aim to reduce my supply. This actually seemed to work for a few days but things seemed to have gone backwards again. We're now wondering if it's silent reflux??

Sorry I'm not much help as we're still trying to figure out what it is too but thought I'd reply with the suggestions about milk supply and diary intolerance and hopefully if anyone else has any experience of this and if anything worked would be great to hear!

Nice knowing we're not the only ones going through this anyway!x

Is it maybe colic? Annoyingly I never found infacol or gripe water did much - it just passed as a phase in time. Have you tried reaching out to La leche league? They're pretty good at giving tips / reassuring.