Silent reflux - when does it get better?

[Lgw20]

At 10 weeks we ended up in A&E as our little one was refusing all his feeds.

He was diagnosed with silent reflux and we were given omeprazole.

Two weeks on his symptoms slightly improved, his feeds increased. But he still get random waves of pain where he screams and struggles to sleep. He also has some days of fussy feedings / hiccups etc.

I really don't feel the omeprazole is helping much, should I bother carrying on?

Could this also be something else causing the reflux, an allergy perhaps?

And when did this get better for others? We are currently 12 weeks.

I'm just so tired and sad that we can't enjoy this time together and bond as he's in pain a lot. And it's so hard for me and my partner with the lack of sleep and the intensity of all this. Just looking for some help :(

We were in a similar situation. DD wasn't refusing food but was struggling to breathe as the milk/acid came back up silently and she was clearly in pain and distressed. We went to Drs at 10 weeks, omeprazole prescribed. From memory it took two weeks to kick in and then things gradually got better. She was on it until weaned at 6 months or so. It worked for us but you have my sympathy she's now 17 months but I can still hear her crying in pain like it was yesterday. Hang on in there. If in a few weeks it doesn't get better definitely go back to the Dr.

Hi, I've been here. My daughter had silent reflux and it was a hellish time. We took her to an osteopath and the issue pretty much disappeared after two sessions. I really would give it a go

My daughter started refusing all feeds when she was around 6 weeks old and we ended up in hospital and were in and out for a week and were finally prescribed Omeprazole and Neocate formula for CMPA. It took around 4 weeks for her to settle on these but then we saw a good improvement.

Omeprazole was a godsend for us. It transformed both my babies into happy, cheerful ones from miserable, crying ones!

For us, it got better with weaning & being able to sit up independently. Solid food stays down better. And gives the stomach more to do. Both mine weaned off it 8/9 months once we established 3 meals a day.

I’d say if omeprazole isn’t really working, it’s not silent reflux that’s the issue. Omeprazole basically stops stomach acid production. Not entirely but a good 90%. So it really does work for heartburn/reflux.

Worth considering a milk allergy maybe..

@Bobholll thanks for your reply :)

How long before your omeprazole started to work?

Yeah I have considered an allergy... however doctors fob this off a lot.

Not until we discovered the girls allergies

The doctors fobbed me off again and again. She refused feeds and cried all the time. It wasn't until she finally was prescribed neocate that things got better.

@Superfoodie123 hi could you tell me what the oestopath did for your baby please? I am in a similar situation and she is taking omeprazole and it’s helping but she’s now 5 months and the dose is continually having to be increased. She has silent reflux but seems to get worse pains and coughing just before her next bottle is due 3.5 to 4 hours later x

Do you know what is causing the reflux? Have they been checked for tongue tie, taking in lots of air while feeding etc?
An allergy can also be the cause as others have said, but if they don't have any other symptoms I'd personally be checking for how they're feeding first. Allergy formulas are very thin (although can be thickened) and often can cause more reflux if it's caused by something like tongue tie.

@BabyB2022 hi thanks for your reply.. we had been on Neocate for a while (8 weeks) and mucus continued in her nappy if anything It got worse so we went back to aptamil. I had her checked for tongue tie but they said she wasn’t. Her weight and reflux improved after we went back to aptamil and started omeprazole (started both at the same time) they dr thinks she will grow out of it but i do think she has a dairy intolerance with her excema and cheeks flaring up during the bottle. It’s so hard to know what to do. I’m actually thinking the neocate and oneprazole might be best but afraid to change it and hoping if we hold out it will get better eek