Silent reflux/CMPA or normal newborn???

[Richtea67]

Hi, I plan to speak with HV/GP but would like MNetters experiences. Not wanting to over-medicalise what may be normal developmental behaviour. So 5 week old DD will not be put down flat on her back...will only sleep upright on us, in sling or rocking chair. I am bf and ff. At night lots of crying/fussiness, some but less so during the day. bf is a bit hit and miss, sometimes very settled and feeds well. At other times arches back, pulls off boob and cries (looks in pain). This is mostly at night. I was co-sleeping and feeding to sleep, but she currently finds no comfort in this and will not settle on her back in bed to me (for the last week) which was the one thing saving my sanity. with ff will make a gasping noise when feeding and after. Not vomiting after but sounds like she is regurgitating (choking/coughing) then swallowing/gulping it back down, particularly if laid down. Lots of wet and dirty nappies...poos are yellow and very loose (not formed at all/diarrhea) and we have about 10+ poos a day accompanied by lots of gas and discomfort. HV says the frequency of poos is normal and should reduce soon.

We have tried lying her on an incline, as well as all the usual (swaddle, white noise, hot water bottle to warm surface, dummy etc). Nothing seems to help.

So during the day not so much of an issue as I can wear her in the sling or supervise in her swinging chair, but we are struggling at night. My husband and I are taking shifts overnight. We keep trying with the moses basket/next 2 me, but end up holding her upright to sleep. We are exhausted which worries me as my husband drives for work, and I worry about my safety driving on the school run (too far to walk), and have a long term health condition which the sleep deprivation is exacerbating.

Now I may get lots of judgement here for my next question... but have people in a similar situation resulted to putting babies on their side/tummy or on a pillow to sleep. I'm too worried to do this currently, but balancing out the risks in mine/husbands ability to function safely I am considering trying it, although think this may make me incredibly anxious. As I say, we were following safe co-sleeping but for the last week she has been unable to tolerate this, and has not found any comfort from the boob. What do people feel is the safest thing to do?? Or any other ideas?? We're desperate! Thanks in advance for advice and sharing experiences.

This sounds exactly like DD. Discovered silent reflux at 6 weeks in, GP prescribed baby Gaviscon and there was a significant improvement. Still had to hold her upright for half an hour after a feed, even overnight but we went from no sleep at all to some sleep to good sleep.

CMPA & Reflux

@MuddyBadge and @PerfectPrepPrincess thank you, I will give the GP a ring on Monday. It is so difficult to know what is normal fussiness and when something else underlying is going on...

@Richtea67 sounds like how DD was when she turned 4 weeks old.
She was diagnosed with CMPA (potentially) and silent reflux.

During the day she was ok. She would vomit alot during and after feeds but seemed relatively bright and happy.
Night time was a different story though. She would sleep ok on her back but would make constant noises like she was swallowing hard, would bring her legs up to her chest and kick all the blankets off in the process and get cold. She would also regurgitate milk alot in her sleep which was terrifying as she would basically choke.
She would always go off to sleep fine but after an hour would get restless then settle when held upright.

GP diagnosed CMPA without seeing her and gave us prescription formula.
She got alot worse and we saw a paediatrician from a 111 referral who gave us Gaviscon which helped for a few weeks then she got worse again.
We took her to paediatric A&E and were given Omeprazole which was an absolute game changer.

We had been given smaller feeds more often to not overload her stomach. Wind after every 1-2oz of milk. Really important to get the wind up.
Infacol helped before each feed.
Keep upright for 30mins after each feed.
Once she was omeprazole she was alot better and we got to the point where we could feed and lay her down straight after.

Its really horrid and absolutely bloody exhausting. GP's from my experience are useless with babies, ask for a paediatric referral and they will help you.

Silent reflux baby here. Elevating the head of the cot helped and keeping up right after feeding. Breast milk has anti reflux properties. He prefered side sleeping, but I didn't find that out till he could roll over. The arching back while feeding is gas. Not wanting to add to your situation but be prepared for weaning to go slower too because reflux babies struggle with lumps.