Questions for parents of babies with silent reflux

[AmyAW]

We've just been given a diagnosis of silent reflux for our DD who is 5 weeks old, but I'm not sure her symptoms match up to it...

Parents of babies with silent reflux, does the below match up to any of your experiences?

• She never cries from it - only audible symptom is throat clearing
• She will stop the throat clearing if we co-sleep or if she's lying in my arms
• She will also stop if placed on her front

None of the above seems to match any lists of symptoms - her behaviour feels selective. I really want to understand why she is throat clearing in some situations before she hurts her vocal chords or throat... :(

Well, silent reflux could be considered the new diagnosis for colic, and doctors are often happy to attribute many symptoms to it since there's no real cure for it.
Are those really her only symptoms? Does she sleep lying down in the day? Is she settled after a feed?
Does this throat clearing sound like phlegm on the chest, like congestion?

Symptoms are continous throat clearing when lying down, then she'll also cough during feeding but I think that's more to do with my let down being fast. She'll cry when feeding due to that, but she seems totally unphased by the throat clearing.

She's always happy after a feed, and never cries from being put in her crib, but will make these throaty noises as soon as she's on her back - day or night. The noise is like she's trying to clear her throat, not coming from lungs or breathing, and her breathing is totally unaffected...

Well it doesn't sound like silent reflux to me. My son was diagnosed with it, Dr gave us gaviscon, which kind of helped some of the time. But now I'm not convinced, l think he's just an unsettled baby who wants to be held all the time.

The throat clearing makes me think allergies. If breastfed then could be something in your diet, wheat or dairy are the likely culprits. If formula then could be cows milk intolerance.

It's possible she's not doing it when lying with you because it's enough to relax her and distract from it. But that's just guessing.

What is her toilet like, I have a dairy intolerance and if I eat it, it makes my chest feel heavy and phlegmy and I have to keep clearing my throat. X

Mine had silent reflux and she was miserable so it doesn't sound much like our experience. Allergies perhaps?

Thanks all. My instinct is it's not reflux - it just doesn't seem to fit - I did notice she's made the noises this evening before she farts, so it may be her using this noise to try and get her digestive system moving!?

Will monitor her over the weekend and take her back to the doctors on Monday to talk about allergies.

Mine had silent reflux and besides being very very unsettled, she used to grunt a lot during sleep (but no throat clearing, more like a deep moaning).
There's no way to test for reflux but you can tell if it's that or something else by administering the medicine. In our case, omepreazole transformed my baby almost overnight. That's how I know the diagnosis was right.

What did your doctor prescribe?

No prescription made - told it was 'one of those things' and will pass before she's two. Our doctor and health visitor have shown no interest.

We have tilted her crib and fed upright, with little impact. She's making the noises right now while on her back, yet has been upright and hasn't fed in two hours... Yet seems unphased by it all. No crying.

My DDs both had reflux and are dairy intolerant. A paediatrician told me that it is now recognised that the vast majority of babies with reflux are dairy intolerant. Approx 90% will grow out of both the dairy intolerance and the reflux by age 1.

Mine had silent reflux and was inconsolable during feeds. Infant gaviscon sorted it out and she was perfectly happy feeding after she'd had it.

@AmAmyAW go private. Find 200 quid somewhere and get it sorted. That's what we did, the gp and hv ignored us too.
Then, once the private Paediatrician prescribed the omeprazole, we convinced the gp to prescribe it too so it's free.

My son is a teenager now so my memories are hazy.

He cried a lot when laying down and especially in the night if he woke up and his stomach was empty. He could scream (not cry) for two hours. He would be ok once he got some milk inside him but would often be too distressed to start to feed.
In the day he liked to be upright, either sitting, in a walker/bouncer or being held. He sat up unaided early and was a very early walker and I am sure that reflux was the motivation.

He had a barium swallow test to diagnose officially. He was on omeprazole, gaviscon and ranitidine.

Thanks all. My daughters symptoms don't sound anywhere close to this, and are selective when being held or co-sleeping. We'll try the GP again and if not will consider going private. We just want to make sure she's okay and the easy diagnosis isn't masking something else.