Does DS2 have reflux and why won't he sleep?!

[Herrena]

....at night, that is.

He sleeps fine on his own in the daytime, waking occasionally (every 3-4 h or so)for feeds, but he wakes up so frequently at night (often sounding like he's in pain) and doesn't seem to want anything other than to be cuddled. Not really interested in food at night either (he's FF).

He usually goes down around 8pm, then wakes at 11, then 1, then 3, then 4, then 5.... and after that he may sleep until 7 if I'm lucky.

I think he may have silent reflux as he seems to show symptoms - arched back and red face just after feeds, needs loads of burping, white tongue, vinegary poos, often seems to be struggling with the teat and feeds slowly (although bizarrely if he feeds at night he's much better at it).

Can babies have mild reflux that mostly affects them at night? Will the GP dismiss me as a neurotic mum if I go to them? I am KNACKERED as we have a 15mo DS1 and I do all the night feedings with DS2 because DH occasionally has to get up with DS1 (once a night, every other night) and then work all day. So I look after them both all day on minimal sleep.

I would appreciate any advice you can offer!

Hi. My DS was exactly the same. Slept like a dream during the day, but at night lord. He had reflux and during the day he slept in his bouncy chair. Laying flat at night was the problem. I decided to put him in his chair at night too for a bit. Curled up in his chair he slept better. I was worried about doing this at first, because of his spine etc. but we figured it would be for just a short period if his life that it would be ok. We all needed the sleep too. At about 9 weeks it did start to wear off and he slept in his Moses basket more and more and about 12 weeks he went into his cot. It does seem like it is going to last forever and reflux is horrendous for everyone to 'live' through. But it will be over before you know it and you'll not remember really when it stopped and it will. Hang in there. Get him checked out at the docs and they'll prescribe Gaviscon Infant which helped enormously. Good luck

If you can afford it, go to a private gastro-pead. The Portland hospital are good if you're in London. But I say that as I found my GPs terrible on the issue of reflux. I spend months trying to work through my GPs suggestions eg gaviscon, and lost valuable time. Now my LO associates feeding with pain and is a fussy eater. Even one appointment might help you with coping and treatment strategies. Good luck x

Sorry Mich, re-read my post and didn't want to sounds flippant about gaviscon. It didn't help us and wasn't a good option for my DS (I heard it thickens feeds and so they drink less to fill tummy which wasn't good for my son as he was failure to thrive :( ). Glad it worked for your DC though!! X

My ds was the same try propping up his Moses basket /cot so he is lying with his head higher, this made a difference. also my son would only sleep on his front, I know it's not recommended and I lay awake most of the night at first making sure he was breathing! But it worked for us, he ended up getting carobel thickener for his feeds and ranitidine. But he just wouldn't take his milk at all, the meds helped. Sending hugs - it's a hard thing to deal with but you'll get there x

I breastfeed exclusively so couldn't add Gaviscon to feeds. We also used Colief which helped us. The chair was the main problem solver tbh