Is it Reflux?

[Anonymous]

My wife and i endured one of our worst night yet last night, our 4 month old just didnt sleep.

I called our Health visitor and she has been out this morning gave him a check up and suggested it could be Reflux.

She has made us a doctors appointment for this afternoon but after reading the posts on here i’m not so sure it is Reflux.

He doesnt sleep for more than 45 mins at a time and as he wont take a bottle can only be comforted by my wifes breast, so sleep is and has been limited for the whole 4 months.

I have said from the off that there is some uncomfort thats unsettling him but having tried Gripe water and a whole host of other things he still cannot sleep for more than an hour… we have treid everything.

He used to projectile vomit quite a bit but in the last two months this has decreased to just small amounts of sick. The more i read the more vomit seems to be the major factor in peoples description of Reflux.

When he wakes he screams so there are aspects that i can relate to Reflux but the vomiting just doesnt match (not anymore at least).

I would be lying if i said my wife and i were not at our wits end it is not easy coping with the sleep deprevation as well as trying to ensure a 3 year old is uneffected and looked after.

Does this sound like Reflux to you?

Your advise and experience is greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

YES, YES AND YES!! I’ve had two refluxers. My daugher hardly spit up at all, and my son would vomit all over the place. Those who don’t spit are what we call “silent refluxers.” And, often, they have it worse because they will reflux up the stomach contents and then swallow it back down. Thus, they get the burn of acid twice.

It sounds like medication is your next step. Check out http://www.marci-kids.com for the best info on infant reflux medication, dosing, and descriptions. Most docs tend to underdose infants because they don’t take into account their crazy fast metabolism.

In the meantime, try a few mls of Mylanta to see if it helps during the swallow/scream fests. If she settles, you can bet that she has reflux/acid pain.

You have come to the right place. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your reply, the doctor has referred us to the hospital on Wednesday for a more thorough examination.

I read up on Silent Reflux and it says its difficult to diagnose so i will go there armed with as much knowledge as i can find in the meantime.

Not looking forward to tonight but hopefully they will find something on Wednesday that will put an end to our sleep deprevation.

I will try sitting him upright after his feed for a while and raising his matress slightly to see if that helps.

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

ditto to what Naomi said. I almost bet that silent reflux is what you are dealing with! It goes undiagnosed tons but it sounds like what you have. Good Luck with your appointment!

[hellbennt]

my baby had SEVERE silent reflux.

swaddling and babywearing SAVED us (along w/ PROPER medication!)

Babywearing: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&PN=1

http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum

and for local babywearers in the UK: http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=129

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old had silent reflux and I had a heck of a time convincing his dr. that’s what it was until it showed on the upper GI. He was miserable from 3 weeks old and would rarely sleep. It wasn’t until he was 5 months and on a good dose of meds that he became a happy baby but he never really ate normal until recently.

[Anonymous]

I would presume it’s reflux. Sounds a lot like my daughter, actually. BUT, I would also prepare in advance for what you would like from your doctor presuming it is reflux. What I mean by that is that it seems that most people, especially in the UK and Canada, leave their doctor visit with infant gaviscon and a message that the baby will outgrow it. I hope that doesn’t depress you. When that doesn’t work, they will get something like zantac and then if that doesn’t work, they will get a medication called a PPI, but the PPI is at a dose that’s much too low to work and in an ineffective form. If you think it’s reflux and you want a good dose of a reflux med, have an idea what kind and how much you’d like off the bat, then tell your doc. Some people on this forum should be able to help you with that. Sorry if I sound disillusioned by the health care system. My dd was started on zantac at 2 months when her feeding aversion finally turned into feeding refusal and they acknowledged that maybe it was reflux not colic. When it did nothing, we moved on to a low dose of PPI in a useless form. It took months to get things on track, by that time she was miserable and so were we. Had I known then what I know now, I would have asked for what I wanted from the get go . Good luck.

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