slient reflux

Hi there!

I am new to this website and had a question for all you mums out there with babies with silent reflux.

Molly is now five months old & was officially diagnosed with silent reflux at about 2.5 months (though I suspected something was not right at about six weeks).

She is currently on losec twice a day and zantac three times a day. Her attacks are normally sometime after her 6pm feed but when she is having a bad day she will wake up during her lunch nap or in the middle of the night. Since taking the drugs she has improved a great deal and the screaming sessions/symptons are not nearly as bad... She is now at the point that I can settle her in the evening without too much trouble but once asleep (7pm) she will wake up periodically over a 2-3 hour period until she finally goes down after her final feed at 10pm.
As her symptons are not nearly as bad or obvious I'm not sure if she is waking up because she is in pain (though not as much as she used to be) or if she has now developed some sort of association with this time of night and getting lots of attention. I'm reluctant to let her cry it out just in case.....

Any advice??? I figure that getting them to settle is normally the hard part but catnapping like that must mean she is suffering a bit......

I think that if she is on zantac 3x and losec 2x, this is a large dose of meds, if this is what she is needing right now, then she is probably waking in pain unfortunately.

With Parker I tried to CIO with him and I just did not know how much the reflux was preventing him from sleeping and what I found was it would work for a couple of days and then be bad again and I could not work it out since my other son was such a perfect CIO candidate.

Unfortunately a full 8 hours sleep didn't happen until about 18 months :( but he also didn't get the right meds until 16 months so hopefully it will be a lot earlier for you guys.

Is her cot elevated? That helped with us.

Thanks for the advice.

It's so hard to know the right thing to do! I let her cry for 15 mins last night but couldn't take it any longer and went in to settle her (on three occasions over a two hour period).

Molly's cot is elevated and I have just started feeding her formula (for reflux babies) at her 5pm feed to see if the thickened milk helps. She has also started solids as per the paed's instructions but I'm not entirely sure if they are making it better or worse....

What does CIO stand for?

CIO = cry it out (controlled crying)

Poor Molly sounds like she's having a tough time at the moment :( When she wakes does it seem like she is pain? Is she pulling her legs up, pulling faces, flailing about? I think it might be the only way to tell if it's pain or just a habit at this stage. Do you feel like she's in pain? Mother's instincts count for a lot IMO. If she is in pain, it's a matter of comfortinh her & waiting it out until the episode is over. Not much fun is it??

Zander had sleep issues due to his reflux & it just took time for his reflux to resolve & him to be able to sleep properly.

Thanks Sarah.

It's hard to tell lately because Mollys reflux symptons as a whole have calmed down dramatically. The days of endless screaming, hoarsiness, gulping, long upsetting hiccups and throwing her legs and arms around in obvious pain seem to have subsided. The only clue I get these days is some minor gulping and short screaming sessions. I have discovered a dummy only recently which has really settled her down a great deal and tends to comfort her when she is irritable.
What makes me think it could be a habit is that she tends to calm down as soon as I come in the room and will go to sleep pretty much straight away with a little rock or sshhh. If only they could tell you what was wrong! Sometimes I think it could be habit and other times I'm just not sure. Perhaps the symptons are only minor now but are enough to wake her up looking for a little comfort from mum.....
It seems to have become a bit of an obsession for me at the moment as I want my baby girl to be settled and quite frankly I'd like my social life back! (it makes it hard to get a babysitter or friend to look after her in the evenings). I have pretty much given up dairy and my much adored morning coffee and seem to be analysing everything I eat! Molly is also teething at the moment which Im sure doesn't help!

I think you are probably right... only time will heal.

Did you find that solids helped with Zanders reflux?

Aww poor chook with teething thrown into the mix as well :hugs: Have you thought of the possibility that she might have a bit of seperation anxiety and just needs to see that mummy is still there?

As for solids, I don't think it made much difference other than his vomits were more colourful LOL! His reflux didn't settle down until he was around 10 months old & when he start crawling at 6 months it got worse for a while so I had a vomit trail round the house EWWW!

Who knows! I guess all I can do for now is keep giving her the love and attention she needs until it all settles down!

Gee whiz it must have been hard work cleaning up all that vomit all the time! I think that is the one and only advantage of silent reflux - no messy vomits!

Thanks for your advice, it's nice to talk to a mum who understands what you are going through.

If you have just started the forumla this could be a problem, most Anti reflux formulas are full milk based, this is hard for a refluxer to digest so it actually makes it worse, because it sits and doesn't digest quick, so that means more reflux.

You can try a hypoallergenic formula like the Nan HA this may work better.

Thanks Scarlet121.

I did read that breast milk is by far the best option as it digests quicker but in desperation I thought I would give the formula a go. Molly has only had it once so far and I saw no real change. I will try the one you suggested however.... can you buy it at ordinary chemists?