Breastfeeding & Silent Reflux.... need some info please

[Shanti]

Hi,

My DD is 4 weeks old and I recently found out just last week that she has "Silent Reflux". We spent a night in hospital last week where a Paediatrician treated her for it and turns out the medication has worked so that is what it is she also presents for all the symptoms of it. She was crying in pain all day long, not settling after feeds, pulling off breast during feeds and crying in pain, arching her back during and after feeds, not sleeping, coughing.
She's on 'Losec' tablets (half tablet per day) and also on a homeopathic remedy called "Mariners Infant Mixture". We are hoping to wean her off the tablets soon and just use the infant mixture if we can as it's more natural. We will see how she goes.
Hoping her reflux sorts itself out in the next few weeks and passes!

I've had alot of BF'ing issues, from painful cracked damaged nipples from poor attachment to lack of supply (due to not feeding often enough) and have been having help from a Lactation Consultant who visits me and has been so great. My milk supply is back up again now after expressing and topping up DD's feeds with EBM. My nipple on the R side is so painful and cracked however I'm persisting thru the pain.
I'm exclusively BF'ing however the last two nights have given DD (with much hesitation!) some top up's of formula as she wasn't taking to the breast effectively and is quite often a lazy feeder.

I'm after any advice and support from other Mum's out there who are BF'ing and have a silent reflux bub..... any tips and advice for helping to BF my DD with this condition?
I've been told it can make BF'ing harder than someone who BF a non-reflux bub. Perhaps that's why I've had so many issues also?

I've been advised of a book you can buy through the ABA regarding Silent Reflux and BF'ing and I've organised with a lady to get one tomorrow from her. (she's with ABA).

So any tips or advice please thank you so much. And allergies... do I need to consider that she may have allergies?

[rufalina]

Ren. so sorry to hear you have had to go through this with your DD. Reflux is tough. And silent is hard. My DS had reflux but his was the not so slient. I managed to BF him exclusively for nearly 6 months, and only weaned him for my non-related health issues. DS was prescribed Zantac, but I didnt use it for long as it made his wind pains (colic) worse. We managed to use gripe water for the most part, and I wold pull out the Zantac if he was really bad for a couple of days to control the pain.

My DS's reflux was not too severe, but there were days whe I never though I would get through them, with him screaming in pain, and fussing every feed. I felt like my bbs were broken and the reason for his pain. It is hard. I basicly did an elimation diet for myself. I watched what I ate and found the triggers for DS and cut those foods out of my diet. For us it was chocolate (which I HATED not eating), anything tomato based, or other traditional reflux foods (citrus, avocado, chilli, spicy), and alcohol. (I had a glass of wine on night after a hard day and that set Ds off in a spewing spin so that one was dropped from my menu too).

I was lucky enough that If I kept mself in check, DS was, for the most part, ok. We still had tough days.

I assume you have got the tip to feed in a more upright position, and the sleeping with a rolled up towel under the mattress to elevate the head. And to keep DD upright after the feed fr about 1/2hr or so, if you can. to help keep everything down. Some also find lying baby on their tummy good, as it can get the flap closed and keep food down. DS loved to be held in the football hold on DHs arm to fall asleep if he was in a lot of pain.

Dunno if any of that helps... But you sound like you are doing everthing you can for your DD... Including feeding her when she is hungry, and if that ihappens to be an occasional ff, that is ok.

xo

[StrawberryMumma]

Hey Renstar

Sorry you have had a tough time. Reflux is horrible- I feel your pain!

Just to give you some hope, my DD was a nasty refluxer (needed Losec for 10 months). But despite that, our bf journey is still going strong at 21 months! But yes, I agree reflux can make feeding a bit harder. I think you need a lot of patience (to persist through all the screaming, and to sit there and keep them upright for as long as possible after feeds..etc etc). It is a bit more time consuming IYKWIM. I can remember times when our DD would be screaming at me during a feed and I would be looking at DH, while crying, and thinking to myself I CAN'T DO IT! But, being on Losec was a life saver.. Before that we would have hours of screaming

I know medication is not the ideal situation. I must admit I hated the thought of DD being on it for so long, but the fact is she needed it. Reflux is such a painful thing for them, so try not to feel to bad if she needs to stay on it, don't rush it, as it is much worse to have them in pain all the time.

I think the thing that helped us, secondly to the Losec, was just always having her upright. Feeding upright as possible, upright after feeds, sleeping etc.

Hope things really improve from now onwards for you guys. You sound like a wonderful mum x

[DANNIIM]

Just wanted to give you a big hug Also don't beat youself up about a couple bottles of formula, as you know i am relactating and although not easy and it is ideal to BF solely, but one thing i have found with relactating is that it is much easier to read my boy's cues being that bit older. Just go with what ever gets you through as you are just trying your best.

All the best and i have found gripe water great as well for both of my boys!

[nic]

Ren. I can't offer any advice on the silent reflux, but just wanted to mention that we used Marina's Mixture for DS when he was full of wind and it was absolutely fantastic! He seemed to be a real spewy baby ( we had contemplated he may have had silent reflux) but when we gave him the Marina's mixture, he didn't chuck as much.
Hope things improve for you all soon

Nic

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

You've had a roller-coaster of an introduction to new motherhood. You'vee a great job. The first 6 weeks or so as a new mother are huge. It's never anything like we expected - and that pretty much goes for all of us.
To the contrary, many mothers of babies who have reflux say that breastfeeding is the only thing that got them through. Breastmilk is much easier for them to digest, and many relux babies intuitively seek smaller, more frequent feeds (imagine how your tummy feels after you've had a small light meal, and how it feels after you've had a really big meal) Most babies are fussy at some point in the day, and seek lots of small feeds close together. When you are breastfeeding you have a very handy tool to help comfort your child. Also, there is a high correlation between reflux and cow's milk intolerance - and formula is basically cow's milk.
The Australian Breastfeeding Association has an excellent booklet that you can get for only $5 = Breastfeeding and Gastro-oesophageal Reflus

[Meluchja]

I'm so sorry that you have had a rough last 4 weeks. I firstly just want to say, I think your doing an amazing job. Like Barb said, still BF her is the best thing you can be doing right now. And your very strong and brave for persisting through the pain of the cracked nipples. I hope your very proud of yourself. I know how emotionally draining it can be sometimes with a silent reflux baby. It breakes your heart to see them in so much pain hey, but good on you for following your instincts and getting her seen to and diagnosed so soon.

Hey Renstar

I know medication is not the ideal situation. I must admit I hated the thought of DD being on it for so long, but the fact is she needed it. Reflux is such a painful thing for them, so try not to feel to bad if she needs to stay on it, don't rush it, as it is much worse to have them in pain all the time.

This is a really good point. My DS had silent reflux and the first 8 weeks until it was diagnosed was very difficult, I was starting to think there was something wront with my BB milk. Anyway I tried all the natural medications for wind problems, Infants Friend, Brauers one, Mariners Infant Mixture, they helped to sooth his tummy, but made very little difference to his vomiting and swallowing it again. Once we used the Losec, we had a very different little boy. He was so content after each feed, slept like a angel, it was wonderful.

My doctor gave me good advice about the process of weaning him off it. She said at the start of every second script, try stopping for 3 days, and you will know if he is ready or not. And it's really obvious, I think from about day 2 he would start to suffer again, so we did this process for the next 10 months I think. Then just before he was 11 months we stopped and he was fine.

I too didn't like him on medication for so long, but it meant the difference between him being in pain and being a content and very happy little man.

I know you'll do was is right for your baby, after all you know her better than anyone else. So my advice would be to follow your instincts, it has worked for the 2 of you so far, I'd keep going with that.

[Je$$_84]

Just wanted to add my :2cents:

My DS had reflux and my DD silent reflux... .

DS was alot worse being GO-Reflux but still i did everything like i was told (no BB at this time) I was advices to stop BF anf to start on a AR formula at the 1st signs of supply issues. Stupidly i listened and gave in. i BF for 3 months and although i had supply issues i regret everyday that i didnt stick with it. I was made to believe changing to formula would be some miracle cure.... It sisnt change anything. in the end he grew out of it by walking age.

I think your doing a wonderful job. I hated medicating my son but the poor thing was in so much pain.

This time round with DS i started using brauers stomach calm and colic relief. Works wonders. I think i used the zantac once or twice and heard about brauers and switched with better results. I again had supply issues with DD but worked through them til 7 months where my boobs gave in. We went from no silent reflux from 5 months to full blown symptoms once we started formula...

GL with your beautiful DD.

[aussienic]

This is what we were told my Ds2 had,, he spent a night in hospital at 7 weeks and had a barium test done and this is what they said.. I was expressing full time but you can use this product for Bf as well. Karicare thickener.. it has instructions on the back for how to use when Bf or bottle feeding..

(ps it made him sleep through the night to as its thick and made his tummy full)

[Shanti]

Thank you for your replies in this thread. I appreciate them

Now it appears that perhaps DD didn't have silent reflux after all and that she was just screaming in hunger..... because I was B/feeding her but found out on Monday she wasn't getting enough as she had lost more weight.... we've had many issues with this BFing like attachment issues, damaged nipples, DD being a lazy feeder etc.... now we have her on formula top ups and EBM she is doing much better and sleeping much better and even sleeps during the day now too!!
We still have her on Homeopathic remedy for reflux to see if that helps anyway also helps with wind and colic just incase.

Oh this parenting is confusing when one person tells you that your baby probably has silent reflux and another specialist tells you your baby was just STARVING!!

eta i have a BF thread going in the BF support area.

[MantaRay]

Ren, have you seen your LC again? You are doing such an amazing job hun, you really haven't had an easy start

[Shanti]

Thanks MR. Yes I saw her Monday. She's due to visit tomorrow. I'm hoping to get Ava back onto both L and R nipples tomorrow rather than just the L side. R one has been healing.
I'm so tired of expressing and just want to exclusively BF her again. It sure has been tough!! At times I have quite often wanted to give up. I'm on Maxalon and worried my milk supply is still not high enough..... any other suggestions how to improve milk supply? it's not realistic for me to pump more often than 3-4hrs as I just don't have the time in between feeding, settling etc.

[Matryoshka]

My first had silent refulx, and my second just reflux, but severe. Things that helped me were:

Feeding with him "sitting" up rather than lying down (your lc might have shown you how to do this)
Wearing in carrier after feeds so he is upright
Feed as much as possible (had to do this with my first as he would throw right back up)

I don't think you should have to express that many hours a day, it can't be a good quality of life for you and you need the rest! I would just keep putting her on the boob, you can try nipple stimulation yourself too.

You're doing a really good job.

[Devon]

Hey Ren

Sorry to hear you're having so many probs breastfeeding - I feel your pain!

I'm on motilium for low supply, and it's really helped me. I'm also expressing after most feeds and giving EBM. I like being able to give DS a little bit more, and of course the pumping helps my supply.

The other thing that I suspect has helped is taking an iron supplement (spatone), I took it for a few days, supply seemed to go up. Ran out for a few days, supply seemed to go down. Then started on it again, and supply is up again now. I did have very low iron during pg, so I wonder if the low iron was affecting my BM production.

I hope that things get smoother for you and Ava soon. DS is almost 6 weeks now, and I do feel that the persistence is starting to pay off, but it's been so very hard, and we're still struggling with the supply issue. You'll get there!!

Devon
xxxx

[Shanti]

Hi Devon,

Thanks for your support. Sorry to hear you are having troubles too. What iron do you take? What brand etc? I'm interested in getting that. I am so tired which doesn't help and don't think I eat enough iron in my diet.

Thank you MummaB.

[Devon]

Hi Ren

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I'm taking Spatone - it's an iron-rich liquid, comes in little sachets and I have it with orange juice. I get it from the chemist

I'm also having lots of oats - they're supposed to help supply too. No idea if they're working. Not having a great day today - DS has been feeding and feeding, and taken all my EBM. It's so hard!

Hope things are improving for you hun.