October 2015 Moms

Silent Reflux?

Anyone deal with it??
Damien has been such a different baby in the last few weeks. He used to sleep well and eat and nap during the day with normal fussy periods. But the last week or two he has been incredibly cranky. The last week has been the worst, even worse than brand new baby first few days home.
He cries almost all the time. A quiet time of more than 10 minutes is lucky. He will be happy for the first hour of the day if I'm lucky. after that he is constantly crying. You can tell there is something wrong but nothing seems to work. Sometimes bouncing him will help, sometimes white noise, sometimes rocking, sometimes nothing. We use gas drops when he seems really gassy but they don't typically seem to do anything. He always swallows hard when he nurses as if he's guzzling and when he isn't eating we hear his swallow a good amount of the time. And when he does swallow it sounds like a hard swallow. He doesn't spit up a lot but does a little bit. He has also been fighting to eat a lot. Just screaming at my nipple while its in his mouth. Sometimes I can squirt milk into his mouth and he'll eat other times I have to stop and try to soothe him and try again.

Sorry this is all over the place I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong other than a wonder week/growth spurt since this is far worse than he's ever been. He has an appointment tomorrow for his two month check up so I'm definitely going to bring it up.

Re: Silent Reflux?

  • I'm going to follow because this sounds almost identical to what we've been going through! Good luck and I hope you get some answers!
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  • @LaTeteRouge thank you! I hope you get some soon!! I didn't realize just how exhausting it is until having to pace day after day bouncing him just for five minutes of quiet baby lol
  • My son has silent reflux, he'll spit up maybe once a week. He's on Zantac now and that seems to be helping. Does he scream when laying down but okay when is held upright? Does he gag or grimace? If so, I'd say he has silent reflux and I'd see your pediatrician as soon as you can.
  • omgladypirateomgladypirate member
    edited December 2015
    You just described my life.

    P.S. Please update this thread and let us know what your ped says, if anything.
  • I have a silent refluxer who was a happy spitter in his first few weeks. Here are some tell-tale signs: 
    -Arching his back with hands up, as if stretching
    -Congested nose from the milk that comes up
    -Sneezing often and coughing
    -You hear and see him swallowing it back long after feeding
    -If it's really bad - crying madly when laying horizontally and content again when lifted up
    -Waking often at night in some cases (like ours :( )
    We are on Renitidine (Zantac) since Wednesday after a bad episode last week and it seems to help.  
  • Is the flow to fast (are you engorged?) maybe his sucking ability is much better and it's not coming out at the rate the LO expects? Do you pump and feed at all?
    I would definitely bring it up to your pediatrician and see what they say
    Any other patterns or changes you have noticed with feeding? Such as spitting up, dribbling, burping with vomiting, face expressions which seem like There is something sour at the back of the tongue.
    Also, no thrush or white patches on the tongue right ?
  • @feeohhnaax7 he does scream a lot when laying down. Sometimes he will be ok for a minute or two but that's about it. Holding him upright is the only thing that calms him (while bouncing or butt patting).
    @mihaelams1 he always goes completely stiff and arches his back. He seems congested a good amount but he never has boogies. He sneezes in sets of twos almost every day but doesn't cough much. He is constantly swallowing and it's typically hard swallowing. Sometimes it's silent swallowing and I see the funny faces he makes when doing it. He is waking more.
    @jasmineluke I'm almost never engorged any more but he has always sounded like he's gulping or swallowing air a minute or two after latching. I do pump and bottle feed usually once a day and he typically fights the bottle then too. He spits up a little more now than he used to but it's not an alarming amount. Just enough to notice usually. Today was the most ever and even then it wasn't a lot. He does make faces while swallowing in between feedings quite a lot. He used to sleep for one 4-6 hour stretch followed by a 2 hour stretch and now he is constantly up and down all night to where I can't get sleep unless I bring him in bed with me and he's in my arms. No white patches,I was checking for that today
  • Thank you all for your replies!!! I'm definitely bringing up to the pediatrician tomorrow and I'll update what he says!!
  • It does sound like reflux.
    the symptoms sounds similar to my LO.
    Hopefully pediatrician will give you some more light on the situation.
    All things pass...I've realized slowly lol... Reflux usually peaks at 3 months but should get better from there onwards.
    In the meantime keeping them on an incline helps. Feeding when they are really hungry helps (not just dabbling at the breast or bottle) - feeding seems to go smoother then.
    Good luck!
  • midge519midge519 member
    edited December 2015
    Just got back from the pedi. We have two things going on right now. We believe he is constipated and the doctor agrees that it seems like he has silent reflux. Our practice doesn't medicate this young with his symptoms for reflux but we are doing miralax in a pumped bottle to help the constipation. And pretty much do what we can for the reflux and I'm to watch my garlic and onion intake.

    Edited to add- he thinks once the constipation is dealt with he'll handle the reflux better
  • Gotcha ... Interesting they don't give meds but recommend miralax?
    I hope it helps!
    My LO has both too.., hopefully just a phase !
    Good luck mamma !
  • @jasmineluke I agree is a little weird but we're trying it. Have a little miralax earlier but no poop yet
  • Try warm compress to the bottom it may help stimulate ... It helps DD when she is constipated.
    It worked for her today. Took two tries but I make an effort to do it when I feel she's becoming more constipated. I just do warm compresses with every diaper change
  • lalenalalena member
    edited December 2015
    My DS has reflux and the zantac is a godsend. He wouldn't sleep without it. I also find that letting him sleep at a 30% angle in his crib helps and sitting him up slightly inclined at night after a feeding for about 20min before putting him back down helps keep the food down.

    As for miralax, it works but be careful on using it over a very extended amount of time. My DD used to be constipated due to formula, which I believe was due to an iron intolerance (I can't take any vitamins with iron in it). I had her go to three different pediatricians from her first bout at 2 weeks until about a year. They had her on karo syrup in her formula, which didn't work, then mineral oil, then miralax. I finally had enough and switched to our current pediatrician before her 2nd birthday, and she said that miralax shouldn't be given to anyone for an extended period of time, so my Dr came up with a timetable to wean her off medicine and ways to promote bowel movements by way of diet. Obviously, baby is small, so there's much you can do and if the miralax works for now, great, but once you can start other food and giving some water, it'll help. Also a warning for when you start feeding did, rice cereal constipated but the oatmeal does not. Avoid bananas and apple baby foods as well.

    Warm baths and rectal stimulation helps to relieve constipation. When they are super uncomfortable and miserable, I have resorted to liquid suppositories. The liquid ones are the best and work quickly. DD had developed anal fissures and hemorrhoids when she held her movements for too long and then would be scared to go lasted on, which was a nightmare. Plus. Larger movements expand the colon and make it harder to feel when they need to go. It's a vicious cycle.

    Good luck to you!
  • @lalena thank you for all of that!!! Hopefully we won't have to do the miralax often. I was drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day for the last two weeks instead of one cup so I'm limiting myself to just one hoping that maybe it was something that minor that changed things. If we end up in this situation again I'm definitely coming back to read all these ways to help without the miralax. I just prefer to avoid medicines if possible.
  • lalenalalena member
    edited December 2015
    For the reflux, I have been watching the caffeine as well as dairy intake. Limiting dairy seemed to help some. My Dr said sometimes a good allergy will display as black flecks in the bowel movement. Might be worth taking a few things, or limiting then, out of the diet to see if it helps.

    DS is gaining weight like crazy, which is great for a baby with reflux, but it also means a constant adjustment of the zantac. Last three nights have not been fun. With Dr permission according to his weight, we were able to up the dose yesterday. He's like a different baby today. Dr thinks that once he starts more real food, like cereal which is heavier and harder to yak up so he can keep it down, we'll start to wean him off of the zantac.

    And I know dealing with constipation really sucks for all involved. We had one episode that ended us at the hospital because I thought something else was wrong when she was 2 and I had intussuception and needed an emergency surgery and appendectomy at age 3. Turned out with an X-ray she was completely backed up but didn't want to go for fear of pain. It's horrible and horrible to see our babies in pain.
  • @lalena I hear you on the constipation pains. I had horrible pains once at 10-12 and my mom was concerned since it was at the same spot as my ovaries. After X-rays and what not they realized I was completely backed up. Took three doses of a laxative to get me to finally go. I hope to avoid that with the baby!
    He's back to crying a ton today, and it was his first day since at home most of the day. He has had moments of his happy self but it always ends in him freaking out. I have started holding him pretty upright after eating to see if that helps. It seems to stop him from freaking out right away. I've also found he seems to prefer being up on my shoulder as if being burped all the time.
  • lalenalalena member
    edited December 2015
    I have read that reflux babies enjoy tummy time, so it makes sense with the being held as if to burp. When DS was having a really bad episode, he'd only sleep on me exactly as you describe. I got no sleep but at least he was comfy. I have let him sleep on his stomach or on his side during naptime when supervised (never at night) if he was having a bad episode.

    If you are not using Zantac, I find that infant gas meds or Gripe Water help a little in terms of settling down the stomach. At night now, I give DS a bath and a massage with bedtime lotion right before bed because it relaxes him tremendously and seems to keep his tummy calm as well. Now I even give him his meds while in the bath just so he won't freak out and toss it up. So far, so good. He's now sleeping 5-7 hour spurts at night and he is like a new baby!

    I figured out with DS's reflux was part of the problem I had was I had to feed him with a nipple shield for a while. I have a pretty forceful letdown and it would fill the shield and he'd take a suck and then choke. We've been working on (1) nursing with no shield with success (2) frequent stopping to burp a little on both sides during nursing (3) nursing semi upright. When I was told he had reflux, I found this website to be really helpful: https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/reflux/
  • lalenalalena member
    edited December 2015
    Also, I didn't babywear with DD even though she had reflux, but I gave in and bought a carrier for DS because having him upright during the days his reflux flairs up helps. And, besides, he's like 14.5 lbs so any help, helps! LOL With him and a 4 year old, I've got to keep him on me or else things go wrong or don't get done around the house.

    I can tell you though, if you're nursing, it's nothing compared to a formula fed baby with reflux. DD had it but was misdiagnosed and had issues with almost every formula we tried. She projectile vomited every single time she ate. It was horrible. She was up from 10pm-2am every night for 3 months crying. I ended up driving the Steak N Shake a lot in the car to get her to sleep...and me a half price milkshake at 2 am lol. Hey, it kept my sanity. :-P

    OH! and for the constipation, warm bath and bicycle the legs whenever you can. It'll keep everything moving. make sure you are pushing the knees up to the chest! It helps let the gas escape and helps them push.
  • OP, did the dr say why he thinks LO is constipated?  Your LO sounds like my DS3.  I nursed my other sons so I felt pretty confident breastfeeding but DS3 had such trouble starting around 6 wks, he would fuss and refuse.  He had other "problems" like really bad gas, silent reflux, mucousy stools... and by 8 wks I saw blood in his stools.  Long story short he had MSPI, or milk soy protein intolerance.  I ended up on an elimination diet, removing all dairy and soy from my diet.  He wasn't able to properly digest the proteins, causing all these problems for him.  

    It's something you could look into and talk to your doctor about.  It took some time for me to figure out my diet and get him settled but we definitely saw improvement within a few days of cutting dairy out of my diet.  It is definitely tough!  Dairy is in everything!  You would want to remove it completely, so that means obvious sources of dairy like milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. AND hidden dairy found in things like bread, baked goods, crackers, usually listed as casein, whey, etc.   And unfortunately half of all babies who cannot handle dairy proteins also have trouble with soy, so you may want to consider eliminating both at first. 

    Here is some info on MSPI, reflux and elimination diets:

    https://www.refluxrebels.com/mspi-milk-soy-protein-intolerant/

    https://www.refluxrebels.com/eliminating-dairy-and-soy/

    https://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/food-sensitivity/

    https://www.neocate.com/blog/elimination-diets-and-breastfeeding/

    Hope that helps!  If you do decide to try an elimination diet I also have a few resources I can share with recipes. 

    Rachel Mom to 3 boys Augustboy02 - Sensational Sensory Kid Decemberboy04 -former reflux baby Augustboy10 - MFPI baby
  • These sound like my baby too but the doc didn't want to prescribe meds as he's still gaining weight. If LO falls asleep during a feeding he's normally ok but other times he goes stiff as a bored and cries. He exchanged the spit ups for screams and it makes me so sad. I don't have much dairy, soy, and hardly ever spicy stuff. There are days where the only thing I've eaten was an apple or granola bar and he would still cry. His sleep stretches are shorter and today he will pretty much only sleep on someone. I'm exhausted from being up all hours of the night and DH is the one taking a nap. I'm beyond tired and frustrated.
  • My baby went through very much the same thing, except she's formula fed. We went through 5 formulas before finding the right one and at 5 weeks started adding rice cereal at the suggestion if our doctor. It didn't help. We switched to doctor browns bottle and it helped slightly. Finally at her two month checkup they diagnosed her with reflux and started Zantac. She has been a different child! We also had to start a half teaspoon of miralax once a day to help with conatipation.
  • Over the last few days he's seemed to be better pop wise. No reason the doctor said for the constipation just said to not use an excessive amount of garlic and onion (my two favorite seasonings of course). He has pooped daily or every other day since his appointment. He is still crying during the day a lot. He will almost never nap more than a few minutes if he's put down. He's been napping better in his bouncy seat with the vibration on but even that is a few minutes at best. Having him in the ergo or infantino wrap thing I have is literally a life saver. It allows me to bounce him while I walk and get things done. His mornings are usually good for the first twenty minutes max and then the crying starts. We've even noticed that if he is comfy sitting in your arm and you move your arm slightly and he changed positions it starts it all over again. He typically cries between feedings mostly the entire time. We do have gas drops but haven't been using them as much because I was trying to see if cutting most of the caffeine out would help. I don't really know if it did. But I plan on trying them tomorrow and see how it works. His poop seems completely normal, no mucous blood or anything other than yellow/yellow brown poop he's always had.
  • Not to scare you, but if left untreated, reflux can permanently damage the lining of their esophagus. I would consider changing pediatricians if he refuses to medicate your lo based on his age.
  • @feeohhnaax7 depending on how he is over the course of the next few weeks is how hard I'll push at the next appointment. We did the gas drops tonight since he was so fussy and that calmed him down so much! He actually took a 2 hour nap in his bouncy chair.
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