My baby story has not been a healthy one and has been all about silent reflux (never mind the colic, the tongue tie and the covid!).
When I tell people Wilfred has silent reflux I often get the reply “oh yes mine had that, he was always being sick”. That is not silent reflux. That is reflux. Wilfred has never really vomited. Silent reflux is acid reflux, heartburn, pain, screaming in pain, not being able to sleep, excessive salivation, hiccups constantly….. I could go on. I have no idea why it’s called silent reflux when the cry and shriek with pain is never quiet.
It started around 5/6 weeks when Wilf had been breastfeeding lovely and one day started screaming and arching his back after about 4 minutes of feeding. I called the health visitor and I spoke to midwives who advised me to keep trying. I did but it’s pretty stressful when you know the feed is going to cause this kind of discomfort. I tried and tried until I’d have to swap for a bottle half way through just the get the feed in. I tried expressed milk bottles, I tried avoiding dairy in my diet but nothing worked until he eventually refused to feed at all.
After a melt down and a walk in to the doctors bawling my eyes out to be told I should’ve made an appointment, a doctor saw him. He prescribed Gavison in each bottle and infacol for the flatulence silent reflux can cause. By this point I’d given up breast feeding, which in hind sight I shouldn’t have needed to if I’d have been given the help sooner. Nobody mentioned silent reflux until I did at the doctors after hours of googling when I should’ve been sleeping!
Gaviscon kind of helped but it flared up again and we had to add in omeprazole. So much medication for a little baby makes me so sad.
Fast forward to weaning early at around 17 weeks and Wilfred took to it so well. He literally hasn’t refused any food but because of the first few months being unsettled, he still doesn’t sleep through the night. Three wakes ups is a good night.
And after I though we’d said goodbye to the silent reflux as many babies grow out of it (especially after weaning), a cough/cold a couple of weeks ago flared it up massively. He’s now on even more medication and has been waking every single hour in discomfort.
So this post was just to highlight if you think something is wrong with your baby, fight for it, despite covid and telemedicine. I have never had a baby before. I thought he was getting spoilt crying after lying in the pram for a while until he had to be carried. Nope, reflux is soothed if you’re up right!
I didn’t know ten minute naps weren’t normal until I started hearing people say a two hour nap in the morning and again in the afternoon was their norm. I’ve never experienced this with Wilf. He’s never learnt to sleep. This is just another unfortunate side affect to silent reflux…..
Fingers crossed it goes away !!!
The Vogue Vet 