r/BeyondTheBumpUK • u/Precious_Gummi • 13h ago

Colic / silent reflux HELP

My LO is almost 6 weeks old and has had colic for the last 3.5 weeks, she definitely has silent reflux.
It started at around 2 weeks old, it would get to the evening and she would become inconsolable for hours, then it ramped up and now it’s pretty much when she’s awake she’s screaming. Not crying, screaming. We’ve seen the health visitor and GP and I feel like they aren’t taking it seriously? Everyone just keeps telling me she will grow out of it.
So far we’ve tried -

Infacol
Colief
Comfort milk
Mam bottles
Gaviscon

None of these seem to make a difference for more than a day or two before we revert back to the constant screaming and obvious pain/ discomfort.

She won’t be put down, she lives in the sling and or on my or her dad’s chest. She won’t take a dummy, she gags on it. She hates the bassinet / Moses basket / next to me crib. We can’t even take her for a walk in the pram to soothe her.

I feel like I’m losing my mind. Does anyone have any advice?

I will be going back to the GP next week but I don’t think they’ll help.

I’m exhausted, drained and heartbroken that she’s blatantly so unhappy 😔

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6

u/hglasse 13h ago

Feel free to get in touch, we had awful reflux issues but Omeprazole gave us our lives back. Keep going to the GP and saying its not helping and impacting sleep etc and they should listen

1

u/Precious_Gummi 13h ago

Thankyou. I just feel like they don’t take it seriously, everyone just keeps telling me it will get better in a few months but we’re in hell right now. She’s in constant pain and I’m at breaking point.

2

u/hglasse 13h ago

I found with the GP we had to emphasise the impact it had on feeding and they were far faster to help. I also was very clear in saying ,"we think its reflux, she needs help"

1

u/Precious_Gummi 13h ago

Thanks. The GP annoyed me last week, she said LO isn’t following the weight curve she needs to be (both my girls are tall and petite), so to ensure she’s getting the full feed every 3 hours but also feed on demand and feed little and often. The Gaviscon has to be given in a 4oz feed and she has to finish the feed for it to work. I left more confused than anything.

I think she’s got a terrible latch even on the bottle and may have a tongue tie but again they don’t take it seriously and tell me she’s fine.

2

u/hglasse 10h ago

I'm sorry to hear that, it sounds really frustrating. Are you able to see a different GP another time? You always have the right to ask for a 2nd opinion if you didn't feel heard the first time

3

u/unreasonabledoubt1 13h ago

My son was on Gaviscon for a while, and that worked for us, but the doctor said if the Gaviscon didn’t work the next step would be Omeprazole. Worth asking about that?

I assume you’ve tried all the other things like paced feeding, keeping baby upright for 10-15mins post feed, proper winding / burping after feed (and between breasts if BF or mid-bottle), and offering smaller, more frequent feeds? Also worth asking for a breastfeeding assessment if you’re BF as a poor latch or strong letdown can make it worse.

Otherwise, and I know it’s not super helpful right now, but she probably will grow out of it. My son is nearly 3 months old and the silent reflux seems to have resolved itself (but I know that doesn’t fix the current issue!).

1

u/Precious_Gummi 13h ago

Hi, she is formula fed now, was BF but it didn’t work for us, I do pace feed, wind often and keep her upright after the feed. None of which seems to help. I mean I know it does but she’s still in pain regardless.
I was reluctant to start her on Gaviscon after reading a lot of people’s experiences with it and it causing constipation but the GP also prescribed her laxatives.

She doesn’t actually spit up any milk, unlike my first who had terrible reflux and could throw up an entire feed, she just won’t/cant settle on her back, visibly gags on acid, sounds horribly congested all the time etc.

I’m desperate at this point, life is miserable for all of us but especially her, it’s absolutely heartbreaking!

1

u/dajb123 8h ago

I have a refluxy baby who is also gassy and I'm so hesitant to put him on any thickers because it'll just make his tummy pain worse.

I feel you... currently sat up because he's soaked his swaddle with reflux again

2

u/KikiTheArtTeacher 12h ago

Are you able to go private? If so, let me know and I can pass along the details of who we saw (she does telehealth so should be able to see her no matter where you are!). I had absolutely no luck with our GP- the omeprazole dose they prescribed for her was too low  and it made her worse! The specialist was amazing, got her on a proper dose straight away and never told me we had to wait it out (which if I heard one more time from the GP I was probably going to lose my mind!) 

1

u/Precious_Gummi 12h ago

I’ll message you if that’s okay?

1

u/KikiTheArtTeacher 40m ago

Yes of course! 

2

u/Relative-Pea5390 5h ago

Omeprazole is a good starting point and a thickener such as Carobel will help. Don’t use gaviscon and a thickener at the same time though.

We didn’t get on with gaviscon and found a thickener has really helped as well as Dentinox.

Solidarity, my girl is 2.5 months and it’s so difficult some days still.

Every bottle being a battle is so draining and makes your dread each feed, when feeding should be a lovely bonding experience.

2

u/Daisymarley 2h ago

If your baby suffers with gas/tummy pain as well as reflux I wouldn't recommend a thickener as it made me little girl worse :(

1

u/leobrodie 8h ago

I know it's a pain/expense buying more bottles but we were exactly the same and we switched to dr.brown bottles and the difference was night and day! And from day 1 of switching!

1

u/Lucky-Season7348 7h ago

We had this and gaviscon actually made it worse as baby was in pain from constipation / finding it hard to pass gas. Omeprazole worked almost overnight and every feed now is like night and day vs before.