Silent Reflux – Our Story So Far {Guest Post}

Todays guest post is from Victoria (Mummy Times Two), who is sharing her experience with silent reflux. I was so intrigued to read this post, as we are struggling with Bear who is now being medicated for silent reflux.

After reading this I know he doesn’t have it badly. He breastfeeds really well, is weaning brilliantly, and rarely cries during the day.

It’s sleep that we are struggling with. He arches his back and screams every time he wakes up, which can be hourly. Feeding settles straight away. At the moment we are trying Infant Gaviscon and it seems to be helping, but he’s still waking a lot, and only naps for 30 minutes. *Yawn*

Silent Reflux – Our Story So Far

Before I had Number Two, I’d never heard of reflux in babies and I’d certainly never heard of silent reflux. But after an uneventful pregnancy and a rather more eventful birth (failed forceps followed by emergency c-section) before a spell in hospital with jaundice, Number Two announced his presence firmly in our lives.

Right from the start, he slept a lot and struggled to feed. The blissful breastfeeding experience I’d had with Number One seemed a lifetime away as I paced the floor rocking Number Two whilst feeding him in an effort to keep him latched on. He’d scream for a feed but then when it was offered wouldn’t hold his mouth open long enough for me to get him to latch. His whole body was rigid much of the time, to the extent that at eight weeks old he was so stiff I could prop him upright against the couch without holding him. It’s hard in hindsight to describe it, I guess the best description I can give you is that most of the time he just looked uncomfortable in his own skin.

We were worried and what’s more so were the doctors. His rigidity and feeding difficulties combined painted a bleak picture, we were sent to see specialists and ultimately for an MRI. We googled, as inevitably you do, and we were frightened by what we read. We waited anxiously as the months passed. Each day our little man became more unhappy and more uncomfortable. Ultimately he stopped putting on weight and the only thing I could do to help him was to feed him in his sleep. During the day, he refused to feed, but at night I could just about get enough calories down him to sustain him.

Then one day our usual specialist was off, we saw someone new. Instinctively she seemed to know. It looks like Silent Reflux she said. We were skeptical. Very skeptical. How could something seemingly so small cause so many problems. She convinced us to at least give medication a chance.

Five weeks later…

(Yes it took a long while to get in his system), we gladly ate our words. Within the space of a week our lives and more importantly the life of our baby transformed. He was happier, he began to try to move, showed more interest in the world around him, and even more importantly he began to feed. Not just at night. Not just whilst I walked simultaneously rocking him. But wherever and whenever he was hungry. It was a revelation. My baby was happy, he was fed, he was no longer in pain.

We had a blissful month, the worries rolled off our shoulders and we began to discover our little boy’s amazing personality. He learnt to sit, and took joy in everything he saw. And we took so much joy in him.

And then we began to wean, and slowly but surely reflux crept back into our life. He would scream whilst we fed him and cry in his sleep. The meds were no longer enough to keep his pain at bay. Once again we were at the mercy of doctors, speech therapists, and a condition that nobody seems to know much about.

Two months on…

We’ve tried different meds and we’re both now dairy free. Things are going better, the little man is in less pain. We’ve switched to baby led weaning, which has proved much less stressful for us all. He eats little, though he’s fantastic at putting food in his mouth and great at chewing it. It seems as though he’s simply learnt that food makes him feel ill, spitting it out reduces the chance of this.

We have no idea when or even if he’ll outgrow it. But he’s the most determined little soul I have ever met. If there’s a way of getting round it, he’ll find it. And if there isn’t a way round it, he’ll just go through it. I’m so grateful to the doctor who recognised the symptoms. Without her I have no doubt his life would be worse. Recognition is the first step to solving any problem and this way we know what we’re dealing with, we have a fighting chance.

Thank you so much to Victoria for sharing her Silent Reflux story. If you want to read more of her reflux posts then click here.