Silent reflux in DGD

How do they know the baby has "silent reflux" - who diagnosed?

This is the experience of someone over on t'other side:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/900762-Silent-reflux-cure/AllOnOnePage

Gp, jess that's who has prescribed the drugs.

Thanks ga I'll take a look!

Are her stools a normal colour?

Yep, Aka and she is 'thriving' mainly because DD spends hours feeding her.

I've sent that link to DD, thank you GA.

Is she breast fed. DGD had problems, these stopped when dd stopped having any dairy products. 2nd DGD (also breast fed) has no problems

Does seem to be the latest fashionable diagnosis for miserable babies. I never ever heard of it when I was an NCT teacher for 15 years, but maybe it was being missed. Has "colic" gone out of fashion?
If it is reflux it is probably not the feed because it is caused by a weak valve at the top of the stomach, not keeping the acid in the stomach.
But because she is not actually regurgitating right up into her mouth there is not proof that she has silent reflux is there. Its the GPs best guess. (the only way to definitely know would be to put a tube down her oesophagus and test the acidity - and not a nice thing to do to anyone). And of course many babies regurgitate a great deal but they don't get any other symptoms as a result.
All those drugs mentioned on MN stop stomach from producing acid which is inevitably going to have some effect on the digestion of food. (because digestion in the stomach has evolved to work in a strongly acid environment)
Is she gaining weight? Losing weight?
I think if she was my GD I would want her to get a referral to a paediatrician to check her over. Particularly if she is not gaining weight and definitely if she is losing weight. Just to get a second opinion.

She is thriving Jess (see above). A different GP told DD that they would worry if she lost weight which seems to have hit a raw spot with her. I'm suggesting (lots!!!) that she asks for a referral, as are her sisters, but she sees it as being a failure.

Oh dear stressed out mums don't think straight. It would just be to a/ check that there is no other problem that GP not spotted and b/ the GP may not feel confident in proscribing those drugs mentioned on MN (writer was in France where they do things differently). There does not seem to be any NICE guideline yet (there is one due for reflux in children) and little info on the NHS website.
Usually the one time unhappy babies are content is when they are feeding.
She's not trying to force food on an already full baby is she? I assume not breast feeding as she was feeding baby in bouncy chair - trouble with bottles is that you can get fixated on how much is going down.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gastroesophageal-reflux-disease/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

Kitty The poor baby and the poor mum. I remember DD getting upset worrying about whether or not my DGS was getting enough when his weight was not going on as quickly as she would have liked. They feel failures.
I would suggest seeing a paediatrician.

Hard though it is at the moment it will start to improve soon, honest. Poor mum, poor baby and poor worried granny.

I know it's considered 'wrong' at 4 months but has she considered early weaning? Please don't shoot me down in flames for suggesting it, some babies just don't tolerate milk well. Both my GS were weaned early on medical advice. Did the trick.

That's why I asked about her stools Dragonfly. My grandson had a severe lactose intolerance and the nappies.....well I won't go there.

Most reflux starts to improve about 6 months so hang on in there.

My grandaughter had reflux and the symptom of continuous coughing indicated the acid was irritating her airway as it rose up from her stomach. She would gag when feeding, and vomit rather than just bring back a little milk, too. GP said she would grow out of it by one year and she had Gaviscon which didn't work, followed by a more effective medicine - Mylicon?. Her misery disappeared as soon as the medicine took effect. If it hadn't helped, she was going to be subjected to a PH test by probe, but thankfully it wasn't necessary. She was kept almost upright after each feed for 30 minutes.

Youngest GS just hated formula. He would scream, refuse, appear to be in pain, and we worried constantly. Early introduction of baby rice seemed to help quite a lot but he never really took to formula so she was advised to increase solids to maintain weight gain. Once he was old enough for cows' milk it was a different story. My poor DD had a real struggle till then. She blamed herself I think, because the problems only started when she stopped BF at around 6 weeks. GP and HV were very supportive, as was paediatrician. It's a difficult time - I hope things settle down soon Kitty.

DD1 was very difficult to feed and she had severe 'colic'. When she moved on to a bottle at around 10 weeks (when I just couldn't take any more) she seemed to take her feeds better and colic improved somewhat. we have found out just a couple of years ago that she cannot tolerate gluten (coeliac). So presumably if I ate anything with gluten it would upset her tummy. Same could go for lactose, DD2 was prescribed soya milk, but was fine being breastfed although she put on weight very slowly.

Don't let the GP fob your DD off, perhap some further investigation is needed

Would it help to suggest to mother that by demanding a referral to a paediatrician she is taking charge of the situation and it shows her acting positively to protect the welfare of her child?

DGS has this, as some of you may remember from my previous posts. He has had one probe test and is due for another. They have tried all the drugs but he still screams in pain at times. He is due to have Nissens Fundiplication (sp) op soon which will tighten the muscle at the top of his stomach. He has lung damage which they think is due to aspiration. This will be confirmed or otherwise by a broncoscopy on Thursday.

This is not meant to scare you kitty but I would encourage mum to get a referal asap. I hope all turns out ok for you all.

I wouldn't press for any further investigations. You say she is thriving, so why worry? It's probably something she will grow out of soon.

I wouldn't have thought acid rising from the stomach would happen during a feed.

Beware over medicalising!

Very distressing, it can make you feel so helpless. I would get a referral to a paediatrician asap. It may be something she grows out of soon, but best to get checked.

To reassure you, friend's DGS was a fussy, crotchety baby who did not feed well, but is now a happy 14 month old

Are they going to keep that French baby(immanent) on Omeprazole for the rest of her life? Because once she comes off of it she will probably make more acid. Best to only go on a ppi if you accept you will be staying on it.

My granddaughter (breastfed) suffered terribly with this and was given Zantac in liquid form until she was nine months old. It helped her a lot. In hindsight, I think her mum (DD2) suffered from the same thing. She was breast fed but would scream blue murder after every feed. It was absolute hell while it lasted so I sympathise with your DD

That immanent there should read Mumsnet

I thought it interesting what it said on the NHS site - that one of the indicators might be that they were happy to suck a dummy but not happy to feed. Babies sometimes get thrush in the mouth don't they, in which case they would not want to suck at all.