1 week old newborn with silent reflux?

[Anonymous]

Our son had a very smooth week 1 of life, but starting last night he has began to scream, cough, move his head violently/squirm and scream inconsolably at night. My mom is currently walking him around the house while I research and my wife tries to sleep.

From everything I have read this sounds like silent reflux (since he isn’t actually spitting much/anything up).

Has anyone experienced this and had success with medication or other remedies? We are trying the hold him upright for 30 minutes after feeding, etc, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. He is screaming for ~10 min, quiets for 2min, then coughs and cries for 10 min - on repeat for the past 2 hours now.

I am having a hard time grasping how we can handle this for 4+ months which is seems is the timeline for when it tends to clear up.

[Anonymous]

Damn, I’m sorry. That sounds awful.

It might be reflux. It might be he’s “waking up” and is just a very reactive baby who needs a lot of holding. At this age, that’s totally OK.

Is he breastfeeding? What happens if he just hangs out and comfort sucks?

Is he formula-fed? What happens if you switch to a more hypoallergenic formula?

The suddenness of the onset and the intensity of the reaction are definitely worth a call to your pediatrician in the morning, just to make sure there’s nothing serious.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like it may be colic. Is he the firstborn? Studies show firstborn males have the worst time with reflux which some think is a contributing factor of colic. It’s hard to have perspective when you’re in the thick of it but it really is a short time. Talk to your doctor, it sounds like the baby is in pain which your doctor needs to be aware of and help troubleshoot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Damn, I’m sorry. That sounds awful.

It might be reflux. It might be he’s “waking up” and is just a very reactive baby who needs a lot of holding. At this age, that’s totally OK.

Is he breastfeeding? What happens if he just hangs out and comfort sucks?

Is he formula-fed? What happens if you switch to a more hypoallergenic formula?

The suddenness of the onset and the intensity of the reaction are definitely worth a call to your pediatrician in the morning, just to make sure there’s nothing serious.

Thanks. Yeah, he is exclusively breastfeeding right now. He loves the comfort suck and will gladly (at least until yesterday) hand out there and sleep for a while. It seems like feeding is the only thing that will calm him right now. We are new parents so all of this is just hard.

[Anonymous]

We did all that with my kid for far longer than we should have before bringing up with the pediatrician. I blame the trauma of seeing your child suffer along with lack of sleep.

Please bring this to your ped's attention. Our kid had silent reflux. You can't use the meds he was given anymore but I'm sure there are others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did all that with my kid for far longer than we should have before bringing up with the pediatrician. I blame the trauma of seeing your child suffer along with lack of sleep.

Please bring this to your ped's attention. Our kid had silent reflux. You can't use the meds he was given anymore but I'm sure there are others.

Thanks for this. We definitely will be bringing it up and push for something if it continues. We hate seeing him be so uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Also good luck.

After we got his reflux under control, he was like a changed baby, but boy that period where he was suffering was so stressful

[Anonymous]

Oh no. 2 of my 3 had this and it sucked- they didn’t spit up but lots of crying and back arching, especially 30 min after a feed. They liked to sleep on my chest, facing me, and despised being laid flat. I’m sorry to tell you this, but the truth is we got through this time with a rock n play and an inclined pack and play (plus an owlet) both of which are now banned (they are 5 and 7). We also didn’t get much sleep - often had to resort to holding them at night. We never medicated as they gained weight fine - both were born early and pretty small and caught up - but it sucked.

I could never understand how other babies peacefully went to sleep in their cribs until I had my third, who did not have silent reflux, and was a sweet angel baby that just actually went to sleep peacefully after eating. My mind was blown.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry. Unfortunately I don’t think the medicine I gave my son 14 years ago is allowed now. Try buying a wedge to put under his crib or a thing to sleep in where his head is elevated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh no. 2 of my 3 had this and it sucked- they didn’t spit up but lots of crying and back arching, especially 30 min after a feed. They liked to sleep on my chest, facing me, and despised being laid flat. I’m sorry to tell you this, but the truth is we got through this time with a rock n play and an inclined pack and play (plus an owlet) both of which are now banned (they are 5 and 7). We also didn’t get much sleep - often had to resort to holding them at night. We never medicated as they gained weight fine - both were born early and pretty small and caught up - but it sucked.

I could never understand how other babies peacefully went to sleep in their cribs until I had my third, who did not have silent reflux, and was a sweet angel baby that just actually went to sleep peacefully after eating. My mind was blown.

Rock n play was amazing. Used int with my second before they were banned. I’d still use it if you strap the baby in and not when they can get close to turning over. Is a snoo the new rock n play?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Damn, I’m sorry. That sounds awful.

It might be reflux. It might be he’s “waking up” and is just a very reactive baby who needs a lot of holding. At this age, that’s totally OK.

Is he breastfeeding? What happens if he just hangs out and comfort sucks?

Is he formula-fed? What happens if you switch to a more hypoallergenic formula?

The suddenness of the onset and the intensity of the reaction are definitely worth a call to your pediatrician in the morning, just to make sure there’s nothing serious.

Thanks. Yeah, he is exclusively breastfeeding right now. He loves the comfort suck and will gladly (at least until yesterday) hand out there and sleep for a while. It seems like feeding is the only thing that will calm him right now. We are new parents so all of this is just hard.

Have you tried a pacifier, and are you sure it’s not gas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Damn, I’m sorry. That sounds awful.

It might be reflux. It might be he’s “waking up” and is just a very reactive baby who needs a lot of holding. At this age, that’s totally OK.

Is he breastfeeding? What happens if he just hangs out and comfort sucks?

Is he formula-fed? What happens if you switch to a more hypoallergenic formula?

The suddenness of the onset and the intensity of the reaction are definitely worth a call to your pediatrician in the morning, just to make sure there’s nothing serious.

Thanks. Yeah, he is exclusively breastfeeding right now. He loves the comfort suck and will gladly (at least until yesterday) hand out there and sleep for a while. It seems like feeding is the only thing that will calm him right now. We are new parents so all of this is just hard.

Have you tried a pacifier, and are you sure it’s not gas?

We’ve tried a pacifier and he didn’t take to it immediately, but we should give it another go. No.. not sure it’s not gas, no clue. But he has the symptoms of silent reflux so it seemed to make sense. Guess it could still be anything.

[Anonymous]

Try giving an extra bottle of fórmula and the pacifier.

[Anonymous]

Pediatrician ASAP. Maybe you'll get medication for silent reflux that will help immensely.

[Anonymous]

Could be gas, could be overtired, could be reflux.. any chance you have a fast let down? When I have over supply my baby has those symptoms ( 10 weeks old but your description could describe our night tonight)