Bobbie is suffering with severe silent reflux, this means she is barely sleeping, 45 minutes on average then when she is feeding she is arching her back, holding her breath and flinging her arms around, then writhing around in pain nearly until her next feed, hiccups constantly. So many things. I'm so tired and so is she. I'm losing it, I can't bare seeing her in distress like this it's horrible. She has some medication which isn't helping so I'm going to take her to the doctors tomorrow again to see what else can be done . My poor little girl :( has anyone else has this problem?

Hey Danielle,

I've had some problems with general fussiness with Gabriel. Although reflux isn't the main issue, it has been part of it. He now takes Zantac in the morning and at night, and that seems to help some. I've also started giving him over the counter Mylicon to help with his gas. Again, the gas isn't a huge problem, but all of these little factors seem to contribute to what is some overwhelming fussiness. Seriously, most of the time he will not let me put him down at all. He is either nursing or crying when he's awake. I've also heard that the Rock n Play sleeper is good for reflux because it keeps baby on an incline. You can also just prop up the mattress of Bobbie's bed, or allow her to rest in a swing or other inclined space. I've also started putting lavender oil on Gabriel's feet for a general calming effect. Sounds kind of silly, but it does seem to calm him down a bit. And at this point, I'm pretty willing to try anything!

Good luck at the doctor. I hope he is able to give you something that will help. You are not alone. Our issue isn't exclusively reflux, but I know how it feels to have an extremely fussy baby right now. XX

Thanks Nikki, it's so frustrating and exhausting, sooooooo exhausting. I will def look at the sleeper and oil, like you I'm willing to go for anything right now. She does sleep on a slight incline now since the choking hell but she rarely settles any place other than on me and even then it can sometimes take a while if the discomfort is bad. I hope I can get it sorted :/

Just throwing this out there, have either of you heard of amber teething necklaces? We have one and I know several people who swear by them for their babies. They supposedly promote pain and discomfort relief (beyond teething). You can find them online. We were careful not let our baby sleep with it at night unless we wrapped it around his ankle, under a tight sock under a footed pj. I know, we are nutty, but I wonder if it might help some of your babies? Heck, if things are so hard it might be worth a try.

Annie - Coley swears by the amber necklace that Edie has been using since she was a little baby. I'll add that to my list of things to try! =)

Me too :)

http://www.amberartisans.com/

I think this is the site I bought ours from. Here's to hoping!

Danielle- I just want to sympathize with you as my rainbow had severe reflux also. Our problem was that she spit up everything she ate so she couldn't gain weight and it was so stressful for me. Reflux can make you feel like you're failing as a mother and when you've already experienced the 'worst case scenario' it's really hard to not think about losing your rainbow as well (the choking, gasping for breath, failure to thrive, whatever burden reflux brings to you). Your Bobbie is still very young and I'm hopeful that as she matures, things will improve. We used all the usual methods and they were mildly helpful. It's very frustrating to feel helpless. I can't believe there hasn't been more progress made in the world of treating reflux. I will say, now that my daughter is a year old, they typically outgrow it as their physical body matures. I know that's not helpful in the hell that you're in.

If you can't resolve her issues right now, perhaps you can figure out a strategy to cope with the sleeplessness you're suffering through. Work out a schedule with your partner to hold her upright for stints during the night so one of you can catch some zzzz's. And I know this is costly, but I know night nurses and post-partum doulas can be lifesavers in these situations. Someone to safely hold your baby so you can get a chunk of sleep. Sleep deprivation can be very, very hard on you when you're going through a stressful situation. All the other remedies the women stated above are things we also did so I won't reiterate them. Just know that you're not alone and you're going through a very, very hard time. It feels so unfair. I hope that she outgrows this very soon.

Thanks Nicole, you are rightit knocks your confidence a lot when you see your baby struggling but can't stop it. I too can't believe nothing more has been done to help combat this, I just can't believe she has to go through this.

Hi Nikki, it is hard when they, and us, are suffering like that. I just wanted to share that 4 mum's from my IRL mum's group were all having major trouble with reflux and colic and all took their bubs for chiropractic adjustment. They swear there has been a big improvement. I haven't done it yet, as Sam's fussiness only really started this week and I'm still trying to figure out if it's silent reflux or what?!! But if I do get to a chiro I'll let you know. Perhaps worth looking into for you? Of course being in a different country I can't reccomend the local Dr who my mum's have had so much success with! But most do babies, and you may be able to find one in your area who specialises?
xx

Oh gosh, I meant to say Danielle, not Nikki, sorry! I knew who I was writing to! I'm gonna claim mummy brain/sleep dep on this! My 'words' have not been working this week, seriously, it's been quite silly really..

Hi Danielle,
I just wrote to Nikki on her thread last week, but I'll reiterate my experience and suggestion here: Vivi was super colicky and we could not figure out why. She did a lot of the things you are describing--back arching, trouble sleeping, lots of crying and lots of nursing. After trying Zantac, the rock 'n play, a wedge under her changing table, and multiple chiropractic adjustments, I finally just cut out all dairy and soy from my diet. that was the thing that finally made the difference. it can take about three weeks until you really see a difference, so you have to hang in there.

Let me know if you want more advice or information and I'll dig some more stuff up for you.

Good luck!
Emily

Hi mamas, just want to support Emily's idea - cutting dairy and soy from my diet seemed to really help my son when he was a new baby. I also had a milk oversupply, so when I figured out to only nurse on one side per feed that helped, too, as he started getting more of the hindmilk. I felt better when I read about the 'fourth trimester' idea, and worried less about constant carrying and feeding - though it was still exhausting! Hang in there, it will get better.

Thank you all so much. I have better news today, I took her to hospital in the end yesterday so I could get straight in and see a paediatrician, she has been given the top dose of omeprezole medication which neutralises acid and we have changed her milk to Aptimal anti -reflux comfort milk and Dr Brown reflux bottles, last night with all this she slept for 2 hours straight and the new milk seems to have been the biggest help. I'm hopeful over the next week she will be much better, she is definatly less agitated and not writhing about half as much. Fingers crossed but thank goodness I have you guys here.

I think I spoke too soon :(

I have had Rosabella adjusted and it is a very gentle process, not at all like an adult adjustment. You do need to find a chiropractor that has special training in working with infants. This website is for the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association http://icpa4kids.org/ which can help you find one. Good luck Danielle!

I will def look into that, thankyou x

Hi Danielle-I am super late to your threads about your colicky reflux babe, but I had the exact same experience w my daughter Whitney (now 4). It is uncanny when i read your descriptions. She also had the silent reflux which went undisgnosed for 3 mos. she not only had reflux but I would categorize her as severe colic. At her peak she screamed for 5 hrs a night. Never missed a night, barely slept, terrible napper, I went off all dairy, soy, etc to the point where I lived only on grilled organic chicken ad quinoa. It was so horrible. So-what helped? The diet helped a ton, so did having her sleep on an angle. We carried her for 5 mos straight. I almost lost my mind many a time. Much like when your baby dies, no one understands colic unless they have lived the horror. I now have colic baby, and SIDS baby under my belt. All I can tell you is that I so feel your pain, your frustration, and your sleep deprivation. I was so afraid my son would be colic when he was born-but he wasn't. Little did I know I should have been praying for colic as he died at 6 mos in his sleep. I am thinking of you Danielle, and know it will end. 4 mos is the turning point for most babies. Until then all u can do is hold onto your sanity. Even I can't imagine the colic baby on top of your grief. You can do this. And eventually u will enjoy your baby! I promise!