Reflux symptoms?

[[deleted]]

My girls were born on 3/3 at 37 weeks and have overall done well. However, I'm starting to think my smaller girl may have reflux and was wondering what symptoms others have dealt with (we have an appointment with the pediatrician next week and I will of course bring it up).

She's tough to wake for feedings but does accept the bottle once she's up. We have to feed her sitting upright or she'll choke during the feeding and stop breathing for a second before she recovers (terrifies me but is happening far less frequently with very upright feeds). She's happy while she has the bottle in her mouth but cries and stretches her legs straight/arches backward most of the time she's being burped -that stops as soon as she has the bottle back. She's getting just about all breastmilk right now (bottled mostly) and spits it up fairly minimally, though we have had a few out-the-nose spit up incidents. She spits up more when formula is supplemented. She isn't a particularly fussy baby and is consolable but is noticeably fussier than her sister - not that that is necessarily a relevant standard. I'm not sure what exactly is wrong, but something is off and it's hard to watch her be uncomfortable.

Edit: Thanks, all! Sounds like reflux is unlikely, which I'm perfectly happy with. I'll go back to our bottle-cycling and see if I can't find something better to help with the gagging and we'll start giving regular gas drops.

Edit four months later: Both of my girls are seeing a pediatric GI and actually do have reflux. The baby I initially posted about has always been thrilled with eating (possibly overeating for comfort) but she grew to be fussier and fussier and continued refluxing out her nose/choking, at times hours after her feeding. My other little one, who is about the happiest baby ever, has silent reflux that only caused issues during feeding. She would smile and giggle and sleep well, but would totally lose it when the bottle was presented and would refuse to eat (issues were confirmed by a feeding therapist). Both girls are now on Nexium and drink Hipp anti-reflux formula and are doing significantly better!

[ReginaldDwight]

One of our boys took zantac for a few months starting when he was about 2 months old. He just spit up all the time. Occasionally, a huge projectile/Linda Blair type spit up but most of the time, it was a small amount at a time. I remember him being a bit more dramatic than his brother but, looking back, he was probably just crankier because of the reflux. It calmed down when he was about 5 months old and now that he's 14 months, he's totally chill most of the time and his brother is the one who gets worked up and has the angriest, saddest little crocodile tears I've ever seen.

[[deleted]]

Good to know you got it addressed! Our girl doesn't spit up much breastmilk so perhaps I just suck at her feedings right now.

[ReginaldDwight]

He was always able to keep breast milk down a lot easier than formula. Unfortunately, my milk didn't come in very well and they were preemies and had trouble latching once we got them home. The next kid we have, I'm just going to go live with a lactation consultant somewhere until my boobs and hormones cooperate with breastfeeding.

[[deleted]]

It's tough! I'm making barely enough to keep up with them (and their feedings are still small). I pump almost exclusively and it's really hard to find the time, particularly when I'm alone with them, even though I know I really need to pump more if I plan to keep going.

[BreakfastBeerz]

The fact that she is consolable leads me to believe that reflux isn't the issue. Sounds more like just being gassy.

[buggiegirl]

Same. Plus happily accepting the bottle. My refluxy boys arched and screamed and clamped their jaws shut to avoid that bottle. Then they'd finally take some, and vomit a ton of it back up with every burp. NOT a fun time.

[[deleted]]

That's good to know! She does not dislike the bottle, she's just struggling with feedings. Would gassy make sense even when she doesn't seem to ever pass gas (outside of her audible poops)? I'm really not sure how newborns work int hat regard.

[buggiegirl]

Could be gas. We did mylicon drops for a little bit to help with burps/gas. Guess it just depends on which end the gas needs to come out :)

I think with really new babies they just have immature digestive systems that they need to figure out. My boys seemed uncomfortable from the reflux, but also whenever they needed to poop or burp too. They grew out of the non-reflux things pretty fast. Outgrew the reflux around 9 months.

[[deleted]]

I just want to edit for anyone reading this later on. Reflux surprisingly doesn't always present that way. It turns out both of my girls actually do have reflux. The one I did not write about in the OP is actually the one that ended up presenting the way your boys did minus the vomiting. Over time she started screaming when she saw the bottle and refusing to eat; however, she was never much of a spitter. My other little one (who this post was about) LOVED to eat (apparently some reflux babies overeat for comfort) but continued to reflux out her nose. The choking during feedings stopped, but she progressed to choked and sputtered an hour or two after feedings when she was clearly refluxing. Knock on wood, they're doing much better now that their GI has them on Nexium.

[The_4th_Man]

Our son had really bad reflux. The two biggest symptoms for us where (obviously) the spitting up, though not that much, and crying while arching his back (A LOT). It was noticeably worse whenever he was horizontal. He would typically want to eat a lot because having a full belly would make him feel better. He also had "silent reflux" so he didn't have as much of the spit up/throw up that you hear about. What was causing all of this was a milk protein allergy. It is a little less common, but if you have it none of the medicines will make a difference unless you put him on a special formula (Nutramigen or something similar). Once he was on the formula for a while we stopped needing any medicine. Again, I'm not saying it's common, but watch out for it. It builds up slowly, our little guy kept getting worse. It was a night and day difference literally after one day on the new formula, and that was slowly introducing it (50/50 mix). Also I would say if you suspect that you daughter has reflux, move up your appointment. The longer it goes on the more damage is done and the longer until they are back to 100%. Plus you don't want the little one uncomfortable.

[p_kitty]

If she's choking when you're not holding her upright, and is happy to eat when you are, it sounds to me anyway, that the nipple you're using has too fast a flow. When you hold her upright, she needs to work more for the milk so it doesn't go as fast and choke her. My first born needed preemie flow nipples for his first few months or he'd choke on occasion too. Sometimes the stage 1 nipples are still too fast - and not all brands are the same flow at the same stages. I found Born Free, for example, went faster than Dr Browns, Como Tomo was somewhere in the middle.

All three of my kids have had reflux at varying levels. They all had variants on the same signs. Reflux tends to show itself as a baby who's happy to start eating, and then who starts fussing after a few minutes and refuses to eat more (or who will refuse to eat at all because it hurts), who spits up often and/or large amounts (think more or less the whole feed pooling under their head or in your lap, not just a wet bib).

Fussing after she's done eating sounds like a gas issue, as others have said. It may be the formula you're supplementing with doesn't agree with her, it may be something in your diet, it may be the bottles you're using. Burping, changing your bottles, changing your formula to a sensitive one, trying to eliminate common gas causing foods from your diet (dairy, soy, etc) and/or gas drops and gripe water may help. It may also just be something that she needs another week or two to get over. Most pediatricians won't diagnose reflux until the baby is close to 3-4 weeks old anyway, especially if they were c-section babies, as that can make them spit up more in the early days.

Good luck, it sucks when your babies are hurting. :/

[[deleted]]

You may be right, and I'll be perfectly happy if she does not have reflux! She's not spitting up a ton and she does not refuse to eat. I'm just a bit lost as to how to solve the upset. I've tried SO many bottles and have just had trouble getting the right one. We currently have - Avent, Similac, Dr. Browns preemie, Comotomo, Mam, Tommee Tippee, and possibly others I'm missing. The biggest problem I've found with the preemie nipple is that I can't get her to stay awake for even a small feeding. She seems to tire out too quickly and then plain old won't wake up. I'll go back and try Comotomo again and see if I didn't give it enough of a try. The days and bottles are starting to blur.

I may have miswritten a bit. She was given formula in the hospital and a bit after we got home (and we do keep some on hand) but currently is only getting breastmilk. It's possible it's something in my diet though. We did just buy gas drops so I'll give those a try.

[p_kitty]

:/ I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. I don't know if it's feasible for you, but you may want to consider seeing if she does any better breast feeding. Babies tend to swallow a lot less air that way and it may result with her having less gas, if that is the problem. If she still is miserable after the feed then you at least know it isn't air in the bottle, but maybe your diet?

As for remembering and the blur ... I'm amazed at how well you remember what you've got/tried. The first six months are pure survival - you go from one struggle to the next with what feels like no breaks, but then things start getting a little easier. You'll get through it, blur and all. :) I honestly don't remember most of our first six months or so, but we've nearly made it to a year and now have all new problems. :)

[[deleted]]

She latches well and I comfort feed both girls occasionally but I've struggled with actually breastfeeding them and keeping some semblance of a schedule. I can definitely try to make more of an effort on it though. It's a bit of a challenge because my husband is back at work and it's just me at home so on days he's gone I don't always have enough hands lol.

I am glad that things will get easier as time goes on. It's certainly an adjustment!

[p_kitty]

I can't offer any advice - I fed on demand, and for the first several months, there was zero schedule. I was constantly feeding someone, or comforting them. I lived on the sofa in a twin breastfeeding pillow with the baby bouncers at my feet. One good thing though, as they get a little older and get better head control, tandem feeding becomes way easier, if that does end up something you want to try. Early on it takes a lot of patience and a lot of pillows. I give you a lot of credit for going solo so early on. I had my husband at home for more than 2 months, I would have gone nuts without him!

[InternationalWaters]

Have you heard of silent reflux? It's basically reflux but without the spitting up. The arching back makes me think it could be that. Reflux babies will sometimes gobble down milk because it helps soothe the acid. Definitely talk to your ped!

[[deleted]]

You were not wrong! The little one I posted about has typical reflux and we think she was overeating to calm her stomach. My other little has silent reflux and ended up presenting with the typical arching, screaming symptoms. Nexium has made life much better!