Anyone got experience of a baby with CMPA and silent reflux?

[Lovefood1984]

Hi all, just after a bit of advice/reassurance. After nearly a month of issues (not sleeping on back or during the day at all unless held, snacking on feeds, green poo etc.) and 2 GP visits over the Christmas period it looks as if our daughter is suffering from CMPA and reflux (she’s 9 weeks old tomorrow). The CMPA was easy to diagnose as 4 days after having her first formula feed at 1 day old she screamed between feeds until I gave her a full breast milk bottle and she was fine we made the link (despite being told by the midwife she had colic 🙄) and we then moved her onto hypoallergenic milk which helped until she was 5 weeks old and I stopped any expressing and she was full formula. We seem to have now gotten both under control in the last few days as she’s now sleeping on her back (thank god as I was sleeping with her on me and next to me and getting very little sleep) and her temperament is very improved (she smiles now vs spending most of the day crying) however she still doesn’t seem to drink much for her weight (4.56kg last week). She can take anything from 60ml to the full 120ml we are offering her and goes 3-4hrs between feeds day and night. She still cry’s a lot sometimes when she gets to 60mls but wants more but doesn’t seem able to take it 🤷‍♀️ (Rooting on chest and fists in mouth) I guess with all the issues and slower weight gain I’m just desperate for her to take more as well as understanding why she can’t seem to at times (she’s just been making hungry signs but as soon as you put the bottle in her mouth she starts screaming) and perhaps go longer at night between feeds (when she seems to pick her 3hrly stints) I’m just so tired and I guess all you read (her special milk tin says 150mls 5 times a day 😱, I’m feeding her about 8 times a day!) suggests she should be taking more and going longer not during the day but at night. The last few weeks have really taken their toll I guess vs having a normal behaving/feeding baby. Perhaps I am just expecting too much too soon x

[Kata89]

My baby is coming up for 6 months. She’s has colic, reflux and possibly dairy intolerant. It’s hard. She won’t sleep alone or at all really during the day. She’s fully breastfeed and won’t take a bottle so I’ve cut out dairy. I think we’re coming out of the hardest point now. She’s on ranitidine but before that she would scream for hours on end. We’re starting to have a happy content baby who’s happy to sit and play but this has only been in the last few weeks.

Hang in there. It’s going to get easier. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Lovefood1984 in reply to Kata89]

Hi Kata89, thanks for the reassurance, I guess as someone who loves their sleep this is really hard. The formula got us the smiley child and we’ve just started on the raniditine too and the difference is amazing as she stopped crying all the time and started sleeping on her back again (albeit very noisily at night with a lot of squirming, sometimes I have to go sleep in the spare room as the husband can sleep through it whilst I can’t, usually means we miss her hungry night cues though and she ends up crying 🙁). Wishing you all the best cutting out dairy to see if it helps more. I don’t know whether to feel lucky or not she was on formula so taking a new one was easy enough when she got used to the taste. We really struggled getting breastfeeding started (2 weeks bottle, 6 days breast) and then it all went to pot when I had to top her up again, I couldn’t pump and feed and sleep and something had to give and by that point I’d decided I’d given it a good enough go. Just have to remind myself to ‘Just keep swimming’ all things will pass, who ever heard of a teenager not sleeping through the night 😉 x

[Kata89 in reply to Lovefood1984]

My mantra is it won’t last forever. It’s slowly getting easier so it’s about being positive. I’ve found going to baby groups helps spending time with other mums of babies a similar age. I’ve met so many going through the same or similar

[Lovefood1984 in reply to Kata89]

Thanks for your encouraging words. We’re off to our first class next week, I’ve signed her up for baby sensory so we’ll be starting to get out and about more. I just need to learn to live with the lack of sleep. The rest I can cope with 😀 x

[Tkd2019]

Hey I have a little girl who turned 2 in October and so no what you were going though , I finally got her diagnosied at 3 months with milk and soya allergys and then got there with the silent reflux aswell , it was a nightmare for a year , constantly crying , sickness and runny nappies 24hrs a day! It does get easier I can promise you that, and they can grown out of allergys as they get older which my little girl did when she turn 1 1/2 years old.

I got that feed up I cired to my dietitian lady as it wasn't getting better and after trying 10 different special milks that smelt disgusting we got there in the end.

All the advice I can really give you is at the moment she's only 9 weeks it will be a journey to get there but you will get there with trying different things to settle her , getting as much support of a dietitian as you can and hanging in there as I'm sure your doing a great job :D. And also when she does sleep , just sleep aswell which I'm sure you have heard before . Good luck and I'm sure things will get better for you soon x

[Lovefood1984 in reply to Tkd2019]

Thank you for the reassurance. I’m hoping she will grow out of it, I heard once they are sitting up a lot more etc the reflux gets better and that the cows milk intolerance also sorts itself out between 1-1/2 years. I’d hate for her to miss out on things as she grows up if she does have an intolerance. And yes the milks stink! I’ve done a lot of crying too but not at a health professional (yet!) I think it’s the lack of sleep and worry about them that does it. I gave up trying to sleep when she does during the day as she didn’t (I’d put her down and she’d be awake within 20mins just as I was drifting off and it left me feeling worse) Now I just try to get as much as possible at night. To be fair since about 4 weeks in general she’s getting the day and night jist and will go straight back to sleep after a night feed, exception being this week at new year when she decided to party until 4am 😉 I think we let her sleep too much during the day as she was just getting well again and she took advantage of it. We’re now managing to get her back on track, I think 🤔 12am then 10:30 last night. I also got her up at 9 this morning as she was still sleeping and made her stay up until her feed at 9:40 then she went back to sleep. I’m hoping she’ll find her own rhythm now she’s better. Sounds like you’ve been through the mill too and survived (and done a fab job too!). No one died from having a small child to care for, I think I just need to learn how to be tired 😂 x