Reflux and back sleeping
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Support
Forum Name: Reflux and Allergy Support
Forum Description: Struggling with a refluxy baby? Looking for tips to deal with allergies? Share your experiences here.
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16149
Printed Date: 13 June 2025 at 10:19am
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Topic: Reflux and back sleeping
Posted By: aimeejoy
Subject: Reflux and back sleeping
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 4:26pm
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Something Kellz said in another thread and I didnt want to thread jack. She said Isla's reflux, she never settling on her back so was always side slept. Is this a common thing for reflux?
I just cannot get Greer to settle to sleep and stay asleep on her back during the day. She's fine at night cos she goes down asleep from her bottle, but during the day if I put her on her back she will cry for a bit, settle, then wake up crying (probably every 15 minutes or so). Her cot is tilted too. She will sleep really soundly on her side or tummy. Just trying to gather some of the things Greer does for our paed appt, and wasnt sure if this was something worth mentioning or not. ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Replies:
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 4:34pm
Kellz, reading what you wrote was like a lightbulb moment! After listening to her cry on and off all day, I went and put her on her side and shes been quiet for about 15 minutes and she was actually asleep when I checked on her  Makes me feel a bit bad that I was trying to force her to sleep on her back the last few days tho.  ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 4:34pm
| Daniel never settled on his back either and he had silent reflux. We always side slept him with a sleep wedge. |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 4:41pm
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Yeah anyone with reflux or even a vomitting bug should sleep on their tummy or side. This is because back sleeping straightens out the esophogus and causes more of the "heartburn" thing -------------  |
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 5:03pm
She doesnt officially have reflux, but I think she does! Thats why I'm trying to write down all these things for our appt. Oh and shes still asleep so its obviously helped.  ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 5:03pm
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Another question... how do they get an official diagnosis. Do they do any tests? Or is it mainly subjective? ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 6:44pm
| They never did any tests for us. I just described all of Daniels probs and things that he was doing and the doc agreed with me that it was silent reflux. Then we started going through finding what would help him - infant gaviscon, ranitidine etc |
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 7:07pm
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sorry for being ignorant but what makes it silent reflux? i seem to be the only person i know whose child is on neocate who doesnt have reflux..he certainly sleeps better sitting up though.. wonder if i could use that wedge to put him on his side(its designed for back though..
glad you found something that helped aimee? ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 7:20pm
| Silent reflux is when the contents in the stomach come up but it doesn't make them spill, it just goes back down. It's worse in some ways because the acids burn them twice - on the way up and down. |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 7:23pm
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Silent reflux is when the stomach acid back-tracks up the eoshagus/throat, burning the throat and causing pain, but without the spilling usually associated with infant reflux. Therefore its much harder to diagnose, cos u obviously cant see that the stomach acid/contents is burning thr throat.
One in 3 babies with reflux have dairy intollerance or allergy. Isla's went un-diagnosed for 5 months. I knew something was very wrong, but even when we aksed the diff Dr's we saw if it could be reflux(after serching online), 3 said no. Grrr! We always used a rolled up baby towel or blanket to keep Isla on her side. We also found it more effective to tilt the bassinette or cot from under the legs of the cot, not under the matress,..and make sure u tilt it at least the height of a phone book - Auck size, not Gizzy size! Lol! |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 7:29pm
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Yeah good point Stacey,..I never thought about it being twice as bad! I know that its obviously much harder to diagnose so often the damage is a lot more severe cos like in Isla's case her thoat was being burned for 5 months, before she started on meds. It was another few months until we got onto Ranitidine as well, which decreased the ammount of stmach acid her body produces, allowing the damage to heal.
Diagnosis is only through seeing if the benifit from medication. There is a long process of food eliminating, trying sebveral diff meds etc before the will scope a baby, which is the only way to 'test' for the reflux, as such. Cryingoverspiltmilk website has more info on the diagnostic process. |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 8:28pm
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I tell you, with the reflux probs I have atm, I really feel for these poor wee refluxy babes, it bloody burns like a mo fo!
Mercedes was diagnosed after the paed watched her squirm and scream her way thru a feed then promptly spew it back all over herself. Sienna was never officially diagnosed coz I refused to admit they both had reflux, it seemed too overwhelming, but she had the exact same symptoms. Mine were half and halfers - they spewed a lot, but you could also hear them refluxing then nothing would come up, they would swallow it back down again, it was awful. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 8:38pm
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Well she settled like an angel tonight, grizzled for maybe a minute, and she was on her side with the wedge. First time since all this started about 5 weeks ago!
Greer does still spill quite a bit and I can often hear her bring some back up and it sounds like she needs to cough and clear her throat, but she swallows and her breathing is clear again. ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 8:39pm
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Yeah it took me a long time to be able to recoginse the sound of Isla refluxing,..I cant really discribe it,..its not like dry wreching.
Other symtoms that Isla had were : Could only feed when upright,...I bf her but couldnt lie her flat across me like I see a lot of other people do,..her head was the only part level with my boob,..and the rest of her body was on a huge angle down so her legs were on mine (hope that makes sense). Only fed for max 3 mins a fed, was on and off screaming and on again etc. Was never calm when feeding. Would draw her legs up to her chest. Im sure I will think of more! |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 8:39pm
Defibatly sounds like reflux then Aimee 
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Posted By: Bumble
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 8:43pm
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Ouchies. Poor bubbas with reflux....
------------- formerly known as "Bee" Ethan ~ March 2003 Big 6 year old school boy! Micah ~ Aug 2008 ~ Smiley pants who loves telephones! |
Posted By: busymum
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 8:57pm
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Briona had silent reflux, it was "diagnosed" only by process of elimination. We were told a lot that it just had to do with sleep routines etc and I swallowed that whole because she had a much stronger will than Hannah right from the word go. They would have given me Gaviscon to try but that was at 3mos and she seemed to be getting alright by then. Hopefully Greer will come right soon. 3mos of screaming and no sleeping was horrible. ------------- |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 9:03pm
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Yeah Teresa, we were told that Isla only feeding 3 mins MAX was just cos she was an good feeder and I had good supply. Or tat it must be my supply,..or that I had PND and was bascially imagined how bad it was
I learnt- trust your instincts! |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 08 April 2008 at 10:11pm
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The sound of the silent refluxing is awful, it's like a choking, gurgling sound ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
|
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 09 April 2008 at 11:37am
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Greer's sound reminds me of the oldies I see in hospital with a chest infection who are lying on their back gurgling away and needing a really good cough.
She has been sleeping awesome since I re-started side sleeping her yesterday. Going off to sleep awake with less than one minute grizzling. This morning was the first morning in weeks she hasnt woken at 5am and slept through until 7! yay! Still a bit nervous about our paed appt on Mon and being turned down for neocate but will cross that bridge if it happens.
Oh and yay! child disability allowance has gone up again this year - now its $80 a fortnight. Sweet! ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 10 April 2008 at 10:24am
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Slight thread jack but is it possible for silent reflux to be worse at certain times of the day?
Eimear gets very unsettled after 6pm and we've have many nights where me or DH would sleep with her on the recliner, until the 2am feed, after failed attempts to put her down in her cot. (She does do most of her day naps in her rocker though as it's at a slight angle.) Her tummy gets rock hard, get her to to sleep by putting a dummy in her mouth and rocking her to sleep. She might be lying on us for 30 mins but most times, as soon as she is put in her cot she wakes again. She won't cry if the dummy is in but she's wide awake and there's no getting her to sleep. Last night after the 2am feed she woke after 40 mins of being in the cot in agony. Back down to the couch with us. Also I do hear the choking/gurgling noises sometimes which aren't exactly pleasant to hear when lying in bed. We did go to the doctor with her just before Easter and he basically said she's just a windy baby, deal with it. *sigh* Won't be going back to him. |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 10 April 2008 at 1:59pm
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It sure could be, might be worth getting a second opinion. Could also be colic, altho they don't usually "gurgle" with colic. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
|
Posted By: Andie
Date Posted: 10 April 2008 at 2:37pm
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Oooh Tishy - poor Eimear! The rock hard tummy sound like wind to me. Did the Doc advise anything for it? I hope it stops for her soon - sounds really tricky for ya. ------------- Andie |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 10 April 2008 at 6:48pm
| We found Daniels reflux upset him more in the early evening. But it sounds like she might have that problem along with the wind prob. Poor Eimear!!!! Have you tried infacol? That was our lifesaver when Daniel had crazy wind. All night I'd hear him farting through the monitor after he had it! |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 10 April 2008 at 7:39pm
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Isla had excessive wind with her silent reflux.She was on infacol for months and months until she was finally diagnosed with silent reflux.
Check out the diagnosis flow charts on the cryingoverspiltmilk website. From experience I have found the 4 GP's we saw didnt seen to know much at all about infant relux disease, and especially silent reflux, so it would pay to print out the pages of the internet and be armed with some info! |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 11 April 2008 at 8:22am
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Thanks for the replies! We use infacol in the evenings which works for the first feed but not for the following ones.
I am trying to go Dairy free, I've had some relapses but have been behaving the last week. That might make a difference too. Based on cryingoverspiltmilk, Aoife could be a 'Happy Chucker' too. We go through a lot of bed linen here 
Last night was much better, I was on the couch until 2am but it's a comfy couch. Things would be a lot worse if the dummy didn't calm her that's for sure.
We have a paed app in a few weeks so will have my research done before then if things don't improve. |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 11 April 2008 at 8:39am
| Yay for dummies! If it is reflux, dummys do help it cos the sucking motion helps keep the stomach acid in the stomach,..others argue that it also stimulates the stomach to produce more acid,.. so who knows! |
Posted By: Alex32
Date Posted: 06 May 2008 at 9:11pm
| My 3 month old was diagnosed with silent reflux last week- Gaviscon worked almost immedietley. However I took him homeopath yesterday, and by doing some simple tests it turns out Lucas is intolerant to onions and eggs... I eat onions in some form most days! I have cut them out, but he said it will get worse for a few days (Lucas going thru onion withdrawl!) but then reflux should be a lot better. Best $90 I ever spent. |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 07 May 2008 at 4:31pm
| Yay thats great, hope it works for you! |
Posted By: Tiff
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:44pm
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This may sound like a stupid question but we bought a sleep wedge for Rohann as had heard that side sleeping is better for reflux babies, however we haen't used it as when I put her on it she really didn't look comfortable. I'm not sure though if it's because we still wrap her 'cos she looks sort of 'propped' right on her 'edge'. So how do you position them so they are comfy? ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 10 May 2008 at 7:15am
| Isla was wrapped until 10 months and always side slept. I wrapped her with arma crossed over her chest, then lay her on her side until she was comfy, then had a small rolled up blanket that we put behind her just to stop her rolling back. It wasnt really jammed up against her back so she wasnt completely on her side all the time. Worked well for us! |
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 10 May 2008 at 8:39am
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I have a sleep wedge as well for Greer and have thought the same thing Tiff! I wrapwith her arms tucked up and she seems happy with that. She is odd tho and would happily sleep on her tummy wrapped up like that! ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 10 May 2008 at 8:50am
| Lol Aimee! Yeah I wish I had started tummy sleeping Isla sooner than 10 months cos she is sooo much more comfy like that! |
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 10 May 2008 at 8:55am
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If Greer falls asleep on us we usually put her down on her tummy, and when she was little she would only sleep on her tummy - before we figured out she had reflux. ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 10 May 2008 at 9:12am
| yeah Im sure its more comfy for them cos it puts pressure on their tummies. |
Posted By: Alex32
Date Posted: 16 May 2008 at 9:21pm
| My Osteopath suggested we side sleep Lucas in a wedge- he goes to sleep in it absolutely fine, our problem is that his nappies can't cope with side sleeping, and he wakes more often as he's wet through! I had to change his PJ's and sheets 3 times last night....any suggestions? |