Windy baby

yellow hen

I'm looking two see if any other boardsies ever had this problem.

Our now 4.5 month old had silent reflux from about 4-14 weeks. It eased off around the time we began to introduce solids. Solids, then and still now, constitutes a desert spoon of fruit (apples, pears, mangos, prunes etc) in the morning and a desert spoon of veg (squash, carrot, sweet potato etc) in the eve. Since birth he has always tussled and wriggled in his sleep but we thought it was the discomfort of reflux and some wind. He's been on ðr browns bottles and aptimil first milk since 6 weeks old (bfed before that).

Fast forward to now and we have a baby who is a happy little man during the day but by night he is the most troubled baby with wind. He usually wakes 2-3 times, crying hysterically and kicking to try move the wind. We give him gripe which will eventually help but in the meantime, we try massage, swinging him on his tummy, bicycling his legs etc. they all help a little but not enough. I stopped giving him solids in the eveing but ntat didnt change anything. I should also mention that he has become quite constipated. Im giving him lactulose twice a day but he still only poos every 4 days. We are now at the end of our thether. Colief and infacol haven't helped either. Today, on the advice of a friend, I moved him onto nutramigen formula. Coincidentally or not, we just had the worst crying session to date. I was on the verge of taking him to crumlin when we fell asleep in my arms.

I know this is a long winded message but I am heartbroken watching him in so much pain. I've been to the doctor and they told me to keep giving him lactulose and if the constipation eases, the wind will ease also. This hasn't worked to date.

Has anyone any experience with a similar problem? Sorry again for the long post (and typos as I'm on my phone doing this)

cyning

YH my little girl suffered dreadfully with constipation, and despite lactulose twice a day she still wasn't pooing. We had her in A&E at 4 weeks where they just said to keep giving her the lactulose. They wanted to see her again within 6 weeks. I finally got given an appt for when she was 22 weeks old.

I got referred privately when she ws 10 weeks on a Fri: saw the doc the following Thurs, and was admitted with her on the Sun. They had to do a barium enema to test for Hirschsprungs but thankfully it wasn't, but they did discover high calcium levels. She was given an enema if she got to the 3rd day of not pooing for a fortnight, which brought the calcium levels down. My point is if you think there's something wrong get a referral to someone new. Go back to your GP. If I had gone by the A&E docs, my little girl would have had 3 months of screaming everytime she had to poo. She still is very prone to constipation but nothing like before. She had the wind problems etc too but they did disappear with the constipation.

I know its awful to watch them in such pain It does get easier, but when your right in the middle of it I know thats very little consolation.

yellow hen

Thank you so much cyning. I actually remember reading your posts a while back but couldn't remember who posted them.

I'm in in docs clinic next tue for vaccinations and will ask to see doc again then and insist on a referral. It's not right to see such a defenceless creature in do much pain. He nearly choked this evening as he crying so hard. I asked in the chemist today and getting a suppository but apparently infant suppositories are gone off the market.

I'm in bed now just watching him and praying he gets some sleep

cyning

Ya my little girl was originally to take glycerine suppositries but has been put on Senokot now if we get to the 3rd day. By prescription for under 12's. Suppositries were much easier but I hate them all. I hate having to give her crap: but I've tried prune juice, orange juice, sugar water, raisins, grapes, blueberries. Ready brek mixed with the c&g plum and apple is definitely very helpful, but she still gets bunged up sometimes. She gave herself a little tear at one stage too which was absolutely heartwrenching too.

I really hope you get a referral: its not right for them to be in constant pain.

yellow hen

cyning wrote: »

She gave herself a little tear at one stage too which was absolutely heartwrenching too.

Oh Jesus the poor mite and poor you 😥 It's upsetting and frustrating but I will persevere trying to get a referral. Odd thing is that the doc doesn't want to refer him for an x ray or barium (spelling?) test as they are intrusive and have side effects. If she seen the pain he is in every night and weighed it up, she'd know that those tests are the lesser evil right now!

cyning

They are intrusive. And horribly upsetting. I had to hold C down as she screeched for the barium: its not something I would choose to do, but it was needed. Just look for a referral to a paedeatrician a fresh pair of eyes can do wonders. She's had a tough time of it but thankfully it wasn't anything too serious.

Rachineire

My LO got put on nutramagin for a cows milk protein allergy. I only put him on it because the doctor advised me to- i personally wouldnt make a big formula switch like that without talking to my PHN or GP first, that nutramagin is nasty smelling/tasting stuff, took ages before my LO would drink it properly. we had lots of wind and stuff and waking up at night as well, he cried tons during the day/night. we found out it was the reflux that was causing him to be so unsettled and upsetting his tummy which added to wind issues. The GP put him on zantac and after 3 days he was a new child. Not sure if he is on the zantac yet but if not its worth giving it a go- it tastes like corsodyl so it takes a few goes before they like it but my LO go bananas when he sees me with the syringe of it now, its his morning/bedtime treat haha!
I really hope you get it sorted out, its so hard to watch them in pain and feel helpless- then not sleeping on top of all the distress makes its 10 times worse, i know i was right there with you! Best of luck!

yellow hen

Hi rach,

CaraMay wrote: »

You have my total sympathy - reflux is a terrible dose. My son was lactose intolerant and suffers/ed from reflux as a result. He is on nutramigen with zoton since 5 months and is doing great now.

I would suggest you out all dairy from your diet if you are goign to continue breast feeding to see if that improves matters. I always had and have the cot raised. I got a reflux wedge for changing his nappy and also for his cot. I let him sleep during the day in his chair and definitely didnt turn on the swing part of it.

Gavison didnt work for us and it constipated him. TBH, I would spend the money going to a specialist who deals with childhood reflux and get a full and proper diagnosis early on. The lack of sleep is a killer but is unlikely to improve until you get the tummy problems sorted out.

The is really interesting. I've posted this on another windy baby thread but here goes again....

I've been to the doc and phn who were all but useless so this weekend, after alot of debate, we moved him to nutramigen. He didn't flinch taking the new formula but he's such a hungry little man that I suspect he'd take anything! I did talk to the pharmacist yesterday when I was buying it and told him about O's past with reflux and Zantac. He felt that there couldn't be a relationship between the reflux and wind as the reflux is in his stomach and the wind is in his gut. Must ask the gp about this.

Anyway here's the confusing part.... Yesterday was his first day on the new formula. He went to sleep at 7am and at 7:30 woke in a desperate state. It took me 40 mins to work wind out of him and calm him down. After cursing a lot to myself and feeling so guilty, i said I'd revert back to the old formula. Then lo and behold, the little monkey slept from 8pm to 5am...in 4.5 months he's never managed to do this!!!! I am so confused now. We've given him the new formula all day today so god knows what's ahead tonight!

bozharry

Hi, I have no advice for the wind but if your lo is suffering from constipation I would have to recommend milled linseed. I have used it for my ds since he was about 10 months. I added it to his breakfast ( usually wheatabix or porridge) or sprinkled it over his fruit ( did a mix of baby led weaning and purée). I kept using dufolac (sp) until the blockage was cleared and then never had an issue after.mjust used a teaspoon a day but more if he had an problems pushing. I would recommend that you ask someone in a health food shop about using it for a young baby but I had been told it was ok my ds at about 10 months.

I have used it for dd1 amd dd2 since if they showed any problems and it cleared straight away. You can buy in in aldi for about €3 a bag where the cereals are but beware it costs nearly €8 in tesco!!

LegacyUser

why are you giving your baby solids at 4.5 months? this is the cause of his discomfort, nothing else

yellow hen

Quick update just in case anyone else finds themselves in a similar position.

Went back to gp today to have a chat about what I'm doing. GP recommended SMa lactose free formula instead (thankfully is half the price of nutramogen too). I think so far he has less wind on the lactose free formula so he might have had a mild intolerance for lactose. Anyway, I feel more confident now that the gp had said we were righf to change formula. She also recommended baby porridge in the morn to help with the constipation. Fingers crossed things improve!

Rachineire

I'm glad hes doing better on the new formula and that the SMA is cheaper, nutramigen is sooo expensive! (and the tins are half the size of the regular formulas!) A lot of babies have issues with cows milk under a year- a lot of it goes undiagnosed as "colic" and eventually a baby will grow out it (so says my PHN) it all depends on how severe the intolerance is. Fingers crossed that this sorts our your little guy!

LegacyUser

wont be published wrote: »

why are you giving your baby solids at 4.5 months? this is the cause of his discomfort, nothing else

My Phn advised that babies start solids between 4 and 6 months.

yellow hen

Xxi wrote: »

My Phn advised that babies start solids between 4 and 6 months.

Thank you. That poster doesn't know my baby so can't possibly comment that 'that's the cause of his discomfort!'

Anyway so far no joy we've been giving him porridge in the morning but just realised that there's milk in it so I'm going to get the organix brand one which doesn't have milk. I've stated him on an infant probiotic too which will aid his digestion. After that, I don't think there's anything else we can do. If the problems persist after this, I think we'll have to get a referral to a paediatrician I'm still hopeful we'll manage to control it on our own though!

CaraMay

Most probiotics have lactose in them so check out yours. I give weetabix most days and stick to foods least likely to upset the tummy eg pear, mango, sweet potato. There is lactose in many of the teething gels as well so something else to be aware of.

yellow hen

CaraMay wrote: »

Most probiotics have lactose in them so check out yours. I give weetabix most days and stick to foods least likely to upset the tummy eg pear, mango, sweet potato. There is lactose in many of the teething gels as well so something else to be aware of.

Thanks caramay. The probiotic dies indeed have lactose. We only realised after 2 days... Kind of annoyed as Health food store recommended it?!! I'm not going to give it to him today and see how we go. It's definitely trial and error. The baby porridge seems to be helping his bowels which is great.

CaraMay

All of the professionals I asked advised not to give him probiotics as there is no medical proof they do what they say.

yellow hen

CaraMay wrote: »

All of the professionals I asked advised not to give him probiotics as there is no medical proof they do what they say.

Did they suggest they would have a negative effect? I didn't give them to him today anyway and I'll leave them out tomorrow too.

CaraMay

Not as such no ...

Hobbitfeet

CaraMay wrote: »

All of the professionals I asked advised not to give him probiotics as there is no medical proof they do what they say.

What??really? This is so not true, the first record of probiotics being used to maintain health is in the bible, they have been used for centuries and there's a huge amount of research that shows the benefits of probiotics. What the hell is wrong with medical professionals in Ireland, seriously??

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0905c.shtml

CaraMay

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

What??really? This is so not true, the first record of probiotics being used to maintain health is in the bible, they have been used for centuries and there's a huge amount of research that shows the benefits of probiotics. What the hell is wrong with medical professionals in Ireland, seriously??

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0905c.shtml

Well I don't believe what's written in the bible either...

You seem to know a lot about the topic in hand. Where does your experience come from?

Hobbitfeet

I don't particularly believe a lot of what is in the bible like the miracles, parting the seas etc but it does give accounts of know historical events and day to day life back then and the use of probiotics (fermented milk) is mentioned.
Fermented foods have been used for centuries to promote heathy digestion and immune system.
I'm not a medical professional is that's what you mean but I do have a big interest in health and nutrition even more so since being pregnant and giving birth. I read a lot of medial articles and papers on subjects that interests me and the immune system, gut and digestion particularly interest me as they are vital for health