Hi mommies

I am after some advice as my little 14 week old is getting "wind" which seems to be getting worse as time goes on.  He has always suffered from this but mostly burps which are quite easy to resolve for him.  In the beginning we tried Infacol which had some affect then stopped working.  We also tried Colief for a time but again with limited affect.  The wind that really troubles him and seems to be getting worse is when he gets "bottom wind" as I am unable to help with with it.  I find cool boiled water helps a bit although I've been told by the HV not to give water.  When I am breastfeeding him he seems to be troubled by this wind almost immediately he starts feeding and I have to stand up and walk around, rocking him etc before he can continue feeding.  Sometimes changing to the other breast works but what I really cannot understand is that if I give him a bottle (I am doing combined feeding) he will almost grab the bottle and drink it straight down without the slightest hind of wind even if he is crying out with discomfort before I give him the bottle.  It doesnt seem to be affected by what I eat as it is now happening most days.  He is occasionally sick but not that often.  I am not sure if it is wind, colic or reflux and not sure what to do about it.  He literally screams, goes red in the face and kicks his whole body around, sometimes grabbing at my hair in frustration.  The awful thing is that he seems to have less symptoms when taking the formula.  There have a been a couple of occasions when my milk supply hasnt been that great due to starting my period very early on and have had to resort to formula and his symptoms have actually improved which doesnt make any sense.

Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated as it breaks my heart to see him in such discomfort and I just want to help him.

Thanks A xxx

Have you tried different formulas? I know as a breastfeeding mum its probably something you don't want to consider but your baby's problems sound so much like our daughter - she is lactose-intolerant. We tried 5 or 6 types of formula and nothing worked, not even the sma lactose free. She did lose an awful lot of weight though, so the hospital basically said we had done their job for them by trying different milks. She was given prescription milk and has just gone on to soya 1+ at 18mths. It might be that your son's symptoms ease as the milk formula has processed the lactose somewhat,whereas he is getting pure lactose from you? This is obviously only a suggestion and I would go to your Dr rather than the HV - nothing against them, mine was fab helping us through this difficult stage - he actually urged me to get a referral to hospital so we wouldn't have found out so quickly without his input As you have tried different things and still no relief I think its worth getting more help - for your peace of mind as well as helping your son. As for the hv saying don't give water I'd challenge that idea if it has been particularly hot where you live. So long as he still takes his normal number of feeds then a little water will not hurt - the only thing my hv said was to not water down the feeds.

If you say the symptoms aren't so harsh with formula could it be BFing LO is struggling with?  If you have started bleeding already it could be that LO hasn't mastered latching on properly & isn't getting milk from you (they will cry with hunger pains).

The other possibility is an allergy or intolerance to the milk content & as PP suggested it is trial & error as to which milk suits best to your baby.

As for cooled boiled water, you can use this to help keep baby hydrated but it should not replace a feed.

Have you been to a bf group to ensure you're getting your lo is latching on properly and the screaming and wind isnt to do with a bad latch?  My son had a tongue tie which made it very difficult to latch on.  They can really help if inability to fed correctly is the issue.

I was also going to suggest that there maybe a allergy or intolerance he's picking up in your milk but is not present in feeding (other than dairy or soya), but there is a lot of trail and error on your part to identify if thats is the case.  Again you could google symptoms but its very hard as there are no set list, every baby is different and not every baby fails to gain weight, is sick etc.

Having been in the is it colic/reflux cycle before, the best advice I have is to write on all the symptoms he has, times etc, bf or bottle, sleep patterns the lot, then speak to a HV or doctor about your concerns.  There are so many things that it could be I'm afraid.  You're his mum and you stick to your mummy instincts that something is wrong, and dont allow any healthcare professional to make you feel like youre an over-anxious parent. 

 

Thanks for your interest and all your replies ladies.  What I don't understand is this problem only seems to happen on certain days and when it does he seems to be pretty unsettled all day then he can go for a few days when he is absolutely fine and brings his own wind up by burping etc.  If it was lactose intolerance which I understand to be quite rare, would he not have it every time he was exposed to dairy? Also we have tried Colief to little effect, again indicating to me that lactose is not the problem? I will do what has been suggested and keep a diary and see if that sheds any light and if the problem hasnt resolved will seek professional advice. The latching doesnt seem to be an issue, I had problems in the early weeks and had to use nipple shields but this has now resolved and he latches fine but just won't stay on my breast now for more than 5 minutes (he used to feed for at least 30 mins quite happily).  I spoke to a lovely lady on the National Breastfeeding Network the other evening and she suggested that he has perhaps become lazy at having to work for his milk because we have been giving him top ups and he prefers to take his milk this way now. Perhaps the wind is a separate issue entirely? Grateful for any further input. love A xxxx

Lactose intolerance really isn't that rare in babies. It is rare in adults as most people are able to build up their tolerance of lactose. Most babies grow out of it by one year. Of those who don't, most of those have grown out of it by 5 years. This is all info from our dietician.

The reason why the symptoms only show up on random days may be because the lactose is building up in his system. It has a cummulative effect. One days worth of lactose he can deal with but doesn't digest all of it, so the lactose builds up day by day until the symptoms come out. That's one of the reasons why it is difficult to diagnose for certain. My little one can take yukky square burger cheese one day, but two days on the trot and she's in agony.

The diary is definitely a good idea. At least you can identify any patterns to the symptoms and gives the gp a better idea of what your lo is going through. X