Wind and Sleep

[Mrs Little]

I have come to my wits end. My paediatrician has been no help at all. I have booked my son in to see my GP on Tuesday next week, i'm hoping she will give me some answers (at least listen to me).

My son was breast fed for the first 5 weeks. I had feeding problems, so i changed to the bottle and he slept and ate much better. However, he seems to have developed bad wind pains, enough to wake him up screaming out of a sleep (often 1 hour into a sleep). He grunts and pulls his legs up when lying in the cot.

Just this last week, we have had trouble feeding him. To the point where he would refuse to feed at all or refuse to continue to feed. He often chokes or coughs when feeding. I am using newborn teats. He sucked really well for the first few weeks, now he only sucks well when he wants to.


I know something is not right because i have seen him sleep beautifully and eat well- this is not normal for him. He wants to sleep, his little eyes are trying to close when i go in and he is grunting and screaming.

I have tried infants friend, infacol and brauers (which seemed to work the best out of them all) and they don't seem to help him dramatically. I bicycle his legs after feeds and when he wakes up out a sleep in pain. Sometimes he will let out the wind and other times he tenses his tummy up and grunts ( i think he's holding it in).

I am assuming this is wind...but i am open to other suggestions. He very rarely chucks during burping.

At the moment i have all these possibilities running through my head: reflux, colic, thrush in mouth, lactose intolerant, immature bowel (dr. told me this one??).

I am getting extremly emotional as it seems no-one has answers...and in the meantime my son is in pain and can't get a consistant sleep for 1 1/2 hours at least, so he is awake for shorter times due to lack of healthy sleep.

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE HELPFUL.

Mrs Little & Son.

[Shazbutt]

I'm sorry, i don''t have any advice for you apart from trying to burp him every 20/30 mls or so and see if it makes a difference? DD2 had a bit of wind, nothing as bad as you bubs though, and i found that if i burped her more often she seemed alot better.

What kind of teats are you using? Anti-colic ones? I have heard these are good, but have never tried them myself...I use the cross-cut or variflow teats.

Sorry i can't be of more help, and hopefully you find some answers soon. The other girls should be able to help between them....GOOD LUCK!

[Mrs Little]

i am using 'Pur' teats. Took me forever to find ones that he liked. He gulped too much air in the variflow and cross cut ones. I tried an anti-colic one but he didn't like that either.

Thanks for you help. :)

[reAllytee]

Unfotunately some doctors just arent helpful.
But then at the same time there isnt too much that can be done at this stage but to try & make life a little easier for them.
Yes their bowels are immature & this is why they cant let the wind out this tends to settle in time as they grow & it allows it to stretch out a little.
I had a colicky baby who also had reflux so wouldnt sleep & had major wind problems i only used gripe water in his bottle & that was with every single feed & it was often my best friend it didnt always bring up the wind but just seemed to help his little tum.
Try massaging his little tummy as well as pulling & pushing his legs up & down from his chest. I also found letting him lay on his tummy after feeding a good option & you can also burp them laying across your legs the firmness against their bellies as it helps relieve it. Another big thing may be that you need to keep bubs somewhat more upright while feeding & also before putting down for a sleep as this seemed to be a prob for my bubs especially with his reflux so i kept him more upright & left it a good 15mins before i put him down to sleep again i found this helped somewhat you can also raise the head of the cot to help.
You can also try a different type of teat i also changed mine as i was at my wits end & would try anything. Bubs hated any of the normal teats & even the orthodontic ones & he hates how they flowed straight out so i swapped to the cross cut teats again another one of my best friends ! they are apparently good for colic ( remember there is still no true "cause" of colic so there also isnt a true remedy due to this every baby is different ) but i found bubs loved them as he would have to suck to make anything come out rather than it flowing into his mouth or like another style we tried where the teat caused a vacuum so it meant he would suck air in by the buckets, my partner & i tried it out one day & were horrified no wonder he had wind pains !!!!
Id doubt it is thrush but i could be wrong as im sure the doctor would have seen this & you would also see it.
Just try a few different things to help ease bubs.
Also have you thought of trying either a sling or baby carrier ? As this could help also & make bubs more happier to sleep being close to mum.
Hopefully ive been some help goodluck.

[ThomasMum]

Hi Mrs Little. I haven’t got any advices I’m afraid. Sounds like your little one has a lot of gas/wind eh and obviously can’t get the gas out by himself that’s why he’s not happy.
Sorry that your Paed is not very helpful. Try different doc. Or try the naturopath maybe, I’m pretty sure they have some sort herbal remedy which can help to break up the larger bubbles of gas which cause the distension and pain...

You could also try (which always worked for Thomas) let bub sleeps/settles and pat his back gently on your tummy? It might help to get the wind out easier?

Good luck!

TM

[Manxie]

Hi Mrs Little

sorry to hear about your little one's windy tum. I read a great tip which worked wonders for my girls wind - tummy time in the late afternoon. The pressure of lying on their tum helps get up lots of wind before bed time. I also massage her tummy clockwise after her bath.

Hope this helps :D

[Mrs Little]

i spent a great deal of time on the net last night. Looking for resources and trying to find solutions.

After much thought and time spent looking at my sons symptoms...i believe that he may have reflux not wind. It would explain why all the wind drops have been useless.


I want to give him mylanta today at feed times to see if it works. Then i'll know it's reflux. My husband and i were hesitant to give him Zantiac, which the paed. reccommended, but if it is reflux then he will need it. What are the side affects of taking it?

Can anyone tell me....how much mylanta do u give a 6.5kg baby and do u give it to them before they feed, in the middle or after....or even when they wake up out of a sleep due to reflux?

Thanks.
Mrs Little & Son.

[melfunction]

Hi Mrs Little,

My advice would be to ring your pharmacist to get the ideal dose for your bubba. They would also be able to tell you all about any side-effects from the Zantac.

Hope your bubba is feeling better soon :)

[nkenward]

Hi there Mrs. Little,

My son has reflux, but not silent reflux which could be what your little bub may have. It means he is swallowing it and it may be burning a little. My doctor actually recommended Infant Gaviscon as it is devised for infants. However, he did warn that antacid products can lead to constipation in some bubs. Not so much in breastfed babies but more common in bottlefed babies. Oh I did try him on this for a few feeds - but I didn't notice much of a difference.

The doctor also advised that it is not necessarily a huge problem unless they are losing weight.

However, my son also goes through sessions where he will wake up in the middle of night (he did this last night) because he has stomach pains. For this there is not much you can do but cuddle & reassure them as much as possible. I have also found that a warm shower can help.

A friend of mine her daughter suffered from lactose intolerance. The reason they diagnosed this - she would scream at the sametime everyday, it wasn't just a cry, it was a scream.

I think it would be best to try all options - it may be the only way to narrow it down.

[lil monkey]

Hi there,

we had EXACTLY the same probs with Tayla and by the time she was 5 weeks old I was a nervous wreck and if one more person told me that it would get sorted by the time she's 3 months I would have strangled them.

We too used everything - Brauer's, infacol, infants friend, donalix and nothing helped. Did the exercises with the legs and lots of burping and not much help. Raised her cot bed on an angle and resorted to her sleeping in bed with me raised up on an elbow cushion. Also started the dummy.

Then at 6 week check paed said it could be reflux but didn't think so. But, he gave us a script for something called Zoton to be made up and within 3 days she was a different and more settled bub.

We also used a bit of mylanta before a feed - call your pharmacist for the dosage for you bub .

I don't like to pump a bub full of drugs but if you see no difference with the mylanta then please go for the Zantac. For your own sanity!

[Caitlin's Mum]

Hi Mrs Little, my son had exactly the same sort of symptoms. We tried every wind medication you can imagine. NOTHING worked. Turns out he has reflux and is also lactose intolerant. As soon as I changed formula to the lactose free and got him on medication for the reflux he was a new baby. If he does get unsettled I'll give about 1ml of Mylanta (before or after a feed). I have had no problems with Zantac at all. Changing the formula certainly won't hurt, the lactose free still has all the goodness in it, even if your bub isn't lactose intolerant, but is a bit easier on their little tummies. Feel free to PM me if you like. Good luck!

[teeshakyd]

Hi

It definately sounds like reflux to me. We used to think our son had bad wind too!

My son developed reflux at 6 weeks of age and was put on to Losec. He was then taking 5mg. He is now 13 weeks old 6.44kg and is on 20mg a day. this is the maximum and his reflux has peaked.

The choking noises are what helped us get a diagnosis. He does not vomit, he has silent reflux. He coughs and chokes on the bottle a lot and sounds very snuffly.

He was a brilliant feeder to start, but now pulls of the bottle, screams and arches his back, thrashes around etc.

We are finding it very hard to get him to feed and he has now only gained 40g in nearly 2 weeks.

I am told most babies do respond very well to Losec and that is is very safe. You should ask your GP about this medication as it may work for you.

Good luck

[Mrs Little]

Well my Gp was little more helpful. She suggested we eliminate how bad the reflux is one step at a time. We have started on the Karicare thinkened formula. She suggested trying it for 2 weeks and then coming back to re assess the situation.

I tried it for the first time this afternoon. My son hated it....i think it was too hard for him to suck...so he got frustrated. I have been using medium flow teats...should i use faster ones (bigger holes)? BUT...he didn't gag or choke..or pull away...or arch his back....he just sat there with the teat in his mouth refusing to suck! AND....for the first time in weeks...he has gone down for a sleep lying in his cot....not in his bouncer (sitting up). Normally he screams as soon as you lie him down flat ( even with the mattress slightly raised). ALSO....(i'm rather pleased...can't u tell)...he hasn't woken out of his sleep screaming.... AT ALL!

I am happy with the results so far! Looking forward to more improvements over the next 2 weeks.

Thanks for your all your help everyone.

Mrs Little and Relaxed Son!

[Oscar's mum]

I am glad that there is some improvement by changing formula.

Just a tip for wind, try giving bub a bath they usually relax enough to pass the wind.

[reAllytee]

Great to see things are looking better !!!!
I wouldnt go for a faster flow but you can try making another hole in the teat sometimes this helps or even use a pin ( sterilised of course ) to make the hole a little bigger this also saves on buying new teats if they dont work !
Otherwise try the x cut teats they open up only when they suck so they only take when they want it & it allows for flow as to how they want it.
Hopefully things continue !