Wind / feeding / reflux

[Noneedtocry]

Hi all - I have a lovely EBF 7 week old. He is usually quite chilled out, but does seem to suffer a bit with wind / tummy pain. Most days there will be 1 - 4 "attacks" where he kicks his legs, cries, squirms etc. I do try hard to burp him, but not always successfully and things are worse if we have an unsettled night, if he has fed in lots of different positions (or too horizontally).
One of the things he does in these fits is to demand more milk. If I put him on the boob he sucks furiously and moans - eventually coming off and crying as the flow is too slow. From the internet it seems this might be him either mistaking wind pain for hunger or try to cool reflux pains with milk... In these occasions I try to avoid giving him the breast - give him gripe water and let him suck on my finger or the dummy - until he takes a catnap or calms down. My question is - is this normal for babies and wind? Lots of what I read on the Internet says this is a symptom of reflux / GERD but my HV says reflux is "over diagnosed" and it is just wind. I can live with the coping strategies if it is wind, but i don't want to deny DS medication that could take away his discomfort. He does seem in genuine distress at these times, but at other times he can lie flat happily looking at his mobile or getting changed. Not sure if this would be true if he really had GERD / reflux

[Sallyhasleftthebuilding]

Ok, the mussel at the top of his stomach may be under developed, very common, so if lay flat will let the acid come up and burn. Wind bubbles will get bigger, and cant come out. Dont lie him flat, slightly raised in this cot with a towel under the mattress, pillow for nappy etc, keep his head above his belly at all times. The difference is amazing.

[Sallyhasleftthebuilding]

Sorry mussel will be fully closed by about 6 months when they can sit, burp, no acid etc

[Noneedtocry]

Thanks Sally. That's useful. It does feel like he has a mild form of something as she shows more distress when feeding than other babies I see... But since he has good phases I'm not keen to start medication if it can be avoided

[Sallyhasleftthebuilding]

I would tell baby sitters not to lie flat, then find them lying flat, then 2 hours of screaming. So it does make a big difference. Even lifted for feeding so stomach is straight/stretched helps.

[Greenstone]

My second had reflux but we never medicated for it apart from the odd gaviscon which helped a lot but was such an annoyance to administer. Wind pain was the biggest issue so I would recommend winding for as long as you can after each feed. If the baby is getting upset and looking for more boob to calm herself down straight after a feed, a dummy might help to soothe her. She will likely grow out of the worst of it in a few weeks.