Can Breast fed babies get colic?

[whimsy]

Ds is 3 weeks old and for 10 days now has been sick after nearly every feed. It seems like he brings up the whole feed. Is very hard to wind and rarely brings any wind up , I can sit there for an hour and nothing and as soon as I put him down he's sick The HV told me to use infacol which only made him windy the other end and seemed to make the sickness worse.
Went to a breast feeding clinic last week and they said I was doing everything right, then spoke to HV yesterday and she said ds had colic and I should use dentenox ( he makes noises like he's trying to poo and goes red in the face, looks constipated although he is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies).
He is going weight now he was 7lb 13oz when born and dropped to 7lb 1oz, he was weighed by midwife on Tuesday and was 8lb 1oz. So I think he must be getting something from me.
I'm thinking now that maybe im not latching him on correctly and maybe I should give him a bottle? I didn't think breast fed babies could get this the midwives in the hospital told me I shouldn't need to wind him although I always have out of habit. Any advice?

[morningpaper]

I would see your doctor ASAP. It's possible that he has reflux. I'm sure other people here will give you some advice. Good luck. xx

[edodgy]

It could be reflux symptoms of reflux

[hewlettsdaughter]

I was going to mention reflux too. But in answer to your question, yes it is possible that breastfed babies can get colic. My ds did (and my dd, to some extent). If you do a search on colic or reflux you should find several threads that might help.

[NotQuiteCockney]

There are a couple of issues here.

First of all, it's alarming how big a small amount of milk looks, spilled out. If you take a couple of spoonsful of milk and spill them on your table, you can see what I mean. A full feed is quite a few ounces, and when they bring up a full feed, everyone is pretty much soaked to the waist, in my experience. (At any rate, if your DS was throwing up full feeds, he wouldn't be gaining weight, obviously.) Lots of babies just take too much milk and throw up the excess - my DS2 was like that. This is normal, nothing to worry about, and really just a laundry problem.

If it is reflux, as other posters have suggested, I don't think your DS would be gaining well, and he would be unhappy when he threw up, from what I know. How does he feel about the puking?

Next, straining to poo is normal for a breastfed baby, as the poos are so soft. It's annoying and probably unpleasant for them, but this isn't colic. Colic is lots of screaming, for no apparent reason, for several hours per day.

Giving a bottle might change things, but not necessarily for the better. It sounds like breastfeeding is working well. Seeing a breastfeeding counsellor to discuss all this, and check latch, wouldn't be a bad idea (no harm), but it really does sound like everything is fine and normal.

[hercules]

Try cranial oestopathy.

[Ameriscot2005]

Some babies do take in a lot of air as they feed. My fourth baby was like this - if she if fed her for too long, there was a risk of her whole feed coming up - and partially digested breastmilk is very wet and penetrates clothes in no time.

I found the easiest thing was to feed her for a few minutes, then pause for a bit, gently rubbing her back, before resuming.

This phase only lasted a few weeks, and I would not have called it colic.

There isn't universal agreement about what colic is - but it is associated with a painful tummy. The classic signs are when the baby lifts his knees to his tummy. Colic tends to rear its ugly head in the early evening, especially if you are frantically trying to prepare dinner and fit in all your housework in the five minutes before DH returns from work. A relaxed mum is a good defense against colic.

[icklelulu]

I got told by my midwives that I shouldnt need to wind my DS as breastfed babies didnt get windy! Well I definately proved them wrong! He was awful for the first couple of months. I found infacol used to help sometimes but there is a baby massage that I found REALLY good! You basically stroke down their tummy with one hand and use the other hand to told their legs up at a slight angle. If your DS is a windy bottles will prob make him worse as he is more likely to take in air. Im sure he will get better as he gets older and it sounds like he is putting on weight nicely so welldone to you!

[Cristina7]

I found that DD who is breasfed got colic, as did her older brother (formula). DD's colic lasted only a couple of weeks but I think pinpointing this to BF is more wishful thinking than true. She's our second and we were really much more relaxed about colic this time round. I don't wind DD when she feeds at night (in a lying down position) but do it during the day when she's more upright anyway so she shouldn't need it as much. That's more out of habit and ease of doing things.

[tatt]

yes breastfed babies do get colic and sometimes they react badly to what the mother is eating. Anything with much sugar in upset mine so couldn't all the grapes kind people brought me Changing to formula may make it worse, did for friends of mine. You could try adding live yoghurt to your diet (because probiotics would help if he was sensitive to milk products and would be good for you anyway). Keep him as upright as possible for a little while after meals (sit in car seat or bouncer) in case there is some reflux involved.

[whimsy]

Thanks for all the advice, im taking ds2 to the doctors this morning, just to put my mind at rest really. Have been keeping him as upright as i can but he's still being sick when i put him down (he's in a baby sling at the mo).
Will let you know what the doctor says.

[beccalanismum]

My DD had horrendous colic for 5 weeks and was exclusively breast fed - tried all the medicines but made no difference. Took her to a cranial osteopath who cured her with 3 treatments - she then slept 12 hours solid. Apparently her diaphram was not working properly so she could not bring up her wind. She was a c-section baby - this is supposed to be common as babys head does not get moulded in the birth canal.

Would also check for reflux - sounds likely

best of luck - it will get easier

[morningpaper]

Was the doctor helpful Whimsy?

[chipmonkey]

Whimsy, some babies are a bit "sickier" than others. Of my 3, ds1 and ds3 were quite puky, dh and I got covered in sick quite a few times. Ds2 hardly ever got sick and we really didn't do anything different with him. Could be a mild case of reflux, but certainly not severe if he's gained that much weight. You must be doing something right! BF babies are less windy, I have found that ds3 burps after taking a bottle but not if I have bf him so I wouldn't really suggest giving a bottle.

[vicdubya]

whimsy, hope you got on ok at the Dr.

My ds started being sick at 3 weeks and was sick after every single feed (fully BF) until he was 8 months.

Obviously I also checked with Dr & HV to begin with, but as he was gaining weight and never in discomfort from the vomiting, it was no cause for concern.

As far as I could gather the cause is usually a weak sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach, and will improve with age & getting upright.

As soon as ds started sitting & cruising he stopped doing it.

As NQC says it's mostly a laundry problem. You may need rather a lot of bibs!

[hunkermunker]

DS was like this. He also used to be sick some time after a feed, quite spectacularly. If I changed his nappy an hour later, he'd often fountain milk into the air (while my back was turned, either soaking me or just rubbing his hair in what landed on him). It was some time before I didn't smell of cheese after he was born...

[whimsy]

Thanks ladies
Went to the doctor and he said he thought it was either colic or mild reflux, he prescribed colief drops. I've got to express a little milk and mix with drops and give it him off a spoon. It seems a bit of a faff, but I'll give them ago.
He is a lot happier being upright and when he is sick it doesn't seem to bother him. He's also 8lb 10oz so we must be doing something right

[chipmonkey]

whimsy, I used colief but I didn't bother with the expressing and mixing. I just put 2 drops on each nipple and let him suck it off with the milk.