Help! Bad tum in small baby...

[katya108]

Hi ladies, a new mum needs your advice please... my 7 week old baby has had a bad tum for the past 3 weeks and i'm struggling to help him feel better. Shortly after he's eaten (either breast milk or formula as he's combination fed) he starts straining and fussing and writhing as though he's trying to push through gas or poo. Definitely a downward movement going on. If he hasn't finished his milk by the time this all starts, he finds it difficult to eat more even when he's still hungry. Anyway all this is particularly apparent at night about 30 mins to an hour after his NF. He grunts really loudly and squirms in his cot and this discomfort can continue for hours and hours. Generally his efforts are unproductive and no poo is forthcoming. When it does however he gets very relaxed (exhausted?) and relieved for a while.
i took him to the GP twice... the first time i was told it was reflux (although i disagreed at the time) and was prescribed Gaviscon for him. This made him totally constipated. Or maybe that and the fact that my partner switched the formula from Hipp Organic to SMA to help the tummy pains (any thoughts)?? Anyway, next GP gave us Lactolose instead to relieve the constipation. This has started to move things through but he's still been writhing since 3am and it's horrid to watch him suffer like this.
Any thoughts on what's actually going on? And what i could do to help him? I've tried Infacol and Colief (neither did much i don't think) and am still on Gripe Water (again not sure it does a huge amount but might help a bit).
Any help would be much appreciated by this inexperienced mum. Thank you!!

[DeWe]

From what you said it sounds completely normal. Sorry if you were hoping to have a easy answer. With dd1 I remember trying Infacole and stuff to try and get it better, and it didn't improve any better than with dd2 and ds where I gave nothing. Basically some babies suffer worse with colic than others, but it will improve with time. I think with mine it went between 3 and 4 months old.
What I found helped the most was to keep them upright. Have you tried a sling and walking round with them facing you? Obviously this isn't much help during the night, but I found it quite effective during the day.
Maybe someone else has a more helpful idea?

[BeeBopBunny]

Talk to your health visitor. I formula fed (not through choice) and my HV told me that SMA is the worst brand for constipation. You can lie them on their back and pedal their legs, as if they were cycling, to get their bowels moving, or a warm bath might help.

[Octaviapink]

You could up the breastfeeding as well, and see if that helps - breastfed babies don't really get constipated though he may have wind.

[katya108]

Thanks for the insider on SMA BeeBopBunny. I did wonder - it leaves an odd greasy film inside the bottle afterwards. Hmm - imagine what that does to your innards. I think I'll retry on the Hipp or maybe Aptamil? Unless you or anyone else knows of a gentler brand?
Octaviapink, even before the Gaviscon debacle he had dreadful gut-twisting wind. Poor fella. I'm feeding or expressing all that I have on the BM front. And taking fenugreek tablets till they're coming out my ears. If I had more milk he'd have that too, not least because I've heard that breastfed babies don't suffer with constipation.
DeWe, yep, walking him around does seem to help - possibly because it distracts him? He's not a crying baby as such as much as a grumbler so it does seem possible to turn his attention to other things - even if for a short period. I look forward to him growing out of it...

[Stangirl]

My DD didn't have this but I have heard from others that Aptamil is the "best" formula milk and have you tried baby massage? You could very gently rub his tummy clockwise with two fingers and some grapeseed oil and hold a foot in each hand and gently bicycle his legs - both supposedly help digestion.