Desperate measures

[Kfitz87]

Hi all! I have a six week old daughter who was born three weeks early weighing 5'9lb. I'm breastfeeding and she now weighs 7'2lb and we're both doing great with the grub situation. However...she screams like she's in agony most days and is inconsolable. She pulls her legs up to her chest like she has the worst wind imaginable and I'm finding it really distressing. She has no problem burping and we do use Infacol. We've also been prescribed Ranitidine for reflux (baby gaviscon made her constipated) and have also been giving her Colief in a little expressed milk before each feed. Part of me feels like we shouldn't be stuffing all this medication into her but we're willing to try most things if it helps her. Having said that, she still screams all the time and I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some tips/things to try/similar experiences that may help? Thanks in advance

[haggard1]

I'm so sorry your daughter's in pain. You've done so well building her up. my DS had similar problems we used all the colic medicine but not much really helped. It's never really been properly diagnosed but I felt like his digestion wasn't quite developed (although born at 40+12). I don't think he was great with lactose and after weaning he would have terrible nights after eating difficult to digest foods. Cutting dairy helped while b/f (me) and being careful will foods. Tiger hold (lying down across your forearm) and sleeping on his front to reduce pressure on his tummy helped too. We just ended up co-sleeping for ages as the only way to settle him and get some sleep ourselves. Sorry I don't have more to suggest but if it is similar - they do grow out of it eventually. Worth seeing your GP to see what they suggest. Hope it passes soon

[Kfitz87]

Thank you for this. It helps just knowing we're not the only ones (I know deep down it happens a lot). And thanks for the suggestions, I'll certainly give them all a try. And if all else fails, we'll just power through till she grows out of it

[FizzyFeet]

We had similar with our DD - lots of trapped wind and suspected silent reflux. I second the lying on your forearm or chest on her front to help her be more comfortable. Wearing her in a sling helped too - we used the Hana wrap so she was nice and close against my chest. V useful in the evenings when it seemed worst! The other thing I would highly recommend is baby massage - I was sceptical at first but it seems to have really helped. I just googled 'baby massage for digestion' and found a video. Even now (14 weeks) if I miss a day she still has wind problems, but overall is so much better than she was. Also we found that changing her bottles (she is ff) to Dr Browns helped reduce the amount of air she was taking in at each feed.

You're not alone and it will get better!