Advice Please!! 8 Wk vaccinations have changed my baby

[Lossy]

Since having his 8 wk vaccinations exactly a week ago my baby is not the same child. He used to be happy and content to lie on his play mat and gurgle away. Now he screams after every feed, arches his back and locks his legs and lets out unbearable piercing cries. He won't be laid on his back and is only comforted by me holding him and his dummy. I know crying is what babies do but mine only cried when he was hungry prior to the jabs. he seems to be suffering from terrible wind/digestive trouble - can this be linked to the vaccines as it started at the same time? Surely this can't be coincidence? We are using infacol/gripe water and keeping him upright after every feed. He has Aptamil easy digest and has done since 2 weeks. He would have a bit of wind before but not like this. He burps well, but the pattern is an hour after the feed the pain and crying starts. i went to GP - very unhelpful. Babies cry, babies get wind, it doesn't harm them. She said that the jabs can cause inflamed bowels and I just have to wait it out. I read about lactose intolerance and lactase drops but GP said it was doubtful and just to carry on as we are. Silent Reflux? Doubtful she says. What she doesn't realise is that when your previously happy child looks at you in pain you worry that they think you've caused it, perhaps I have by taking him for those jabs. Is there anything I can do? Should I try the lactase anyway? Help Please!

[LynetteScavo]

Oh blimey! Would you consider homeopathy? It's only thing I can think of at the moment.

[Meandmyjoe]

Oh I haven't heard of the jabs causing bowel problems but I hope it will get better for him (and you!) soon. Seriously, don't feel guilty though, you haven't caused the pain! The chances are it's a touch of colic or maybe reflux which would have occurred with or without the jabs. You have protected him from a hell of a lot of pain and possible life threatening illnessess by giving him them. I would wait a week #9a long time when you both feel like this) but if it's not getting better I would pester the GP, who cares if she thinks you are a bloody nussance? You know your baby and it must be heartbreaking to see how he has gone from being so happy to so unhappy or in pain.

Please don't give up, I'd try lactaise anyway to be honest, try everything that you can think of that would help and keep annoying the doctor to find out the cause. It's all very well saying that babies cry blah blah blah but it's unusual that they go from rarely crying to being as you described for no reason. Good luck!

[pixiepins]

it could well be colic although the 'books' say colic starts at about 3 months my sisters baby had colic/reflux from birth.
my daughter also cries after some feeds and arches her back...try holding baby upright towards your chest/shoulder and gentle rubbing their back...like winding but not as purposefully. that seems to ease my baby.

[pixiepins]

also my baby's wind often starts an hour after her feeds....try not to worry!
i know its hard but i know an adult who had colic once and aparrently its just the most painful thing ever so imagine what it's like for a baba!

[EiWishFor3MoreEasterEggs]

i have never heard of the early jabs causing bowel troubles but the MMR has been linked with an increase in inflammatory bowel diseases such as crohns. sounds like your baby has got colic. i would avoid tryin a lactose free milk with you baby until you have exhausted the other options. i always found that gripe water and infacol were useless for my DD but i found a little gem called 'colief drops' in my local lloyds chemist and they worked great (tricky when breast feeding but excellent with FF babies aswell) and also ashton and parsons powders worked well for the tummy upset side of things. try everything before changing your babies diet altogether. especially as it is only the past week that he has not been too well after a feed i hope that helps and if not speak to you health visitor or hassle your GP until they help you make an informed decision.
xx ei xx

[MidgetGem]

Hello, just to let you know my friends baby suffered from colic and was treated very successfully with a Cranial Osteopath. Anyhow, the Cranial Osteopath recommends she takes him back after every set of injections to adjust him again because the tension can cause the colic to rear it's head again. My friend notices a few days after the injections his colic gets worse and worse until he goes back to the cranial osteopath and gets adjusted again. Might be worth seeing if you there is one in your area.

[SenoraPostrophe]

colic-type symtoms do often start at 6-8 weeks. I'm fairly sure you haven't caused his pain.

keep doing what you're doing - rub his tummy and wind him, and make sure his feeds are 4 hours apart (or whatever it's supposed to be, no less)

if your gp is right then some baby neurofen might help?

[mousemole]

My DS2 now aged 8 weeks had Lactose Intolerance ( diagnosed at 3 weeks). He became so much worse after the 8 week jabs. i dont know what they did but they did something ! he got better after about 3 weeks. Try lactose free milk for a few days to see if it helps. BTW - I have some unused/ unopened colief drops which I would happily send you if you want them. They are quite expensive from memory but yours if you need them.

[mama4]

I have read alot about the silent reflux over the net and one mother said her dr wouldnt believe her baby had anything wrong other thn wind but as time went on it didnt get better and the end result was reflux. The thing she said to look out for was the arching of a babies back, its a dead give away. To help your baby after a fead sit him up in a car seat.... I think if your baby is in alot of pain you have to push your dr to do something if not take another opinion from diff dr or talk to yur health visitor. good luck

[SenoraPostrophe]

but back arching is common with colic. not a "giveaway" for reflux at all.

[pamplemousse]

My friend had a similar problem and a homeopath dorted her little girl out.

[Seona1973]

With dd I found dentinox drops more helpful than infacol - I didnt need anything for ds. The colief drops break down lactose so you could try that first and see if it makes any difference - they cost around £10 a bottle. TBH it could be colic, reflux or just the way your lo is - hope you work something out anyway

[MadMazza]

Could your baby be teething? DS2 cut his first tooth at about eight weeks - I went through two weeks of difficult feeding, miserable days and disturbed nights then hey presto he cut his first tooth! I thought it was wind in his case because DS1 didn't cut a tooth until he was nine months old........

[columbolover]

Sounds like reflux. my ds had the same symptoms. I think the injection is just a coincidence. I agree back arching is a symptom of colic but the piercing screaming after feeding along with the back arching and being unhappy on his back is indicative of reflux. the stomach acid can cause imflammation in the throat which is painful. I remember being so upset seeing ds in this pain. We used gripe water / infacol etc to no avail. He was sick after feeding and would bring up clear fluid, acid, though this doesn't happen for every baby with reflux.

Get him checked out by another GP. Silent reflux does happen. If he says its reflux ask for meds like infant gaviscon and ranitidine - this last one helps reduce the inflammation in the throat. Even just ask for the meds for a trial to see if there's any improvement if GP still unconvinced.

ds is now 13 months and has been cured from about 8 / 9 months, and the meds made such a difference straight away. Back to his usual happy (most of time!) self. Hope you get the situation resolved, I know how upsetting it is.

[Naetha]

This happened to my DS exactly the same - for almost two weeks after his 8 week jabs he had terrible trouble with his digestive system - he had bad reflux, painful poos and farts and would scream every night from about 5pm to about 9 when he'd finally fall asleep from exhaustion. I had no idea what it was, whether it was teething, silent reflux, a stomach bug. The only way he would settle was the tiger in the tree hold or on his tummy. Needless to say those two weeks absolutely did my back in, but he's much much better now

Hopefully this will pass with you as well...DS is now 12 weeks and I can't say I'm looking forwards to his next set of jabs

[Lossy]

Wow Everyone! Thanks so so much. I actually went to the late night pharmacy and bought colief drops last night as I found out they would cause him no harm so thought it was worth a try. Given for first 2 feeds this am and NO CRYING!!! woopee. So for now that seems to have solved the problem. I don't know if it was coincidence about the jabs, and I did read last night that colic tends to start at 8 weeks so maybe it was just the timing. Spoke to HV and different GP on phone today and they advised no vaccinations are 100% guaranteed safe but it sounds like colic/reflux and have been prescribed the colief now as it seems to be working. Other GP yesterday was not so helpful! He is much more like his old self today and not so clingy either so I feel much better.

Thankyou so much for all your words of wisdom and advice - I looked into cranial osteopathy, I think I may take him for that now. And it's comforting to know that some of you have gone through the same thing. So hard when you are stuck at home on your own with no-one to talk to and all this is so new to me! Thank you all xx

[Lossy]

Re the teething... he is dribbling a lot more at the mo and putting his fist to his mouth to 'chew' on. I thought he was just developing and getting more co-ordinated with his hands, but could this be a sign of teething? So early?

[PortAndLemon]

They all do that (the dribbing and fist-chewing) from about 2-3 months. In a sense it is teething, in that the teeth are starting to move within the gums, but it doesn't mean you'll actually be getting any teeth through any time soon (although you could). DS did it from about 9-10 weeks and cut his first tooth a few days before he turned six months.

[orangina]

My dd had reflux that was brought on by each of her infant jabs. It took at least 6 weeks to get things back to normal each time and was terrible. We did lots of infant gaviscon, tilting her moses basket/cot, and feeding her in as upright position as possible.....
Though can see that coleif is helping, so perhaps you've got it sorted now? I hope so!

[Lukesmammy]

This sounds very much like colic though I understand your concern at the coincidence in timing. At least you have been given some reassurance from your GP. It was interesting to read the posts regarding reflux and inflamed bowels being brought on by the jabs, I hadn't previously heard of that and do think they should let you know it is a possibility prior to vaccinating.

My DS had colic that started at about 6 weeks so it isn't abnormal to start early. We found infacol helped a great deal as did winding him in the 'rugby ball' position. Basically holding your baby tummy down over your forearm with your palm turned upwards. Head facing away from your body.

Baby massage helped too - if there is a class near you that may be helpful as they taught me some great techniques to help. An old wives tale is giving the baby cooled boiled water from a spoon (why this would work I don't know!).

We just had to ride it out and it stopped as suddenly as it started when he was about 12 weeks. Hope it gets better soon for you and your little one.

[jaynz]

Hi, thankfully sounds like you may be sorted whew by the sounds of it! A chiropractor experienced in babies does wonders for some too.

Not sure if you'd be interested but these websites is one of many that might give you some more information about vaccines, as you were wondering if there was a correlation.

www.gval.com/
www.ias.org.nz/

Also the book "Just a lttle prick" by Peter & Hilary Butler.

Please take it in the spirit of information and choice that its given in as I know that, like many other topics, it can be very sensitive

[gamerchick]

Considering the baby in question is now around 8 years old your point is?