6 month old waking with stomach pain/gas

[BrainGoneAwol]

Hello all
Subject says it really. My 6 month old has never been a good sleeper. He was really gassy when he was little and used to scream for hours while I did everything I could think of to get the gas out. While I assumed much of it was par for the course, he still has this problem.

He is ebf, just started blw, but this has always been the case. He wakes every 2-3 hours and woften has to fart before he will stop crying. While he will fall asleep on me he is constantly twitching his legs even then and when I try to transfer him, he arches his back which often wakes him. I can only move him comfortably if he's deeply asleep. His tummy is also constantly gurgly especially immediately after a feed.

Any advice from you helpful ladies. I'm exhausted and he's clearly not comfy either

[Forgetfulmog]

Are you me OP? My dd (also 6 months is exactly the same as yours). She's been sleeping on me since mid jan & feeds approx every 1.5-2 hrs day & night. Constant writhing too. She's under a paed who doesn't know what it is but thinks it could be reflux (has prescribed omeprazole but it appears to just make her constipated).

My dd is ebf & I've been dairy free since early dec as she did have proper reflux then & her symptoms have subsided since.

When yours was just on milk, did you notice any weird poos, smelling like sour yoghurt? Dd's were & still are like that.

Like you I'm exhausted - sweets & cake just about get me through the day & I have to take her for walks to get her to nap during the day.

Sorry you're going though this, but I'm so pleased to have found someone else who's experiencing this & who understands!

[BrainGoneAwol]

forgetful I think we might be one and the same! My gp prescribed gaviscon for possible reflux, but it made ds constipated so we stopped (and made him vomit too I think) and didn't make any difference anyway.

I thought it might be diary intolerance, as I had huge milk cravings while I was pg, but I have drunk 2 pints of milk during the day and he's been no worse (or better) and I would have expected that to affect him if there was a problem.

Cake and chocolate. Yes. I'm a liability otherwise. Especially when I have to drive.

[BrainGoneAwol]

On the poo thing. To be honest I'm not sure, and now we're trying solids his poo really smells! His wee does smell very strong though. If he's on my lap I can smell when he is going.

[Forgetfulmog]

Yes the gaviscon bunged dd up too. & yy to the wee smelling strong - I thought it was the nappy smelling not her wee.

So, neither of us are any closer to knowing what the problem is - maybe someone else will be along who has an idea!

[oaks2012]

Will be back to reply to this

[oaks2012]

I dont know if this is the same thing..

But my DS didnt burp with the usual patting back / rubbing techniques... So while there was a period where the burps would go down into his stomach, and then become farts.. He would get a tight tummy where the wind was trapped. By that point it was too late to try and burp him - so we found a really good technique for getting the farts out and relieving the rock hard, bloated tummy.

Lay baby on their back, and bicycle legs (like riding a bicycle, or running) - then push legs up towards chest. Alternate between doing these for a minute or so each.. The bicycling dislodges the wind, and then on the knees up to chest, it squeezes them out. This worked amazingly and relieved him really well.

We then found a way (suggested to us by someone) to burp him and actually get the burps out. Which was to put baby in sitting position on lap, hold under arms and raise up in the air, so their body stretches down with the weight of themselves, hold for a few seconds, then lower back to sitting position. This done a few times (maybe 4 or 5) seemed to ALWAYS get a burp (if not several) out of my DS!!

We found once burped properly, the air didnt travel down and get trapped - so the farting technique was no longer needed!!


I have no idea if this is anything like the problem you guys are having - but worth giving it a go anyway!

Good luck with your babies x

[BrainGoneAwol]

Thanks Oak, we have a 'stretches' routine that we do before bed each night and it does help somewhat.

I should add that he also often arches his back when feeding (exceptions are if he is very sleepy or has white noise) which seemed to suggest reflux. But at the same time he loves being head down.

I guess I feel that he should (can I use such a word in relation to a baby?!) be old enough to not have to be heavily winded after every feed now, and I'd like to try to prevent the problem and him not be waking rather than fix the symptoms once he is awake.

I just have no idea what the problem is!

[BrainGoneAwol]

Any advice from you other wise ones?

[Sleepybunny]

Hi! Got a 4 month old with silent reflux here, gripe water helps us during the day, but still have the writhing, back arching problem at night.

No real suggestions, but if you feel like the gaviscon maybe working if it wasn't for the constipation then maybe try carobel? It's a feed thickener that's supposed to work to keep stomach contents down, and you can make it up to be thick or quite thin depending on what works. We're still trying it, no constipation so far but definitely thickening the poos!
You can give it after a feed if ebf, I add it to expressed milk and seems to go down fine.

[BrainGoneAwol]

Thanks Sleepy (like the name by the way!), unfortunately ds refuses a bottle, though it has been a little while since I tried last so I should try again. If he takes it I will try that...

[Forgetfulmog]

Dd's the same - hates bottle!

Ok, went to bed at 8.30 - this is the 3rd feed so far. We've already had some crying while she tried to pass wind. Dhs turn to hold dd tonight.

Am so tired

[Turnipsoup]

We were prescribed ranitidine for reflux for DS1 as an alternative to gaviscon. It worked, but DS1 hated the taste of it...

[BrainGoneAwol]

Forgetful- I'm usually on the staying awake thread in the feeding section. Come join us!

I guess I'm not even sure it is reflux. He possets a lot, is sometimes sick and arches his back, but does that cause wind? Because it seems to be wind that wakes him up...

[Forgetfulmog]

Yep same here, wind is the issue - well that & trying to poo. She appears to be mostly incapable of doing either without feeding.

[noblegiraffe]

Have you tried Infacol? It's simeticone, which is also prescribed to adults to relieve wind and abdominal pain.

[BrainGoneAwol]

Thanks noble. I had used that when he was a newborn with little effect but that was a number of months ago. I could try it again.

[Forgetfulmog]

Now dd has a cold, as if it wasn't enough already!

[Tyska]

Can I ask what happened next? Did yr babies grow out of it? Did u get a proper diagnosis what was it? I'm in a similar situation..

[Newfamily2014]

I'd love to know too tsyka what have you tried?

[jki1]

Hi BrainGoneAwol - can you let me know if you found anything that works. My DS s going through the exact same thing and I need help please!!

[tomatoandcheese2009]

I recommend these so much on here that they should probably start paying me...biogaia probiotic drops completely solved this problem for us when ds was suffering and up all night with trapped wind. They are pricy (14.99 for a tiny bottle) but worked like magic - the issue was gone within 3 days. We've carried on giving them to him and he's never had any further digestive issues, apart from when he was on antibiotics for a week. You can find them cheaper on amazon but they tend to be from Hungary or other eastern European country, so instructions won't be in English. If you do go that route, it's five drops once a day.

[jki1]

I did buy those a while ago when he was a few weeks old but it didn't seem to make much difference. I will try again. Thanks.

[Greenstone]

tomato sorry haven't seen your other posts about those drops - what's the theory behind them and can you get them in a normal pharmacy please? Same wind issue here at night

[jki1]

You can get it on Amazon - www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=biogaia&sprefix=biog%2Caps%2C151&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[tomatoandcheese2009]

Theory says that a lot of babies are born with gas issues because they have immature guts. The probiotics contain healthy gut flora (bacteria) that help the baby to digest milk better, leading to less gas. They'll only work if the initial problem is caused by lack of gut flora in the first place so don't solve every issue. Same principle as behind those yoghurts for adults. It's a big thing in the states but not so much here yet, so sadly you only seem to be able to get them online.

It took me a long time to try them (was a bit dubious about giving a baby bacteria, even of it is friendly!). After a LOT of research I concluded the worst that would happen would be I'd have wasted 15 quid. And we were soooo desperate. Next baby will get them from birth - they worked like a dream for us!

Jiki1 - how long did you try for? It took 3 days for us to see an effect and others have said up to a week. If you tried for longer then it might be a different issue