10 month old waking constantly with stomach pain and wind

[Rachelwxox]

Hello everyone, I really hope someone can give me some hope or idea what this could be, very long story as short as I can.
My LO is 10 months old and is waking all night every night with severe stomach cramps when I say all night j mean every 10/15 minutes. i was advised by the hospital until she gets her appointment to come off dairy and soya which we have for 8 weeks now and seen no imporovement. She is a very happy baby during the day but now becoming exhausted with all the night pain and is napping 4/5 times a day used be be only 1/2 naps. She wants to sleep at night and will wake with her eyes shut pulling her knees up and thrashing around. She can let out some wind ALOT for a little baby and settle for a short while usually 30 mins or so before it builds back up again this is only when she manages to get it out. She isn't constipated and has lactulose if needed but this doesn't work passes Nappies fine. She has Dr Brown anti colic bottles and I still try to get wind out after every feed/ leave it an hour before putting her down after a feed at night. She has no issues getting wind out in the day either. Ive had to really limit her food as anything thats not puree form makes the night unbearable not just terrible. She was put on aptimil pepti1 at 8 weeks old due to suspected CMPA although this hasn't been confirmed yet (we have been referred to pediatrician 3 times and also allergy testing and I'm still along with the gp chasing this up).
She had silent reflux when she was younger (on omeprazole and gavisgon) doctor has again prescribed this for the last 3 weeks again but it's not helping. I know it's not reflux I can see her stomach almost contracting causing the pain.
Calpol, ibuprofen and her prescribed certrazine does not help. Its like she has ibs like her bowel can't tolerate food. Any experiences or advice would be helpful as it's really upsetting not being able to help her and her lack of sleep Is really taking its toll on her. Thank you

The Pepti 1 still contains dairy, it's just hydrolysed.

From what you've described I'd ring the GP in the morning and ask for an amino acid based formula instead.

Has she been referred to a Paediatric Dietitian as well as the Paediatrician and Allergy Clinic?

Thank you so much for your reply! She has been referred to a dietician yes although I'm constantly chasing both up as she still hasn't been seen by either. She was seen by the HV to be weighed last week who said she has no concers regarding her weight. She was born on the 25th Centile so she's only a small baby and she's still following this line. Both the dietician and the allergy clinic have a 'backlog' due to covid. I have phoned so many times and never hear anything back they just say as soon as an appointmentbecomes availableshe will be seen.
She has no issues at all with drinking the pepti1 and it's now off the reflux medication with no issues again it didn't make any difference because its not reflux. The problems seem to arise at night because of trapped wind and it seems food is causing it or could it be the build up of milk during the day? For example if she eats anything after around 2pm the night is absolutely terrible rater than just bad.
After this post, rhe GP told me trial 3 days with no formula at all so just her food and water and see if it makes a difference and it didn't.
I know I'm at the stage where food is becoming just as important as formula for her and soon to be most important and I'm just absolutely stuck with ideas on what to give to her. I've done food diary's etc and an not put my finger on what it is because it seems like everything. Veg of any kind she wakes up in agony too.
My latest advice was 'give her regular paracetamol throughout the night and certrazine before bed' until she gets her appointment (an appointment she has already been waiting 8 months for) she' was currently having calpol twice during the night last week just to get some kind of sleep, I shouldn't be having to give paracetamol just so she can sleep :( since doing this she wakes every hour but it's qn improvement to evrry 10 minutes and rather than having to pick her up I just rub her back so there is an improvement but doing this every night is not ideal. I did only do the 2 lots of calpol for 3 nights and now I have reduced it to 1 because I just don't agree with it.
I've discussed with the HV about taking her off the formula early and putting her on oat milk and food but I genuinely think food is the problem and not the milk. Its seems as though her little bowel can't cope with food even at 10 months old.

BunnyRuddington- looking back though you could be right as she still had the wind problems before the food although at the time we put it down to reflux because it was only at night. Maybe it has been getting worse because she's older and drinking more formula but that doesn't explain why If she eats little food she appears more comfortable because on these days she will obviously drink more formula. Do you think it would still be worth trying to change the milk because I know it can take 6 weeks for it to leave their system fully by which time she will be nearly 1. Sorry for the long messages and thank you again for your reply any ideas are greatly appreciated :)

I'm not a doctor in any form and I am not going to give you advice on what to do.

But I will share my experience of my DS who had CMPA and bad reflux. We started weaning at four months on the advice of doctors. By six months he was on three meals a day and by 8 months not on much formula at all. By 8 months, the symptoms of CMPA largely had gone.

I think it's definitely worth trialling an amino acid based formula. At this point anything is worth a try abs from what you've said, swapping to cows milk at 12 months might not be an option.

KKslidoff- Thank you for your reply! We had to wean her early too with small amounts of baby rice/ porridge and fruit puree as advised by the gp also. My little one would happily eat 3 meals a day no problem she loves her food the issue is when it's in her tummy she just can't tolerate it at all during the night it causes extreme trapped wind. She will wake up constantly throughout the night trying to get it out and for example this morning when she had been awake for 10 minutes she got out around 13 pumps from her bottom and lots during the night as it kept waking her up. She's then great all day! where is all this wind coming from? I have trialed removing dairy, soya, wheat, egg, veg, oats etc and nothing seems to help the amount of wind. Could it be the milk do you think, is this a possibility and was it one of the symptoms of your LO? At the moment she is only able to have as an example a small bowl of porridge in the morning then a fruit pouch at lunch and some banana wafers or I will give her a 'tea time' meal at lunch time as advised by the health visitor to give it plenty chance to get through her system before bed time and even that would only be some small pasta stars mashed up with some sauce. She can eat it not mashed no problem but if I didn't mash it she would struggle so much in the night with stomach cramps. I'm getting to a point now where I know this isn't going to be enough for her. She was on 3 meals a day and I had to stop due to the night pain. Can I ask what milk you gave your little one when you weaned off formula? When you said the formula intake reduced with 3 meals a day was your LO having just water or water and another milk? Thank you.

BunnyRuddington- Cows milk at 1 definitely wouldn't be an option the gp mentioned out milk as a substitute ie oatly barista milk instead until we do the milk ladder although I have tried her with quavers which are step 2 of the milk ladder and she didn't come out in any rash etc and didn't appear any different to usual at night. I'm just at a loss now of what to try next until I get her appointment or if it's just something she will grow out of. Argghhhh I wish babies could talk its a complete guessing game isn't it!

I would definitely be pushing the GP to try an alternative dairy free formula where it's more broken down. I think the Pepti one is the least hydrolysed and also the cheapest so more commonly prescribed by GPs (it's also one of the more palatable so this does play a part too).

My little girl was put on Nutramigen just before 6 months after horrendous troubles with wind and reflux. Her reflux was gone in a week and she dropped a nappy size also due to belly bloat disappearing (even though was gaining weight). The wind issues did ease but took 3 weeks before really became apparent.

Like yours, she struggled with food and digestion. I think months of being on dairy formula had taxed her gut. We had a few safe foods - peaches, avocado, porridge (oats with oat milk), coconut yogurt and some vegan and gluten free pancakes. That's all she ate for about a month Weaning has been a bit stressful with trial and error, but time seems to have helped a lot and she can now have more stuff she couldn't tolerate a few months back - similar with being up for hours in night screaming with wind pain.

We also still give gripe water after her evening bottle and this seems to help with general digestion, stopped it and within a week decided it defo isn't placebo for her!

Around 9-10ish months I think she became more sensitive even to the broken down milk proteins in Nutramigen, with worsening reflux in particular and needing more winding. I thought the reflux was because she was crawling and on all fours all the time and the wind due to introducing new foods. But it all pretty much stopped within a week of switching to oat milk around 12 months and almost dropping a nappy size again after being on cusp of moving to next size up... So not keen on starting the milk ladder just yet.

The only other thing would be to get checked for tongue tie as that can introduce more wind into the system, even with bottle feeding.

I hope you find something that works for you.

Ihatewinding- Thank you for your ideas they're very much appreciated. Since I have completely took food back to basics the last couple of days there has been a huge improvement she only woke twice the past 2 nights but I feel its just not enough for her. Again yesterday I tried a small amount of the baby pasta to trial wheat with a little bit of sauce and tonight again she has been up struggling to get her wind out. I can't tell if she is reacting to the food or just struggling with the digestion of it because its literally with anything that's a bit more 'solid' It's interesting you say about the milk could have caused issues with her gut I definitely think it is something to do with the food and her gut as you said. Maybe it could be sensitive due to the milk or she just has multiple intolerances to foods. But I'm running out of ideas food wise so fast.
I'm currently in the process of introducing each 'allergen' food one by one over around 3/5 days at a time although I'm finding it difficult because anything more then puree or porridge thats say in a mashed form rather than puree seems to cause a problem no matter what it is.
I just hope she gets her appointment soon it's been 10 longggg months Thank you again for taking your time to reply to.me

Hi @Rachelwxox
How are you getting on?

This sounds like my little boy 😭 he’s nearly 7 months, have tried everything! And like yourselves, worse with food but loves eating it! Such a shame, sometimes the only way I can tell i slept was if I dreamt 😂 sorry if this has already been mentioned but I’m in the middle of testing out a baby probiotic which can help with the gut flora, I’ve seen a bit of an improvement but can take a while, my little boy was born by emergency c section so started to look into that, been referred to dietician but HA doesn’t think it will be picked as good weight etc! So looks like we’re on our own! Xx

Peblet- Hi! Oh no, I'm so sorry you're going through the same thing.. its awful for them isn't it. I also have realised I have to try and do something myself because it was getting unbearable for both her and me and the next appointments for allergy testing is June. When I say she hadn't slept for 9 and half months I mean waking 20-30 times a night every single night struggling with tummy ache and wind.
So since I posted on here last week I decided the day after I was going to completely strip back food to basics ie ready brek for breakfast, fruit pouch for lunch then just a snack of the baby melt banana wafers or melty puff sticks (cleared with the HV that this was ok). She was also prescribed Certrazine antihistamine to take twice a day although I have only been giving this at night time before bed. The gp recommended to give her calpol throughout the night but I knew that wouldn't be an option until June! Anyway I started the calpol twice a night for 3 nights then reduced to once before bed for 2 nights and last night I gave none, gave the Certrazine as I said before bed and minimal food not containing any of the main allergens during the day (no food after around 3.30pm) and I've felt like crying of happiness because the last 5 nights she has slept like a new baby wriggled a couple of times and only had a sip of water once during the night and straight back to sleep from 7.30- 6am (this has never happened before) I use the baby mozart sound too (first video on YouTube found it better than white noise it's blue with yellow moons and stars).
I am now going to try and introduce every allergen one by one starting with wheat (which I think she may have reacted to today but just to make sure I'm going to leave it 2 days and try it again Sunday) then soya etc etc
So long story short I'm not too sure what has worked the past 5 nights but the changes I made were..

• Reduce food to porridge and fruit puree/ melty snacks
• No food later in the day just formula
• prescribed certrazine before bed
• Calpol for the few nights although like I said she had come off that last night now

Hope this helps you, I have my fingers crossed that this continues because its a total new life. I also have her in my bed as it was impossible trying to move her into her own room when she was struggling so much so rather than try to keep getting her into her cot I have stuck to the same routine where she is happy too then I'm not making too many changes at once.

Glad to hear you're finding things easier! I would say don't be afraid to keep food plain and basic, especially if milk intake is good.

I stopped all food for a bit when switching milk cos she was just so unsettled it wasn't worth the distress it caused all of us. Also staggered new foods (not just allergens) and then if subsequent night troubles put it on the list to try again in a month or two - I like/need my sleep! Bit scarred from trying soya as caused excess wind issues for nearly a week so would advise trying on a Thursday or Friday and then hopefully you have back up on weekend if doesn't go so well, especially as CMPI babies tend to react to soya as well. Also I avoid fruit in evening as always windier and more uncomfortable overnight, don't know if fermenting or something

Does you daughter have many teeth? My one didn't get any teeth until 11 months so I think that didn't help with digestion issues either! So needed a lot of soft food options haha

Really glad you have found something that is working! Hope it continues xx

Hi everyone, Thank you so much again! I just thought I'd jump back on to give you all an update as I always find it so annoying when you don't hear the outcome of these things.
So.... on the 17th Feb little one finally got her allergy skin prick tests after nearly 11 long months. She was tested for 12 different things (cows milk being the main one) absolutely everything came back with no reaction. She had the blood test to confirm straight after but unfortunately the blood results were lost so frustrating I know especially after seeing her in so much pain when having it done.
Anyway long story short after the skin pricks and loosing all hope with the hospital i decised to slowly introduce products containing milk to which she had no reaction at all. About 3 weeks ago she was a little poorly with a virus and totally refused her aptimil pepti1milk for 3 days and would only drink water. These 3 days she had no tummy issues at all and slept for 10 hours only waking a couple of times I couldn't believe it. She is 1 in 3 weeks so I have now switched over to cows milk morning and before bed (agreed with HV), she is on 3 meals a day and such a happier girl and I am actually able to function on a daily basis! I thought it was too good to be true at first but she has been absolutely fine for 2 weeks now for the first time since birth! It appears all along that the problem was the milk causing the wind.

Hi @Rachelwxox, thanks for the updated!
How are things at the moment?
why do you think your little one is okay with cows milk but not formula?
I’m at my wits end with my DS, I’m starting to think he has something wrong with his stomach generally!🥲 he’s been prescribed aptimal pepti, no change at the moment, I’m just hoping it’s something he grows out of! Most food just adds to the problem xx

Hi Peblet,
Sorry I have only just seen your message. She is still doing really well.
My pediatricians explination was that the symptoms for a cmpa are obviously horrendous for the little one but the cmpa milk can also have other side effects such as causing bad wind etc these symptoms as not as bad as the symptoms a baby with a cmpa would get if on cows milk so its just a bit of a lose lose situation sometimes depending on your little one tolerates rhe milk. You could find a cmpa milk which doesn't cause your little one these side effects but it takes a while to find the right milk for baby and giving it time for the other milk to get out of the system etc and by which time baby is getting older and potentially growing out of the milk allergy anyway. In my case she either never had a milk allergy or she has grown out of it completely. I was petrified to gibe her something with milk in at first.

There is a huge huge improvement in her I was literally up all night with her and when I say up we would usually only last around 2 hours in bed with constant wakes and the wind was that bad we would be downstairs the rest of the night and she woukd just cat nap when she could. She now stays in bed around 10 hours and only wakes around 3/4 times for a little wriggle every now and then she still gets a bit of trapped wind but she isn't screaming in pain , I can just rub her tummy for a couple of minutes and off back to sleep she goes.
I I was thinking is she just 'growing out' of it because she is moving around more but it was just too much of a coincidence it literally massively improved the day we stopped the milk. :)

Hi @Rachelwxox
how are things now? Hopefully they have continued to improve! 🤞🏻
I finally had phone call with dietitian today after 6 month wait and she said she thinks he needs to be refereed to rule out any medical reasons for his wind at night! Urgh really thought today was going to be a positive step.
just wanted to ask as he has exact same symptoms as your little girl xx