FF 3w old niece with awful colic... ANY ADVICE??

[lissie]

My niece is 3w old and ff C&G, she has awful colic, tends to gulp bottles then is in agony for hours afterwards. my SIL also has a ds who was fed SMA, and she didnt have this problem at all, is there anything she can do or is it just a case of changing her milk>

Which bottles is she using? There are various anti-colic ones about. I'd recommend the MAM ones, with the valve in the bottom which lets air escape. They're a bit fiddly to put together, but worth it, in my opinion. I tried the Dr Brown's ones too, but prefered the MAM's. They look nicer too, not that that has anything to do with it!

she's using the avent ones

I'd suggest she tries a specific bottle with an air release valve then. The Avent ones claim to reduce colic, but they're just standard bottles really.

if changing bottles doesn't help your SIL could try a lactose free milk or try adding probiotics to the baby's diet, you can get some in powder form to add to milk. Sometimes very bad "colic" can be milk intolerance.

my dd1 was the same but did really well on Omneo Comfort milk. It's a gentle milk and worked for her.

Definately worth changing the bottles first though, because it might just be that she is swallowing excess air.

Very weak fennel tea. Add a few drops to the bottles. Works a treat!

thanks where can she get probiotics from? i presume a chemist?

wow, thanks all! i shall pass on this thread to her.

it might be silent reflux instead of colic. This is when milk is regurgitated up into the windpipe (I think) and causes pain but doesn't actually get vomited up. I'd advise your SIL to get her lo checked out for this - it might save months of stress.

i think firstly that changing the bottles and teats is the best starting place

if she is gulping, and a greedy feeder, she will take in more air, and get a tummy ache

gentle massage of teh tummy, bicycling her legs and laying her down over your lap and applying gentle pressure that way will help get any trapped wind up

do not , IMHO , change to lactose free milk without medical advice

if it is colic, she can try infacol, i thikn it is suitable from birth...check with pharmacist

and she will grow out of it

colic tends to involve babe drawing their legs up a lot

well I'd agree with trying different teats first and holding her upright after feeds ( best self help for reflux). However medical staff up to (and sometimes including) consultants are very badly trained about milk intolerance. Lactose free formula for 2 weeks (or until can ends) will show you if lactose is a problem or not. However there is no harm in asking your health professional to prescribe it.

Probiotics ( ask for one for babies) are best found in a health food store or sourced on the internet.

Infacol
Colief drops

both suitable from birth and both have worked well for me with ds1&2

thanks all, her ds didnt have this prob at all which has thrown them a bit

Infacol and colief work because they contain lactase, which helps deal with milk intolerance . You can buy lactase drops via the net but lactase free formula would have the same benefit.

My ds was exactly the same with colic. He used to have me up for 4 hours at a time at night after his night time bottle. I changed his bottles to Dr Browns and used Infacol. This helped enormously. Also changed to a faster flowing teat so that he didn't have to suck as hard and get as much air in.
HTH