4 week old seems permanently griped up - HELP!!!

[spikejack]

Bit of a shot in the dark but my DS2 (will be 4 weeks on Tuesday) has slept and fed well up until about 4 days ago. Then we started to give him Infacol as he struggles to bring up wind.
After this, he became a bit constipated. He's on formula so I gave him a carton of formula which seemed to correct his poo-ing.
However, 3 nights ago he started to pull his knees up and almost clench up in pain, screaming occasionally and really crying .Its very out of character for him, even though he's only little. I could feel he was trying to poo (or something!) but couldn't get anything out. It lasted for about an hour and then he fell asleep in my arms, while I swayed about!

Had to do the same the following night so was expecting it to be colic. Then it happened yesterday afternoon and again this morning. I spoke to midwife (as HV only available on Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon!) and she suggested all sorts of colic / wind remedies. I'd already tried most of them (winding(obviously),cooled boiled water, massage, etc) so I went out and bought Colief and Dentinox. I've used the Dentinox so far and it seemed to help him pop out the little air bubbles but he didn't burp much. BUT even after this he still seems to have some sort of tummy pain or discomfort through the day. At times he is completely calm and does manage to sleep a bit but, compared to his sleep pattern since birth (where he was asleep all day and slept well at night), he has had just 3 hours today! He nods off and then wakes up shortly afterwards. Fortunately, he's so exhausted at bedtime, that he sleeps well at night.I don't think he's really unwell as he can be calmed down sometimes - but it looks like wind symptoms to me. Am clutching at straws - I even gave him 5 oz of milk in his last feed this evening, in case he's crying because he's hungry (he's been having 4oz).

My other thought was that maybe I need to change his teat from a number 1 to a number 2? Sounds obvious but I don't want to keep chopping and changing unless its logical to do so.

Anyone got any suggestions or had a similar thing?

I'd deffinitely change the teat size. I had the same problem with my ds at this age. He went through the teat sizes very very quickly though as he was a big baby and a bit of a guzzler! He was on the biggest teat size by 12 weeks. I found dentinox the best colic/ wind aid but really nothing cured it completely. He just grew out of being so windy at 15 weeks.

Hi Spikejack - I would change the teat size too, if he is sucking hard to get the milk out he might be taking a lot of air in at the same time. DS2 changed to size 2 teats at about 3-4 weeks as he was getting really frustrated at feeds - you could tell the milk wan't coming out quickly enough - is your lo the same? It's worth a try anyway, you can always change back if the flow is too fast for him

Have you tried giving him gripe water? From what I've heard, not all remedies like Infacol etc. suit all babies. Also as gripe water is natural ingredients it is supposed to be less harsh on your baby's system. Just what I've been told.

I found with my son - a very windy baby - baby massage worked really well. And aparently most babies do grow out of it at around 12 weeks. When I was told that at 3/4 weeks 12 weeks seemed so far away!

Try a bigger size teat, you'll know if it is too big, because he won't be able to drink it fast enough. Dd1 had horrible colic and although it didn't go properly until she was 12 weeks, some things did improve it, they were

Dr Browns bottles (have a valve to reduce gas)

Colief (can get on prescription, and you do have to persist with it)

Changing formula

lying her across lap tummy down and rubbing really hard along her back (dh was better at this, i was too tentative!)

baby massage

also, i know that it gives you a guide of how much to feed on the side of the formula packe, but I would really give him as much or as little as he wants, he might be a really hungry baby (dd2 was, and guzzled back far more than on the packet) or he might want to eat tiny bits, but more often (dd1 would have a couple of oz's, every 2 hours)

long walks with pram (tried swaddling and sling, but dd1 hated them)

Good luck

Hi spikejack,

I agree with the others, and hazeyjane's given you all the info I'd say. Feed as and when and however much baby wants, change the teat size - we did this with ds at 2 weeks old as he was needed a faster flowing teat, we also use the Dr Brown bottles most of the time - they've got a softer teat compared to the avent ones.
We found Infacol did nothing for him, so went onto colief, which definately helped.

Good luck