very windy 4 week old, should i be avoiding certain foods when bfing?

[puddingcat]

hello
i have a lovely four week old daughter who's breast fed and suffering greatly from what appears to be trapped wind/ sore guts any advicxe greatly appreciated

pudding - what makes you think it's trapped wind?

hi
screaming, kicking of legs, screaming either abates or intensifies if i do the stomach massage suggested by the health visitor or hold her legs up and then some times stops suddenly . she really seems to be in pain and it's very different to when she's hungry. does that sound like i've got the right diagnosis do you think?

I dunno.....I am always sceptical of 'wind' to be honest (I think it is over-diagnosed....but I do think it exists).

None of what you say automatically means trapped wind - could just be a baby who wants to feed more or be held or cuddled a lot. Does it stop when you breastfeed her?

puddingcat - am not a bf councillor but my DS2 was exactly the same at 4 weeks old - screaming massively after his feeds and jacking his legs up but miles better once he'd released the burp/fart that was stuck in him. The things that helped him (and me) were (i) me drinking lots of camomile tea - helped calm me and hopefully him too via the milk, (ii) feeding him before he was screaming for food - watching for the first hunger signs and then putting him on the breast, so he fed less frantically and burping him midfeed too, (iii) I have a fast let down and he was struggling with it which I think contributed to the wind issues - a bf councillor suggested I try biological nurturing which did help but he kept falling asleep while feeding so then tried block feeding from one side which helped and(iv) cranial osteopath treatment - he had the cord wrapped around his neck at birth which the c.o. said had contributed to his digestive problems; was much better after a couple of sessions and by 3 months didnt suffer from trapped wind at all (in fact he is now the fartiest burpiest little baby in town...). I hope some/any of these help you.

Hi,

I found cutting wheat from my diet dramatically improved my LO's tum and temper - I can't explain the science and there will be sceptics, but it worked for us!

ta all

dinkystink - thankyou i'm goign to take her to the breast feeding cafe on monday and also not sure where you are but we'll definitely give the cranial osteopath a go - it was a ventouse delivery - let me know if you'd recommend the one you used (we're near richmond west london).

tiktok - she's getting fed as often as she wants, to some slightly raised eyebrows from the in laws over the weekend (!) and plenty of cuddles but these don't seem to help. when she's in a pickle she won't even feed.

mrhd - will try that over the next few days too

I'm in London too puddingcat - I go to the Osteopathic Centre for Children (they're based in Farringdon EC1 - terrific place, registered charity and you pay by donation whatever you can afford - they're briliant). We used them after DS1's birth (difficult delivery, lodged in birth canal for a while and in pain from misshapen head as a result) for DS1 and they were fantastic so when started having these issues with DS2 I got in touch with them again. The British School of Osteopathy apparently also does a baby clinic but havent been there.

Hope things settle down for you and your DD soon.