12 week old bf baby... colic not easing - should I consider changing my diet?

[naturelover]

DS 12 weeks old, exclusively bf on demand. Colic hour just as bad as ever (usually 2 hours or so in the evening which clashes with DD's teatime and is therefore a total nightmare).

Also, DS seems constipated. I know he's not, he poos once or twice a day which is fine for bf babies I know, it's just that he seems to spend a large part of the day grunting, straining, bearing down and trying to poo, but not succeeding. Needless to say, he seems in discomfort and I can't seem to do much to help him.

This couldn't be silent reflux could it? In the last few days he seems to be taking less milk and arching away from the breast after a few gulps. Or maybe just bothered by fast letdown? In which case, is there anything I can do so that he's less overwhelmed by speed/quantity of milk? I was also wondering if engorgement the last couple of days was a sign of a growth spurt coming to an end...

Would welcome your advice and suggestions. Many thanks

Ds had colic which stopped magically after a 3rd cranial osteopathy treatment - the first two lessened it each time, after the 3rd it stopped suddenly - no lessening. He got it early and, on bad days, it started at about 7pm and lasted to 4 or 5am, with the odd 10 mins off, and we had been trying everything available inlcuding colief (which wasn't easy with bf).

Might be worth trying - its very gentle...

Don't know about reflux - hope someone else will be along who might help.

My DD has silent reflux. Several things strike me here though...

My DD is 3 months old and from about 12 weeks has been harder to feed, which I've put down to her noticing the world around her. She's better if we find somewhere quiet.

She does also strain - or did, less so these days. I showed it to the doctor who said, some babies just grunt.

Re. silent reflux - do burps seem to upset your DS? Is he better when he's upright? You could try infant Gaviscon (you'll need a prescription and have to syringe it in if you're BF) and if it does the trick, you've got your diagnosis.

That said, Gaviscon does constipate.

You mentioned fast letdown. There are many things you can do to help this - unsettled babies, straining, gas, being unwilling to comfort feed etc can all be associated with foreful letdown. I'm not sure what I can link to here, but if you google forceful letdown and oversupply you'll find good information and ideas of what to do.

My DC2 was very unsettled for many, many months (won't depress you by telling you how long the crying went on for...). There were several causes in our case, but the main reason was my oversupply. In the end, feeding lying down and offering the same breast multiple times before swapping to the other side made a world of difference.

Oh, and changing my diet made no difference at all in our case.

Usually I'm a strong advocate of going dairy free, but if it's just 2 hours in the evening then it doesn't really sound like a dairy problem or silent reflux tbh.

For me the straining to poo, not managing but not actually being constipated, sounds completely typical of a baby having trouble with dairy foods.

Thanks everyone.

I'm inclined to try dairy-free for 2-3 weeks and see if that helps (DH points out that I do eat a LOT of dairy). I might ring my local bf counsellor first.

Of course, if he grows out of it in that time there'll be no way of knowing if it's the dairy!

I appreciate your suggestions. I will also chat to my GP about it, she seems quite knowledgeable about bf.

This link could be helpful for you. There is a lot of good info on the site about many other aspects of feeding too.

Good luck, I hope you get things sorted.

www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

If he grows out of it in the meantime there is a way to know if it's the dairy or not. You reintroduce dairy to your diet and see if he reverts to screaming the place down. If he does, cut out the dairy again in the knowledge that this does make a difference, and if he doesn't, then it was just coincidence.