Toddler with trapped wind at night

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Hi, I am new to mumsnet. I have a ds 18 months, who has suffered terrible tummy pain and trapped wind since birth, being unable to sleep for any length of time at night. He has seen so many docs but we are told that he will most likely grow out of it. We have had trials avoiding all sorts of foods but it seems that all food upsets him. I am constantly searching the internet on information on toddlers with abdominal pain and trapped wind and came across a message on mumsnet from Fimbles who has dd, same age as my ds, with near exact symptoms. Alas the message was posted at the end of 2003. I am desperate to find out if fimbles found a cure for her dd but unable to contact her by CAT messaging. If anyone knows or is in contact with fimbles I would be most grateful if you would let her know of my message. If anyone else has any advice to offer please help. My son has recently been started on Lactulose 10 ml twice daily and Senna 10 ml at night. Initially he passed a lot of wind and slept pain-free for 5 nights but his symptoms recurred and he has been in agony again for 2 weeks. There is also a question of silent reflux and he has been on Ranitidine syrup for quite a while but again we are not really sure if this helps. He also now seems to be in pain, holding his bottom, when passing stools which is maybe once or twice a day.

Peekaboo77 I know this is an old post but your story is helping me have hope... I'm convinced this kid has something. He was on penicillin for an ear infection and we thought we had a massive breakthrough. He slept for 6 straight hours! Off the penicillin, back to every 45 mins to an hour wakes with trapped wind.

Hoping the paed can help when I give this info

Hello! Made an account to give people hope.. if you’ve read to the end of this thread (like I did) then you’re probably at the point of desperation (like I was). A commenter further up the thread mentioned a low fodmap diet. I tried it for myself (as still breastfeeding) & babe (10mo) and she has gone from waking what felt like constantly to now waking 1-3 times a night without me changing anything else. Still do all the ‘wrong’ things like feed to sleep.. seems she was waking purely out of tummy discomfort, poor love. Word of warning though.. paediatrician said low fodmap diets can cause nutritional deficiencies so really important to reintroduce as many foods as possible once past the truly low fodmap stage. Honestly such an improvement though. I was driving myself mad trying to find her trigger foods before this.

Thanks @Wrigglepud!

Initially low FODMAP worked great for us but we've been unable to reintroduce any food without it causing a major reaction. We keep trying though! I hope your story can help someone else. All their tummies are so different!

Ah no, we’ve not got to the reintroducing stage yet so hope we don’t have the same issues.

Yes totally agree, they’re all so different..

Fingers crossed for you! Hopefully not!

When we realised there was a constipation a d wind issue I thought....ah ok, annoying but we've done this before. Oh no...the second fella has completely different triggers and needs!

Having said all that, I think the more of us that share our stories, the better for other mums and hopefully those of us in the thick of it.

My older guy grew much better by 18 months but that's another 6 months away from now and it's not guaranteed!

Hi there nit sure if you will see this message but I came across your post from 2009 where you wrote about your then toddlers gassyness at night. I would be grateful if you could let me know whether you managed to find the cause or solve the issue As I am having the same issues with my toddler and have found no answers. Many thanks for your reply x

Hi there, know this post goes back a long long time now but want to reiterate all the previous messages about how much this has helped me feel less alone.

We have struggled with out boy's wind since he was 2 weeks old (now 16months) all the usual diagnosis were thrown at us in the first year (dairy intolerance/reflux etc) but nothing seemed to be helping.

Exactly the same symptoms as many of you, when he was little it would effect him in the day but now almost solely at night. How often we're told 'oh but he seems fine' when you have to sit up with him in pain night after night.

We finally got to see a paediatrician just before he turned 1 and his immediate thought was fructose/fructan intolerance, it was the first explanation that made sense and we have started to see an improvement since trialing how to manage it.
For us this includes:
Most fruit reserved for morning/lunchtime
Cutting out certain foods (wheat, peas, onions and garlic especially bad for us)
Massage at hip points before bed
Warm water or watered down milk to help him pass wind at night

With this in place we're down to 1 or 2 wakes a night which is more manageable than it used to be.

I've seen some other useful posts on mumsnet directly related to fructose/fructan intolerance - had never heard about it before our gastro paediatrician appointment though.

Have been told he should grow out of it but the stress of his broken sleep and limited diet have made me second guess myself constantly. (we're still off dairy for now and haven't even dared tried pulses!)

Thanks to this post we're going to try talking to a local homeopath and kinesiologist (if they don't cost the earth!) and see how that goes- fingers crossed.

Good luck to everyone going through this xx

Just seen this post after several sleepless nights of my 1 year old suffering with trapped wind.
She is usually such a happy little girl but seeing her so upset with trapped wind is awful especially as other people have said around teething. We have tried infacol, gripe water, coileaf. Infacol she became immune to gripe water made her constipated coileaf is just not working anymore. Standing up rocking her from side to side sometimes helps but the best way we have found is letting her crawl around and play and honestly the amount of wind that comes out is shocking. She eats very healthily and on oat milk still just the same issues. I've ordered some fennel drops to help and going to try fizzy water during the day. Feels like shes nocturnal bless her although I'm sure shes loving playing at night!

Was reading through this thread for a while, going through the same thing with my now 16 month old. We did all of the allergy testing, exclusion diets etc, but all came back negative and the paed told us it would stop eventually. Given she was waking up hourly, that didn't work for me, so I looked into other options!

I was recommended an Osteopath, so thought we'd give it a try. I didn't expect much from it, we tried Osteo when she was tiny and it made no difference. This time, oh my, it worked!! 3 days after the first session, she slept through the night!

He said she has a lot of tension in her abdomen which could be causing the problem, he stretched it out (lots of crying), and it seems to have made a huge difference. It currently seems to wear off after about a week and a half, we're having our third session this week, but even when it starts to get worse again it is still hugely better than before!

Wanted to share for any others who might be going through the same thing!

Can anyone on this thread give me hope of things getting better. My LO is on a very limited diet and still has all these symptoms like trapped wind, reflux and poor sleep . Particularly if your baby had antibiotics- did it help? I’m sure this is all related to a dysbiosis. Thank you

Hi there - my son is almost 7 and he used to have terrible issues with wind and a painful tummy between the ages of about 8 months and 2.5 years. Turns out he had SIBO. I spent almost two years battling for a diagnosis and spending a fortune on private doctors because the NHS just told me he needed sleep training.
A simple course of antibiotics would have sorted the situation! So I would highly recommend just trying it. His tummy was still a bit funny for about 6 months afterwards but I put him on the FODMAP diet for 6 weeks and he was a different child within a couple of days. He's totally fine now.
Good luck. Their little tummies are a mystery at that age. xx

Wow thank you! I’m glad you had such success. Did he also have any food allergies/intolerances?

no allergies. But because his tummy was so sensitive gluten was causing him issues. So we avoided that for a while after doing the FODMAP diet. There is a great app by the Monash University that I used to follow the FODMAP diet. But he can eat anything now. Sometimes they just need a while to sort stuff out, or sometimes they might have an intolerance to something or even an allergy. Good luck, it is a full time job working out these issues but you will get there.

Thank you!

Hi I'm new here!
This is such a relevant thread.
I can only say what works for me, an adult woman who has struggled most of her life with stomach cramping due to trapped wind. Using logic, I suspect for most babies it's the same causation except they have the added component of an immature digestive system.
Our DS has this problem and I've got him on colief an enzyme which helps absorb the sugar component in milk, lactose.Until baby has a mature microbiome and strong muscosal lining then this is an issue. Also, swallowed air and most definitely additives in formula milk.
Speaking from a logical perspective if you think about it, humans had a very simplistic diet as hunter gatherers for millennia. They breastfed their children and ate only whole protein, whole fats and limited carbohydrates. They always ate what would give them the most long-term energy and that would be a diet rich in animal protein and fat. Carbohydrates such as wild fruit and raw honey would be consumed only in season and whenever they found it. Fibre, of any form is a carbohydrate and carbohydrates are broken down to create sugar.
Now because of modern day agricultural systems and eating for convenience we have a population blighted by all sorts of illnesses and digestive disorders.
I cut out most carbohydrates, but low sugar fruit and vegetables. Shop bought bread, cereals, pasta etc is highly processed and converts not only to sugar, but has other additives. All which aggravate the stomach and create inflammation. Also, creating constipation, a long with a lack of electrolytes in our water, not drinking enough and not moving enough.
Once our DS is off milk, I shall be feeds him as organic and whole food as possible. Evolution of our guts has taken millions of years and modern agriculture and food for profit industry is taking away all the nutrients and creating a big problem for our digestion. I changed my diet 5 years ago and a long with moving more and consuming more structured water have never had a digestive issue since. It really is worth the try and very simple. But requires a bit of research into locally bought produce which hasn't been processed in any way, other than cooking it.
Best of luck! 🤞

Can I also say that Vitamin D from daylight also helps the stomach as it is an natural antispasmodic and through the sun you don't have to worry about dosage, especially important during the winter months. This will also help the digestive system! There is such a strong gut and brain connection too!
Best of luck everyone! 👍 Including ourselves as well!!

Organic goats milk as an alternative, less likely to aggravate the delicate muscosal lining of the stomach in babies. Would just love to find a formula without vegetable oil, which in itself is highly inflammatory.