Please help me work out what is going on with DD2 5.5mths

[hobnob57]

All this could be any one of a number of things.... The problem is that she suffers from horrendous wind (always, some days like today worse than others). She has a rash on her face. She screams and writhes all the time, particularly when I'm trying to get her to sleep.

Some background:
She is on omeprazole for reflux. She is EBF, intolerant to lots in my diet. She had a 48 hour sickness bug 3 or 4 weeks ago, during which she was a dream to live with (slept well, fed well, napped well, didn't cry). After that she began the writhing and screaming. And cut a tooth. And I inadvertently ate some soy, which I think she is intolerant to. That was the week from hell. She developed the facial rash just a few days after that so I presumed it was a soy thing.

That was over 2 weeks ago. The rash is still there and flares up when I feed her (cheeks, along the top lip, chin - red, lumpy and dryish). The horrendous wind is still there and making napping impossible and night wakings increasingly worse. I've started BLW in the past week and she has loved munching on carrot, sweet potato, pepper, broccoli & avocado. She's been really constipated since I last weekend so I'm easing off and offering sugared water until my tesco order comes tomorrow with prune juice. Before that she was pooing away fine so it's not just that that's doing the wind thing.

I just can't tease out what's going on.
Any ideas or experiences welcome.

Facial rash during feeding can just be heat rash - your boobs are body temperature obviously.

She may be teething, she may be unwell. I would say, if she's got such bad reflux, why are you rushing to wean? Also lay off the broccoli - it can cause bad wind.

I wasn't intending to wean yet at all, but she was grabbing stuff at the table and can sit up well so decided to go for it to see how she did. She loves it, but I'm not sure it loves her! Yep, definitely avoiding broccoli for a bit. But I wonder if we're avoiding so many things yet the cause may be something different? Can't think though, beyond her meds.

Babies grab everything, it's a new skill for them to practice from about four months. Don't feel pressured to wean. You have time yet. If she's not been well it's probably not the best time to start.

Really bad wind does pass with age, with DS once he was ready to wean (which was six months for him) he stopped throwing up and wailing after every feed. Honestly it will get better.

Weaning is actually very helpful for reflux - most refluxey babies improve on solids.

It could still be teething - ds1 cut several teeth in quick succession and had similar symptoms, though not constipation. Mind you he was on metocoplamide as well as omeprazole, and I think that helped keep him regular.

Dairy sprang to mind when I read your post. I had to cut out dairy for a while when I was feeding ds1. He got awful cramps and was v fretful and unsettled. Even now if he has too much he gets a rough red rash on his cheeks and upper arms- he's 4 now. Try cutting all dairy out of your diet for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks bubbley, but I'm already dairy, soy, gluten, egg & nut-free

your baby may actually be temporarily lactose intolerant to YOUR milk after a sick bug as the enzymes needed to digest the milk get wiped out

I'd thought of that, but wondered how long 'temporary' is? She was much more productive in the poo department during the teething/bug episode, but constipation and lactose intolerance don't generally go hand in hand, do they?

Ok am prob going to get shot down in flames (I will duck now) but have you tried her on formula? My dd suffered terribly when breastfed and when I moved her onto formula she improved sooo much. Just a thought. My dd suffered terribly with colic, it settled at about 5 months but she is still very windy at 11 months. I hope you get it sorted as I know how hard work it is.

I'm no professional, but PeedOff reminded me with her enzymes comment that pro-biotics are recommended after AB and might help after a sickness bug. You can buy them for infants/children in powder form to mix with water or maybe even EBM. Check with a good health food store or homeopath.

Charlie if she is sensitive to dairy and soy through bm putting her on formula could be even worse.

Have you tried drinking camomile/peppermint/fennel tea? I think fennel tea in particular is good for stomach pain/ colic etc but you could check it out.

I'd rather not go onto formula if poss. I have a tin of Neocate from the gastro clinic but dd doesn't like it and it brings back too many bad memories of trying to force feed dd1 the stuff. If I can work this out I'd be happier.

I drank a lot of fennel tea initially so may try that again.

I've given her sugary water for a couple of evenings and we've just had a megapoo so hopefully that'll help somewhat. We've laid off the solids too for a couple of days so we'll see where we are after that. Her facial rash is threatening eczema though. Diprobase hasn't helped, vaseline seems better.