18 MONTH OLD HAVING COLIC AT NIGHT... HELP! - sorry if I'm ranting

[MrsBigD]

also cross post in sleep

O.k. ds is a bad sleeper anyhow, but he just used to get up and wander round the flat. Not too bad, even though at the time I did post on here for advise.

Now about 2-3 weeks ago he had a bout of a stomach bug with waking up screaming at night. Took him to GP who 'prescribed' light food for a few days. Which we did. The only thing that improved were the contents of ds's nappies...

Took ds back to GP again yesterday and saw a different doc. She examined him thoroughly including his tummy, which made him giggle. So nothing really wrong with him.

Last night again however he was screaming his lungs out with that high pitch pain scream iykwim. And he was definitely windy with gurgly tummy and farting up a storm.

• I try winding him after every meal/drink as well as you can a mobile 18 month old
• He gets fennel & chamomille tea
• Tried calpol/nurefen/medised
• tried rubbing his tummy when he has a fit but he just lashes out, kicks and screams
• though during the afternoon/evening when he snuggles up on my lap he pulls my arms around him to hug his tummy (which is rather cute )
• a normal day has him on quite a varied diet of e.g. cheerios, fruit (bananas, grapes, apple), fishfingers (I know not exactly the healthy option), toast, joghurt etc.

So basically... any ideas would be greatly welcome on how we might tackle this... we need sleep! Oh and of course his screaming understandably disturbs and upsets is 4yo sister.

HELP

I don't know if this will help but have you tried cuttung out the grapes? My DD2 gets horrendous (sp) stomach pains if she eats too many grapes. She still ets them but we have cut right down on the amounts she has and the frequency.

I'm at the stage where I try ANYTHING

Thanks HP

My Ds first slept through the night when we tried him on Solgar ABCdophilus (good bacteria for infants and children). its tasteless and you add it to milk/formula/juice/youhurt.
It definatly had an instant effect on his wind (he didnt have colic, but lots of wind, trapped or otherwise)

Also its worth giving his fruit at a different time of day to the rest of his food.
If you eat fruit and other food at the same time, the fruit starts to ferment in the gut causing wind, because we digest fruit much quicker than other food.

Gloworm... where can I get that Solgar ABC? Boots?

Will check with nanny how and when she gives them the fruit. Generally I think it's their snack in the afternoon

mrsD, you need to go to a health shop, but Not Holland and Barret as I dont think they sell it.

You can also buy it online, try google.

found it on-line ... pricing varies a lot doesn't it!

Thanks

Give him porridge for dinner. Seems a lot of fruit/dairy/acidy things in that diet. Or possibly wholemeal toast and a glass of milk before bed.

Also, could be baacteria/illness upsetting h im. Might try feeding him some pre/pro biotis.

thanks Uwila, will try the porridge thing... wanna come and pin him down for it LOL - Porridge fight!

Already ordered the probiotics stuff, can't harm anyhow.

Probiotics , like the ABC ones, are also found in "live" yoghurt (rather than the kiddie ones) or even yoghurt based drinks. There is an antispasmodic drug, call Buscopan I think, which might help but probably best to ask dr even though I've seen in on the chemist shelves. We had it for ds once. Worth trying the probiotics first.

they actually do Buscopan over here?!

I used to be on it yonks ago back 'home' in Germany

tbh ds had it prescribed in Switzerland but I'm sure I saw it on the shelf in Waitrose the other day and I had it prescribed when I was younger.

If you put lots of honey in the porridge (at least an hour before bedtime to give the sugar high time to wear off) he might like it. Or put raisins in it if he likes those.

LOL raisins? His favourite 'amunition'

How did last night go?

argh! well first he was a bit better but then from 0400 onwards... screaming, kicking, flailing arms like he's trying to get away from himself.

Couldn't even hold ds in fear I'd drop him as he's so strong. So had to put him on the floor and leave him to it

Then again if it's his diet or whatever upsetting his tummy it'll probably take more than 1 day to get it back in balance.

So, have you tried those opium brownies yet?

I'd throw my kids out the window if they acted like that. Maybe that's why they don't act like that -- survival technique due to mean mummy.

hi all, this is my first post but saw your cry for help and having gone through this with my DS now 15 months, thought our experiences could help!
We saw a nutritionalist through Neals Yard who was excellent, her advise was the following:

1. Probiotics for a month - mixed into breakfast cereal 2)Cut out gluten and diary for month and then reintroduce after probiotics complete 3)Steer clear of anything that makes you windy ie green veg / lentils etc
2. Do not give grapes(apparently lots of yeast in the skin?)or mushrooms 5)Chammomile tea during an attack helps to calm things down 6)Lamb and pears are great foods as least allergenic
3. give fruit in isolation definately not after a meal as ferments quickly and causes wind

so basically keep it really simple - back to basics. This really worked for us, DS had had three courses of antibiotics from birth and basically this can put the gut out of kilter in digesting certain food groups. We introduced them all bit by bit - ie yogurt one week cheese the next ...and fingers crossed it has done the job. Hope this helps and good luck!

Uwila ... mean mummy indeed... I well remember how you wake them up early in the morning ... lights on and GOOD MORNING!

Hmmmm... magic cookies [dreamy emoticon]

Hippychick - thanks for that. Will print out and use as reference

Hippy... just one question... how do you cut out dairy completely when they're supposed to have 1pt of milk a day? Soy?

Had not switched to cows milk and continued with low lcatose formula as he seemed to tolerate that well (omneo comfort). I guess you could try to use calcium enriched soya..the Alpro range do a great milk shake which my kids love.Also used their calcium enriched desserts(yummy!) and yogurts. Found a diary free cheese in Waitrose which tasted RANK but he loved it. I used the Organix baby porridge for breakfast or just fruit (made smoothie to drink so knew he was getting enough as not a great fruit eater). Lunch was rice cakes and strips of chicken and gluten free bread toasted. used the PURE spread. Tea was basic meat and potatoes. Snacks were rice cakes and Organix crisps, or fruit. Forgot to mention was also told to steer clear of any food with seeds ie tomatoes/strawberries etc and no marmite as well. Sounds like a lot of work but if you keep it simple and stick to the same thing for the period then it makes it easier. Also forgot to mention we went to a cranial osteopath which helped as well. DS had very quick birth with ventouse and apparently in some kids a traumatic entry into the wrold can leave them hyper sensitive which can effect them in all sorts of ways..it definately helped with calming him down. Its a trying time and thats why we tried EVERYTHING! He only ever slept through the night for any length of time after 1 week of diet change and probiotics. Thought we had it sussed and hes been teething since Xmas..kids eh? Love 'em!

oh yes the teething... At least they only get around 20 teeth for starters ;)

basic meat and potatoe will suit ds fine... he's a meat monster!

at least theres no debate about what to do with teething...just bring on the drugs!!

yep... calgel, calpol, chamomilla etc LOL