6 months old and still really bad wind issues, hcp's not listening to me.

[jasmin27]

i'm really struggling with 6 month ds, also have dd 2.4 year. Ds has suffered with really bad wind since birth. Even now he is constantly passing wind, straining, generally crying in pain I think, most of the time. Sleep is poor during day and night. I put up with it assuming it will improve by 3 or 4 months as it did with dd. He is now 6.5 months and still the same. My instinct is telling me it's still a wind stomach issue rather than him being a whingy clingy baby. He is constantly whingy or crying needs to be held most of the day. After looking online and on mn I figured out I have fast let down issue. When to a couple of bf groups at local sure start centre but they didn't really offer much advice. Spoke to national bf helpline and tried their suggestions but still no change. Been to the gp and health visitor about this and feel like i'm wasting my time as i just keep getting fobbed off. At my last visit gp told me to start weaning and things will get better. He has been on solids for over a month still no improvement. I looked into private lactation consultant but can't really afford it at the moment. I'm really struggling as i can't get anything done and feel dd is not getting enough attention and spending more and more time in front of tv. Should I go back to gp? Or wait for things to improve. Has anyone had similar experience with their dc at this age? Not sure that to do.

You have my sympathies! My dd is 10.5months and still has terrible wind problems. I do remember 6 months being partiularly bad as weaning just seemed to cause her poor digestive system all sorts of problems. Have you looked into whether it could be diet? I did find stopping dairy helped and I went to my gp about it yesterday and she suggested trying cutting out gluten to see if that made a differance so we're trying that at the moment.

Is your ds growing and developing ok otherwise? The gp said to me that as dd is clearly thriving in every other way (she is a super grower and eater) there clearly wasn't anything terribly wrong and it might just be one of those things you have to ride out. However, if your dd is not growing as well as expected this might point to a food intolerence or allergy.

On the bright side it's much better during the day now as she is upright so hopefully as your ds gets more mobile things will get easier for you. Nights are still awful though i'm afraid.

Any problems with bowels - diarrhoea or constipation? Agree it might be dairy intolerance and you could try a 2 week trial without dairy. Have you tried infacol? It can really help with trapped wind and bloating. It could also be reflux although this starts to settle around this age.

Reflux does not always settle by six months of age - it can go on for ages and ages in some kids. Also, it is not always improved by weaning...

It could well be dairy intolerance - intolerance to soy is also common in babies with CMPI (Cow's milk protein intolerance) so you would probably want to cut that out of your diet too. You have to be really thorough - look out for whey powder in foods like biscuits, as well as obvious things like milk and cheese.

I thought there was little medical evidence for the efficacy of infacol/ simeticone but I could be wrong about that.

Does this sound like what's happening? My DS was like your Lo and the tongue tie was never spotted by a HCP until his teeth came through and the dentist spotted upper lip tie too.

I was going to suggest dairy intolerance as well. DD2 had bad wind, constant runny bottom, bad sleep issues - waking frequently screaming but not being able to be soothed by cuddles or coming in with us - but as she was thriving the Health Visitor didn't take us remotely seriously either. If this sounds in any way like your problems I'd try going dairy free and see if it makes a difference (we finally did, after a year, and it was like having a different child - so wished we'd listened to our instincts sooner but when you're sleep deprived your self confidence ebbs away.)

Hope whatever it is you get to the bottom of it soon and things improve for you all.

thanks for your replies. sorry had a busy couple of days not had a chance to reply back. if I try the dairy free route i'm assuming I would have to cut dairy from ds's diet as well. he is currently having cows milk in porridge and yogurt. how long will it take to see results?

Yes you need to cut out all sources of dairy from your diet and his. 2-3 weeks would prob be enough to see if there was a change.

Oat milk or EBm would be ok to add to food.