Need help and advice for a windy baby

[Newmum0113]

Hi all,

DD is 12 days old and really suffering with hours of trapped wind. We have followed all the advice from the midwife but nothing really seems to help sort it.

It takes about 30 mins to feed her another hour if not more to wind her. When I put her down she brings her legs right up to her chest and whinges and fidgets lots. If I don't pick her up it and wind her more it will become fits of crying and she looks to be in so much pain. After a while she burps again and then goes floppy and calm and I can swaddle her and put her down. Sometimes she will go through to her next feed with no more bouts, other times she seems to need winding again after an hour or two.

Now she also seems to be constipated too. DH laid her on her back and massaged her tummy and out came about a days worth of poo in one go. She then demanded more food, was winded relatively easily and went to sleep for 4 hours solid.

We just don't know what else to do, or if we're doing something wrong and were hoping you might have some advice/experience to guide us.

TIA

you could try infacol. its drops you give them before each feed to help them get wind up. some people aren't a fan, but I've been giving it to ds, 16 days old, as he was just like your baby. he never burped but was trumping so much. now he burps more and is less uncomfortable. it's definitely worked for him. worth a try? othrrwise it sounds like you're doing everything right, tummy massages and moving their legs etc will all help!!

is she breastfed or bottle fed?

if breastfed, how is her latch? if it's not great (eg she keeps coming off/clamps down hard/only latches to the nipple) and she seems to be taking air in when feeding, then it's worth getting her checked for tongue tie.

babies aren't constipated just because they poo irregularly - that's normal. they're only constipated if their poo comes out in fairly solid lumps (more like adult poo or rabbit poo iyswim). is her poo soft?

However, tiny babies do often seem to have difficulties passing wind and pooing, lots of straining before they get a result. It does get better as they get older. Tummy massage, bicycling her legs, keeping her upright in a sling, keeping her on her tummy (this is only safe if she is lying on you, not in crib) will all help. keeping her warm will help too as it will relax her. infacol helps some babies burp but not sure if it helps with the other end.

Thanks for the replies.

We have tried infacol already. It does seem to help a bit.

We are combination feeding as I can't get her to latch properly and I don't seem to have enough milk to sustain a full feed I am really trying but starting to face the fact that maybe this just isn't working out.

Newmum, don't give up yet! Please do get her checked for tongue tie. My DD was exactly the same and at 3 weeks, when I was completely ready to give up, she had tongue tie snipped and feeding wise things improved. Not overnight like some people but I am still feeding her at 11 weeks so please get her checked tomorrow. Get your health visitor to come and see you!

Totally agree about getting her checked for tongue tie - if you have latch problems and wind problems that really does suggest tongue tie.

only thing is, HVs aren't always good at spotting tongue tie (in fact many women on MN have been told by their HV that there isn't a TT when in fact there is). So, you could ask your HV to have a look, but also contact la leche league or your local breastfeeding cafe/group (usually listed on the NCT website) and ask who locally is qualified to check for tongue tie.

How long have you been using Infacol.

Our DS was EXACTLY the same as your DD at around the same age. We started using Infacol before every feed and it really helped after a few days. His wind comes up much easier now. It does take a few days to really start working.

Also, a dummy can help ease the discomfort of trapped wind (although you may not want to use one if BF)

Re: being constipated - we thought the same thing but once the Infacol started working, the lower bowel pain seemed to disappear. He only dirties his nappy every 2 days - he once went 4 days! The HV said it was normal

Thanks again. We've been using infacol for a week but its not making much difference.

The anti colic formula seems to have helped as she's started to poo again by herself and its not so hard anymore, more runny and free flowing. She is still getting bouts of wind though, although it does seen a bit better.

I can get her to latch sometimes, but only on the left. She won't take the right at all. Today she had a full 20 mins on the left and 5 mins of trying the right before she got really agitated and had enough trying. When she gets to that stage DH usually has to take her to calm her down or she won't have any feed at all just scream. It's the only time she does it though.

The HV is coming for the new birth home visit on Wednesday so we'll see what she thinks. Also there is a bf group on Tuesdays but I feel embarrassed to go as I'm more formula than bf atm, and feel like I will be judged.

not at all, they will see that you are trying to bf and doing what you can for your baby by topping up and will be more than happy to help you establish bf better. I definitley think you should go if you can. Hope ur lo starts feeling better. windy cries are horrible as there's nothing you can do to help!

It's also the fact that it takes up to 2 hours to wind her after a 30min feed, and she's feeding every 3.5-4 hours so not much is getting done in between and during the night it seems to be worse. She was fed at 10:30 last night and DH gave up trying to put her down in the end as she just kept crying with it, I took over winding her at 12:05, gave her some cooled boiled water (DH had already tried this) which seemed to calm her down a bit, and I swaddled her and laid her down at 12:30. She whinged until about 12:45 then fell off to sleep, only to wake for another feed at 2:20.

Is it really normal to have to wind for so long? DH is getting really frustrated now and I'm very tired too.

If you feed her on the left side lying across you, try then feeding her on the right side laid the same way. So, right ear towards your tummy. If she likes the left, the position replicated on the right (rugby hold) might help.

have you thought about milk intolerance? dd was very windy and uncomfortable at that age (for hours and hours - i once held her writhing in pain for 12 hours). she was ebf and i totally gave up all dairy and within 2 weeks i had a different baby.
good luck with the bfing. if you're worried about supply an obstetrician told me that every time your baby's lips touch your nipple you produce more prolactin so just keep putting baby to breast, and lots of skin to skin and drink buckets of water.

oh and you're not doing anything wrong. it's just really really hard at first. things will get easier. my dd preferred one side to the other to begin with - it's very common. keep offering the least favoured side when you can face it and she'll get used to it.
i agree with roofio the bfing group will be really supportive i'm sure.