Gripe Water and Infacol.

[Writerwannabe83]

I'm so sorry this long but I want to give the full picture as I'm desperate for advice and to see if anyone else has experienced the same problem.

DS is almost 6 weeks and over the last month we've had terrible issues with wind. At 2 weeks old we started him on Infacol which although seeming to work at first it's effectiveness seemed to die out a little and DS was having hours and hours of high pitched screaming episodes due to the discomfort of the wind. When he reached a month old we switched to Gripe Water.

We gave the Gripe Water every 4 hours with his feeds as instructed and his burping was so much improved, DS became like a different baby and we thought we'd cracked it. However, 36-48 hours later we noticed DS began his screaming episodes again but this time it was when he was trying to trump or open his bowels. He seemed in agony, it was awful. It was interrupting his sleep, he'd wake up straining and screaming. It also affected his feeding as he couldn't suck whilst straining. The number of soiled nappies dramatically decreased and when there was any poo in the nappy it was the tiniest amount whereas prior to this he had regular dirty nappies with lots of poo in them.

The only thing that had changed was the introduction of the Gripe Water. We decided to reduce it's usage to half the recommended dose and within a few days he dramatically improved - he was still having smaller volumes of poo in his nappy but he wasn't straining or discomfort at all and he was much more settled.

However, his problems with burping arose again, because of the reduced Gripe Water I imagine, and his distress with the trapped wind was unbearable. He'd be screaming 6/7 hours at a time, his stomach was always swollen due to so much gas and me and DH thought going back to full strength Gripe Water was the only option and maybe the problems we had last time were just coincidental.

No such luck. 36 hours after being back on full dose Gripe Water the screaming and straining to open his bowels has started again. He's been waking up every 45 minutes in pain, crying, distressed and straining so hard with no results. He's hardly fed in the last 7 hours because he's too busy crying and straining to effectively attach and suck.

This morning I decided to not give him any Gripe Water and will return to using the Infacol.

Has anyone else had this problem, it's so difficult to know what is the right choice to make

Hi,

My 4 week old little lady strains and cries with wind and poo. Have spoken to various clinicians who all say it's normal. I was using infacol ocassionally but it's actions were short lived. Tried Gripe Water this morning and made her puke ever since.

Have you looked up baby massage for colic? If you google it a YouTube video (ironically sponsored by infacol ) will come up showing you the "tiger in the tree" hold- I tried this tge other day- worked miracles! Though only for as long as I held her in that position- but it was great to see relief! I also lay her tummy down on me as I think my body warmth on her belly helps.

Hope this helps!!

Thanks mummy - I think I could cope if it was just crying with his straining, but I'm talking high pitched screaming that goes, on and on, bring red face, tears streaming, knees up to his chest, frantic hands grabbing at himself etc - it's just unbearable to watch. Plus his disturbed sleep is making the poor man exhausted thanks for those tips, I will look at that clip. My HV has referred me for Baby Massage classes but they don't start for another month. We have found rubbing his belly helps soothe him a little but the relief is very short lived.

Sorry to hear about the vomiting with the GW, I hope it settles if you continue to use it!!

It might be worth switching to dentinox or colief. sounds like gripe water constipates him. in fact, dentinox and colief all have a cumulative effect, so can take a few days for you to notice any difference.

infacol, not in fact.

Are you BFing? If so, have a look at your diet. We had issues around this point and it was to do with my vegetarian diet (lentils, beans, cabbage etc). As soon as I overhauled my diet things improved hugely.

If FF, use only first milks (not "hungry milk" or follow on etc) as these can cause issues. Ask your HV or GP about cow milk protein intolerance; could be that, in which case they can switch you to non-dairy formula (or you can cut dairy if BF). If that's the case, colief might help.

Once your baby is a few weeks older you'll probably find things get better; their little systems take a while to get going. Don't be afraid to visit GP as much as you need to.

Also, hugs-my DS is 6 months now but I remember how hard all that was.

Ds had terrible trapped wind when he was tiny, the best thing we found was colief, it worked like magic and he started being more settled and sleeping better.

I second coleif, also we did cranial osteopathy. Was dubious to begin with, but saw results after the first session. Took 5 in total but fed much much better afterwards.

Me and DH have looked into C.O and although we were dubious maybe still are we are desperate enough to try anything. I will look into getting some Colief too!

I second cranial osteopathy, I was also v dubious but it worked like miracle on DD. Only needed 2 sessions (thankfully as it wasn't cheap)

DS Suffered terrible colic when he was tiny, sadly its just something they have to grow out of i think letting him sleep on his tummy seemed to help but obviously this is against SIDS guidelines, we were just out of ideas by that point! We also found a really good winding technique where you sit them on your knee facing away from you and rotate them from the hips, its supposed to massage the bowel & gets lots of trumps!

Hope you find something that works, its a really stressful time but it does pass eventually!

In baby massage we learnt that you must rub their tummy clockwise (feet facing you) as this is the direction of their intestines... No idea if it worked or not but I spent many an hour rubbing my chaps belly.

Also massive fan of tiger in the tree.

It will get better... But it is horrible to watch

Have you tried Colief? Worked a treat for my DS when he was little! Also a hot bath and a massage on his belly!
Good luck!

writer give the c.o a go! Try 2 sessions for example, you have nothing to lose as you sound at your wits end. Let us know how you get on.

trying CO - DD had far milder wind problems which were helped by using infacol, but after using it for every feed for about 3 months I got fed up and took her for CO. One appointment and it was sorted - may take a bit longer for you as the problem sounds more severe, but definitely give it a go.

Brilliant - everyone who has spoke of C.O has been really complimentary and you can't all be wrong. My mission tomorrow is to find somewhere local to me that offers it and book an appointment.

In the last 30 hours of having no G.W DS has had two brilliantly dirty nappies and having loads of trumps - there has been no straining or screaming whilst he's been doing either

Have you tried simply putting him in sling directly after feeding and keeping him there? when my DD2 is v windy, I put her in the sling all day. Being upright helps I think.

Does his poo have a 'foamy' appearance? If it does it could be a lactose intolerance and colief should help as it contains an enzyme which can break down lactose. Sounds like you're having a really tough time, hope things improve soon.

mummy - for health reasons I can't use a sling, my DH could though so I'll suggest it, thank you.

smoke - his poo isn't foamy, just typically runny, browny, yellowy colour.

Me and DH have decided this morning to cut out both the Infacol and the Gripe Water as they are both having negative effects that are outweighing the positives. We have decided that Infacol is pretty much useless. In desperation we have been giving Infacol and Gripe Water over the last 24 hours and to be honest, we think we are just putting all this stuff into DS's system and for all we know we are making things worse, especially by giving them both. We just don't know what works and what doesn't anymore.

I had an appointment with a Lactation Consultant and came away with new breast feeding positions and winding techniques and she is hopeful that his wind will be much improved after a few days. So we are going to persevere with this before we opt to try Colief. I think that if things don't improve I will look into booking an Osteopathy appointment to see if that helps.