12 week old explosive poo + colic (ebf) - help!

[Mamusia29]

Hi MNers,

I’ve been lurking for a while but this is my first post - my 12-week old son (first baby, ebf) is having awful tummy problems, we were hoping it would get better around the 12-week mark but he seems even more unsettled if anything and we’re not quite sure how to help him.

Background: he’s always been a fussy baby, he was a cluster feeder in the early weeks and still feeds pretty frequently (every 1 1/2 to 2 hrs), he’s always been windy and had tummy problems. The main issue seems to be that he is extremely uncomfortable when he needs to poo - arches his back and screams, then once he farts and/or poos he’s all smiles until the cycle starts again. When he does poo it’s totally normal (sometimes maybe a bit runny) so doesn’t seem like he’s constipated.

He sleeps well at night so we’re coping ok in general but his screaming during the day and in the evening is getting more intense (for the past few weeks he’s been going from totally fine one second to red faced and screaming the next whereas before it was more gradual) and our usual tricks (infacol, sitting him upright on lap and bouncing around until it all comes out) aren’t always working.

Mentioned this all to HV at his 6 week appointment, she said it’s colic and didn’t seem concerned, have tried to contact her to have him seen again and haven’t been able to get in touch with her.

Diet-wise: I’m vegetarian so reluctant to cut out dairy as I rely on it for protein but could this be an issue? Maybe caffeine or sugar (I love my chocolate) could be causing issues?

If anyone has any advice about what could be causing this and how to reduce this pre-poo discomfort I’d be grateful to hear it! I should mention that other than colic/tummy problems he is a perfectly healthy baby and never had problems with weight gain.

Have you tried cycling his legs or pushing the knees to the tummy to help release the discomfort or perhaps the tiger in the tree hold?

My dd was ebf and would scream at night... we did infacol thinking colic then a friend asked about silent reflux. Dd wasn't a sicky baby but also rarely burped, so asked the doc for infant gaviscon and was a game changer. Would give it to dd before feeds through a bottle or syringe and the screaming reduced so much. She would still have her moments but no where near as bad as before.

Might be worth exploring

Our DS had this. Also EBF. Turns out he has CMPA. Much better now I'm dairy free.

All of what you've said sounds within the realms of normal OP so I'd try not to worry too much, although it's uncomfortable for both of you.

Personally I wouldn't try cutting anything from your diet unless a Lactation Consultant or BFC suggested it, especially if dairy is such an important part of your diet.

If he's crying when he want to trump or poo, have you tried putting him on the breast again? Sometimes the sucking helps.

Other things that might help are sending DH out with him in a Sling (the slight compression helps), the car or pram so that you get a rest from the frying and he hopefully settles.

Look up the "tiger in the tree hold" on YouTube as this often helps as does no nappy tune for a few minutes after a nappy change, leg cycling and tummy massage.

There's some more info on colic here.

Are you getting any RL support too? Are you going to La Leche League or a BFing Support Group?

Thanks everyone for the advice - highonthehill we do try bicycle legs and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. HV is coming tomorrow so will mention silent reflex and see what she says...

Bibijayne I wonder if it could be something like that but would be extreme (for me) to cut out dairy since I’d probably have to eat extra lentils and beans etc to get the protein which probably won’t help with the wind! How long did you take for you to notice a difference after eliminating dairy?

Jilted, thanks for the reassurance, it’s good to hear this sounds fairly normal. My gut isn’t telling me there’s anything seriously wrong with him but it’s hard not seeing much improvement concerning his tummy issues. We are getting support - local breastfeeding groups and mother and baby meet-ups etc, but I haven’t met anyone who’s had similar issues with explosive poos, at least not to the same extent as DS is having. We tried the tiger in the tree hold in the first few weeks which helped a bit but we haven’t done it much since (he’s a pretty massive baby, probably from all the cluster feeding!) so maybe we need to give that another shot. I’ve tried the sling but he’s very wriggly so sometimes it seems to wind him up even more :-/