Colic or Reflux?

[BubbleBathLover]

I am hoping you can give me some advice.

My little boy is 8 weeks old and since he was born he has had issues with trapped wind, dirty nappies and discomfort when feeding. We have got on top of the dirty nappies but struggling with his discomfort and feeding. This morning for example he woke up at 6am and wouldn’t settle, thrashing about and grunting. When he is feeding (bottle fed) he cries throughout, grunts and is very difficult to wind. Sometimes he is sick (some days more than others), coughs and hiccups.

I have taken advice from the HV and he has been seen by our GP but no one can really give answers, just lots of it might be this or that, it’s normal and it should hopefully pass as he gets older.

I am trying to work out if he is colic or if he has reflux and was hoping to hear some of your experiences. He currently has infacol before feeds and gripe water after but no big changes. Spoke to the HV late yesterday and she suggested trying anti reflux formula, I am going to buy some today to see if it helps but worried as it is known to cause issues with constipation and we have only just got that sorted.

Any help, advice etc would be appreciated by this very tired mum 🤦🏼‍♀️

Hey, I don't know how much help I'll be but I had a few issues like this. Sjes 10 weeks old now but it started around 2/3weeks. What formula do you use? I used SMA and it was no good for her so switched to cow and gate and that's much easier to digest! Also, I tried infacol and it seemed to make her wind worse, as in there was more of it to get up. So I tried Dentinox colic drops and I love them! Also they're cheaper! She still has her days where she's just unsettled for god only knows what reason but these two things combined helped massively I remember! Xxx

He started on Aptamil and is now on Hipp Organic. Changing the milk has definitely helped with his dirty nappies but still having all the other issues 😌

Colic is long episodes unexplained crying.

Which bottles are you using? It might be worth trying a different type. MAM and NUK are both good.

Put him on comfort milk (says it's for colic and constipation) we had all the same issues and it literally changed our lives. It's a tiny bit thicker so helps with reflux, it's absolutely amazing for wind as it is not frothy when you shake up the mixture so he's not swallowing any air bubbles, and it has less lactose in so easier for their tummies to break down. I would try this before the anti reflux as we tried the anti reflux and the only difference is it's very thick so you don't get any help with wind issues or possible colic. It does make them do green smelly poos which shocked me but it's fine! He's still on it at 4 months and not going to change

It could be both, my lg has both.

With the reflux we see her start wriggling around after a feed, pulling her face and opening her mouth like there's something horrible in there, coughing, hiccups and refusing feeds.

With the colic, she starts witching hour (crying) around the same time every night and it goes on for hours.
Pulls her legs up, goes red faced and very hard to settle.. If she even does

I agree, it's hard to determine between the two but it can be both.

It's trial and error.. I tried my lg on comfort colic and constipation and she screamed constantly on it.
I asked my hv and she said it's thinner not thicker, which i was confused about because it looks thicker.
Weird, but yeah my lo was in pain on it.

I really hope you find what works for you and just remember our lo's will grow out of it.. Hopefully sooner rather than later

@Victorialisa the comfort is definitely thicker- look on their website..

www.aptaclub.co.uk/products/aptamil/specialty-milks/aptamil-comfort.html
My HV used to make things up all the time, I could never trust what she was telling me, it was all opinion based

We have had similar issues OP, my baby is 7 weeks now and we have just discovered he possibly has a posterior tongue tie, have an appointment at the tongue tie clinic at the end of the week. I do think this could be the root of my DSs problems, he takes in too much air as he feeds because he can’t create a proper seal with his tongue and mouth. He is breastfed but I have read it affects breast and bottle fed babies equally.

Similarly to your description he has never pooed much (once went 12 days without pooing), is very gassy and gets a lot of trapped wind, very uncomfortable lying down. He also gets mucousy stools although the health visitor said it didn’t look that bad. His weight gain has been slow.

Has you DC been checked for tongue tie?

[quote yoyoyo5678]@Victorialisa the comfort is definitely thicker- look on their website..[/quote]
I know i thought that, daft health visitors

For my LO and all the babies in my family the classic reflux sign we had was clear sick with bits of white in it. Doctor prescribed ranitidine for my LO as he was breastfed but my nephew has been on gaviscon sachets that you put in his bottle.

My LO had no other discomfort with regkux but my nephew went through a very rough period of crying all the time and wasn't feeding well. This could have been a mixture of colic and reflux. He is now 6 months and much much better x

My baby is 10 weeks old and we've had a terrible time with her due to reflux. She cried pretty much non stop for about 3 weeks and did all the things you've described, grunting, moving head away when taking bottle, difficult to wind etc. Luckily I have a really good HV and she got the doc to prescribe Omeprazole. She was on that for about 4 days and when she still wouldn't stop crying I ended going to the children's hospital with her and they prescribed gaviscon as well. So she's now on Omeprazole, Gaviscon and Lactose for the constipation. She is so much better now but it's taken about 3 weeks of being in the meds to turn a corner I would definitely recommend going to doctors or speaking to your HV. If babies not crying all the time you might just have a mild case of reflux or colic but if baby is crying continuously it can be incredibly stressful. I hope you get it sorted x

@loobyloo2020

My baby is 10 weeks old and we've had a terrible time with her due to reflux. She cried pretty much non stop for about 3 weeks and did all the things you've described, grunting, moving head away when taking bottle, difficult to wind etc. Luckily I have a really good HV and she got the doc to prescribe Omeprazole. She was on that for about 4 days and when she still wouldn't stop crying I ended going to the children's hospital with her and they prescribed gaviscon as well. So she's now on Omeprazole, Gaviscon and Lactose for the constipation. She is so much better now but it's taken about 3 weeks of being in the meds to turn a corner I would definitely recommend going to doctors or speaking to your HV. If babies not crying all the time you might just have a mild case of reflux or colic but if baby is crying continuously it can be incredibly stressful. I hope you get it sorted x

Sorry I've just seen that you've already been to GP and HV. Maybe try again and see if they can help. You might have to push them a bit. Gaviscon thickens the milk and might be worth a shout. X