3 week old frantic when feeding, silent reflux?

[Elopelo]

Hi all

Didn't have this issue with DS1 so I feel totally clueless and useless. Been up with 3 week old DS2 since 6am and nothing seems to be working.

GP will hopefully be calling me this afternoon but in the meantime thought I would ask for some MN advice/experiences.

DS2 is ff. He was born via c section. He is quite a windy baby but this week the discomfort seems to be increasing.

• constantly seems hungry, rooting, putting fingers in his mouth. Has approx 7 x 4oz a day, doesn't always finish the full bottle. Most of the feeds are a battle, he is frantic, uncomfortable, gulps and guzzles a lot. He seems starving but only has a few sucks then starts crying and pulls away, turns shockingly bright red, so I try to bring his wind up thinking it might be that. A minute later, he is rooting again, offer the bottle, guzzles and cries.... and repeat again and again and again.

• The feeds afer a sleep and in the night seem to be calmer, he can drink 2oz straight, be winded, finish the last 2 oz without any of the behaviour mentioned above. When it gets to 4am though he only has a tiny amount of milk before sleeping again and waking up between 30-60 minutes later for another tiny bit of milk and sleeping again and repeat and repeat and repeat

• I wind him before, after and during feeds and some of his burps are absolutely massive. Last few days noticed he is farting a lot but seems in a lot of discomfort and pain. He doesn't bring his legs up to his stomach but does sometimes arch his back.

• Doesnt seem to mind being laid flat which apparently reflux babies should hate?

Have looked at previous threads on this but I am really confused on what to do and how to help him feel better. Is this just wind or silent reflux or colic (what is colic anyway?) or something else? It is so hard giving him a bottle, it takes hours and I hate seeing him in so much pain.

Would appreciate any advice.

I thought my son had reflux too and so did the our dr when I told him his symptoms we even put him on meds for it.
It turned out the problem was that he couldn’t get the milk properly out of the teat as I was a 1st time mum I didn’t even realise they went up teat sizes as babies get bigger

It could be reflux, or he could just be a very windy baby. Colief was really helpful for DC2 who was fine on EBM but unhappy on formula till I added Colief. It makes it easier to digest and stops the gassiness

Does he have a dummy? It could be that he's desperate to suck for the comfort sucking gives, not the milk.

Thanks for the swift replies, appreciate it.

@Kathy2020 That's what I was thinking too, that maybe the mill isn't coming out fast enough for him so a few days ago got some size 2 teats and tried it with one feed but he was still acting the same so went back to size 1. Perhaps I need to try it again for a few feeds though?

@DearTeddyRobinson Thank you for the suggestion. I've been reading about Infacol and some others but wasn't sure if they are all work in the same way? I think I need to go to a pharmacy and check them out properly. Do you add the Colief directly to the formula?

@FATEdestiny Yes he has a dummy, it does settle him sometimes particularly if he is tired but once he is in his straining/frantic stage he just spits it out.

Hi @Elopelo, as far as I remember you add the colief to the milk ahead of the feed. I used to make up a couple of bottles in advance, Lee them in the fridge then warm them up a bit in the microwave. Don't forget to shake it after you heat it!
Sorry my 'baby' is now 5 so it's been ages. Good luck

@elopelo did you ever get an answer to this? My 3 week old daughter is exactly the same! Just not every single feed?! I cannot work it out!

Hi @Jessica0912 my DS is now 9 months and these stomach issues are very rare now thank God. I was prescribed some Infacol which did seem to make him calmer during feeds. Another thing was changing his formula to Hipp Organic. Previously we used Cow and Gate. I would also say he started settling down once he could sit up a bit more so it is a bit of a waiting game. I’m sorry to hear you’ve been going through the same thing with your little one, definitely speak to your GP and try and get some Infacol or something similar and hopefully with time you should notice a difference.

Thanks @elopelo I figured just as much, it's not every feed which makes it even more frustrating weirdly as I can't pin point exactly what the issue is! Going to speak to health visitor and see what they can recommend if anything! Maybe swapping the milk might be an idea!