16mo suspected trapped wind at night, screaming in pain

[DingDingTriangle]

Hi everyone

Hope someone can help with some advice. 16mo DD wakes every night for around an hour and has done for months. Usually feeds for a bit, looks around, feeds a bit more, eventually falls back asleep. Any time between 23:00 and 03:00 usually. For the last couple of weeks or so during these wake ups she has started to become very uncomfortable, crying a lot, arching her back, pulling her knees up to her tummy, really sounding like she is in pain. This usually lasts a few minutes then she settles back down, back to feeding and then within a couple of minutes she passes wind. So I think it's a wind problem, although I guess it could be a coincidence. She can be quite windy during the day too but never uncomfortable like she is at night.

Can anyone offer any advice on what I can do to help relieve this for her? She doesn't eat beans or many veg. Likes fruit, dairy, pasta, rice, toast etc. Has been teething recently and is getting over a virus that gave her a fever, cough and very snotty nose. Negative covid test.

Is there anything I can give her to help relieve the trapped wind? It's horrible to see her in such distress and feel like I can't help her.

Thank in advance.

I’d night wean.

@DarcyLewis how would night weaning resolve the wind issue? She's so uncomfortable and seems to be in pain, so surely she'd wake and scream regardless of whether she was offered/expecting milk or not?

You said she feeds a bit then ends up screaming - I agree with night weaning.

She's possibly sleepy when feeding and gulping and getting trapped wind, you said in your op she feeds before she screams so it sounds like that the issue.

Would the air really travel through her system that quickly though? She's farting in the night, not burping. So she'll feed for 10 mins or so, get uncomfortable, cry, wriggle, settle and then fart within a couple of minutes. Surely that can't be down to swallowing air during the 10 mins of feeding? She doesn't do this at every wake up and she's fed in the night for 16 months and this has only happened in the last couple of weeks.

To be honest we've learnt to accept our child suffers from wind. We just help him when he wakes. He goes back to sleep as soon as he's passed wind.

Yes, it can be that fast. Think how quickly you get trapped wind if you drink something fizzy.
Wind doesn't take ages to travel through your system like food and drink does. She doesn't need a night feed at 16 months, so I would try and wean her off now. It may even be that she's giving herself tummy ache from over eating, if she's eating and feeding well in the day, the night feed might be too much for her.