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Original poster

Painful gas 3 month old baby - please help me :(

51 replies

Peaplant20 · 16/09/2021 18:01

Hi all. I am absolutely desperate please help me :( my baby is 15 weeks old but was born just over 5 weeks early so she’s sort of more like a 10 week old baby. She is so windy and very often she will cry out in pain and squirm and then pass gas so it’s obviously very painful for her. It absolutely breaks my heart to see her in pain like this and I feel really traumatised by it as it’s been going on for so long - I have been holding out because everywhere says that babies cry less after 6 or even 12 weeks and their digestive systems mature but it’s not happening.

I feel so desperate because I’ve mentioned it to the health visitor and GP numerous times and I’m not getting anywhere. She currently has infacol and we’ve also tried gripe water. She’s also on omeprazole for reflux if that is worth mentioning. I do tummy massage and bicycle legs etc but the problem is not that she can’t pass gas, it’s that it’s painful for her.

What do I do? I’m going back to the GP tomorrow as last time they suggested I go dairy free and that hasn’t helped at all after 6 weeks of being dairy free.

Has anyone else dealt with this and is there anything she can be prescribed or I can buy to help her not be in pain?

I’m also going to see a cranial osteopath next month.

TIA

OP posts:
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Original poster
Peaplant20 · 16/09/2021 18:02

*next week not next month!

OP posts:
DominicRaabsTravelAgent · 16/09/2021 19:17

Is she BF @Peaplant20 and if not, which formula has she been on?

Marcee · 16/09/2021 19:19

In my experience it does improve but usually when they are over 4 months old. So of she was born 5 weeks earlier around 22 weeks old for her.

As long as you sure she dpesnt have anything else- like a cows milk protein allergy, this will definitely improve but it may take a little longer

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JuneOsborne · 16/09/2021 19:20

Do you wind her mid feed and after each feed until she's properly burped?

Is she screaming after feeds or at other times?

Do you think it's reflux as opposed to wind?

Original poster
Peaplant20 · 16/09/2021 20:15

Thanks everyone for trying to help. She’s exclusively BF now but she does click and I struggle to get a deep latch. She has had bottles in the past but even clicks on those. Went to see a Tongue tie consultant who said there’s such a small one it’s not worth going through a surgical procedure as there may be no benefit.

I wind her mid and after every feed and usually get a good burp out of her. Sometimes that seems to make things worse as she coughs and splutters but usually she’s fine.

I think she does have reflux as she was very sicky before we started the medication - she’s not sicky now but it hasn’t helped at all with how unsettled she is generally.

:( :( :(

OP posts:
Original poster
Peaplant20 · 16/09/2021 20:16

And I definitely think the screaming/ crying is gas pain as she always passes wind straight after!

OP posts:
tiddlysquat · 16/09/2021 20:20

I had this and paid for a private allergy test (I gave her a bottle in desperation and she had an allergic reaction) and she was dairy allergic. Giving up dairy myself didn't help as she was also Intolerant to soya (very common) and soya is in many things.

She went onto neocate milk and was fine, it took a while but by 12 she was no longer allergic

I would recommend an allergy test .

It is absolutely awful when your baby is like this, I feel for you. It was a very dark tjme .

tiddlysquat · 16/09/2021 20:20

I would definitely give up breast feeding. It's the first month that really matters anyway

housie · 16/09/2021 20:22

Where I grew up, we lay the baby on its back, very very gently bring the legs into a squatting position, and rub some warm castor oil gently and slowly on the tummy in a clockwise direction. Could also try using cloth nappies for a part of the day as I think the waterproof nappies sometimes block the gas from escaping naturally (know it doesn’t sound like it makes much sense but can’t hurt to try)
Hope she feels better!

bookh · 16/09/2021 20:22

I had more success with gaviscon than infacol with dd2. Also chamomile crystals. Teething remedy but work for wind. They worked well for her even though I was dubious.

Other things were tiger in tree hold, she lived like that, little tree monkey I called her. Meant I could rub back and the hand in her tummy seemed to ease things. That probably helped the most, but really, it wasn't until she could move about herself, five, six months she was completely better. Bloody hard going for you and them.

DominicRaabsTravelAgent · 16/09/2021 20:23

If she's gassy and has a tt, I'd definitely consider getting it snipped or at the very least a second opinion.

DS has an undiagnosed tt and screamed, didn't sleep and had massive problems weaning and then some problems with speech that needed input from SLT.

nocoolnamesleft · 16/09/2021 20:25

Don't give up breastfeeding (unless, of course, you want to) because the odds are that she'd be worse on formula. Is it worth trying a period of dairy free yourself, to see if it makes a diffference?

DominicRaabsTravelAgent · 16/09/2021 20:26

My baby is Fussy! is something wrong? on Kellymom might help as well Thanks

minipie · 16/09/2021 20:27

Sounds very much like my DD. I think it was a combination of

  • being early: the digestive system is one of the last bits to develop so early babies are often more windy/refluxy than full termers. However they do grow out of it fairly quickly (more so than babies who have these issues due to allergy, I think)
  • tongue tie: we finally got DD’s cut at 15 weeks. It did make a big difference to her latch and windiness. How severe or slight a tongue tie is should be measured by its effect on feeding, not how big it looks iyswim. In your shoes I would absolutely get it done.
  • my fast let down which caused her to swallow a lot of air. If you think you may have this I recommend side lying feeding (but this may not be possible with an untreated tongue tie, it wasn’t for us)

I also tried giving up dairy, it did damn all… in dd’s case it wasn’t allergy.

minipie · 16/09/2021 20:29

Oh and I would not recommend giving up BF for an early baby with digestive issues, especially if you are doing ok supply wise

mineofuselessinformation · 16/09/2021 20:30

@tiddlysquat, way to go to make a new mother feel bad. Where does OP say that she wants to give up BF? Hmm
OP, get the tongue tie checked again, and ask for more help from your GP and health visitor.

DontPeeInThePlayHouse · 16/09/2021 20:32

I would definitely go for a second opinion on the tongue tie tbh.

If you have fast let down try expressing a little before she latches.

Wind, wind and wind some more. As someone once told me, if it doesn't come out the top it'll come out the bottom. Hold her upright after feeds.

Oh, and look up tiger in the tree hold, it's meant to help if I remember correctly.

DominicRaabsTravelAgent · 16/09/2021 20:33

How severe or slight a tongue tie is should be measured by its effect on feeding, not how big it looks iyswim. In your shoes I would absolutely get it done.

Couldn't agree more. This is definitely how to measure a tt. There should be no other way.

Verybookish · 16/09/2021 20:38

If you have fast let down it could be caused by that. I had a very gassy baby - part of that was tt, part oversupply of milk. Feeding in upright positions (so where gravity works against the flow of milk) really helped. Check out the koala hold.

Nannylp · 16/09/2021 20:42

Hi OP
I'm so sorry that you and baby are having a hard time. My DS was exactly how you describe, it was so awful not knowing how to help. I too gave up dairy in the hope that it would help, I very nearly gave up on breastfeeding entirely.
I started giving DS infant probiotics to help his digestive system along and, although its a way off, I found that once he started eating solids everything got better. I would say that once he was established on solids the problems completely went away, breastfeeding became a pleasure and we're still going at 2 years.
I'm sorry that I don't have any easy fixes for you, just reassurance that it won't last forever and your feeding relationship will survive.

Nannylp · 16/09/2021 20:43

Oh and I also found that when DS could roll onto and sleep on his front he was so much more comfortable

Kayjay2018 · 16/09/2021 20:49

@Peaplant20 my daughter was a windy baby and now at 16 months can still be a windy toddler. I've twice had a series of sessions with a cranial osteopath and whilst I can't say for sure it did anything, her wind issues definitely eased after it. It's not cheap and not for everyone I just felt I had tried everything so had nothing to lose.

The other thing I found helped was in the evening to feed with me laying on my back and her kind of over the top so there was a light pressure around her tummy, I then rubbed her back and she used to release a lot of wind

Original poster
Peaplant20 · 16/09/2021 21:43

Thanks everyone. I’m collating a list to try:

  • wind more
  • speak to gp tomorrow about tongue tie again
  • go and get allergy tested (hopefully gp can refer me). @tiddlysquat where did you go for it?
  • camomile crystals
  • castor oil massage
  • cloth nappies
  • tiger in the tree hold (tried this but not for a few weeks will try again)
  • try the list of things on kellymom
  • express a little before feeding
  • ask gp about probiotics

I do a lot of laid back feeding already and it doesn’t seem to help. I don’t want to give up BF as I enjoy it and she still clicks and takes air in on the bottle anyway so I don’t think it would help.

Thanks for everyone’s suggestions I’ve got a lot to try. I feel absolutely in despair about it all.

OP posts:
tiddlysquat · 16/09/2021 21:47

@mineofuselessinformation how am I making her feel bad? I'm actually saying it's ok to give up breast feeding . I'm passing on the exact advice i was given by a health visitor when sat in her room in desperate tears feeling the same way having the same experience as the OP. She can make her choice I am just saying it's ok not to breast feed and it's absolutely what worked for me when I had an allergic baby- which hers may or may not be.

I was shown a chart which showed the sliding scale of benefit as I was devastated by the idea of giving up BF.

It'a vital that new mothers know it is absolutely fine to give up BF.

minipie · 16/09/2021 21:48

I really think get the TT sorted before you try stuff like allergy testing. Unfortunately GPs don’t know much about TT, they might refer you to a TT clinic but waiting lists can be long. Could you get back in touch with whoever said there was a TT but “not severe” and say you’re now having big problems with latch and wind and you want the TT cut?