Help a gassy baby (and me!) to sleep

[Amberellaella]

Hi all, looking for some advice please!

I have an almost-three week old and the past couple of nights neither of us has got much sleep due to him being really uncomfortable whenever I lay him down. It seems like it might be gas - his tummy goes hard and he pulls his legs right up, fusses, does little ‘burps’ (just puffs of air really).

He’s EBF and feeding very frequently I.e every 1.5 hours or less.

I’ve been burping him, and generally get one good belch out and lots of little puffs. Tried infacol this afternoon and I think it might have made more burps come but it’s hard to say for sure. I feel like I can’t possibly use it for every feed though given that it’s ~20 per day!

Have been trying bicycle legs and tummy massage but both seem to distress him so not sure if I’m able to do enough to be useful.

He’s fine laid on me on his tummy or his side. He’s fine in the vibrating swing. The Baby Bjorn bouncer (not motorised) seems to help getting him to poo. I hold him upright for about 20 mins post-feed, but sometimes it’s less as I’m falling asleep!

I haven’t tried a warm bath or a dummy. I will try these tomorrow.

Anyone got any other suggestions? I’m desperate for some sleep!

I have no tips but just wanted to say it sounds like you’re doing a great job. Do you have a partner at home? Can anyone take baby immediately after the feed to settle him whilst you sleep? Xxx

Have you tried popping the head of the cot up? So he is slightly on an incline?

Thanks @Emelene. DH has been in bed ill with Gastro these past few days, but he is starting to feel better so hopefully he can help more soon.

And @spudnik1 I haven’t raised the cot because it’s against safe sleeping advice for overnight. Will try it later if there’s an opportunity for a daytime nap when I don’t want to try and get my head down too.

Infacol didn't work for us but gripe water did. Our baby was very gassy due to his cmpa formula!

I am having the same problem with my 5 week old, but on the whole she seems to be able to pass gas after an uncomfortable period, and even more happy after a poo. The only thing I have found useful (apart from bicycle legs and massage and burping at every feed) is carrying her in the sling so she is upright and moving around.

Some days she is really bad and nothing settles her, so I feel your pain.

Thanks @Silverfoxlady I had him in the sling for most of yesterday but last night was still horrendous. Will persevere, I imagine it might be a cumulative thing? Good luck to you! Luckily he is #2 so I know from last time that everything is a phase and that this too shall pass ☺️

Any other symptoms? My DD had this along with some other symptoms turns out she has milk allergy and reflux

@kiana2015 also a bit of posseting if I lay him straight down after a feed, so maybe a bit of reflux going on as well. But he has no trouble feeding and his poos are as you’d expect, though he does seem to find getting them out a bit tricky. How did you know that your DD has milk allergy?

Literally could have written this post myself! No suggestions as we've done all the same things as you, just solidarity!

We have actually used a dummy and it sort of helps but it's hit and miss. He sleeps like a dream in the sling, if only I could sleep too when he's in it!

Yeah this does sound like my DD, I have always bottle fed so will differ but I was told to try and wind every ounce which has really helped, and was prescribed habits on but I found that made her worse. Changing her milk helped, it's thought that reflux is a side effect not a diagnosis of that makes sense. We realised she had an allergy because she was constantly pulling her legs, sick after every feed, loose poo, spots/rash on face and head mainly, eventually she developed blood in her poo. From when she was born some symptoms were there and some developed over the first few months. Might be worth speaking to your health visitor

Forgot to mention since she started prescribed milk she's like a new baby so happy and sleeps 12 hours a night. I wish I had of thought about it sooner as the first month and a bit were hell I don't know how I did it and feel so bad she had to go through that

Oh, interesting @kiana2015. He also started with spots on his head yesterday so maybe it is CMPA. I’ll drop a note to the docs.

When you feed, try holding him more upright. It might reduce how much air he takes in. Burping is good, but maybe try different positions for burping—like over your shoulder or sitting on your lap. Sometimes what you eat can affect him too, especially since you're breastfeeding. A gentle tummy rub in circles might make him feel better. Maybe a warm bath or even a pacifier could help him relax.
Hope these tips give you both some relief soon!

Get your latch checked by a breastfeeding specialist. It may be that some tweaks mean your baby takes in less air during a feed.

A teaspoon of cooled fennel tea (I used a calpol syringe). It worked like magic for my kids (my youngest is five months now so this is fairly recent). I had previously tried infacol and gripe water. I’d be interested to hear how it works for others. I used Twinings tea bags, but you can also make the tea straight from fennel seeds (the tea bags simply contain whole seeds). We gave it to our babies when they started to show signs of upset and it worked pretty much instantly. I think some people give it routinely with each feed though.

It definitely could be, her symptoms just started as appearing gassy through the night and then gradually everything got worse to the point where was unsettled and agitated day and night defiantly worth checking before it gets to that point

We also had a gassy baby and found gripe water better than infacol (but maybe can't be used til 3 months? Can't remember)

I also found the 'I Love You' massage on his tummy worked better than bicycle legs. And we did a baby massage course when he was around 12w old which had a whole belly routine we could do which helped massively!

Mine was also suspected CMPA but hard to tell as we changed to non-dairy formula as well as trying lots of different things to reduce the gas, so not really sure what worked or didn't - I wasn't 100% convinced with this diagnosis. We didn't really follow the milk ladder strictly to reintroduce it either, and he's been fine. My friend's baby definitely had CMPA and was much harder to get back onto milk when they tried it, but his uncomfyness and symptoms improved dramatically once my friend cut out dairy.

Best of luck op, it's hard when they are uncomfy and you can't seem to help!

Thanks everyone. No luck with the dummy, but he loved the bath and tummy rub. Let’s see how tonight goes! Got an appointment with the doctor tomorrow just in case it is CMPA or something else that would benefit from medical insight…

Ok so doctor thinks is not CMPA, but I’m going to cut out dairy anyway just in case it helps. It feels like I should be doing something!

Feeding more upright seems to help a bit, but again is hard when I’m so tired at night! Ditto using the sling, but I’m currently sat on the couch with a fever and sore throat so not much of that happening either… I’m pretty sure latch is fine, except when he’s comfort nursing, he won’t take a dummy.

Infacol definitely makes it worse, can try gripe water next week once he’s turned 1 month so might try fennel tea then as well!

I’m doing aaaaaalll the winding (came across a new move called the butt wiggle), bicycle legs, tummy rubs etc and no improvement there.

I know your latch seems fine, but please do get it checked. Your baby is taking in air during feeds which shouldn't really happen if he's latched correctly!

(I'm a BF supporter with a decade of experience supporting mums and babies so I'm not just talking out of my backside, I know my stuff!)

Thanks @CocoPlum, I’ve just messaged the HV for signposting to local breastfeeding support services. Defo worth a shot!

Do you do any tummy time yet? I found a bit of tummy time tended to get trapped gas moving, might be worth trying a bit of tummy time before bed to see if that helps?

Yep, doing tummy time whenever he’s awake and hasn’t just eaten. He seems to quite like it!

Fennel tea works better than gripe water IME and has less crap in it. Go for it. Good luck!

@CocoPlum saw the NCT breastfeeding specialist yesterday and she confirmed that latch and positioning are fine… Do you think I should get a second opinion e.g from an IBCLC?