Terrible gas in 14 week old

[orzo15]

My baby has struggled with gas since birth. He spit up a fair bit when younger, took him to gp who said it was normal. The spit up never really bothered him. From 4am onwards he would be writhing around trying to fart or poo and would only be happy once he did get it all out around 8am.

The last 2 weeks have been a nightmare, everyone said the gas gets better but it's got so much worse. He's now waking up every hour at least trying to pass wind and during the day there is a lot of crying, chewing his hands (which he does when he needs to fart or poo). He'll get a bit of relief if I do bicycle legs etc then it starts again.

He had a tongue tie cut at 4 weeks, he goes to the osteopath, I've given up dairy, soy and eggs since he was 6 weeks. I don't think it's reflux because he's happy on his back on the playmat and in his crib. He falls asleep at the breast and it's often the only thing that comforts him. He sometimes burps himself on the breast but hard to burp him myself now (was easier when he was younger for some reason).

What else can I try or has anyone had this experience? I'm a single parent so these nights and days are really draining me

try and rub his tummy in an anti clockwise direction. slow firm circles used to help my son. have you tried gripe water? good luckx

Yes tried both of those things. Massage brings relief for about half an hour before it all starts again. Gripe water and infacol seem to
Make no difference

@orzo15 sorry I'm out of ideas now x would heat help him?? Maybe your body warmth will help it shift x

I was where you are and it did shift very shortly after 14 weeks I think.

Have you tried reintroducing dairy, soy and eggs? Unless you've done allergen testing it would be hard to prove that is an issue especially if his gas hasn't improved as a result?

I tried soy recently and eggs and the next day he was pooing all day and in discomfort. Haven't tried dairy again. He is 14 weeks now but still no improvement, it is just getting worse and worse. He absolutely screams in the baby carrier now too if he is awake, but hates the pram too so i feel stuck :(

Hi @orzo15,

First time I’ve messaged on here, but I really sympathise with you as your post is identical to the symptoms my 14 wk old daughter is having. This has been going on since 2 weeks old, she is combi fed, and I feel I have tried everything …
Infacol, Coleif, gripe water, dairy free (me and formula - improved symptoms very slightly but now reintroduced as baby was still griping/unsettled), tongue tie cut, cranial osteopath, and now finally trying Omeprazole for silent reflux.

We are on day 2 of omeprazole but she’s just had her 12 week jabs and I think the rotavirus inoculation is making her worse at the moment, so I can’t see an improvement yet.

Ive suspected SR since she was newborn but every doctor we’ve seen have had different opinions. She has identical symptoms to your baby, she is happy on her back (prefers this as she struggles being held), doesn’t posset very often but when does then she isn’t too bothered by it, she just shows extreme discomfort after feeding at what seems to be when she is trying to pass wind or poo. Shes gotten worse in the last 2 weeks, and she has started arching her back and pulling her head in and legs up when in her bouncer (seems to be pushing and happens constantly throughout the day).

Maybe SR is worth a consideration for your little boy? I can let you know how the omeprazole goes in the next week if that helps?

Hi lovely, not much advice as my 12 week old is unfortunately exactly the same and it's so, so hard. I've also cut out dairy, soya and eggs to no relief so I've recently cut out gluten too to see if that helps x

@CMHEML1 so sorry you're going through this too! It is so so tough. How are you getting on with omeprezole? I have thought about this but he doesn't mind lying on his back and doesn't cry after feedings. Was it your gp who suspected silent reflux? He is also constantly straining to pass wind and poo especially at night it's just relentless. He has seemed slightly better during the daytime the last few days but at night is waking up every hour which is so hard

My DD struggled a lot with this in her first few months, hers turned out to be cows milk allergy. Have you tried colic stuff? If I remember infacol and gripe water were really good - can't remember what age you have to be to give gripe water though. Also heard coleif is really good they all help with gas and wind I found. I also don't know if you've heard of them but there's something called windi by frida baby - I never felt comfortable buying this but if needs must

@orzo15 My little girl is the same with regards to being on her back, it’s her preferred position as she struggles to be held due to what seems to be tummy/wind pain. She also doesn’t cry after feeds, but she is in discomfort throughout the day trying to push out wind/poo. she also keeps stirring at night due to discomfort while she is sleeping, but a dummy and putting her muslin by her face to comfort her helps to settle her quickly (obviously taking these things away once she’s back to sleep).

We thought early days she had silent reflux as she did very occasionally bring up acid/milk (no bother to her), and she’s a very noisy sleeper, but we focussed on her issues to pass wind/poo instead, and nothing has worked to date. I just keep getting told she needs to develop her muscle coordination which should resolve between 3-4months… but we are fast approaching 4 months with no improvements.

We are just exploring the silent reflux route to see if it helps her and our GP was happy for us to trial this. I’ve kept her just on formula at the moment (pumping still) because she seems to struggle with my breast milk more. We had a really good day yesterday (day 3 on omeprazole). She’s a little unsettled today… but she’s doing ok. It can take a while for omeprazole to kick in properly so we have at least a couple of weeks to see how she does, but happy to update and let you know.

If this doesn’t work then, I’ll be looking at allergies again, but perhaps it could be something else other than CMPA. I’m at a loss at the mo, as she struggles no matter what we do.

@CMHEML1 Sounds so much like my boy. Really intrigued to hear how she gets on. I live abroad now and where i am they are very conservative about reflux treatment because of concerns about how it affects their microbiome later on, so it would take some convincing to get medication for it. I also keep being told he just needs to work out how to poo and pass wind easily but like you say 4 months is around the corner and there doesn't seem to be any improvement from newborn days! Did things like infacol etc work for you? I can't get them here but coming back to the uk next week for christmas so thinking to try them

Have you been to a breastfeeding group to get your latch checked? It sounds like he may be swallowing lots of air, does he click when feeding?

Might sound odd, but you could try and help him pass the gas/poo by using a top hat potty when he seems like he's in discomfort. If you position him in a 'deep squat' it will help him go and he might not feel so uncomfortable.

https://godiaperfree.com/how-to-use-top-hat-potty/

We did part time EC with our little one from 4 months, so whilst it sounds a bit cooky, it is a real thing and babies do genuinely respond well to it.

@CocoPlum yes seen two lactation consultants, he had a tongue tie which was revised at 4 weeks and did have a lot of clicking which has mostly gone now.

@Higgledypiggledy864 I will check it out thank you!

Have you seen anyone since the tie was divided?

There can be a narrative particularly on social media that a tongue tie division is a magic bullet when it's very rarely a fix on its own. Often lactation support before the tie is focused on helping the issues that the tie is causing. Once it is divided, it can take more work to get baby and mum to learn to latch correctly. From my own experience with a TT baby, it was divided very early but we still took a month to get BF to really work because I had to make changes too.

If you have not had lactation support since the division, please find a group where you can access someone checking your latch 😊

Not much advice I'm afraid. Bit of cooled boiled water given on a spoon sometimes helped mine. If there's any constipation then you can give a little bit of a prune pouch from 4 months- trust me that gets everything out!
It's horrible seeing them suffering so, I really hope it passes soon.

A tiny bit of cooled organic camomile tea on a teaspoon helps- it's the same thing as what's in the teething granules and camomile is an absolute godsend for both teething and tummy trouble. I remember a special baby tea i bought too it was called baby stomach tea, cost a fortune but it worked and all natural x

Did u have iv antibiotics in labour? I did with my 2nd and noticed a massive difference in tummy troubles in the early weeks. It passed eventually.

@CocoPlum yes I have seen one since who said he was tense and recommended osteopath. I'm living abroad atm where there are no free breastfeeding support groups, but home for Christmas soon for a few weeks. Do you have to pay in the U.K.? It puts me off seeing someone again as it was 200 for each consultation here.

@Wavescrashingonthebeach no I didn't but that does make sense it would affect their micro biome! There doesn't seem to be a plausible reason for it unfortunately. Thank you for the tips I'll try chamomile

It really depends on the area. The ABM website has a list of local support groups although I don't know how up to date they are. You could reach out to a local FB group for info, or the local infant feeding team. Most areas will have some free drop ins. In my area a lactation consultant visit with full notes and usually follow up phone support is about £75. If you're coming to Norfolk I can direct you!

Have you tried cutting out anything else, like wheat, gluten, oats or citrus?
(There's plenty more to try but those are the more common ones.)
Fortunately you don't need to wait as long to get these out of your system (just a couple of days) unlike dairy.

Hi OP I had similar with my now 17 week old who seems to have turned a corner. For her, she hit her 4 month sleep regression early - lighter sleep meant she was more likely to notice or be bothered by trapped wind. Now that she's sleeping better, she has fewer struggles with wind.

Digestion is impacted by sleep so if they can't sleep well, they're likely to have problems with digestion too.

We decided not to go with gripe water or infacol etc as didn't want to risk introducing things that may have adverse health effects for limited short term benefit. I'm sure they're both safe but I just didn't feel comfortable with it.

I've heard gas is less of an issue once they can crawl, so only a few more months to go! I've found walking around with her upright helps her shift the gas slightly, especially if she is facing outwards. We also do lots of massage and bicycle kicks.

If baby is struggling with poo, breastmilk can act as a laxative and certain food (eg berries) can transfer via the milk to move things along even more. If baby is struggling, try offering a feed.

Best of luck, it's not easy but thankfully it's a relatively short phase (although it feels endless at the time!)

I was in your shoes and did a quick TED. As symptoms were so regular I knew it was something I was eating regularly too. So I cut out all foods apart from sweet potatoes, turkey and pears for a week (rough week!) that got me to baseline (symptoms improved) and then I added in foods I never ate, like avocado (yuck), and then slowly added groups of foods in that I didn't think it would be (potatoes), and then onto the things I ate all the time (oats). It turned out to be oats, egg, dairy and soya.

Thank you! I've been hestitant to cut anything else out because I'm vegetarian as it is so without dairy eggs and soya my diet is limited! But I do eat oats daily so that seems like a sensible thing to try and cut and see if it makes a difference.

@CaribouCarafe I think he has also hit his 4 month regression and then notices the gas so he can't easily go back to sleep then unless I feed him. He's been in this regression for 2 weeks so far, it's been brutal! How long did it last for you?

About 3 weeks. She can sleep for longer stretches now and is starting to get better at connecting sleep cycles (up to 4.5 hrs of sleep before needing to be fed back to sleep again). But fundamentally her sleep is different post regression (which is why some people call it "progression" instead) and it is harder to get her to fall asleep than prior to the sleep regression hitting (10-20 mins of rocking and she can't fall asleep by herself). Doesn't help that she's also teething, which can jolt her awake as well!

It was really bad for 2 weeks though, to the point of her getting insanely overtired and demonically shrieking as she was so resistant to naps. She's been much better over the past week!