Really windy baby not sleeping properly seems like he is boxing at night

[JezzaJ9]

Hi I have a five week old baby with really bad wind he has been having infacol for the last 3 weeks but now he is old enough my MW/HV said to try Gripe water. He has had a particularly bad night last night and day today where he has only slept for 2.5 hours since 9am I am really worried as his milk spots are getting worse. So I stopped infacol and started using gripe water already given to him twice, he has burped and pooed quite alot but does not seem to be calm for more than 5 minutes - any suggestions??? Advice???

Is it normal for a baby to be so active with wind - does anyone have any advice on winding a baby for night feeds?

Could it be something more especially as the milk spots seem to be getting worse and spreading to his back and chest. Am a first time mum.

Is he breast or bottle fed?

Breast Feed and putting on wait at a really good/normal rate he was born 7.16 and now is 10.9

Try carrying him in a wrap sling, upright, which might help with the wind. Baby massage techniques can also be useful, your HV might be able to suggest classes. As for the winding, I found we had more success with leaning him back a little bit and rubbing his back firmly then sitting him so he was bending forward at the waist a bit, this often brought up a big burp. Or, sit him on your lap and support him under his arms, and gently rotate him around the waist sort of like he's hula-hooping with his upper body (obviously not that fast!), that can help. I hope some of that makes sense!

If mine was ever really upset I'd put him in a nice deep bath, mostly upright. Often we'd just bath together anyway - the warm water definitely sems to soothe him.

As he gets older he will get easier and won't take in so much wind in the first place. Just hang on in there

Good point PL. Could your letdown be very fast - does he splutter or choke on the milk? This was one of the reasons for DS's windiness, you can express a bit until letdown so they don't get the blast of milk all at once.

Thanks for that He does splutter every now and then. I will give expressing a bit a go.

My HV said not to worry to much about the movement when he is in his moses basket at night supposidly sleeping, his eyes are closed but his hands are all over the place, I can't help but feel he can't be getting a decent sleep doing this.

I would agree with her, I think they all do that, it's because they're used to being bundled up in the womb I think. You could try swaddling him?

Have tried it but maybe need to give it another go he got really really upset the last couple of times we tried it.

I think I am putting too much pressure on myslef to try to get into a routine he has been a little star I just feel helpless when he looks like he is in pain.

My DS had terrible wind/colic and the only thing which worked for us was letting him sleep on his tummy,
this helped to break up the wind and he slept better immediately

I know that not everyone would be comfortable doing this but i had tried pretty much everything else (including copious amounts of Infacol, Gripe water, Swaddling, sleeping on a slope, sleeping sat up in a bouncy chair etc etc)
and so sleep deprived that i thought i might be losing my mind (crying far too much)

He went from screaming excessively then sleeping for 20mins (ish) and then screaming again to sleeping 4 hours, which stretched to sleeping the whole night by 8 weeks.

My DS also had infant acne (Milk spots), this cleared up over time, apparently it is linked to an reaction with your female hormones and is therefore worse with boys.
It will clear up, but will take time

Others will disagree but IMO if you have an unsettled baby trying to get you and him into a routine will just make you feel frustrated. If you can go with the flow and relax a bit you'll be under less pressure, and when he's settling down a bit you'll see what his pattern is.

perhaps he has a dairy allergy?

I would talk to a lactation consultant re: block feeding (foremilk/hindmilk imbalance), possible milk allergy, etc.