Need desperate help with gas!

[Mrs. Matthews]

Hi,
I am at my wits end with my son's gas, I have tried everything and I just don't know what else to do. My son is 7 weeks old has the worst wind, he farts ALL day and a huge chunk of the night. Most of it causes him pain or discomfort. He cannot be left without being rocked or swayed for more then 5 or so minutes during the day. Every single sleep he has, whether during the day or at night, it always always is interrupted with tummy pains or a fart. As a result he had so much trouble sleeping during the day and only sleeps for about 3-4 hours at night at a time. I hold him during the sleeps during the day, and every time I try to put him down, no matter how long he's been sleeping he always starts farting and it wakes him up straight away. Even if I manage to get him asleep in the cot during the day, he always wakes up with a fart no more then 30 minutes later (and 30 minutes is good, usually its 5 minutes) and of course with the fart comes pain and another 30 minutes of trying to get him asleep again. He lives with his legs either pumping up and down or his legs curled up around his tummy. And the amount of air that comes out of his bum is insane!! I just cannot believe so much air gets into his body, let alone comes out - seriously, you just wouldn't believe the amount of farts he does.
The other thing is the feeding, the gas affects it so much, if he is gassy when he feeds (which is more times than not) he is a nightmare to feed. He will start off fine, and then just start squealing and crying as if the milk is hurting him. And then start farting heaps, as if the milk is making the farts get 10 times worse. He's desperate to suck (having the gas) so I put him back on the boob and he starts squealing again, but I give him the dummy he settles and is fine, which is fine.. but what about the milk? So after about 2-3 minutes (and usually a few farts) I'll put him on the boob again until he starts squealing again then I'll put in the dummy and we'll repeat this over and over until he finally gets a decent feed. This is every feed, doesn't matter how long I leave him, if I try later - its every feed, no matter how hungry he is.
I have tried 2 brands of gripe water, infants friend, Brauer's colic mixture, infacol, taking caffeine, excess sugar, diary, garlic, onions and other gas causing food out of my diet, I have tried sitting him up after meals - I dont know what is left. Some of these help out, makes the cries not as intense, but a far cry from fixing the problem or relieving him for the pain and discomfort. I have book an appointment with the osteopath on Monday, but honestly don't have high hopes. We have been to the Dr but they just take the "he'll grow out of it approach".
I can calm him when he is upset, but I just physically can't calm him 24/7. He has his good days but they are rare - really rare. It doesn't come one time of the day, it is every day, all day.
I need some advice, I am just at my wits end. I just my baby to be happy!!

[Arimeh]

I'd try a paed chiro or a homeopath. DD was diagnosed with silent reflux and wasn't a very happy bub, but I took her to a homeopath who prescribed some liquid drops for her and she was a completely changed baby.

Worth a try anyway.

[Dido]

I am interested to know how you ended up going with bubs?
Did you ever find out what worked and what the problem was/is.
I have tried so hard to burp baby as i gather that gassy /sore tummy problem is from not burping properly or enough (it is so hard to burp them and i am guessing that might be abit of my problem)

I usually find in the evenings that baby is most unsettled and like you i know she is hungry so i pop her on the breast and a few minutes later she is screaming uncontrollably, so i try to burp her and put her back on the breast but most times when she is this upset she wont attach and i usually have to put her to sleep for her to settle and then she usually wakes up ok. However she does push and go really red in the face and stiff when she is upset.... all the same symptons as your bubs..

So keen to know what you might have found out?

Hope all is well

[Mrs. Matthews]

I would love to say that we found a magical cure and all is solved, but I'm afraid it hasn't happened. He has gotten a lot better over time, and in the end I think thats just the solution - time.

I took him to the osteopath and I have regretted it and felt like the worst mum ever since! He screamed, I mean really screamed the entire time, she was trying to work on his tummy and back and he just hated it! The osteopath said that we would notice an improvement in a couple of days, never happened. He was so bad for 72 hours after it. I have heard that they have worked wonders for heaps of bubs, but certainly not mine. If anything we went backwards by about 2 weeks. I felt so guilty for putting him through it and causing him more pain.

Things have improved with the feeding though and its all with the positioning. After having so many dramas and trying everything, I eventually tried expressing a feed and giving it to him in a bottle but sitting upright. The entire bottle went down without one complaint!! It was amazing! No pain what so ever, just drank it like he hadn't drank in a week (I actually don't think he had). So we kept on doing that, we've neglected the boob completely, every meal is expressed and giving via a bottle and we just change the position until he's happy, and there is always one position that he'll feed in. We sat him up for days and he was happy as larry, but then started getting upset, so then I lied him down and that worked for a few days . At the moment we are back to sitting upright - whatever works for him. But there is always some way we can position him to minimise the pain, we just have to find what that way is each feed. My milk supply was greatly affected though from him not feeding properly for a week, so we had to start substituting some feeds with formula because I just couldn't keep up. The formula goes down fine though, exact same gas reaction to that as my milk.

With the burping, don't get too caught up on it. My son gets out massive burps just about every feed and he still has gas, I asked the doctor about it and he said some babies are just going to be gassy no matter what you do. Not all wind is caused by air that gets in while eating, especially if your breastfeeding, barely any air gets in. A lot of it has to do with how their body breaks the milk down. Like when we get bad gas from eating a certain food like onions, its not because we get air in our stomachs when we eat it, its just how our tummy reacts to it. How do you burp him? With my son, just patting him on the back wasn't doing the trick at all, we jig him up and down several times first and usually a burp comes out then, if not then we pat him on the back and the burp will follow. But if you are satisfied that you are burping him sufficiently, I honestly don't think that its the cause of your problems, I know its certainly not for us.

I have taken my son to the doctor so many times, and they all just say the same thing, "he'll grow out of it". And as much as I hated hearing that because I just wanted to help him through the pain, it seems to be true. He is 9 weeks now and I am noticing improvement. He still has really bad days, but we are having more good days. How old is your little one? Hopefully it starts getting better for you soon, it can be a hard slog. I am finally starting to see the light a the end of the tunnel, but damn its been a long tunnel!!! I know its only 9 weeks, but 9 weeks of seeing your child in pain feels like a life time.

Let me know if you find something that helps, we still have a bit to go yet! I hope something here helped.

[Lizzy]

Hi Mrs. Matthews, we have a gassy bub too, 5 nd 1/2 weeks old. He burps fine, but down below is ridiculous!!! I'm the same have never seen a baby do so many pop offs, and it interuppts his sleep. The same cycle of pain then he lets gas go. He has a couple of good days then a bad few, its heart breaking. I sleep him on my tummy and chest at night when he is unsettled as he seems to be more comfortable, and we all get sleep. I have tried Gripe water, Infacol, massage, baths, elevating his bassinett, changing teats as he formula fed. Was suggested Horsham Colic drops, have you ever heard of them? People swear by them, apparently all natural. I have ordered them but haven't recieved them yet, you can google them to get the number.

[Mrs. Matthews]

Let me know how they go, my son is still quite gassy and I have tried EVERYTHING. He sounds very much like your little one, so much air coming from the bottom end it isn't funny. We had 3 good days in a row last week so I was thinking we were at the end of it, I was wrong!

[Lizzy]

Hi Mrs. Matthews, have recieved the drops today and started using them. Will let you know how we go as they are suspossed to work quickly, I hope!!! Found a website yesterday with some info, not sure if you have tried the bicycle exercise? Its not the usual one you may be thinking of, the site is Treatcolic.com. It sells a video and book, but has some demonstrations of how to treat colic yourself, you can just watch them on line for free. My husband and I used the bicycle technique last night and worked wonders, released so much gas! Our little man had no pain or grunting while it was releasing, he was very content as he was probably more comfortable . We fed him, then burped him and did this technique a couple of times, in bed at 10pm and slept till 3:30am with no disturbances . Usually he wakes after an hour or so and ends up on my chest for the rest of the night as its the only way comfortable for him. Good Luck!

[Dido]

Hi Mrs Matthews and Lizzy

My little bubs is now 7 weeks old (adjusted age is 3 weeks old - she was an early bub)
I have checked out the colic website as Lizzy had mentioned and its interesting that the chiropractor states that sometimes babies born via C-Section have colicy/gas problems as they have not been stretched when passing through the birth canal.
I had a c-section with my baby so maybe this contributes slightly to the gas.
My baby grunts/wheezes/groans during sleep and constantly goes red in the face as if she is straining to get something out. I have been using Infants friend which is quite gently on her tummy but doesn't fix the problem.
I will try the bicycle movements (as per the colic website) and see if the munchkin improves. Sometimes baby is like a volcano - she can be happy one second and then screaming for no apparent reason the next... Fingers crossed she will 'grow' out of it.. Good luck to both you mums and hopefully we will all find something that works to make our babies entry into the world a happy one ! - going to go and pick up my grunting child ....

[Lizzy]

Hi Dido,

Glad you checked out the site, I also had a C-Section and found that comment very interesting. Your little one sounds exactly like mine, grunting, face red, pushing with fists clenched!! Poor little things, it's definatley heartbreaking. I have started using Horsham Colic drops today, so far so good. Google them and you will be able to check them out. All natural, was recommended from my husbands client, whom has a few grandchildren that went through the same thing. I don't think I will have to use them long the way were going hopefully!! Very settled bub tonight, unbelievable. Haas anyone ealse heard of them???

[Lizzy]

Oh and Good Luck dido with the technique

[Nelle]

I hope your babies settle with their wind soon.

One of mine had wind, and for us I found that the solution was a combination of time, Brauer's colic relief, making sure bub was definitely finished with one breast before offering the other (the hind milk is fattier and less likely to cause wind than the foremilk), tummy sleeping (even though not recommended we minimised as many risks as we could and this really seemed to be key for bub's comfort and therefore sleep).

At times laying bub on his back and cycling his legs helped to get the wind moving.

All the best.

[Dido]

I have never heard of the Horsham Colic Drops - any chance you could tell me where you buy it??

Fingers crossed that it will work with my bubs too....

[Lizzy]

Hi Dido,

You order them from the Horsham pharmacy, go online and type in Horsham Colic drops, they are made by the pharmascist Des Lardner, there should be a number you can call, if you have any trouble let me know. I haven't given them 4 times a day as recommended today as I feel he has settled heaps already, he has had a few pop offs today, not as much as usual, but when he does there is no crying like he used to every time he let gas go, and no red race and generally being upset. he does push and might grunt a little but I assume that is normal. I have only given them this morning, and will tonight with the last feed. I have also been doing the technique, sometimes he doesn't let the gas go until a few minutes after, but he is much more content when he does and still is getting rid of it. How did you go with that? I think he will eventually grow out of it I susposse, the next thing I will try if it goes downhill again is changing formula, or Lactose Free like the MCHN recommended. Have you heard of that working? The problem with LF is that it doesn't fill my little man up, nor does Soy. My hubby has a slight allergy to full cream milk too. But for now he is much happier .