My baby's trapped wind is making me crazy - it's dairy allergy :-(

[Tarkwa]

This may sound silly but my baby is suffering from awful trapped wind and it's really getting me down. He's 7.5m and I started weaning him at 20w. He's breast fed and has a small bottle (100ml) of follow on milk at night to help up his vits. He's always been a bit of a sloppy drinker on my boob and was windy but it never really bothered me or him before. Now he just can't settle and appears to be in pain from it. You can hear the liquid sloshing in his tummy and he constantly whinges/cries (not colic type crying though as it eventually goes). I've tried everything but nothing seems to be helping/working: infacol, patting his back, rubbing back, clockwise rubs on tummy, cycling his legs, jumping him up and down, jiggling him about, leaning him forwards, turning him upside down, gripe water, Dentinox (which he detested!), walking up and down stairs, twisting him sideways whilst sitting...You get the idea!

There are times when we get massive burps and they sound incredibly painful and you can see he is happier afterwards but this is a rare occurrence unfortunately. I have spent more than one hour trying to wind him on one occasion with not a single burp. We've both been in tears and it's getting to the point where it's making me angry and I'm shouting at him and its making him cry (uncontrollable sobbing which is heartbreaking). It's not his fault but I'm just so frustrated by all of this. And because he can't settle because of the wind he can't sleep either. It's a constant battle trying to get him to sleep (I normally feed him to sleep on my boob) and its wearing me down as I'm so tired. He's not sleeping through the night and I know its because of the wind as when my DH picks him up there are times when he burps. We have to put him down when he's windy otherwise he would never sleep! If winding was successful (it's like winning the lottery when he does burp!) then he wouldn't go to sleep anyway as he would be wide awake from all the activity! I know if I talk to a health visitor they'll think I have PND but I don't think I do. It's my little man that is suffering and I just want to help him. Even my mum struggles to wind him now so it's not just me or my DH being rubbish.

I just need some advice, hints and tips on what I can do to help my little man's wind problem before I start pulling my hair out.

Many thanks to anyone taking the time to read this and for any help they can offer
xxx

 

[Mrsmitch80]

This is slightly different but may be worth thinking about. My lo was the same but at 4 weeks, we tried everything and it could take an hour or more to get her wind up. When it did come up it sounded painful, not like a baby burp at all. She was put on gaviscon and her wind comes up now no problem, before you could hear it in her tummy. Hope this helps xx

 

[Tarkwa]

I've not thought about gaviscon as I thought that was for reflux! I might take him to see my GP and maybe get it on prescription for him. I can't imagine they would recommend it but I'll give anything a try.
xxx

 

[chrissy&marty]

Sorry I cant really help, sounds like you have done it all! Just wanted to send hugs to both of you!!
Hope it gets sorted soon!! Perhaps see the gp, if they tell you what u already know then you haven't lost anything but just maybe there is something that can help relieve the little one .... Xxxxx

 

[Bid]

Has it only started since the follow-on milk was introduced? If so it could be a milk allergy/intolerance. May be worth cutting it out for a while to see if that helps. If you're worried about vitamins, Wellkid do an orange flavour syrup which would give him much more than the small amount of follow on milk anyway.

On a practical note the best way I've found to get wind up or down is to lie him on his tummy flat on the bed and rub his back. I've found that firm downwards strokes on the left hand side of the tummy (from the belly button down) work better than circular tummy rubs, sometimes I think that can get the wind even more trapped if you're not careful to combine it with other things. Also putting your thumbs either side of the belly button and quite firmly stroke sideways/outwards, like you're smoothing open the pages of a book. And upside-down L rubs on the tummy, starting under the rib cage on baby's right hand side and working across and down to the bottom left. I usually do a combination of clockwise rubs, then upside-down Ls, then sideways strokes, then downward rubs. If nothing else it helps to ease the pain. And it sounds daft but if you google diagrams of the intestines you'll see which way they go and it can help you visualise moving the wind through. Also lie him on his back or side and push his knees up to his chest when he's in pain, bending double really does help when you've got a sore tummy.

 

[Tarkwa]

Thanks Bid. I spoke to my health visitor and she said everything sounds like classic intolerance to dairy. She said it could even be through my breastmilk so I might need to cut out dairy from my diet (aaaaaaaargh, I LOVE milk, I drink it every day!) or give him prescription formula. I have a GP appt later this pm so will feed back after that.

Thanks again for your help and support ladies, it means a lot to know there are people out there who understand what you are going through.
xxx

 

[Bid]

Tarkwa my LO has a bad dairy allergy among others, so I've had to cut all traces out of my diet (as well as soya, eggs, gluten....good job I love him lol!). As well as the obvious sources of dairy there is also hidden dairy in a lot of products, things you wouldn't even think of like salt and vinegar crisps! But some babies only react to a lot of dairy, others (like mine) react to the tiniest bit. If you've only started having problems since starting the follow on milk, it could be that he has a higher threshold so cutting that out might help without needing to alter your diet. Don't be tempted to switch to soya formula though because a large percentage of babies who react to dairy will also react to soya. All mammal milks will produce the reaction so switching to goats milk etc won't help, the protein structure is the same. I won't lie, it's difficult. But when you see the improvement in your LO it is sooooo worth it. I was offered prescription formula but I researched it online and apparently it tastes foul and most babies hate it, so I decided I'd rather change my diet than force it on him.

There are dozens of threads about going dairy free if you look back through the forum pages, they are well worth a read. Just a couple of tips from me though - vitalite is by far the nicest dairy free butter replacement, and Tesco coconut milk (from the fresh aisle, not the UHT version) is lovely and the closest one to real milk, all the other types of milk substitutes like rice or oat always tasted weird or gritty. Coconut milk is really nice, it's very thin like skimmed milk but tastes very similar to the real thing, even my husband drinks it! You can get the Kara brand stuff from a few places but the Tesco one is the nicest I think.

 

[Tarkwa]

Thanks so much for the info Bid. We saw the GP who agreed it sounds like classic dairy allergy so is referring us to the hospital to see a paediatric dietician/consultant, but it will take WEEKS to get an appt ;-(. Soooooo, I've cut out the nightly formula feed and will be de-dairy'ing my diet. I'm struggling already - as you say it's in loads of things. He's always been windy so I guess he's been suffering the whole time but I just haven't realised. I feel so awful about that, but I'm thinking it's only been really bad since the nightly formula now I think about it.
Thanks for the dairy free milk tips! I've already tried that milk from Tesco actually, just because I liked the sound of it! I wasn't so impressed actually, but I think I'll have to give it another go. I also got the hazelnut one, but didn't drink it as it went out of date so quickly. I think I will just have to get used to life without milk for the time being and try some at later date to see how high his threshold is.
I do wonder how he will be when it comes to cows milk as a drink when he is older? I always thought I would switch when he was one year old but I think I will need to reconsider. I'm happy to carry on with booby juice, but don't want him being too old and me getting my boobies out!
Thanks again, I will try and post an update when I get my appt at the hospital.
xxxxxxxxxx

 

[Bid]

Ha ha the coconut milk is an acquired taste but definitely better than the other alternatives out there

I had a severe milk allergy when I was a baby and grew out of it just after a year old, my brother was allergic to soy and dairy until he was two. Nearly all milk allergies are grown out of by age three, although I know that sounds like forever away! The coconut milk can actually be given as a supplement from 6 months and as a main drink from 12 months so no need to worry about that for your LO. It is fortified with calcium and contains virtually the same amount as cow's milk, and has similar calorie and sugar content. The only downside is the lower fat content compared to whole milk as babies need fat in their diet, but there are many other (and probably healthier) sources of fat available from food sources. If you compare the nutritional values of coconut milk with follow-on milk you'd be surprised at the sheer amount of sugar the formulas contain just to make them palatable! And they're only useful as a vitamin source if you're giving at least 250ml a day, anything less and you're supposed to give vitamin drops anyway, although there are mixed views on whether these are actually needed if baby gets plenty of daylight and eats a healthy diet. We live in Scotland and will be doing BLW so I'll be giving my LO the Wellkid ones until he's eating well enough to get everything he needs from his diet alone. They're the only ones I found that contained no allergens - the Abidec ones seem popular but they contain peanut oil and are not recommended for allergic babies.

Does your LO have any other symptoms apart from the wind? The words allergy and intolerance are often interchanged but symptoms of an intolerance would be limited to digestive issues (wind, reflux, explosive poo etc) whereas an allergy would cause other symptoms such as eczema, hives, congested nose, runny eyes etc too (basically the standard histamine response that any allergy would produce, coupled with the digestive issues of an intolerance). My poor boy even had blood in his nappies at the worst point

 

[Tarkwa]

I bought wellkid today actually after you pointed out he wouldn't get that many vits from the formula! I saw the other one with peanut oil and steered clear just because.
Unfortunately it is allergy rather than just intolerance. I gave home some cereal with milk powder in it and he came out in a terrible rash (hives) everywhere around his mouth that the cereal touched. A bit flicked on his eye lid and when I wiped it off there was a red mark left behind. So from that I knew he was allergic to milk powder but thought it was just that. How wrong I was. He's also had runny eyes, snotty nose and touches of dry skin (he had eczema a while ago but I don't think it was related to this. There have been a few occasions lately that I've looked at him and wondered why he looked like he was about to cry when nothing was wrong. Right now I feel like the WORST mother in the world .
xxx

 

[Bid]

Oh sweetie don't be silly, it's not your fault!

You'll probably see a very quick improvement once the dairy is cut out. It'll take a few weeks for the proteins to leave your systems completely but from day one you should see a difference, especially now you've stopped the follow on milk. It's funny how many seemingly random symptoms can be related to dairy allergies - I read one article by a doctor who said 90% of the issues he sees in babies are cured by simply removing dairy from the diet. In countries where they don't consume dairy things like reflux and eczema are virtually unheard of. I know I feel much better myself so I don't think I'll ever go back to eating as much dairy as I did. Pretty gross drinking a cow's booby juice anyway when you think about it

 

[Tarkwa]

Oh no, I LOVE udder juice! I used to drink milk every day so not being able to is quite hard. I do feel sad that my diet is changing so much as I love food (I am quite a curvy girl!) but it's definitely worth it for my little man. DH said to look at it as a detox ;-). Maybe i will lose some weight doing this so that would be nice. I've just had flavoured cous cous for lunch which was very doable. I was shocked at how much dairy is in food at the supermarket earlier - took ages to go round!
I bought hazelnut milk and sainsburys free from spread (vitalite looked ok, but sainsburys had palm oil which is really tasty!) - will have to give them a go shortly.
I could convince myself that things are already improving after a formula free night - he seems to be sleeping for longer during the day, normally he can't manage more than 30 mins. He occasionally had a really long sleep, I guess that was from sheer exhaustion.
I'm very lucky to have you helping me and people who want to help me. Cranberry987 who I've known for ages has been brilliant, plus I've had loads of hints and tips from a girl in my NCT group. She noticed her babes intolerance ages ago and I always took an interest and asked her how things were, little did I know Joel was the same. Luckily she lives about 15 mins walk from me so I can always call on her if needed.
I'm waiting for a call back from the health visitor for a home visit. I just feel with the wait for the hospital I need someone to talk to face to face (not just a friend, but a professional). Hopefully will see someone next week and they can do his 8 month weight at the same time.
Thanks again Bid, your support really means a lot.
xxx

 

[Bid]

You're so welcome Tarkwa, this forum has helped me so much when it's all got on top of me and I've been tempted to switch to the yucky prescription formula! Once you get used to going dairy free it's not too bad, an awful lot of biscuits and cakes are dairy free so you can still have treats. And he might be ok with soya so you could still have yoghurts etc too. I long for the days when I only had to avoid dairy, it's the egg and gluten that are the killer!