Please help - Baby screaming in pain, doctor says its colic

[Cin]

Background info: Baby was combi-fed breastmilk and SMA First Infant Milk for the first month of his life. As of 3 weeks ago he's fed entirely on Comfort milk (for colic and constipation) at doctors recommendation and 4x sachets of Infant Gaviscon per day due to silent reflux.

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At midnight on Saturday (29th) my baby boy Greg dirtied his nappy. Just after I'd finished changing him, he started screaming as if he was struggling to push more out. I don't mean crying, I mean screaming until he turned red in the face and ran out of breath. I'd never seen him like that before, the poor thing looked and sounded like he was in agony. I tried my hardest but nothing I did would comfort him. He managed to do another poo but it was only a small one and he carried on screaming afterwards. I was on my own with him at the time but after an hour I couldn't handle the situation anymore and had to phone my OH and ask him to come home (he was catching up with some old friends at the time). We gave him 2oz of cooled boiled water, but after another half hour of screaming we decided to take him to the childrens hospital to be checked over. As we were getting ready to go, Greg finally calmed down and fell asleep. Thinking that it was just a one-off, we changed our mind about going and decided to stay at home and keep an eye on him instead.

On Sunday he seemed fine during the morning/afternoon but by 6pm was screaming in pain again. We gave him 1oz of prune juice mixed with 1oz of cooled boiled water and put him in a warm bath to calm him down. It did seem to work - straight afterwards he did a runny yellow poo (sorry if TMI but normally his poo's are like a greeny brown mousse). He started screaming again so we booked an appointment to take him to the doctors the next day. Intermittently had crying/screaming fits throughout that night.

Monday (yesterday) he wasn't interested in his milk. Normally he has 150 - 180ml per 3/4 hours but yesterday he'd have about 60ml then push his bottle away and start screaming. He did another runny yellow poo that afternoon. Poor OH was left to hold the baby for most of the day - I tried my best to comfort Greg but everytime he started screaming I'd start crying because he was in extreme pain and nothing I was doing was helping him, it was horrendous. We waited it out until the doctors appointment at 5 hoping that we'd be prescribed some miracle medicine to make our beautiful boy all better. He advised us to keep Greg on the same dose of Gaviscon as he'd been having and prescribed Movicol (a stool softener) to be added to one bottle a day. Got home and gave him a bottle with the Movicol in straight away. He drank about 120ml in total. He was happy for the next 90 mins, til he started screaming again. This was the worst I'd heard him, they were shrill and high pitched. He was shrieking til he ran out of breath. He did so many that afterwards his throat sounded sore and hoarse. We decided enough was enough and took him to the hospital. He did another yellow runny poo while we were waiting to be seen, but still carried on screaming. After two hours we were finally called by the doctor. She felt his stomach and checked for anal tears but concluded that it was just colic and said that he should grow out of it by the time he's 4 months old. Greg had a crying/screaming fit infront of her so she heard how terrible he sounds. She advised us not to give him the Movicol as his little digestive system is too undeveloped for it. We were given a leaflet about how to soothe a colicky baby and sent on our way.

Greg was quite happy this morning. He kept doing terrible farts earlier and did another yellow runny poo but this time he didn't cry, he actually smiled as he was doing it! However about half hour after the poo he was given his bottle, but only drank half of it. Another half hour after that he started crying and screaming again.

I don't know what to do. It's heartbreaking seeing my baby in so much pain and not being able to help him. Sounds stupid but I didn't realise colic was medically recognised as a condition, I always thought it was just a term used to describe babies who cried for no obviously identifiable reason. But my boy does have a reason - his digestive system is giving him trouble! I don't know whether to continue with the Movicol or not. He did do a poo with no problems earlier so it must be shifting something, but then again one of the common side effects is pain in the stomach - I obviously don't want to give my little boy any more pain than he has already

Has anyone had any experience of a situation like this? Or just any words of advice? I'm fed up of seeing my boy in pain

 

[Lois22]

Have you tried infacol, stomach massages, bicycle legs and push his legs into his stomach? Also putting him on his stomach on your arm, patting his back helps get the wind out.

Also don't feed before 3/4 hours as only make things worse. Crying sometimes helps them push the wind out. Just hold him while he sleeps and hopefully it will all pass through.

Xx

 

[Cin]

We've tried all those things with no luck - apart from the Infacol, as apparently that can aggravate reflux. Pushing his legs to his stomach just seems to cause him more pain. It's been about 4 hours since he's last fed but he doesnt seem hungry yet, he's fast asleep on OH. I expect that once he's had his next bottle he'll start screaming again. Thanks for replying. I just feel so useless!

 

[susan_1981]

Have you tried switching to the Dr Brown's bottles? I found they helped. We had a few nights where my little boy would scream and scream. It was so bad one night that I ended up calling NHS Direct and getting my mum to come round in the middle of the night as I was in tears and I didn't want to keep my husband up because he had work in the morning. As soon as my mum came round, he calmed down and the doctors said it was probably just colic.

I think it may be just one of those things that you have to put up with unfortunately. But have you tried baby massage? That can really help. You can look on youtube and there are lots of videos of how to give them a massage to ease colic.

Hopefully some others on here can help you. We thankfully only had a few nights like this xxx

 

[Cin]

He's been on Dr Browns bottles since he started on the Comfort milk, they do seem to have helped as he burps much more easily now than he used to. We've tried following the infant massage videos but, just like pushing his legs to his stomach, it seems to cause him more pain. I can never get him to fart when I do it but OH seems to have the magic touch. Thanks for replying, your post has given me hope that this stage will pass (eventually!).

As an update, Greg has just done another yellow runny poo and is drinking his bottle as we speak. No crying yet!

 

[Vigreybrance]

Hi there, sorry you are having such a worrying time. It's awful seeing your LO in pain, feeling powerless to help and feeling like the doctors don't understand how bad it is.

My situation doesn't seem as bad as yours but my little boy has colic too, I tried the comfort milk but felt it actually gave my little one more wind making him worse so ended up moving back to Aptamil 1st. We were also using infacol but he would just spit it up, he'd do the same with gripe water too. I am sure he is suffering from acid indigestion as he burps up clear liquid and is distressed by it along with the wind. I spoke to my health visitor and doctor who both told me to 'ride it out' as they don't like prescribing infant gavascon because it causes more problems than it solves- one of which being constipation. Also because he is putting weight on they don't seem to be bothered, but they don't have to deal with all the screaming.
What I have found that has helped a bit are a combination of colief drops in his milk half an hour before feeding- they break down the milk proteins which seem to upset lots of babies- the only thing is it gives him really runny poos, and dentinox colic drops in his bottle to help with the wind, he's not perfect with it but it has minimised the crying in the evenings and then we just have to distract him best we can. Hope things get better soon x

 

[susan_1981]

As for the runny yellow poos, my LO's poos are always yellow and quite runny. I'm pretty sure that's just normal. Well I say they're yellow, they're more mustard coloured And when I say runny, they aren't like liquid, but very... hmmm... runny I guess is the only way I'd describe it!

I suppose just giving him lots of cuddles as well might help. I think because I'm a first time mum, it would really panic me so I think LO sensed this and obviously that doesn't help them.

But there are lots of ladies on here with lots of experience with colicky babies. I remember most of their advice was that it will pass. But it can sometimes go on until they are 12 or so weeks but luckily for me, it didn't last for more than a month. Hope this is the case for you. The only other thing that I found helped me, not necessarily LO, was when he was crying, because the noise can be quite stressful on you, I used to put earplugs in to lessen the impact of the noise and I found it calmed me down a bit. At that stage, every little helped! x

 

[susan_1981]

Oh that reminds me as well, I switched LO from Cow & Gate to Aptamil because I have 2 friends who said their babies changed over night when they did this. I'm not sure if it did help with my son, but it did with theirs so maybe the comfort milk isn't agreeing with him? It just seems to be all trial and error I think x

 

[Cin]

Vigrey - Sorry about your LO, it does sound like he has reflux to me. My HV suggested we gradually try reducing the amount of Gaviscon that Greg's on for the same reason. It's a catch 22 - I don't want him to be in pain from the reflux but at the same time, I don't want him to be in pain from constipation either. Greg was originally on Colief but it had no effect, which is why the doctor then diagnosed him with silent reflux. Not tried Dentinox but I'll pick some up tomorrow, definitely worth a try. Hugs to you, the screaming is the worst part as it makes you feel so helpless to not be able to comfort your baby

Susan - I'm a first time mum too and probably guilty of stressing easily I always make sure that someones holding him when he's upset - either myself or OH -as I'd rather him be distressed in our arms than distressed on his own. Plus any excuse for cuddles is fine by me! OH has actually suggested buying earplugs but.. I don't know I just think I'd feel a bit guilty, even if I was holding him at the time. OH is going back to work on the 13th so I really hope it passes before then, I'd get far too upset and stressed if I had to deal with Greg on my own like this (my family live 4 hours away). Glad to hear your LO wasn't like this for too long, can't imagine how stressful it must have been for you when your OH was in work. I'm quite surprised about your friends experience with Aptamil, I've read online that C&G and Aptamil Comfort milks are both exactly the same product just under different packaging (not sure how much truth is in this!). If he carries on like this then I'll try changing over, but he's been fine on it for the last 3 weeks previous. These screaming episodes have just come out of the blue

 

[susan_1981]

Sorry I wasn't very clear, they didn't switch to the comfort milk, just the standard number 1 milk. Don't know if that is different brand to brand or not. I've heard that Aptamil is slightly richer. Typically it seems to be the most expensive!

I think once you get more familiar with your baby, you get calmer as well. It's because it's all so new. I keep thinking back to the sleepless nights we had at the beginning and compare it to now and it's amazing the difference. And I also know that I would have probably got a lot more sleep if I knew then what I know now. My baby is such a wriggler, when he was in his moses basket, all I'd ever see would be his arms and legs flapping around and I used to keep getting up trying to settle him. We've now figured that by just leaving him, he settles himself - obviously if he cries, then we go to him.

Also co-sleeping has been a godsend to us. He doesn't sleep in our bed but his cot is pushed up against our bed so if he is unsettled at night, I can jut reach him without getting out of bed and give him a cuddle.

It's all a learning curve I think and you'll probably be the same as me in a few weeks time once you've got used to being a mummy xxx

 

[Vigreybrance]

Sorry the colief didn't work for you, I think for mine it will need to be a combination of things because I think he has reflux and wind. So far I've found the dentinox to be good because I can sneak it in his bottle but apparently it becomes more effective over time and I find if he doesn't get it in every bottle we pay for it later. I also found during one of his screaming fits when I forced some down him he let out some really big burps within a few minutes.
I've noticed aptamil make a milk for reflux which I am tempted to try, along with the dentinox. Recently we've resorted to getting him ready for bed and taking him out in the car until he falls asleep.

 

[Fresia]

Sorry you are having such a hard time. I do not have any experience of colic but my LO had problems with reflux. She would scream in pain and arch her back. It was horrible. We tried Gaviscon once but she refused to eat and did not poo or wee for 24 hours so gave up. When we went to the sick kids hospital in desperation, they prescribed ranitidine (Zantac) which is an antacid and solved her pain immediately but with no side effects on her digestion. I wonder if this is worth a try given that you seem to have tried everything else? My DD is BF so no advice to offer you on formulas. Sorry.

Best wishes to you and your LO xx

 

[Cin]

Thankyou all so much for you advice. Greg was fine up until an hour ago when he started screaming again. Going to arrange an appointment with the HV tomorrow and see if she has any bright ideas. Fresia, you're the second person to have suggested Ranitidine to me - I'll give it a few more days and if he's still like this I'll query the doctor about it. It's just weird how this screaming came out of nowhere - if he'd started a new medication or formula I could understand it, but he's had no changes in his diet for the last 3 weeks. Poor poor baby

 

[Lois22]

In a book I have it does say to put one headphone in your ear. Then you can listen to music to keep you calm and still hear baby.

Also it is ok to put them down for 5/10mins just to get your sanity back. Even if just to down a glass of wine . I know how tiring it can be.

Xx

 

[kissesandhugs]

gripe water? My baby doesn't have full blown colic but there were a couple weeks there when he was definitely colicky and this was the only thing that would calm him down. Almost instantly. He would even sometimes start farting and pooping before I finished giving him the full dose!

 

[Kato2]

I could have written your post! We ended up in hospital yesterday for 6 hours as my LO has been in agony trying to poo.

We were on gaviscon but it constipated him terribly so moved to ranitidine and specialist yesterday prescribed lactulose to combat constipation. Sounds odd though as his poo's are like you describe yellow and runny but they're not as frequent as they were and trapped gas has been a major issue!

 

[Mummy2Be__x]

I've just sat and read this and said to my mum, I think I wrote this
Baby was breast and bottle fed, same SMA. We also have this problem. From when she was 2 weeks old (when I stopped giving her breast milk) When she pooed she would SCREAM the house down, nothing would help her, I'd rub her back her belly massage her and nothing would help. We took her to the hospital, they also checked for cuts in her bum and seen nothing. They told me it's nothing though, they didn't even say colic. I wish she'd of had her screaming fit infront of them!! Changed her milk to hungry baby on Sunday cos she is so greedy, and since we've had no crying, no green poo and hardly any wind !! Maybe change his milk again ?

 

[Twinks]

My LO had colic like your too at your LOs age it was horrible! We changed him
Off SMA as he was terribly constipated on it and put him on Aptamil which worked a treat. Have you tried different formulas to see if a different one helps your LO?

 

[xdxxtx]

My son did this. He SCREAMED out in pain, moreso at night. It started out as him just screaming, and then after a few weeks of that, he started spitting up a lot more. Eventually, he started throwing up everything he drank. It was reflux. The doctor put him on Zantac and said to put rice in his milk. It didn't help, though, so I did it my own way. I would give him Zantac about 15 minutes before I gave him a bottle, and then I'd give him some watered down rice to help him keep it down. This is how I started to wean him. I had him fully weaned onto solids at 4 months, and it wasn't until then that the reflux got completely better. My son does have liquids, but it has to be either right before a nap or bed or right before he eats solid food. My son WILL still throw up if he's given liquid within two hours of eating solid food.

Hey, I really hope you figure out what this problem is and find a way to solve it. I'm sorry for writing an essay, but I want you to be warned in case you notice the same symptoms and know how I cured my baby's problem. Best of luck to you!!

 

[holliepop]

I changed my babys milk from SMA to Aptamil and thats what worked for us! I think the SMA was too rich for his little tummy