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foxglove
foxglove | July 2006

digestion pain

my little Zia has trouble with digestion wind, she gets pain and farts soooo much. I am not breastfeeding and have changed her formula once already. She can be a little colicky too. Is there anything I can do for the poor little thing?

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mumto2
July 2006 | mumto2
Infants Friend

We had the same problem with our daughter and found that feeding her whilst held slightly upright helped - she didn't tend to gulp as much. We also found that the product Infants Friend was a godsend in the middle of the night when she was having a particularly bad episode.



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jag82blue
July 2006 | jag82blue
warm feeds
I breastfed my son for 3 weeks then started feeding by formula.  He started getting colicky & pains in his tum.  Then I started heating his feeds up so they were about luke warm.  This was a major difference and he started to get a lot better.  I also used    Infants Friend   it he had tummy pains.  This helps with their wind & with their bowls.


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ambalouise
July 2006 | ambalouise
thickened formula

Hi

I have used a thickened formula with both of my boys as they suffered colic I also made sure it was a skim milk formula and not a whey dominant one as this didn't agree with them.

Good luck



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upinchina
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2006 | upinchina
mylicon
My daughters weren't premature, and were breastfed. When they were gassy, we'd give them Mylicon, pats on the back worked like a charm.


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family-man
July 2006 | family-man
Digestion Pain

Hi , I am not familiar with formula however we did have one child that was more "windy" than others. Things we tried were to have a teat in the bottle with a diffent flow pattern, faster or slower.  Zia may have to be sucking too hard to get the formula because the flow is too slow and this is generating the wind??  We also gave water, not too cold which helps and also spent a little more time holding our baby upright after feed to allow the wind to come out easier.

When she woke at night with wind we would also holder her upright and give her a pat on the back and wait for the wind to come from the top or the bottom and then she would settle again.

Keep trying things and it will get better. 



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nomes
July 2006 | nomes
try changing
The only thing I can suggest, out of personal experience, is to try changing the formula.  I went through a stage with Alyssa where I gave her formula.  She got so constipated and upset on one brand.  Changing brands was the trick in this case. 


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      nomes
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2006 | nomes
try changing

I did read that you have tried changing once already, but, unfortunately, like the first thing we try, sometimes the second isn't quite right either.  Good luck....I know how awful it is to see them go through so much discomfort.  I felt my last comment really was useless for your case, so I wanted to find more info, so this is the reason for adding another comment

I have cut and paste some ideas from http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=304&id=1805 - please take note of the pro-biotics idea mentioned towards the end.  I have also added some extra info on probiotics from the same site at the end.  I know this works, but you need to research how much to add for your child.

What you can do

  • If the baby is bottle fed, check the formula tin to make sure the formula is being made correctly. Measure the water first, then add formula powder.
  • Offer extra drinks (water).
  • Give brown sugar, one half to one teaspoon mixed in a small amount of water (30 mls) separate from milk at the beginning or end of a feed 3 or 4 times a day until there is a soft poo.
  • For babies 5 months and older, offer fruit juice (especially prune juice) 1 part juice mixed with 3 parts water.
  • For babies 5 months and older who are already having solids, give your baby stewed prunes, stewed apricots, or steamed vegetables.
  • For babies 9 months and older, offer your baby cereals which contain bran. Note: sometimes diets which are high in fibre can cause tummy pain. If your baby seems more unhappy after you start giving him extra fibre, give him less.
  • Do not give medicines. You should only give these to babies if they are prescribed by a doctor.
  • If these simple treatments do not work, or there is blood in the poo, have the baby seen by a doctor.
  • Remember that some straining (going red in the face and grunting) is normal when babies do poo; this usually does not mean constipation.
  • Tummy massage (clockwise) may help.
  • A warm bath can help the muscles relax (your baby may do the poo in the bath, so be prepared).
  • If the constipation persists, seek advice from your doctor.
  • Note: Some research shows that using formula with LCPs, or with probiotics, may help babies to have softer bowel movements (poos) than ordinary formulas.

    Should LCPs, beta-carotene or probiotics be added to formula?

    • Breastfed babies get lots of extras in their milk that are not in formula, and it is not always possible to know which of these are important.
    • Breastmilk changes to suit the baby’s needs from day to day in ways that formulas can not – for this reason it is important to breastfeed if you can.
    • When you need to use formulas, the closer they can be to breastmilk, the better.
    • Breastmilk contains LCPs and beta-carotene, so if they can be safely and readily added to infant formula it is probably worthwhile, particularly for very young babies (the first weeks of life).
    • Formulas with LCPs, beta-carotene or probiotics in them may be more expensive, and no formula has all three at the moment.
    • It is important that you do not feel guilty if you can’t afford them – there is no strong evidence as yet of any long term benefits.
    • Infant development and growth is very complicated. It depends on the interaction of many very different things. All these additions, even if they are helpful, are only some of the things that affect the development of a baby, and many babies in the past have done very well without them.


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