Tummy troubles

 Another possible allergy child. 

As I briefly spoke about in my last post update of Layton being a month old I thought I would elaborate more on what's been happening. 

At just one week old he was consipated, he was screaming to go. As he still had his cord on we couldn't give him a warm bath to help relief this pain. It was horrible to see such a tiny human in pain and not be able to help him. All we could do was massage his tummy, bike movements with his legs and push his knees to his tummy. This helped with the pressure but did not really make any improvements. It did pass quickly however then went the opposite way where he was having direeah. 

His stools turn very watery, green and had mucus strips in it. He was again still screaming to pass bowel movement as well as wind. His tummy was bloated, hard and bum was sore. Again lots of massages, this time we could bath him as his cord feel off. We rang the health visitor to get told it was normal. That he so young and his digestive system was immature, therefore just processing the formula. They said that all babies fuss and cry when the poo until they get used to the usual movement. We tried to explain that he was not just fussing he was screaming in pain. Arching backwards, kicking legs out and bring them in to his tummy. That it was not normal. We were told to wait it out. 

 Doctors at the GP also told us the same and to just wait as he is too young. We know this is not true, Because  we had gone through it all with ariyah and no one listened then. She actually ended up in hospital because she got rashy was screaming so much and vomiting excessively that's she lost alot of weight. Meaning we did not want Layton to get that bad before getting him the right milk or treatment. We were also very risky told by a GP that we pushing as our daughter has milk allergy and just because one child has it doesn't mean the other one does. As if we were making it up. 

Told oh it could be colic or reflux which again was told with ariyah. She did have reflux too however she was vomiting, gagging and choking on vomit or her flem. You could hear the acid in her throat, she coughed and was very chesty. Layton had none of these symptoms at all. It was all his stomach and loose stools. This meant we had to push again for the right care. 

At 4 weeks old Layton still was screaming. We had tried what the health visitor and GP suggest, which was massages, baths, feeding slower and burping more in-between feeds. Sitting him upright during feeds and no putting his straight down flat. Also to used infocol colic drops. We even used the comfort and colic aptamil formula and that made him worse I think. He was screaming alot in the evening or during the night however was also doing it more regular in the day now too which meant it was not colic. 

(Il do an information post about colic, reflux and cmpa, the difference symptoms and similarities.) 

Anyways we had tried it all and nothing was working. He was a month old exactly and cried none stop for over an hour, he was struggling so much but it was coming our as water literally. He had gone mottled and abit patchy rash so we decided to just take him to A&E. 

This was so scary as he was a month old, with covid still going on, to take him up to A&E. But they were amazing saw us straight away and put us in a bay so we wasn't waiting around in a waiting area or communal area with other people. 

The doctor examined him, felt his tummy was bloated and said he had alot of built up gas and air in there. To start using gripe water now he is old enough. She asked lots of questions and concluded it was more likely a cow milk protein allergy just like his big sister. As he didn't sounds chesty or like he had reflux. Therefore the prediction gave us a formula which has broken down protein in it. This still has cow milk but it's broken down differently which helps them process it better. This was nutrigrame which ariyah was given from 8 weeks until 7 months.  

We started him on this new milk straight away. Along with gripe water. He did seem to be better to burp and less uncomfortable. whilst still have very watery stools, with mucus in it. It had gone back to normal yellow colour rather then green, but it smelt worse because of the milk. He was still having discomfort and getting upset but did get better. It can take over 2 weeks for them to full get all the milk out their system and be able to notice any improvement. He did seems to be more happy, awake and playing which was so lovely. Means he is in less pain. He also seemed happier taking his 3 Oz bottle and going the whole 3 hours before wanting more. Whereas before he constantly seemed hungry and wanting milk. He was having sometimes 5-7 Oz in the evening / night bottle because he was so hungry all the time. Yet uncomfortable after drinking again. We did not know what to do. Got told to just feed him if he wants it. But told we were over feeding him, well wants best then. But as I said he seemed more comforted on the amount of milk he should be having and not over feeding. This was a good sign as was worried his weight shot up, he was all of a sudden chunky and weighted alot. 

However a week in he got bad again, screaming even more this time, for hours and nothing would settle him until he had opened his bowels. But then he sleep for like 10-20 mins wake for a feed and scream again for hours. It was a vicious circle. However no one was really listening health visitor just said his weights fine and hopefully he settles on the milk. GP was telling us to wait and could be reflux. Yet he had no symptoms of reflux at all. In the end we had to take him back to the hospital. He screamed for over a hour, until he crashed in my arms. He tired himself out so much and slepts for like 5 hours, so we had to wake him in the night. Then the following day again screamed for hours nothing settled him. I went up to A&E where straight away they ruled out reflux, and checked his bum and tummy for piles or anything else. They determine it was definitely a milk protein allergy and prescribed neocate milk. 

This milk has  not cow milk or soya in at all, it means that it's easier to process and digest as well as not flare his allergies. After around 2 weeks on this milk he settled so much. He still screams and has to odd bad day but definitely better. He gone from having 7+ watery bowel movements per day to the average 1 or 2 a day. He seems less wiggly or uncomfortable which was amazing to see. He stopped screaming and arch everytime he needed to pass wind or poo. However he was still screaming late evening some nights. 

At 8 weeks old he then was consipated again, very uncomfortable and upset. So GP but him on lacative for 3 days. Which again didn't seem to do much in terms of passing the bowel motion however he was less gassy and stopped crying in pain. Think it helped the trapped wind. Eventually he went and again so abit better. However now seems unsettled again, getting very upset and crying especially around 7-9 pm at night. It takes ages to settle him and get in the sleep at night. We took him the the health visitor who said he had bad colic, therefore to reintroduce colic drops. This time we went for a different brand dentinox which we were advised to from other parents on a reflux, allergies support group online. He does seem more settled on this and it's been about 5 days using it. Still has he colic high pitch scream at night but it's not for as long and he settles easier. Then he rarely has any issues in the day. Whereas before he was screaming in the day too. Typically colic is only screaming in evenings or night unless it's server then can be all day. We was not aware of this and that want made us think it couldn't be colic because he was like it in the day too not the typical evening colic time. So we wanted everyone else to know it can happen in the day if they have it serve. Again there is a post to come soon about colic, with more in-depth information. 

But for now our baby seems more settled with colic drops, gripe water, lots of stopping and burbing during feeds. Whilst trying to keep him upright as much as possible. He does seem happier, less wiggling in discomfort, more smiles and chatting. Tummy time also helps too. So I will update the more we go as colic can last up to 12-14 weeks of age, from birth so we are almost there. Now Layton is 9 weeks old. 

 Along side a factual post on reflux, colic and CMPA, I will also post about him being 2 months, milestones he has reached, things we have been up too and general family life. Therefore keep posted and watch out for more.... Thank you for reading.