Don't know where else to turn

[* Paula *]

Hello there,

I am hoping that someone will be able to give us some advice as we are at our wits end at the moment and do not know where to turn.

Since Wednesday our DS has not been himself.  He is 6 1/2 months old and is one of the happiest babies you have ever met - that is until Wednesday night.

After his night feed at 6:30pm we put our DS to sleep (the same as every night), and he fell immediately asleep until 2 hours later where he woke up screaming and nothing would console him.  He kept on arching his back and bringing his knees up - although now the arching his back is more common than bringing his knees up.  He did not sleep all of Wednesday night only getting a few minutes every so often when he fell asleep on my chest before he woke up screaming in pain again.

On Thursday morning we went to the doctors, when we walked in our DS was full of smiles and clapping his hands - The doctor examined him and said that he could not find anything wrong with him and that we should just give him paracetamol and monitor him.  Through the day he was ratty due to the fact that he had no sleep but would not be put down in his cot and just started screaming.  We got through the day with play and entertaining him.  After his 5pm dinner - 3/4 of a jar of veggies/protein he settled down for about half an hour before starting to scream.  He dirtied his nappie which was quite soft and runny and screamed most of the evening. 

We contacted the out of hours doctor and went to go and see her.  Again when we walked in there he was full of smiles, clapping hands and saying dada.  The doctor put it down to a mild case of a stomach bug and said that we should cut out his food for 12 hours and just feed him milk - which we did.

On the Friday during the day he seemed quite happy and content although would still not go to sleep in his cot and would only fall asleep sitting on our lap or lying across our chest.  By the evening he started again only drinking 3 oz of his bottle and refusing any more.  Again we called the out of hours doctor and went to go and see him.

This doctor suggested it may either be a stomach bug or a milk intolerance and prescribed a soy formula - He told us to keep off the other formula and see how it goes.  By this time it was 9pm at night and there were no pharmacies open and no shops that stocked the soy formula.  We got home and DS was screaming with hunger as a last resort he we gave him 5 oz of his usual formula which he was quite content with.  15 minutes later her started screaming and arching his back and would not settle.

By 3:30am we could not take this anymore and took him to the emergency room where we saw a doctor who says it may be a case of reflux and prescribed him Gaviscon - She said that it did not sound like a milk intolerance and that we should try the Gaviscon and go back to them on Wednesday.

We eventually got home at 6:30am and DS was exhausted and we were able to put him down for 1 hour before he woke up crying.  We gave him his usual 8oz bottle with the Gaviscon in it and he has not settled since.

Yesterday he was at least happy throughout the day, but now things seem to be getting worse.

We do not know what to do and are going onto our 4th day without a propper nights sleep.

We are hoping that you will be able to give us some suggestions on on what to do.  We have elevated his mattress in his cot but will still not go down in it.

Thanks for reading and for listening.

Paula - Mum to Thomas - 12 July 2005

[vmcdonald28]

Hi there,

I was looking on the internet for you, and I have copied a quote from this website http://www.lactose.co.uk/lima/symptoms.html

symptoms of milk allergy -
Abdominal pain and bloating
Diarrhoea (usually very runny)
Vomiting
Gas/wind
Cramps

symptoms of lactose intolerance
nausea
cramps
bloating gas,
wind diarrhoea, which may begin from after half an hour to 2 hours after eating or drinking foods containing lactose.

Sounds to me as if it is a possibility. Have you tried the soy-based formula yet?

[Luisasmum]

Hi Paula. Could Thomas be teething? I know lots of drs say there is no such thing as teething symptoms but any mum will tell you that's a load of    It's just that you mentioned a soft and runny diaper deposit and the fact that the pain is mostly at night which is when my dd suffered from teething the most. Have you had a look in his mouth to see if his gums are a bit swollen? The back arching and leg pulling sounds like colic but geeze, it's supposed to have GONE AWAY by 6 months, not START!

I really feel for you Paula. Your story brings back memories of Luisa's first couple of months when I thought I'd died and gone to hell! I hope it's nothing serious and it all gets better really soon.

[s_olano00]

Paula,

Have you introduced new food to your LO? Once I offered prunes to AK for breakfast, and boy, we had one of those nights....she was crabby all day long and at night she had an awful diaper rash (I took about 1 month to clear away) and she vomited, vomited and vomited...

When AK was about 6 weeks, she had a very bad period with colic, and when I took her to the doctor, all she would do was smile, smile and smile. The Doc would tell me that there was nothing wrong with her and I swear, as soon as we were back in the car, the screaming would start all over again.

I took me about 10 visits to 3 different doctors and a gastroenterologist to get a simple medicine to reduce her colic; all the doctors told me that she was a perfectly healthy baby and that there was nothing wrong with her. If it was colic, she was going to grow out of it at some point.

My message to you: no matter what the doctor says, if you feel that your LO is not well, take him to as many doctors as many times as you need. Doctors might know their stuff, but you areThomas's mom and you know him the best. 

I hope Thomas will get better soon.

[* Paula *]

Hi All,

Thank you so much for your support.  From the sounds of what people are saying it sounds like it could be either an intolerance or reflux.

He has been on the gaviscon all day today and he seems a bit more settled, but is still having a lot of wind from both ends.

The doctor also gave us a script for a Soy milk so I am going to try this and see what happens.  He is having some veggies and protein for his dinner so will give him his milk later and see how it goes.

He has been teething, but don't see them bothering him at the moment.

Will keep you posted.....

Thank you so much for all your advice and hugs.

Paula