18 mo still needs winding for 60 mins at bedtime

[Clatterseamum]

Hi - hope this is the right place for this question, which is my first post. My 18mo is a generally happy and healthy child. However she still needs to be winded for 15/20 mins before her lunchtime nap and an hour or so at bedtime. She has milk twice a day - 8oz at 7am and 6oz at 3pm. She drinks plenty of water. She will only take milk from an Avent bottle with free flow soft spout, not a sippy cup (I try periodically). She happily takes water from a free flow sippy cup. If she isn't fully winded she cannot settle. Also, as she gets bigger and more fidgety it is hard to wind her for an hour because she just doesn't want to stay still and read for that length of time. She can walk and is fairly active. HV's view (at 12m) was that all 1 yos are self-winding. Not so! But I haven't come across this before, and other threads on windy babies mainly seem to be about food allergies. She is a pretty good eater tho I keep her off brassicas for wind at the other end. The other thing on my mind is that she arrived at 32 weeks, was tube fed for first 3 weeks, but BF from 35 weeks equivalent. Because she was quite small I am not sure she ever learnt to latch on correctly (BF was very time consuming tho we struggled thro to 6m) and I wonder if she takes in more air than other kids. Or maybe that's a red herring... I haven't been to the GP (ours is lovely) because I assume they will just tell me to get her off bottles ASAP - which may be the answer, but she's not making it easy! I would love to hear from anyone with similar experience - both solidarity and hopefully some answers. Thank you x

[likeneverbefore]

Wow, that sounds exhausting! I have no experience but wonder if you could just stop her milk altogether and make sure she gets what she needs dairy-wise through porridge/yoghurt/cheese throughout the day?

[MsPickle]

Hi I'm writing while I hold 14 mths old dd who still needs to be upright for a time before sleep. I think hers is due to her reflux, since her omeprazole dose was raised again it's been better. She burps and farts and then relaxes. If she goes into her cot without it coming she's awake after a couple of hours and needs burping then.

So a bit younger but similar problem. She was tongue tied, still has a morning and evening breastfeed, drinks water through the day. Food seems to make no difference.

[Clatterseamum]

I honestly don't know if I could get enough calcium and fluid into her without milk. Maybe I should look into it but can imagine it might create a different set of problems! Re tongue tie - she was checked in NNU and declared ok. And she's never been refluxy. I should also say that she was on Infacol for 15m but eventually decided it didn't make a huge difference and she had probably consumed enough in her lifetime. We occasionally flirt with gripe water but I'm not sure if makes much of a difference - tho I remember loving it when I was little and pretending to have tummy ache to get a dose! Thanks for suggestions and keep them coming please ... X

[mawbroon]

I was going to ask about tongue tie too. Chances are that whoever checked was not an expert. Very few hcps are unless they have taken a specialist interest in it.

Have a look on you tube for dr kotlow's video showing how to check for posterior tongue tie. Unless somebody did that when they were checking, then she wasn't checked properly.

[Clatterseamum]

Thank you. It can't hurt to get her checked out again. Any thoughts on best way to do this appreciated - I've read a few posts on Ann Dobson - is it most efficient to go straight to an expert (and which?) or would you stick with the NHS (which has been there for us a lot in last two years) even tho it obviously wouldn't be an acute thing? X

[mawbroon]

I would give the NHS a complete body swerve on this issue. They would want to do a GA at this age which is neither necessary or desirable.

Where are you based? There are a couple of tongue tie support groups on facebook which might be a starting point

[Clatterseamum]

Hello mawbrun - thanks. I know nothing about this bar a quick Internet search. We live in Clapham, SW London. Any pointers gratefully received. Thank you x

[Clatterseamum]

Sorry mawbroon. Predictive went wrong and it's late!

[mawbroon]

Malcolm Levinkind is a paediatric dentist who trained with Dr Kotlow and uses laser to divide tongue and lip ties.

I would suggest contacting him for advice. Tell him about her difficulty latching and the wind problems.

Also if you join the facebook group, you can post photos of under the tongue for people to comment on. Obviously, it's not a diagnosis from strangers on the internet, but there is a lot of knowledge and experience out there.

[Clatterseamum]

Thank you again. Appreciated and I will look into a consultation. 70 mins tonight!

[naty1]

Have u tried a cup with a straw?
After that i managed to go back to a sippy cup.
Could you not let them run ariund after drinking and get the wind out that way.
Have you tried giving milk earlier not just before a nap etc.
I thought mine had wind but thurmed out soya allergy made her unsettled now sleeps a lot better.
Do they seem worse when teething?

[Clatterseamum]

Hello. Have tried a variety of cups including a nuby supper which is the best as she takes in less wind overall - but is still no quicker to wind. Saw GP yday who has referred onto a paed gastroenterologist. Thinks it cd be reflux presenting without the usual symptoms and also says there will be a variety of medications we can try. So am feeling hopeful - fingers crossed it's something they've seen before and know how to treat. Oh and mawbroon - GP re-checked for tongue tie and said definitely not, so that is a relief to have eliminated.