What can i do about my baby’s tummy cramps?

Denise (30) is the mother of her son Evan (4 years) and her baby boy Enzo (3 months). In this blog, she shares her experiences with her first and second child, the restless nights, and her experience with probiotics.

First-Time Mom

With my first son, Evan, everything was new and super exciting because so much comes at you when you become a parent! I breastfed Evan for two years, and it didn’t always go smoothly. When he turned two, I really felt it was time to stop. I was a bit worried about how that would go during the nights because he still woke up every three hours for a feeding.

Once I stopped breastfeeding, a miracle happened: our little man suddenly slept through the night! In the end, stopping was easier than I feared. He was sad for two days and still asked for a “mama slok slok” (his way of asking to nurse), which broke my heart a little. But when he started sleeping so well – and so did I after two years – we were overjoyed!

Tummy Cramps

When I was pregnant with our second son Enzo, I thought, “A second child? I’ve got this!” I had learned so much with Evan. But nothing could have prepared me for how different it would be. Enzo suffered a lot from tummy cramps and was a very restless baby. He also had some reflux in the first few weeks – a tough combination, especially while breastfeeding.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken probiotics during pregnancy this time, something I did do with Evan. And Evan barely had any tummy issues. I really regretted skipping the probiotics.

Sleepless Nights

I started to dread the nights. We barely got any sleep and had to constantly rock and soothe Enzo. He slept next to me in a co-sleeper, so I could hear every sigh and whimper. He was extremely restless, cried often, flailed his arms, and made noises all night long.

We tried everything: swaddling, drops, white noise machines, cuddly sheep… nothing seemed to help. Enzo cried so much. Some days, he only slept 4 hours in total – the other 20 hours, we were constantly moving with him to keep him calm. At first, a warm compress on his tummy helped a bit, and I was finally able to get two hours of sleep between feedings. But after a few days, even that stopped working.

Probiotic Powder

It was a really tough time – and that’s putting it mildly! We visited the GP and an osteopath, but it didn’t really help. Then I remembered: I had taken a probiotic powder during pregnancy with Evan – and not with Enzo. Suddenly it clicked.

I was relieved to find out that the powder could also be given directly to babies in a bottle. So I ordered it immediately! We now give Enzo a bottle of formula once or twice a day so we can mix in the powder – and I also get a little breathing room.

And sure enough: after just a few days, the tummy cramps became significantly less. I thought to myself, “If only I’d known this sooner!” We could finally start enjoying Enzo’s baby days a bit more.

Sleeping Improvements

Enzo is now three months old, and things are going much better! Some days he’s still a bit restless or struggles to poop, but it’s nothing like before.

When he was 2.5 months, we moved him to his own room. I found this really scary! But to our surprise, it went super well. We use a white noise machine at bedtime so he knows it’s time to sleep. I put him in his little sleep sack, give him one last feeding, and lay him down. I stay with him for a bit to help with his pacifier, and then he drifts off. Sometimes he even falls asleep without the pacifier!

If he wakes up, I go in, give him a gentle stroke on the head, pop the pacifier back in, and he goes back to sleep. He now usually sleeps from 7:30 PM to 3:00 AM, then wakes again around 7:00 AM. In the afternoon, he often naps for another two to three hours.

Don’t Give Up!

If your baby is restless, don’t give up! A sleep sack can really help. Swaddling only frustrated Enzo because he couldn’t move his arms. But having a routine and bedtime rituals made a big difference. And for us, the probiotic powder was by far the most helpful. Enzo also started sleeping better in his own room.

Something else that really gives peace of mind: we have a baby monitor with a camera in his room. I can check on him from my phone, which helps me relax too.