Grunting baby?

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

I have also posted this in behaviour/development as I wasn't sure on the best place so apologies if you have read this twice.

My almost 3week old DS is constantly grunting. I have no idea what it means or if it's normal. Is it symptomatic of just simple wind or something else like a reflux?

He is formula fed on C&G, taking 4oz every four hours, but the past two days seems to be alot hungrier so I'm thinking of moving to stage 2 milk as I'm wary of feeding him to great a quantity at once as I'm not sure he should be taking 5oz at just three weeks old?

He isn't a particularly sicky baby, doesn't bring much back up at all. He was very stubborn with his wind so we started using infacol but since he was on it his poos reduced to just one a day so I stopped using it as I was wary of constipation. Now if I'm really religious with winding I can get up quite a few burps during and after every feed without the need for the infacol but he still seems to grunt all the time.

The only time he doesn't is if he's asleep on my chest. It seems to be constant grunting if he's sleeping on his back. so I have just done a little experiment and put him to sleep on his front, and he has been asleep for half an hour without grunting once and the little man is flat out but I'm not happy about him sleeping on his front in the night when I am asleep and can't keep an eye on him as obviously this isn't the safest position.

If anyone has any experience with a grunty baby your advice would be fantastic What is it? Is it normal? What can I do to prevent it? Should I up his milk to 5oz or change to hungry baby keeping it at 4oz? (not a question related to grunting!)

TIA

[tiktok]

Grunting could be a benign condition called 'floppy larynx' which is usually harmless and babies grow out of it - ask your health visitor or GP about this.

You can also ask your HV about the milk - generally hungry baby formula is not recommended for young babies. Your baby has only changed his needs in the past couple of days so he may change back again. Even so, a 5 oz feed would not be considered all that huge :)

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

Thanks for your reply tiktok.

Reassuring you don't think 5oz is too big for 3 week old, I was worried it would be far too big of an amount for him. So you would definitely say increase the amount before introducing stage 2 milk? Strange to think he is my second baby but my brain seems to have forgotten all this information!

I will definitely ask the HV about the grunting, thank you for that info :)

[mahaliha]

All 3 of my DC were like this in the early weeks and months. The grunting was particularly bad at night and always sounded as though it was building up to a cry. More often than not though they'd just grunt themselves back to sleep. My first 2 DC were mainly formula fed, DC 3 is breastfed and she was just as noisy as the first 2. DC1 and DC2 took c&g comfort formula (they both had mild reflux) but it didn't really help with the grunting. So for us method of feeding or make of formula didn't make any difference.

You could try adjusting the incline of your DS bed - my DC hated being flat on their backs and slept much better if they were slightly propped up. Unfortunately they continued to grunt but they were much more comfortable and less likely to wake up.

From what I've read it seems to be quite common and normal in young babies. I think it could well we wind related but, like your DS, winding after a feed didn't really help.

The good news is that they do eventually grow out of it, I think my 3 were grunt free by about 4 months. Now my 6mo DD likes to chat to herself at night instead but thats a whole other story :)

[tiktok]

coconuts - no, I didnt say 'definitely' anything :)

I think you should check with your HV - that's what she's there for!

If it's floppy larynx, it doesn't have anything to do with wind, BTW.

[Magnumwhite]

mine was BF and very grunty at night - not so when he slept on his side during the day. He had a bit of silent reflux so at night he was in an amby hammock tilted up to the max. He also grew out of it by about 4 months

[WeeAl]

I'm so glad to have seen this thread! My 5week old does exactly the same. I've been trying everything! He only grunts at night (which is incidently when he lies on his back), doesn't grunt at all when sleeping in chair or on belly on me, or annoyingly during the day! He sounds like a little piglet!

I've been trying alsorts as I was almost certain that it was related to wind/reflux as he's quite pukey and often pulling legs up to tummy. Aswell as the grunts, he also does a kind of straining groan (like he's trying to push out a poo). He's combination fed as slow to gain weight during first 4 weeks as not feeding from me that effectively so we're half and half bf and ff (appears to be working for weight gain, yeay!).

For the grunting/ apparent wind have tried gaviscon, infacol, switching to aptamil colic/constipation formula, am avoiding cabbage-type veg and curry but the grunting still continues. Also watched youtube video showing tummy massage and have been doing this quite often. Today I've started taking colocynth 30c (homeopathic, also meant to be good for infant wind) - which I believe is transferred into my milk. The above efforts do seem to have started the wind moving through as he farted all day yesterday (v smelly!!!) but he's still grunting at night!

I totally understand what you're experiencing! I think I'm beginning to accept that this is just something that he'll hopefully grow out of and maybe it's not anything to worry about. Once I started accepting this, I've been able to sleep through at least some of his grunts!

The only thing I thought might be left to try is a wedge in his crib (seen these for sale on amazon) to try to lift the head end of his matress. Has anyone found this helps?

Might be worth trying some of the above but I suspect it might just be something that some newborns do! Fingers crossed they grow out of it soon!

[FeelMyWraith]

Most 3wo will want feeding more than 4 hourly. Hungry baby milk won't help if he needs more calories. You could feed more frequently.

[hayleysd]

The amounts for each age on the tin are only a guide, some have more and some less. my now 21 month old never drank more than 6 oz at a time and he's fine, he had really bad reflux and was put on Sma staydown but his little tummy just couldn't handle the milk in large amounts.

[banana87]

I didn't have a grunty baby nor a FF baby so not sure what help I will be .

DD had silent reflux though and required infant gaviscon. I'd check this with your GP. Also, it sounds like baby is headed towards his 4 week growth spurt, so I would be inclined to increase to 5 oz before switching to stage 2. You may find he takes 5oz for a couple days and then goes back down, or he may be ready for the increase. Remember every baby is different so ignore what the books say he should be taking and listen to your baby instead.

[spacester]

Ours snorted. Like a pig. Go figure....

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

Thanks for everyones input :)

Banana - Hello :) Hope things are going well for you. Thanks for your advice, we have put him up to 5oz from today. will be checking things with the GP at some point in the next week, when I can get an appointment He has sticky eyes that I want looking at so will mention the grunting while I'm there.

Feelmywraith - I also thought about feeding more regularly than four hours but he is a four hour baby. He will have his awake time just after his feed, go to sleep and wake up of his own accord at bang on four hours. It's really strange, as if he has his own clock. He is very predictable :) (Just like his dad ) If I try to wake him sooner he just falls back to sleep. My DD was exactly the same.

WeeAl - Sounds as though you have tried almost everything! Instead of buying a wedge you could put blocks under the feet of one end of his cot/crib, or put a pillow under the mattress, that will have the same/similar effect. HTH. Let's hope they just grow out of it, I'm pretty sure it isn't something serious as it isn't 100% constant.