Newborn crying

[ElephantsAndMonkeys]

Not an aibu.. just hoping for lots of traffic.

3 week old baby started inconsolably crying in the evenings just under a week ago. The last couple of days LO is now doing the same during the day.
Tried infacol for 5 days now. Not making a difference at all.
Can't be sure that LO is or isn't in pain. Sometimes has stiff straight legs. Sometimes legs pulled to her belly.
Any advice? I know babies cry. I just want to make sure I'm doing all I can to sooth LO.

How is baby fed? Could be colic/CMPA/reflux

Speak to a gp,

it could be silent reflux. My dd had it and was a different baby once on infant gaviscon.

We used to have to cycle DS’ legs to get his farts out.
Is she pooping plenty?
Does she stop when held or is she constantly crying?

What's her sleep pattern like? My lo would cry inconsolably in the evenings particularly when overtired or overstimulated.

Sometimes they do cry for what seems like no discernible reason but if it’s very sudden it is probably worth raising with your HV or GP. You mentioned you’ve tried infacol, was that a recommendation from your HV?

Infacol can soothe minor gastric issues and mild reflux but doesn’t work for all babies and can sometimes make them more gassy (happened with my DD) if you suspect it’s reflux related you can try other ways to soothe but my first and most important suggestion would be go to see your GP or call your HV for advice. It’s better to have them seen than not and I promise you, your Doctor will not regard you as a nuisance - that is if your DC hasn’t already been seen.

It could just be a phase but best to get advice from a professional first 😊

We used to have to cycle DS’ legs to get his farts out.

Same here with DD. And rub her tummy (think clockwise)

It’s not going feel like it helps but she grew out of it about 7 weeks.

Stiff legs and legs pulled up are classic signs of trapped wind. It's often worse at night because they've had a day of feeding and the issue builds up. As PPs have said it could also be colic, reflux etc. Mine had the same. It was a combination of a tongue tie (so taking in a lot of air when feeding) and silent reflux (in pain as the acid comes back up). Any other symptoms such as crying and arching back during feeds, not liking being flat? This is how I worked out mine had reflux. Mine was fussy in the day as well until we put him on ranitidine (gaviscon made him constipated). There are lots of different holds you can do to relieve wind and even when you think they've burped, keep going. Their digestion isn't good at that age, so it can be troublesome.

How is baby fed? I had similar issues in the early weeks where by LO had stomach pains and would cry inconsolably. Stupidly I thought it might've been reflux so I took the Internet advice and tried to feed ds as upright as I could then keep him upright for longer afterwards. What was actually happening is I had a strong let down and was pumping him full of milk and making him bloated. When I went back to lying him on his side to feed I noticed lots of milk falling out the side of his mouth. I guess similarly with a bottle, do you have a slow teat? Are you feeding LO and giving him plenty of opportunity to spit out excess. Does LO spit up? Mine didn't really "learn" to spit up until about 3 months so the gas problems lasted a while if I accidentally filled him up too much.

Check symptoms for silent reflux. My DD had it and infacol actually made her much worse.

Could be trapped wind, sometimes you have to wind them for ages to get all the gas out. Cycling the legs could work too. Could also be the signs of a developmental leap too. My DS was dreadful at that age and reading up on it, it was the right age to have a leap as well. You just have to ride it out unfortunately.

Legs imply it could be constipation. Try massaging your LOs tummy see if it helps. Consult your gp for more advice

Often due to being overtired. I’d try putting them to bed.

I'd definitely pop to the GP. It could be something medical that's a really easy fix, rather than you stressing about it for weeks on end wondering what's going on.

Baby is EBF.
Crying doesn't stop when she's held. No amount of rocking etc helps.
She's pooping a fair amount. A few times a day. She does fart a lot. Pooping and farting don't seem to be linked to either of these things.
LO sleeps better in the day than at night.
Infacol was recommended by the HV.
We have seen the gp, with suspected thrush (mouth), waiting for swab results. Should get them tomorrow.
Baby is very happy to be flat at night to sleep.

@Sianlouise432 baby definitely has milk falling out the side of her mouth a lot (EBF). Very leaky boobs. I can catch a lot of milk with a haakaa pump just while feeding with the other boob.

If she's bloated cause of your oversupply/fast let down, I have no advice unfortunately. For me, LO just got older and was able to handle the feeding better.

If it's oversupply you can express the let down in a muslin then go back to feeding when the flow has stopped. It stops them having to swallow really quickly or being jetwashed off and gulping air. I used to have to do this with both mine when my supply was settling in.

Don't be too stressed with diagnosing things, at that age their guts change constantly as bacteria are introduced. Also at 3 weeks your milk will be going from transitional milk to mature milk. Your baby and body will be working out the whole foremilk and hindmilk balance so it can lead to a bit of wind and pain etc until it settles down.

I had over supply and forceful let down too. It was always worse after a growth spurt because the volume of milk had increased so much. I had to feed DS lying flat. I also used to do ‘block feeding’ after each growth spurt which always helped (google it but do your research as it does decrease your supply) DS had a few instances where he would throw up an entire feed because of this.

Also if you are using a haakaa, are you just using it to catch milk or are you attaching it with the suction? If baby is only 3 weeks old, it is recommended not to use suction/pump until 6 weeks as it can cause over supply and may make a fast meltdown worse.

Once baby is older (4 weeks I think?) I would recommend gripe water, after a couple of days it helped my LG bring up her wind pretty much instantly and only needed to use it for a few weeks :)

Have you tried good old gripe water?

Letdown. Meltdown is just something my eldest does daily and obviously a word I use too often!

Sounds like colic. All four of mine had it from three weeks to 13 weeks. Crying and unsettled for hours in an evening. Feeding frantically on and off etc.I found a sling and a good walk out in the chilly air helped. Something about the change in temp. Husband wore the sling to give me a break.

Try colief drops. You can use these for ebf. I used to drip off a teaspoon, then ebf.

Stay strong and calm mumma, you're doing great.

A relaxing warm bath, solo or for both of you might help too. My dc loved it and it's very calming.

Thank you ladies. It's so horrible seeing her so distressed. I just want to make sure I'm doing my best for my tiny little person. I'd feel terrible if I had t asked and it was something I was or wasn't doing

Ah doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong.

Lots of burping and cycling of legs would be my advice.

Baby could be overtired.

Hope things improve and I’m sure they will as she grows and her digestive system improves.