To think that shes not going to improve :\

[Peppery123]

Third and last baby for sure
But im just struggling with how she is. She is now 16 weeks and since 6 weeks I was being told her sleep/behaviour will improve as she gets older.
It hasnt
If anything its gone worse since she hit 3 months.
Im just trying to focus on the positives but I keep thinking Am I missing something?
Im not a first time mum, so its not like I dont know what im doing or how to deal with it but dd is very irritable all the time, doesnt feed well which may have something to do with sleep?
Naps for 20-30mins max then wakes up and cries because still overtired. She always has a hoarse voice, puts hand in mouth and scratches herself when trying to settle. Her face is full of scratches and she only looks like she wants to bote something but refuses dummy. Has a lot of wind and is still colicky. Does it get better or is this it now?

Look into allergies. I was told the same with my first. Adjusting to being a parent was just awful, to be honest.
After six long months, once we started weaning it turned out she had severe allergies to dairy and egg and had been reacting through my breast milk.
Look up CMPA, take info to your Gp and take it from there. Don't be fobbed off. Luckily being an experienced parent you'll probably be taken seriously

Ps: I promise you it DOES get better eventually. Hang in there but don't let the GP or HVs dismiss your concerns.

My daughter was the same. 4 month regression is a biggy. She was horribly colicky too. It definitely started to improve from 4 months onward. By 5-6 months she was a different baby, so much happier.

DS was like this he had CMPA and silent reflux, so definitely worth seeimg GP about

Well you know yourself that this isn't it forever, she's not going to be like this when she's 12 for example!

But I know how you feel, I also have three children but my second was like yours. He did improve at around the 16 week mark so maybe a change is around the corner? He was diagnosed with silent reflux and that seemed to be the cause of the issue for him. Have you had a GP consultation? I'll not lie, my problem baby is nearly 4 now and is still the worst sleeper in the world but we are used to it now and I know from my friends experiences that he is not the norm by any stretch.

I would speak to the GP in case there is a cause for the discomfort but it does sound like overtiredness. I know how hard it is though, you just have to take it day by day.

I remember your other posts. Yes look into allergies as baby doesn't sound happy. There may be issues with intolerances it colic it reflux
but equally she might just be being a baby. If she scratches herself use sleepsuits with the foldover bits.

I know she's the only one of your children not to sleep through at 3m, but they doesn't mean there's anything wrong, but that your other two were unusually good sleepers. I think that might be skewing your expectations.

Are you taking turns with your husband/partner to make sure you get some rest?

Can she/does she sit up at all? My DD was like this, I despaired of it all, but moving her to upright (ish) in the buggy, sitting in the Bumbo seat and high chair a lot helped and once she could sit independently it mostly vanished. I think it was reflux, although I never got a diagnosis. Good luck, it's soul destroying and I send you my heartfelt sympathy.

Can someone list symptoms of CMPA? I keep seeing about rashes and excema but she doesnt have these?
Is it just being irritable on feeds because usually she isnt but just takes less than she should do

@HereBeFuckery
She can only sit up leabt on something..if i put her in highchaor may slump to sides would that be ok?
How was his sleep?
Its the sleep thats killing me as she doesnt sleep much in day and night so overtires maybe?

How is her sleep at night these days?

@Babyboomtastic
Very on and off
She is usually up at least once in the night. Takes ages to settle was starting tonsleep fron 7pm-2am as a along stretch but then sometimes more than often wakes up at 11.
Is thus just normal?

Tbh I think your expectations are just way off, if you’ve had two good sleepers then it must be disappointing but not all babies sleep through. I just lowered my expectations of sleep so good nights felt like we’d hit the jackpot, 16 weeks is still so young , waking once is pretty good I’d say🤷🏼‍♀️

She is still ever so little.

Mine was an unhappy baby who improved once she could sit up properly. Never slept for long in the day, screamed in her car seat, got addicted to her dummy around 5m til we took it away cold turkey at 6m. I do wonder now if she had reflux or something like that. But, yes absolutely it got heaps easier than it was at 16w.

@Peppery123

Honestly, it's not 'normal' its much BETTER than normal. Normal is probably up between 2-6 times a night.

Even my nearly 2 year old is up 2-3 times a night.

Your baby is so little, it's very normal to wake lots at this stage. A 3hr sleep is considered good at this age.

Sounds a lot like silent reflux. Baby could be waking after 20mins as it starts to creep up back of throat, and taking ages on feeding because it’s uncomfortable. Takes ages to settle because milk needs to be almost fully digested for her to settle properly. Try talking to health visitor about it? Xx

And it's not that I don't have sympathy, I do, it's really hard not getting enough sleep, but her sleep at night really isnt a problem. And short but frequent naps in the day are common at this age too.

I'd expect a couple of night wakes at least at that age. There might be a reason behind the business or there might not, but either way she will either grow out of it or you will manage to get to the bottom of it when she is older by allergy testing etc

CMPA has a lot of symptoms:

• reflux, either silent or vomiting
• poor weight gain and difficult to feed
• OR more rapid than expected weight gain due to feeding excessively for comfort from pain
• poor sleep, waking after micro naps
• colic
• generally unsettled all the time
• rashes
• eczema
• generally dry skin
• itching, constantly scratching face and eyes
• swollen eyes
• weird nappies - lots of mucous and excessively runny or constipation

My daughter never had the eczema or rashes until we actually fed her cow's milk. When she was Ebf under six months she just screamed constantly and barely slept, had generally dry skin (but I didn't know how smooth a baby's skin should be as she was my first) and had explosive nappies.

Doctors and HVs told me she was just a difficult baby and told me that parenting was hard, with lots of sympathetic faces. Not helpful.

When we weaned and have her cow's milk on ready brek her skin started literally peeling off in strips and her eyes and lips swelled up. Went to the GP, they said don't give egg or nuts til she'd had allergy testing and referred us. We now carry epi pens for egg too.

Don't despair - the allergy teams and dieticians are amazing and they do outgrow them (my daughter is 3 and can now have baked milk in cakes etc and we're having a baked egg trial in hospital soon).

My second baby is 3 months old. She has been an absolute dream. I now understand why my NCT friends all enjoyed their maternity leave - and I'm now even more furious that I was dismissed as an over anxious first time mum. The whole thing GAVE me pnd.

You know your baby. Listen to your instincts.

If you're bf you can try eliminating dairy and soy and see if it helps but it takes 6 weeks to clear your system and theirs. If formula feeding your GP can give you a trial on an hypoallergenic formula

It's hard to see it when you're in the trenches but she's still so teeny tiny and it will pass in a blink.

Both my DC had silent reflux and were medicated (Zantac) for a year or so. Does she have symptoms of reflux? Do you ever get an acidic type smell from her breath?

It can be so miserable when they're miserable but hang on in there OP

My little guy had terrible colic. It was worst from 3 - 6 months then massively improved as he grew bigger and got more mobile. But there was a good while where it was not unusual to be up 20 times a night with him... He would go to sleep and then wake up again before I could even get back to sleep lol. Felt like it was never ending but it was just something we had to wait out I think, we tried a lot of different things but nothing really helped except time. The good news is now he's a pretty good sleeper at 1 year old.

Took 3 years for mine to get better. Didn't sleep more than 20 minutes for the first 8 months, fed every 45minutes. Slept 11pm - 5 am once at 14 months then not again until almost 2. Still woke 3-4 times a night until 3.5 and needed support to get back to sleep each time. Windy, colicky and just generally a bit hard work.

No allergies, nothing wrong and really is the sweetest kid in every other way!

The doctor just says he thinks its reflux because of the hoarse voice like she has a sore throat and irrability so prescribed omperazole. I havent given it yet as im scared incase she has a bad reaction. Has anyone tried it at this age?

@WatchWatch

How was that possible?
Im sure there must have been something going as HV did say if baby isncolicky after 3 months to take her to gp.

Peppery123 I did take him to the GP and got given infacol which did absolutely FA and then ranitidine which also did nothing. A pediatrician appointment showed a clean bill of health. He used to cry until he was sick, then cry more until e stopped breathing and went blue. The only thing that calmed him was my boob in his mouth. He did get better at around 8months but didn't sleep unless on someone and for max 90 minutes at a time. I was so ill because of it.

@WatchWatch
Omg I feel ill for you..thats horrendous. Could jt have been an allergy to something through bm? I just dont know how id cope. I dont want to actually give meds to mine as im scared of side affects :(
Did you ever give formula?