To wonder why my 7mo has been so upset since birth?

[jey91]

Sorry I’m posting here for traffic as I desperately need help

I have a 7 month old who has been really upset since birth. For the first 3 months she cried all the time. Since then it’s less crying but more whining, whinging and shouting. every feed is very fussy and putting her to sleep feels impossible- I have to rock her continuously, hop, sing, it goes on forever. She will close her eyes and fall asleep but wriggle around and shout and grab onto my mouth! The shouting doesn’t seem to be more at any time of day and I can’t find a pattern. I have taken her to the GP 3 times, got her an osteopath, had her tongue tie cut at 5 months old as it wasn’t picked up. Nothing has helped. The osteo said she had some tension in her neck but working on that hasn’t changed anything. She is very fussy at feeds and often snacks instead of finishing a full feed but she’s gaining weight fine. I thought it may be a CMPA, I cut out dairy and changed her formula which initially helped but now she’s gone back to how it was before. I’ve also tried different teat sizes since she only likes to feed lying flat.
A bit of background;

she was EBF until 3 months when we introduced formula. She now has formula in the daytime and breast at night because she doesn’t take breast very well, only when she’s very tired.
she was born by planned c section since I had a c section with my first dd. she was breech but we didn’t know until birth. The first few days were difficult as she was so tired she wouldn’t feed but cried constantly as she was hungry
i have played around with her routine to see if she’s just chronically overtired but she’s the same even after a very nice long nap.
sometimes she wakes up at night very upset

please help!! I am so fed up of seeing her upset and I’m so exhausted especially since I’m home with her and my eldest every day.

Has anyone said anything to you about reflux? My dd had it and it was a miserable time for all of us. It doesn’t always result in them being sick (although DD puked for England). DD ended up on medication to help keep the food/milk from coming back up, then she grew out of it when she was sitting up more.

Mrs Hinch recently posted her baby has Laryngomalacia, they’d looked at reflux etc and found that condition. It could be worth pushing for more medical help if the GP hasn’t looked at it too deeply. I think it’s too easy to be fobbed off with a ‘colicky’ baby but if you think something’s not quite right keep pushing

If it's CMPA, what formula are you using? Mine had CMPA and I had to cut ALL dairy and soy from my diet. Even the smallest bit of soy or dairy in my diet set him off for a week and his symptoms sound similar to yours.

And the formulas for dairy allergy are all very different, have you pushed for an amino acid one?

I would go back to the doctor or go for a private paedetrician. A 7 month old should not be "colicky".

People often reach for reasons, medical frequently, for unrestful babies. Mine was the same as yours op. I was exhausted beyond anything I've ever experienced before or since for the space of year. I now have the luxury of hindsight. I have a very sensitive 14yo who loves routine and things feeling a certain way. I believe this was the real thing that troubled him. I didn't help as I was so frazzled I'm sure that fed into his lack of peace. He just couldn't get more than 3 hours sleep at a time for the whole of that first year (nor did I) no wonder he was so grumpy!

You poor thing, that sounds really difficult and stressful for both you and baby 😔

My friend's baby was similar to yours, cried a lot, breastfeeding was difficult - she would latch on, start sucking then let go and cry. It was really confusing and my poor friend couldn't understand it. Eventually after going back and forth to the GP a lot, they worked out that she was having frequent ear infections. She had grommets fitted before she was 2 and it was unbelievable the amount of brown/green gunk that would flow out of her ears when lying down. She must have been so uncomfortable and in pain! She was a different child after the grommets.

I'm not saying this is the problem for your little one but it's worth exploring.

The other thing I would try is a paediatric cranial osteopath.

I hope you can get some answers 💐

Yep, agree that it might be a soy allergy as well as dairy. Dd had to have amino acid formula alongside being partially breastfed (I was back at work) before she stopped crying constantly. She's 2 now and is still worse with soy than dairy so the dairy free formulas would never have worked.

Edited to add: Sorry you're going through this, we got it sorted by the time DD was 5 months but it's just horrible. I hope you find an answer soon.

I had a child that was impossible to settle, didn't sleep or nap anywhere near normal, always on the go, often crying, woke regularly until age 7 (that's years not months!!).

We did all sorts of investigations, elimination diet, reflux meds, sleep study, specialist sleep helath visitor, private sleep specialist etc. Ultimately he turned out to be autistic with ADHD.

Thank you all so much for the replies
The dr suggested reflux but I wasn’t convinced because I thought she would have grown out of it by now? She rarely throws up and she’s fine lying down or feeding flat
shes on aptamil pepti syneo
@Endofyear very interesting about the ear infections! Did they also have a lot of trouble with sleep?

Silent reflux?

DD1 was very similar. She slept through for the first time after a session with a cranial osteopath. I'm not sure how it could have helped (it's such a light touch) but it did. It's many years ago now so I can't recall exactly but think she had maybe four sessions.

Yes she did have trouble sleeping, in hindsight it was probably painful/uncomfortable to be laid down and she preferred being held upright on your shoulder. Obviously, mum didn't get much sleep this way! She was also just a very unsettled grizzly baby who needed to be walked around, held a lot of the time etc.

My DD was exactly like this. She was always crying, whinging and unsettled, didnt want to be put down and very difficult to get to sleep. She would only nap if walked in buggy or in the car. I'm not sure how I survived her first year. I tried cutting dairy, reflux meds, sleep consultants but nothing worked. I think some babies are just like this unfortunately. DD is 16 now and the most calm, mature lovely girl. Hang in there x

I was absolute amazed to see my son turn his head to the right hand side to sleep for the first time ever after one session with a paed cranial osteo.

By that point the damage was broadly done and to this day his head is a funny shape, but even so 😁

OP I really sympathise, it sounds exhausting. I'm torn between "It's all a phase, it'll pass" and thinking it sounds like here's maybe something more fundamental going on. The ear infection thing definitely sounds worth investigating.

Also, have you started weaning yet, and have you tried her in a sling (on your front) to see if she finds that comfy?

Have you tried a lactose free formula? Really helped DS1 who was a devil baby. He grew out of it - his stomach was just a bit slow to develop the ability to process things.

@Endofyear I was also thinking ear infections. I was a massively fussy baby and I've ended up with quite severe hearing loss. It might be worth getting checked to see if she's in pain. I certainly hardly slept as a baby.

I don't know why your baby's like that but my DD was exactly the same. It was so bad that I wondered if she'd had brain damage from the forceps delivery! I felt I couldn't take her anywhere. She was unlike any other baby we knew.
Anyway, she grew into an angelic child and is now a lovely, intelligent, popular 14 year old. Some babies are bad babies but grow into happy children.

Agree with this as being most likely reason.

I had one of these. She also has allergies, ear infections and probably ND (young adult). It’s incredibly hard work as baby and toddler but as a teenager and adult she was/is an absolute delight. Agree with cutting all dairy and luckily had a dr who advised against soy as apparently (this was 30 years ago) his experience was that babies often also developed soy intolerance.

I’m convinced that part of the problem was that, from an early age, she got very bored very quickly and just got frustrated that she couldn’t do what elder dc was doing

Dd was like this. I didn't know at the time but she isn't able to burp. Never has been. I think it must've just sat in her tummy causing pain.