Why does my 6 week old seem unhappy most of the time?

[plasticspoon]

And when will it improve, or have I just got a grumpy baby? :(

He only seems content with me when on the boob (which does take up most of the day tbh). As soon as he comes off he grizzles, even when he's not hungry anymore (pulling off by himself!)

My dh seems to be able to hold him for a while without him crying but he does just seem really pissed off most of the time. I depressed myself today by reading a baby development site which went on about cooing and 'more smiles'...not a single coo or hint of a smile here yet :(

When does it improve? Please tell me it does - he just doesn't seem very pleased to be here! Any suggestions?

It really does improve! DD was like this for her first eight weeks. There was nothing actually wrong, she was just in a constant grizzle. I don't think she was that impressed to be out! It all got better at around 8/10 weeks and she turned into a lovely happy little thing. If I recall the GP will talk to you about smiling at your son's 6-8 week check so they'll be able to reassure you about that.

Don't worry. A lot (most?) babies are similar to this for the first 12 weeks of life. Really, hang on in there... it should gradually improve and at 12 weeks you should start to think "Gosh, this is sort of ok now "

Just think of it from their point of view- 9 months in a lovely warm womb, nothing to worry about, attached to Mummy 24/7, now out in big wide world . A lot of their systems are undeveloped and it takes until 12 weeks to sort themselves out (well that's a non medic view after 2 babies and the second was more effort than the first as a baby, but faded more into the background as I had a toddler to occupy myself with too!).

I really hope so! 3 solid hours of mysterious crying last night before we got some wind out and right now he is screaming at me after being on the breast for 2 hours straight (including a snooze). What does he want? I am baffled and :( that he is so :(

I personally wouldn't just accept it as 'he's one of those babies', before I'd tried to identify if there is something wrong.

Would it be worth getting him checked over by a chiropractor or cranial osteopath? If he is really grumpy and miserable maybe there is something not quite right with his muscular-skeletal system? My friend had a similar scenario with her DS and at 7 weeks took him to her chiropractor (who is a specialist in kids) and he apparently had a 'jammed' shoulder so was always really uncomfortable on his right hand side. After 20 mins of manipulation they went home and he slept for the next 14 hours solid, when he woke up he was a different child.

Are you happy with your milk supply?

Dare I suggest a dummy to help soothe him rather than being on your boob all day?

hi, my little one was like this, and my gp treated her for reflux, though I am not sure that she really had this, it helped a little. I would go and have a chat to your gp to see if it could be this. my little one didnt vomit, but apparently some children with reflux dont. also, my baby was hungry - I was BF but tried topping her up - and she took 6 oz straight down! I was struggling to make enough milk, since I was so exhausted. so it might be worth thinking about this. best of luck and it will improve - my DD is a dream now!

Yes, supply seems fine, Ithink he just finds it comforting. Have beenn trying to avoid a dummy though because I understand it can interfere with that...

Another bad night last night where he was screaming with discomfort after every feed. I've been feeding him lying down as we co-sleep and he was previously just dropping off himself between feeds but that's really not working anymore! I've been wondering about silent reflux although he doesn't have as much discomfort in the day.

I've just read the description of the type of baby who might respond to cranial osteopathy on the professional website and it does sound like a pretty spot on description of him so will look into it further, thank you.

Can anyone recommend one in Essex or north/central london?

I can recommend you read DrSears high needs baby book. Some babies are just this way and are hard work.

DD was like this and wasn't happy for the first six months really but she did have reflux to. We tried cranio but it didn't seem to help.

The constant feeding is normal though and as long as baby is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and look's well, then there shouldn't be a concern about supply really.

Good luck

I feel your pain! With my son, he literally screamed for the first 8 weeks of his life. Nothing would soothe him at all, and my DH and I were in tears every day, totally exhausted.

Because he was assisted delivery (ventouse), someone recommended that we take him to a cranial osteapath as is it was possible he had something called "recoil compression" (basically, after the plates of his skull are pulled out of place by the suction, then bounce back in too tight). After loads of research, i saw that the Midwives Assocation actually recommend that every baby born has at least one session, as it can't do any harm but can do infinite amounts of good.

Took him for his first session at 8 weeks, and within an hour, he was a COMPLETELY different child. He'd basically had a permanent headache since the day he was born - no wonder he bloody screamed! To this day i feel so guilty that we didn't figure it out sooner...

Long story, I know, but thought it worth mentioning in case you also happen to have had assisted delivery. Even if you haven't, it's worth a shot anyway. Babies get squashed in the most weird ways when they're born, and as I said, it can't do any harm to try!

plasticspoon, we took our son to a woman called Birthe Pickwoad at the Brackenbury clinic in Hammersmith (West London) - don't know if that works in terms of your location, but I'm sure the clinic would recommend someone near to you if you gave them a call.
www.brackenburyclinic.com/hammersmith/the-practitioners,006/050-birthe-pickwoad.html

My DD1 was like this. She had reflux but no HCP would believe me until she was nearly 4 months. Had a few cranial osteopath sessions and helped a lot. Wish I'd done it sooner.

We turned a corner when she started on solids and could sit and roll. Went from the baby that always cried to the baby who was always happy. month 1-5 pretty awful. month 6-24 very easy.

DD2 liked a lot of nursing and carrying until about 6 weeks and is now very content and happy to be put down for short periods and has been since about 8 weeks. Same parents, different babies.

Neither of mine would have a dummy although I tried.

Good luck. Your hard work in looking after your baby will pay off and he will appreciate the comfort you are giving.

Can I just say thank you so much for voicing your concerns as I'm going into melt down myself.

DD is 8 weeks and cries all the time, she used to be happy and content but the last 2 weeks have been a total scream fest and with Christmas at my MIL's looming I'm getting seriously frazzled.

Going to research the cranial osteopath today as the snow has started so I can't do my usual racing around - is it wrong that I see this as a good thing?

thanks to you all
xxx

My DS cried constantly as a baby and it is so draining especially when you see others with happy babies. He didn't smile until 10 weeks. He stayed quite miserable until the age of 2. I really wish I had tried to find out if anything was wrong with him (he had a ventouse too) rather than just being fobbed off with 'some babies cry a lot' which was all my HV would say. He ended up getting eczema and food allergies and although he was EBF I wonder if that had something to do with it. He is a very happy little boy now though.