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Weird doctor visit

8 replies

keely027 · 05/04/2012 19:49

We have a four weeks old who hasn't stopped crying for three weeks. We have tried dr brown bottles, extra hungry milk, colief. Thinking maybe he has colic or reflux problems. So we booked into see the dr and she told us that she doesn't believe colic exists, the wind I can hear going through his body is normal and that the constant crying is down to his personality, and he will be heading to oxbridge because intelligent babies cry a lot. Don't know what to make of all this. All the books say crying is communication, so figure he is trying to tell me something..any ideas?

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frazzled09 · 05/04/2012 20:03

I feel for you.

Ask to see a different doctor.

Obviously I can't tell you whether there's a reflux/colic thing or not, but my DS had windy noises, gurgly throat, constant crying (not whining, not grumbling, actual full on screaming that was only stopped by suckling) until 4 weeks old when I took him to A&E at 2am in desperation where they diagnosed reflux (silent and the vomiting sort. Friends with babies with silent reflux (ie no vomit) have had a harder time getting a diagnosis and help.)).

Have you had him checked for tongue tie (by an expert - not just the midwife or GP? Mine was finally sorted by a volunteer feeding counsellor and snipped privately, which made an instant improvement in feeding/wind) Undiagnosed tongue tie can cause havoc in terms of swallowing air when sucking.

I think your GP has been really unhelpful. Telling you they "don't believe" in something is pointless. At the very least they should have asked the right questions to rule out (or diagnose) reflux or another problem.

For practical suggestions, try watching Dr Harvey Karp's Happiest baby on the block on youtube for techniques to cut through the crying to calm an overwrought infant. And Dr Sears' fussy baby information (all on the website, no need to get the book) can be useful too.

Pancakeflipper · 05/04/2012 20:08

See a different doctor. Have you a health visitor yet?

This Dr is not helpful. You need a sensible Doctor - hopefully one who has children who suffered with reflux/colic.

TinyDiamond · 05/04/2012 20:19

My dd didn't stop screaming for the first 6 months of her life. A shrill, painful scream. ALL THE TIME. In her case it was reflux, caused by severe intolerances to a few things. The poor thing was vomiting 50 times + per day and no gp would help her. In the end I went to A&E as one day she literally screamed for 48hpurs and vomited bright green bile. We were admitted and left 3 days later!!! With reflux medication.
I really feel for you. It is so, so tough when your baby doesn't stop. Very emotionally draining. Have you a chance to go for a quick walk at all or leave the house for 20mins at any point? I know your baby is teeny tiny but I didn't do this and I probably should've done-it would've helped my sanity.
See a different doctor. If you have a phone that takes videos take a vid of screaming as if yours is anything like mine a halo will appear as soon as a medical professional is in the room Hmm

keely027 · 05/04/2012 20:37

Frazzled...what's tongue tied? Not heard of this

OP posts:
frazzled09 · 05/04/2012 21:18

Hi
It's when the tongue is not free to move around the mouth properly (the frenulum underneath- the string attaching it to the bottom of the mouth - can be too short or attached to the front of the tongue). There are several different types of tongue tie but some photos are here www.tonguetie.co.uk/ (a lot of literature will talk about the impact on breastfeeding, but it is just as valid for bottle feeding if the baby can't get an adequate seal around the teat with their mouth and tongue, air will get in).

I only know about how my son's tongue tie looked, which was immediately obvious once someone pointed it out to me, but 5 midwives and 2 GPs had not spotted it. His tongue was heart-shaped, I'd never seen him stick it out of his mouth (because he couldn't) and he clicked and fell off the breast (and bottle when we tried those) when he sucked.

oldmum42 · 05/04/2012 21:39

Tongue tie means the frenulum (the string-like bit you can see under your tongue if you point it up to the roof of your mouth), is too short/tight to let the tongue move as freely as it should. Mild cases may cause no problems but sometimes it needs to be cut to free up the tongue.

Other causes to consider - cows milk allergy or intolerance. My DS4 (17months) has this, He was BF, but we noticed to started screaming/not sleeping/being clingy as soon as we started giving him milk to drink and solids (with cows milk/cheese in). We weaned him from BF onto Goats milk (all the supermarkets sell it, uht and fresh), it is much more like human milk than cows milk is (almost no one is allergic to goat milk, but MANY people have a problem with cows). If your baby is reacting to cows milk, you should see a very fast improvement in him (with in 3 or 4 days, with my son it was even faster), - so it's worth trying that :)

There are also special cow-free formulas, but TBH they are expensive, taste awful and are very artificial, so goat is probably a better choice.

My DS1 (Oxbridge!), was indeed a nightmare, very intense baby who required CONSTANT input and mental stimulation from birth (he still does :) )....... I'm sure the Dr was just trying to offer you a crumb of hope that all this crying is FOR something, but it was a stupid thing to say (as was the comment about colic not being real). But just in case! To increase the amount of mental stimulation (for any baby), change the babies view every 15 mins while they are awake by moving them or putting different toys or pictures in eye line, so they are always looking at something "new" - as a tiny baby I found DS1 got bored very quickly indeed, and was happy when kept very busy!

EBDteacher · 06/04/2012 07:19

My DS cried a lot as a baby too. Part of it was that he got overstimulated very easily so it did help to make sure he got the right balance of 'doing stuff' and quiet time. In particular, we found certain types of music calmed him down. Yes Motzart's piano concertos but also DH's House music from the 90s! Just think it was anything with a very regular rhythmn.

However, the thing that made the biggest difference was when we switched him (in desperation) onto 'comfort' formula (we used Aptamil Comfort). He is now 19months and we have tried a couple of times to switch him onto follow-on milk for his morning/night bottle and each time he has become grumpy as sin after a couple of days. Then we have switched him back to comfort and he has been fine again. Worth a try?

Finallygotaroundtoit · 06/04/2012 08:05

I think Doc was just trying to reassure you that your baby isn't ill

Colic does exist but it doesn't need to be medicalised - it's normal but worried parents spend a fortune on useless remedies
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/Colic.pdf

'Reflux' seems to be replacing colic as the label for some normal behaviour.

Babies like BabyDiamond are the exception - they clearly need treatment but I think alot of people then jump on the bandwagon and start diagnosing 'reflux' for normal baby unsettledness and throwing up.

Mumsnet Mantra - It will pass [busmile]

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