4 week old won't stop crying - is it colic? What do I do?

[LubiLooLoo]

My baby has been crying since 10 this morning. It's very unusual for him.

He's sleeping for 5-10 mins after feeds or -if we are lucky- after rocking or bouncing him off to sleep. He cried through his bath, which he usually loves and cries in his sleep.

Is this colic or something else? I tried winding him, but nothing happens.

Please help! Suggestions very welcome!

'Colic' doesn't actually mean anything. It's used to describe regular crying for a reason you can't work out.

Can you say a bit more? Is he bottle fed, breastfed or mixed? Exactly how old is he? Has he been feeding normally? What are his nappies like?

He's breastfed, and we've been getting on really well with feeding. Nappies normal. He's 4 weeks today.

We've had a few colicky nights, between 7pm and 10, but all day crying has me worried.

Will he settle against your chest? Just wondering if he's needing to be closer to you.

He will but only for a very short time. Even tried taking him for a snuggle in bed... My favourite thing to do!

He starts crying after a few mins of peace... His cry is more strained than usual, it's heart breaking.

Thank you for you quick and thoughtful responses so far

Has he got a temp? Does he sound like he's in pain?

I had similar with my ds and turned out he had a dairy allergy. If you bf it could be worth cutting it out to see if it helps? It takes 3 weeks to leave your system completely but you should see an improvement in a couple of days if it's that.

I did worry about dairy. My sister in law had to cut it out while bf her kids... Might be worth a try... Goodbye chocolate :(

Is there any chance that he could be hungry? My default response to crying at that age was to feed.

Hope you're night gets better.

To be honest with the constant crying it hard to tell when he wants food. He's accepting a feed every 2-3 hours. It stops the crying for the duration of the feed which is nice.

I don't want to scare you unnecessarily, but my friend's two week old baby suddenly started a high pitched scream and wouldn't stop. They took him to A&E and thankfully the doctor took them (and the screaming) seriously. The baby's temp was just starting to rise, but it was meningitis. He was treated and is fine.

Do keep an eye open for signs of pain, fever, temp, photophobia, or of course rash and don't hesitate to get him checked out.

It could of course be a regular virus, digestive discomfort, hunger etc, but screaming all day and an altered cry is worth taking seriously.

With a baby that young if you think they are in pain just get them seen. NHS Direct would probably be able to get you an out of hours appointment. I've got 3 DC and I've never had any of them cry all day like that. A few hours yes but not all day, so I would think it's worth getting him checked it could be many different things.

I agree with Janice. Call 111 for advice just to be on the safe side.

Yes, GP out of hours if still the same now

My DD now 8 weeks was the same. She went from being an absolute joy and no fuss baby so screaming constantly and crying no matter what we did.

We found this article so useful www.babydoc.com.au/faq/colic-bore-your-baby-to-sleep/

She was overtired and overstimulated so we calmed our household down - no tv, computers, phones, strong smells, loud noises, visitors etc around her for about a week and did what ever we could to help her nap. I ended up walking around the park in circles 3 times a day as she would only nap in the sling on the move outside and introduced a dummy. Was exhausting but helped her calm down and get some sleep and now we're in a much better place, she will now tolerate her pram and occasional nap in her crib. All the distraction techniques I was trying was actually making things worse and all she needed was rest.

Thank you!

He dropped off and had a normal night of sleep and feeds, which was a relief. He must have been so tired.

I'll keep an eye on him today and hopefully he'll be back to normal. Fingers crossed Xxx