What do you make of this 10-week-old behaviour?

[birthofawoman]

Over the past few days, my now 10-week-old (as of today) baby has been doing this thing where he rocks his head from left to right, appearing restless and uncomfortable. It looks exactly like what this baby is seen doing: . He's been gassy from day 1 (despite being exclusively breastfed... My bet is that his gut has suffered as I received intravenous antibiotics during labour), and when I first noticed this head rocking thing I thought it accompanied his gas discomfort but now I'm not so sure.

Did anyone else experience this with their LO at around 10-weeks/2 months? A little worried because when I've googled it things to do with autism have come up (not to say that autism is a bad thing, just not something a parent expects for their child).

Would just like to say that my baby has not yet been vaccinated (I know there's a community of people who are against vaccination that link certain infant behaviours to reactions to vaccines) because he was found to have a low white blood cell count (suggesting that he may be immunocompromised) so we're currently investigating that.

If my baby had done that I'd have thought nothing of it. He looks like he's just trying to sort himself out bless him. Like self-comforting.

Ajas, I guess my concern is based on how suddenly this behaviour was exhibited, and the frequency at which he's exhibiting it (which seems to be increasing).

I’d more likely suspect silent reflux or CMPA to be honest at this age. My son was like that often when he had reflux/allergy problems.

Maybe have a look at the CMPA website and see if any of the symptoms ring true, and if so maybe trial being dairy free for a few weeks and see if there’s any improvement (although it can be 6-8 weeks to completely clear their system)

Ely, I'm starting to think he has reflux in general as he's been spitting up/vomiting quite a lot lately (also very recent symptoms). I've also caught him dry-heaving a few times. He doesn't seem to be distressed by it, but it's definitely something I've planned to get checked out. I suppose the head rocking could be associated with the suspected reflux actually, yes - thanks for suggesting this, may not have made the link.

Wouldn't be CMPA as I'm vegan and have been for a few years, so he hasn't been exposed to any cow's milk!

Good that you’re vegan so you can rule out a lot :)

Soya allergy is very similar to CMPA though, and more common than wheat (which is another possible problem, but less common).

Reflux and allergies can go hand in hand, and sometimes it’s certain foods that you eat that can aggravate reflux.

Definitely look at Reflux first though (there is a charity called living with reflux that has loads of information and advice)