She can't just be a miserable baby can she? (8 wks old) - sorry long post

[Lisa229]

By miserable (doctors words), I mean crying all the time. Ruth is 8 weeks ago and apart from the first 2 weeks (when she just slept and fed), whenever she is awake in the day and not feeding, she is crying 99% of the time. I really think there is something not agreeing with her but I can't put my finger on it.

She is ff (approx 7am, 10am, 2pm, split feed at 5pm and 6.30pm, then in the night somewhere between 10pm-12am and then again at 3am). Roughly 3-4oz each time in the day and 2-3 oz each time in night. Weeks 3-7, she did seem to have terrible wind so we tried colief (which did work but gave her really explosive runny poos so we have stopped), cranial ostepathy (even 1 session seemed to help) and now just giving gripe water and the burps seem to come up really well so I don't think it is colic/wind. When she has her milk, at some of the feeds but not all, she is on and off like a yoyo, sometimes holds her breath, cries between drinking the milk, arches her back and it can take a good hour to feed her. She doesn't vomit though. And she is not particularly up all night crying, its generally in the day.

Am I just being paranoid and need to face the fact that I have a baby that cries more than usual and it will get better. I thought it might be slient reflux but she doesn't have all the sypmtoms. I think the doctor thinks I'm worrying about nothing as she is gaining weight and is on the 91st centile but I just feel in my heart that something is not right but don't kno how to solve it. You lay her on the mat, she cries, in her bouncy chair she cries, in the swing she cries and sometimes even holding her doesn't console her.

Also doesn't like sleeping in her cot in the day, but thats probably another story.

Thanks is you have got this far and I hope someone can help.

Lisa

no experience of this but i think someone on here will have done

i hope your ok have you spoke to your hv or the crysis people ????

i think the nct have a line for stressed parents with crying babies.

hth

and im so sorry

didn't want your post to go unanswered. Ds is 19m so have forgotten alot about those early weeks and he hardly ever cried so am prob not much use to you (but he doesn't sleep so i'm not being smug!). Alot of the people on here use cloth slings and they seem to be very good at comforting small babies as they basically just want to be close.
could it be her ff disagreeing with her?
you can have even tiny babies allergy tested using kaneisiology (sp?)

It does get better. hope you get some better advice soon

x post dressedup

have you tried baby wearing? This is where you keep baby snuggled close to you or your dp in a pouch or sling as you go about your day.

Read Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block for more suggestions.

Good luck and keep trying new things, eventually you'll hit on something that settles her.

Thanks for the quick responses. I am not sure it is just a comfort thing, I did think it was in the early weeks but now I can be holding her and she'll still cry. How do I get her tested to see if she is allergic to the milk? I use aptimil which I was told was closest to breastmilk. Spoke to HV, who just told me it was normal and she would grow out of it. Maybe it is because my dd1 was never a crier and it is just a bit of a shock but I still think it is something more than that?

i have a baby carirer you are welcome to its a mothercare one i can pop it in the post for you

You can contact the
CRY-SIS HELPLINE on
08451 228 669
(ACT NOW)
7 days a week
9am-10pm

cry sisnct info

we had 3 sessions with the cranial osteopath and then my dd changed completly from unsettled and having terrible rages to being a contented happy baby. did you have a traumatic labour with ventouse or forceps? i know some people are not believers but it really worked for us and will will be taking bump as soon as they are born this time.

my ds was tested by my homeopath using keniseolgy and he was allergic to cow's milk. He was bf until 8 months and then when i tried to introduce a ff he got bad cradle cap, his skin broke out and he sounded very snuffly like he couldn't breath properly so i knew something was up.
Trust your instincts if she's still not settling in a week's time go back to your hv or gp

also try catting nbg her second baby had reflux he was a boy and now he is on cows milk all his reflux has gone but oh my have i seen some fantastic puking!!!!

sorry that second link was http://www.nct.org.uk/info/_ nct

ds also has regular cranial osteopathy and i'm sure it helps

Hi Lisa

Just wanted to reassure you really. When I read your post it took me back a year or so to when my 15 month old was a few months old. She had the same things going on - it took forever to feed her, she seemed uncomfortable and was sometimes very upset. It was also a day time thing, as she slept like a dream at night.

We used infacol until she was about 5 or 6 months old, which seemed to help bring her burps up. We were also about to embark on some craniel osteopathy which we were advised might help, when it kind of just got better on it's own.

Looking back I think the main thing that helped was getting her to use a faster flowing teat. It meant she wasn't 'clicking' on the bottle and struggling to get the milk while taking lots of air in at the same time.Maybe it's something to consider as she gets older.

We used Aptamil milk and although it wasn't around at the time I noticed in the supermarket the other day there was a yellow box which said it helped to ease discomfort.
www.milupa-aptamil.co.uk/en/article.asp?chco_id=7349
You could try experimenting with one of these types of milk, I think I will if I notice the same thing when we have another baby.

While I was getting her feeds a bit more sorted I put her to sleep in the pram which she loved. Once she was in a better routine, I put her in her cot. With a little help from our ebay ocean wonders aquarium and a bit of shush patting (as per the Baby Whisperer book) she soon got the hang of it.

It will get better and easier, I promise. Good luck.

xxx

I had a natural birth with just gas and air and pethidine. She was 3 weeks earlier, would that make any different. I do have another session with the ostepath on Monday so will see how that goes.

I do also have private health through work and will check to see if it covers her and will also try and see another GP too as I do think the first one was thinking I was being OTT.

Thank you

Tamdin - she has cradle cap on her forehead and eyebrows which she has had since ff and also she is very snuffly and nose blocked for the last 2/3 weeks. Will the GP do such a test or do I need to see a homeopath?

Twoshakes - we did try no 2 teats last week and they seemed too fast for her but that was one of my thoughts too. Will give them aother go and also look out for the yellow box aptimil as tesco don't sell it.

Thank you once again, its such a relief to talk with people who know where I am coming from. Friends seem to think that Ruth is payback for my first dd being such a good baby

Lisa

Re: the teats. I remember it did take a good week or so for her to get to grips with the faster teat. It felt like a disaster at the time as she was spluttering around. But I was glad I persevered with it afterwards. The number 3 teat seemed to be the best for her as it just flowed.

xxx

You might also consider trying different shaped bottles (Dr Brown's are supposed to be good) or a different brand of formula?

Thanks, use Dr Brown bottles already.

also haven't hear good thing about s&m or cow and gate and osteopath said apitmil was best one to use

Hi Lisa,
My DS was quite like this and I would 2nd the suggestions sittung bull made. Also the back arching does sound a bit like my firends baby who (after months and months) she finally got a Dr to diagnose as silent reflux. Once it was sorted he was a different baby.

If it's any consolation ( and I know you will have heard this) my DS seemed liek a 'misera ble baby' but from 3 months became a mostly happy little chappy. But beore that there was lots of baby wearing ( we liked the kari-me sling which held him in an upright postion which he seemed happier with. Lots of letting him sleep on me during the day or taking him out in the pram as he wouldn;t sleep in his basket during the day. Oh and defianately bathing together as on his own he would scream and scream.

So sorry for you and your little one. Hope some of these suggestions help.

lisa don't think your gp would do it so would need to find a good naturopath/homepath for allergy test

arching the back would make me think wind i was told to burp ds after every ounce that he fed as he was a very windy baby and struggled t bring it all up although sounded like he couldnt possibly burp any more so i was told to burp after evry ounce and it did seem to work good luck

Lisa - just wanted to reiterate what Sittingbull has said, based on my own experiences. My DD1 was exactly like Ruth - crying & screaming almost constantly when awake, as if she was in pain. It was so upsetting, especially when I met up with my antenatal group and their babies were all happy and gurgling. She was worse laying down, arched her back when feeding etc. Then a friend whose DD had had reflux recommended I try her with some Infant Gaviscon. I basically went to the GP, described the symptoms and asked if he could let me have 1 box of Gaviscon to see if it made any difference. DD was BFed, so I syringed it into her and she transformed within a day into a different baby. After that I moved her onto formula as it was easier to simply add the Gaviscon to a feed, and we never looked back! It's worth a try.....

With DD2 I could see history starting to repeat itself (except her main symptom was vomiting up entire feeds), so went to GP and was given both Gaviscon, and Enfamil formula (this is thickened formula that stays down, hence controlling the reflux). DD2 seems to love the Emfamil and is now a very happy, non-vomity baby.

Can you get to see a sympathetic GP?

I bf dd...and whenever she was off, she cried. Holding her NEVER EVER worked!

Don't have anything to suggest but to go with your gut feeling. Write down her symptoms so you don't forget any and take to dr?

You have my sympathy...you can't be happy with a constantly unhappy baby...

It might be peaking (common fussiness peaks at 6 wks and your dc was early) or it might be colic (whatever that is). But I think you are quite right to try and find out if there is something else going on - just in case.

Dd used to gag a lot and cried a lot peaking at 6 wks. She slept on her tummy because of the gagging (but she held her head up from birth - wouldn't recommend that for a slightly premie baby - just mention it to show that I think it was related to keeping her milk down).

I'm not usually a fan of alternative medicine but I know people who have had great results from cranial osteopathy.

Jill

My DS had reflux but I didn't experience anything anywhere near as bad as you. I can thoroughly recommend C&G comfort (formerly Omnio) though. It works well for colic and reflux too.