6 week old, is he greedy or is it colic/reflux?

[LaceyLou42]

Hi all. At my wits end trying to figure out my baby boy. From day one he cried a lot. First off he was constipated (from 1 week old he went 4-5 days without pooping) which he still suffers with now although not as bad. Since then he would cry in “waves” on and off appearing like he is in pain. Then came the crying after feeding. He is bottle fed, and he cries as soon as you remove the bottle from his mouth. I try to burp him after every ounce but it’s almost impossible because he tenses up and straightens out his legs as soon as I remove the bottle. I was told this could be silent reflux and prescribed Gaviscon Infant. I’m beginning to wonder if it is reflux, or whether he’s crying so much because he’s greedy and wants the bottle back. Is he too young for this kind of behaviour though? Often when’s he’s finished the bottle he’s fine. It’s mainly when I take it out to burp him! The other issue I have is that he doesn’t stop sucking so I never know when he’s full. He’s currently having 5oz every 4 and a half hours which I think is about the maximum he should be having for his age. I honestly think he would have 10oz at a time if I let him. This would suggest reflux... or again, is he just greedy? Or sucking for comfort (he does love a dummy)?! Somebody help me work this baby out lol.

This is not sign of constipation -> was constipated (from 1 week old he went 4-5 days without pooping) it's normal baby digestion. Nothing needs to be done about it.

We had this too cry in “waves” on and off appearing like he is in pain and I was certain it was colic (and it was not, he was just being a baby, tired, growing). I was told it must be reflux and he needs medication (and it was not and he did not need any medication). I was very reluctant to medicate him on the "maybe" chance he actually has reflux. I think here in the UK every baby has reflux/colic as soon as they start to cry, because the GPs are useless, do not care and they just want the parents off their backs. Mostly it's neither, or the baby is tired and lonely (most common reason for them to cry).

Dummy helped us a lot, one for his digestion, and two for settling himself.

Can't help with the bottle thing as ours was BF only, but babies are rarely greedy at this stage, if he is hungry he will cry for more food. If he is too full, he will throw up - is what I was told and went by.

Hope you feel a bit better soon, it is really hard as they just cry and it rarely makes any sense to us (maybe if you have 12 kids after 10 you can tell why they are crying...).