CMA, Reflux, Colic? Crying most of the day and barely.sleeps

[Heavingham]

Need help on what could be the cause of my little one's crying?

My little one will cry pretty much all day and it's especially after feeds, but still lasting all day.

He is nearly 10 weeks old, not underweight and is healthy from his appearance.

We have him on the CMA formula, as it is believed he was having issues with the normal formula. The only symptoms that lead to this were frequently crying after feeds, constipation with bowel movements every 2 to 3 days, very soft to diarrhoea bowel movements. Since being on the formula, he having 2 bowel movements every day. This is brilliant but I feel the CMA formula would have sorted out the long burst of cries. Now I am having my doubts about it - just waiting to be seen by a dietician to discuss it further.

We are also trying Gaviscon Infant but he is still crying after feeds, even being on it. He brings up his milk (spit up not vomiting) especially when burping and after feeds. This lead to a diagnosis of silent reflux as he does look like he brings up the milk but swallows it back. To prevent any constipation, we have been advised to add an extra ounce of water to the feed.

He also doesn't sleep much throughout the day, and we try to get him to sleep, and we tried everything 😂 The most he would do is half an hour but that is on good days. The rest would be on an average of 10 minutes but does have short periods of falling asleep in your arms. During the night he can be fine, we've been trying to stick with a routine and settle him at 6 pm with a bath and bottle. He would fuss a little and then go down for his sleep to be woken back up at 10 pm with feeds every 4 hours.

The feeds. We're doing 5 ounces at the moment and using the MAM bottles. He takes it all most of the time and could do 6 ounces. The issue with the feeds is the winding process. He slightly struggles to burp sometimes, but will eventually burp. When he does, he usually brings up milk (spit up) but when we try to burp him, he will try and fight it, as if he is uncomfortable being bent over and be patted on the back.

I feel like we are trying everything and have tried everything. After a couple of weeks he was born, we tried Infacol and Colief Infant drops. There wasn't much luck. This lead to changing the formula brand - he was on Aptamil, then moved over to SMA and now on the CMA formula. When he was on Aptamil, he looked uncomfortable and cried a lot, which looked like pain. Then tried SMA which he seemed okay with but still no frequent bowel movements and cries weren't as aggressive. The Health visitor suggested trying ready-made formula for 24 hours to help pass the bowel movement but when we tried it, he would scream in pain as he did before or probably worse. This lead to the CMA which has helped with bowel movements.

I am unsure what to think now and but I am starting to think it is something so obvious but being completely ignored.

Sorry for the long post and thank you for reading.

Hi no advice as such but my little boy was the same, he screamed pretty much constantly for the first 8-12 weeks of his life, I used to cry down the phone to my HV every week. I rang the doctors I rang an osteopath I just absolutely couldn’t believe that a baby could be this upset and nothing physically be wrong with it. I once took him to a&e cos he literally screamed for 4 hours straight.

He’s now 17mo and the happiest, cleverest, most content little boy. I know how tough it is, all babies are difficult, reflux/colic babies are beyond difficult. Me and my boyfriend used to just sit and cry with our baby sometimes as we were so fed up and so tired. But it gets better. By itself. Although it might not feel like it ever will, it does.

All babies are born with immature digestive systems, I really believe some are just born with more immature ones than others, like my little boy. You aren’t doing anything wrong and in a few months time this will be a thing of the past.

Baby massages and bicycle leg exercises etc used to help, as did the occasional FridaBaby windi stick, also a sling/baby carrier is a godsend for reflux babies x

If he's uncomfortable being burped in a seated position have you tried winding him over your shoulder? He might be happier?

Do you have a baby carrier? Is he happier in there at all? Being kept upright? DS2 almost lived in our ergo 360! The tiger in the tree hold can sometimes be soothing for reflux babies as can a dummy (the sucking helps keep the acid down).

I bf so I don't know lots about formula/bottle feeding but if he's taking the full 5 ounces maybe try increasing to six and see how you go? I think they are supposed to leave some so you know they're full.

My son had reflux and we would have lots of very intense screaming that nothing would seem to help with, it did eventually pass. That said don't be afraid to go back to the GP, there are other drugs they can try. I hope he settles down soon.

@KL92xxxx

Hi no advice as such but my little boy was the same, he screamed pretty much constantly for the first 8-12 weeks of his life, I used to cry down the phone to my HV every week. I rang the doctors I rang an osteopath I just absolutely couldn’t believe that a baby could be this upset and nothing physically be wrong with it. I once took him to a&e cos he literally screamed for 4 hours straight.

He’s now 17mo and the happiest, cleverest, most content little boy. I know how tough it is, all babies are difficult, reflux/colic babies are beyond difficult. Me and my boyfriend used to just sit and cry with our baby sometimes as we were so fed up and so tired. But it gets better. By itself. Although it might not feel like it ever will, it does.

All babies are born with immature digestive systems, I really believe some are just born with more immature ones than others, like my little boy. You aren’t doing anything wrong and in a few months time this will be a thing of the past.

Baby massages and bicycle leg exercises etc used to help, as did the occasional FridaBaby windi stick, also a sling/baby carrier is a godsend for reflux babies x

I am sorry to hear that and thank you for replying. I can relate to it for sure.

I believe this will have to be a case and we will have to hold out until he grows out of it. It's just a struggle because you want an answer to resolve the issues but it feels nobody knows the answer to resolving it. This makes me think it's something obvious, like simple trapped wind and we've been looking for other cures to ease our frustration.

Everyone has said it does get better, as you have mentioned, and I am hoping that is the case and comes quick.

We're still waiting to see the dietician for the first time, so hopefully, they can put us on the right path and look rule out things.

@Sunshinegirl82

If he's uncomfortable being burped in a seated position have you tried winding him over your shoulder? He might be happier?

Do you have a baby carrier? Is he happier in there at all? Being kept upright? DS2 almost lived in our ergo 360! The tiger in the tree hold can sometimes be soothing for reflux babies as can a dummy (the sucking helps keep the acid down).

I bf so I don't know lots about formula/bottle feeding but if he's taking the full 5 ounces maybe try increasing to six and see how you go? I think they are supposed to leave some so you know they're full.

My son had reflux and we would have lots of very intense screaming that nothing would seem to help with, it did eventually pass. That said don't be afraid to go back to the GP, there are other drugs they can try. I hope he settles down soon.

Yes, we've tried. It's funny because he used to love over the shoulder and still does on occasion. He just seems to be uncomfortable in any position whatever you try.

We've tried moving onto 6 ounces but most of the time he cries even more, but can definitely take the ounces for sure. We sticking with 5 ounces at the moment and looking to introduce 6 ounces in a couple of weeks just so his belly and digestive system can mature more. It's usually around the 3 months mark their body has begun to mature.

It's hard with GP’s unless you get the right one who might have seen a similar situation or has more exposure to children. We're hoping to see a dietician about the CMA and hopefully, they might know more or might be able to help more. I know for sure if they can't then they will refer to a paediatric doctor.

We have a baby carrier and sling, both work like a charm most of the time with the settling and the sleeping, but just can't wear them all the time.