Help! 14 week old screaming at every feed and it's really getting me down.

[screaminghabdabs]

Hello all. I'm new here and I'm hoping that someone may be able to help me as we're in a desperate state. DD2 is 14 weeks old and has screamed from birth when being fed. BF exclusively for first 6 weeks and then on advice of HV gave up BF as she wasn't gaining weight and was refusing the breast and screaming...However, still fights bottles (Avent and Aptamil) and screams and screams. GP and HV have said it's colic although she doesn't draw legs up and brings wind up OK. (Plus DD1 had bad colic and this is much more severe) Tried infacol, gripe water, colief, Dr Brown bottles, homeopathy and osteopathy without any improvement. Also cow and gate FF. I'm at my wits end as it can take an hour to get 3oz down her and she screams the whole time although is clearly hungry. It's got so bad that I've been diagnosed with PND and given prozac Gp keeps fobbing me off by saying she's a difficult baby although I've pleaded for a referral to a paediatrician as my instinct tells me it's something else. In a good week she's only gaining 1 or 2 oz a week in weight and has dropped from 98th centile to the 8th. On bad weeks she doesn't gain at all. When she's not screaming she's alert and smiley but hates being put down and needs to be held the whole time. She has short naps during the day and sometimes wakes up screaming from those.
Please help as I hate seeing her in so much pain and I'm finding it extremely difficult to cope with the constant crying.

No advice but just bumping for you

If you don't mind I'll ask your question on another forum (doula website). I'm sure that something can be done!

Many thanks

could it be reflux?

Bloody GPs! Did it even occur to him that she might have reflux (silent if she's not being obviously sick) and/or be milk intolerant, which is what my guess would be. The two are often linked, so she may be suffering from both.

If that is the case then breastfeeding would have been the best option, but you'd have had to give up dairy yourself, as the cows milk protein passes through into your milk. Now to test this theory you will need to get hold of a hypoallergenic milk - Pepti Junior or Nutramigen or Neocate, which you will need a prescription for.

Also talk to your gp about reflux, and see if he will prescribe some infant gaviscon at the very least to see if it causes any improvement.

I do feel for you, as I also went through most of this, although my DD didn't stop feeding - if anything she fed too much, prob because the milk ironically also acts as an antacid!

What remedies did the baby have?

Have the doctors considered reflux?

Hello there,I read your post with great sympathy as after an angelic first baby my second was a nightmare.She screamed and was distressed after feeding,woke screaming from sleep,fought when feeding(exclusively bf),didn't nap etc etc.(Was gaining weight though but was mammoth guzzler).After many many trips to GP eventually got her diagnosed with silent reflux.Baby gaviscon turned her into a different child.So as previous poster said wonder if it could be undiagnosed reflux.Hang in there.Believe me,I know how hard it is,especially with another child to consider,but it does get better eventually.HTH and good luck!!

I asked the gp whether she thought it could be reflux/milk intolerance but she insisted that in under 12 weeks it's usually colic and she'd probably grow out of it by 12 weeks...so I waited...but she still wont refer her or consider reflux and is now more concerned about me being depressed.

I think you need to put your foot down with regards to the baby. Take your DH along so that he can articulate the problems with the baby.

I'm so sorry that it's like this for you.

News article about GPs missing milk intolerance . Says it all really. Agree with Marsy that you and your DH need to get tough with her.

Many thanks for all your kind words and suggestions. I think the problem is now that the GP clearly views me as a neurotic new mum and worrying unecessarily. Taking DH to GP's with me is a good idea. Thanks for reassuring me that I'm not losing my marbles and confirming that it sounds like silent reflux. x

sadly, our GP ignored DS' reflux and it took until he 6 months for him to believe me. HV, DP and i were convinced he had reflux. i took DP with me and he finally prescribed gaviscon infant and DS is so much happier. he was sick a lot before and now it's very rare.

Oh and you can prob persuade a pharmacist to sell you infant gaviscon if you want to give it a try. When I did this I just had to tell them that my GP had suggested trying it.

You can also buy Nutramigen, but it is expensive, and the pharmacy will prob have to order it in specially.

until he was 6 months

Or milk intolerance. Thanks Cantsleepwithsanta X

Let us know how you get on! And ignore that nonsense about the GP thinking you're neurotic. Neurotic has saved many a life!

Thanks again. As Gp is making things difficult, I'll try and get hold of some gaviscon or nutramigen myself and try it out. How long does it take to notice an improvement with the drugs if it is reflux?

My ds didn't have these symptoms from birth, but did have problems a bit later on, would start feeding, then get very agitated, also had eczema, which he scratched a lot, particularly at mealtimes. It turned out he had dairy intolerance. Once it was sorted he was much happier, luckily I had really supportive, helpful GP.

Sounds really likely he has either reflux or dairy inolerance - just hope you get it sorted, then I'm sure life will improve loads. I was also on Prozac for a while, but not for too long - once the real problems were dealt with, I could cope again and felt OK. Life is now great. Wishing you all the best,

Gaviscon has a build up effect, so you may notice some difference within a day or two, but may take longer before there's a vast improvement. Also, it isn't a wonder drug that works for every case - there are others (ranitadine I believe being the most commonly used) which usually require a paed appointment first, so don't rule out reflux if the gaviscon doesn't work.

If there's a milk allergy, you will prob notice a diff within a day. It took a couple of days for me to notice some diff, which improved over a week or more, but I am bf so there would still have been some in my system at that point. With formula I would think the change would be even quicker.

Thanks very much. I now feel more hopeful for a relaxed xmas Will let you know how it goes. X

So bad that they are not taking you seriously. I think it sounds as though it may be worth changing GP's. Yes your baby is difficult - that is the problem! Yes she may 'grow out of it', but why should she have to and why should you go through this? Its 'usually colic' indeed

Believe me, I've been taking her in to either the HV or Gp every week and insisting that something is wrong. I even took her to A & E at 2am when she was a week old as the screaming was so severe. Predictably though, she fell asleep in the car on the way in (probably exhausted with all the crying, poor thing) and woke up without screaming. Again, they dismissed my concerns and put it down to newborn colic despite the fact that they didn't run any tests or even examine her. I think that it's the fact that no one has been taking me seriously that has knocked my confidence and left me feeling so crap and without hope

Was offline a bit but interesting to see how thread has developed.TBH if you can I would change your GP or absolutely insist on a diferent opinion .I know exactly how your feel.I am a health professional and I felt exactly as you did (Labelled overanxious mum) as I must have gone 8+ times with the sanme concern.dd also seemed seemed to get other bugs-bronchiolitis,ear infections etc,felt I lived in GPs.One day I went in and luckily got a lovely locum who was fab.She went through everything and then suggested silent reflux.I could have hugged her.
Go with your instincts re your baby.You are her mum.You know her better than anyone.Keep nagging the gp/hv.
Look after yourself.Cyber hugs.Wrinkly.

Thank you, will do x