Baby happy all the time EXCEPT when feeding

[EggHead268]

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

DS2 is 12 weeks old and I would say since birth we have had some form of feeding issue. But he is the happiest child when not feeding. Like literally does not cry at all any other time, he sleeps well and is always smiling.

It's ramped up a lot in the last few days which has prompted me to post. He will have an Oz or 2 and then refuse any more and just screams and screams, some times even before I put the bottle anywhere near his mouth. He never used to scream that much, he would just fall asleep or turn away and push the bottle out his mouth for the first few weeks and would take over an hour for ever feed. We changed his milk at 4 weeks due to constipation (he now goes once a day), changed the bottle due to wind and the teat seeming too big for his mouth with the tommee tippee bottles. We've tried gripe water(don't think it's wind), calpol, teething geland granules (work sometimes, does seem to be teething maybe? Dribbling, chewing on first etc), faster teat, slower teat. He got better for a little bit and he was having his feeds in a reasonable time, no screaming etc and I thought we were finally through the worst. But now it's back to the screaming and I'm losing the will to live sitting on the sofa for hours a day with a screaming baby and trying to entertain a 4 year old.

Started feeding him 20mins ago, he's had 2 gulps of the bottle and has been screaming ever since. Even the dummy won't settle him which it usually does. I've got to go and scatter my name ashes in an hour and I can't cope with this right now.

Because I know it will be the first thing anyone suggests, he does not have reflux. I have had a reflux baby and I do not think it's that at all.

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?

Sorry for the typos 😔

Bump

I am sorry, i have no advice but a lot of sympathy. That must be hard.

I would have a chat with your HV or GP. He might have an intolerance to dairy. If the case this can be easily sorted.

Would there not be more symptoms of it was an intolerance?

Also I've spoken to the HV and she was pretty useless. Just said he's probably not hungry. As a one off yes but not every single day. If I stopped feeding him every time he cried he'd have about 10oz a day.

For the record, I've also tried different feeding positions (sitting right up, lying down), standing up, sitting down, rocking him, different room, warmer milk, cooler milk, feeding when he first shows feeding ques, waiting till he's about to scream.

He was fine with his bottle earlier, but I didnt do anything different to usual. It's been 55 minutes and he's only had 3 Oz of his bedtime bottle 😔

Have you contacted your GP at all? I've found my HV pretty useless regarding feeding issues we've had
It could possibly be reflux? Would he arch his back when feeding? I would give the GP a quick call, first step would be carobel, a thickener for his fodmula

Sounds exactly like lactose intolerance.
My ds behaved this way when feeding. It was just temporary in our case, caused by a viral infection and after a few weeks he was fine again.

Did he have any other symptoms? Dontiknowit

It's more likely to be cmpa rather than lactose intolerance. There are a range of symptoms but babies might just exhibit one or two. Screaming and arching back during feeds are common sense symptoms. Ask your GP for a trial with a non dairy formula to see if it helps.

I just feel like if it was reflux, lactose intolerance or cmpa, he would exhibit symptoms at other times, whereas this is literally only ever when he feeds.

I do think it's possible he has stomach cramps but why doesn't he seem to get them at any other time? He used to squirm and cry in his sleep in the early hours and it seemed his tummy was working in overdrive, and he would scream when he farted but this hadn't happened for a long time now. He does fart an awful lot but he doesn't seem bothered by it.

Not sure if it's relevant but his poo absolutely STINKS 🤢 like very vinegary. Always has done. It was green on previous formula but he was consipated and it didn't really smell.

No only ever had symptoms when feeding. Why don't you give a non dairy milk a go?

Could be ear pain, or maybe tongue tie

Dontiknowit Thats interesting. Did it happen consistently or was he fine with some feeds or on some days and worse on others?

We tried colief with DS1 when we were trying to figure out what was wrong with him (acid reflux). Do you think I should try this first or just try and get the GP to prescribe a different formula? We really struggled to get any medication for DS1 because he was still putting on weight, his pain and distress didn't seem to warrant any concern and I'm worried about getting the same response again.

Vinegary poo smell is a classic allergy symptom

It was every feed but as I said didn't last longer than a few weeks.
I'd see your GP. In my experience GPs are reluctant to do much for babies under 12 weeks because all babies this age cry so much/are colicy etc. After 12 weeks I think they're more willing to investigate if things are still difficult because they should have grown out of it by now.

Silent reflux (so no vomit coming out but still upsetting the baby?) Mine screamed a few minutes into a feed, arched her back, it was awful

Sounds like cmpa is definitely a possibility. Try either cutting out dairy (if you are BF) or dairy free formula.

Have you had his latch checked by someone who knows what they are doing?

If it continues after looking into those two things I would seek further medical support from GP.

Is he putting on weight ok?

He just seems so happy the rest of the time, that's what made me think it wasn't reflux. He does not cry at all other than during a feed.

We had a bit of a bad night which is unusual for him, I was counting my lucky stars cos we had minimum fuss with his bedtime bottle but he woke in the night and did a horrible, even more than usual foul smelling, watery poo. He had a 3oz bottle (again minimum fuss) and went back to sleep but woke up an hour and a half later squirming about and crying. He again had his 6oz morning bottle with no problems but then threw up all over us both 😔 He only does this very occasionally but it starts with him coughing a little bit and then I think phew he's ok, but then he does one big cough, and chokes/gags then throws up most of what he's just drank. But generally day to day he barely brings any milk back up.

I've gone round in circles since he was born thinking it's one thing or another and I just doubt myself.

I definitely think it could be cmpa or lacoste intolerance having read up on them a bit more but when the main symptoms are so similar, how do I know which one it is? I know cmpa is more common.

I'm going to be ringing the GP on Tuesday morning and will be asking for a hypoallergenic or lactose free formula to try and see if there is any improvement 🤞

Sorry Lumene I think so, but he hasn't been regularly weighed properly. We have done it roughly with our scales at home (they're not the best tbh) but the local clinic is closed because of Covid so he has only been weighed at 5 days old, 10 days old and 8 weeks at his injections/check up.

He was only 5lb8 when he was born and I'd say is still quite small. If out and someone asks how old he is they comment on how small he is. He's only just out of his newborn clothes (and that's only because he's quiet long, not cos of baby chubb) and some of the 0-3 stuff is still a bit big.