What the hell is going on?

[FTEngineerM]

So DS2 is 19 days old and has been an absolute screamer since the day he was born. Even the neonatal doctor that was there for the emcs commented it’s unusual for them to come out screaming like that.. but he was checked and physically ok.

Since then he’s been ebf’d until yesterday.

We took him to the GP yesterday because he’s had a really gurgly belly, lots of gas, snotty, coughing, retching, straining, writing in pain and screaming (not crying like a high pitched scream as if he’s in agony).

They said it could be cmpa or silent reflux, so prescribed pepti (DS1 had cmpa and pepti sorted it out) we came home and gave him a bottle and he absolutely hated it, took an hour to get 30ml in him, he barely takes a bottle and it’s the same with a dummy he just spits it out or wretches if a bottle/dummy goes in (doesn’t do this at the breast). Then after he’d taken the 30ml he starts spitting up and screaming when he burped, it all got really loud and seemingly a lot worse after the bottle so I popped him on the breast so he could relax and go to sleep.. he did, then over night I breastfed as usual and he woke 3 times just fed and went back to sleep. It was a great night.

Then this morning we tried again with a bottle and DP got him to take 90ml over 30 minutes, lots of spit up and screaming again. Then today has been incredibly difficult with screaming almost all day, he’s in so much pain, you can see him writhing around in pain.

I’ve breastfed in between because I can’t see him like that, tried again with a bottle tonight and it was a disaster, 2 hours and 30ml is all he will take and no dummy just crying and arching.

We’ve been giving infacol today but that doesn’t seem to have made a difference. I’ve just breastfed him because he’s been up for hours and was getting hysterical, so was I to be fair I can’t watch him like this, we just don’t know what to do.

Why is he worse after a bottle of pepti?
Why was he like this from the beginning of it was cmpa?
Is it just reflux? I have read that cmpa causes reflux, so do we just power on through? It seems so illogical when he’s in so much pain.

Anyone help, we’re feeling a bit lost.

Sorry no advice but didn't want to read and run. Sounds to me like something else going on. Especially as it is your second I would trust your gut instinct

Is he on anything for the reflux?

Pepti still contains dairy, you might need an amino acid based milk plus proper treatment for reflux.

Gaviscon made dd so constipated and went to ranitidine which is now off the market. She was swapped to omeprazole that did nothing for her so we stopped it. It all calmed down come weaning ( we were advised to wean at 16 weeks by paediatrician)

Is it an allergy ? Could be cmpa as you have mentioned, my boy is 4months he screamed non stop and had really upsets stomach (you could hear gurgling). Changed him to prescription formula, hypoallergenic and he’s a different baby. It’s trial and error.
My friends baby who was breast fed was the same, once she cut all dairy from diet and baby was fine.
Best of luck

shelbanks.co.uk/

IBCLC who is also the guru of all things unsettled babies wrt feeding (she helps FF and combi fed families too, not just EBF). Might be worth getting a private review with her as your situation sounds awful.

How are his nappies OP? Plenty of wee and normal looking poo?

I think I would want to rule out any sort of gut abnormality/blockage/twisting. They are rare and it’s unlikely but I would ask a doctor to consider it specifically just in case.

Thanks everyone. Would a blockage cause pain all the time? Or would it be sporadic?

Nappies are ok, loads of wet ones and poop is mustard and seedy. He does poop a hell of a lot though, every fart leaves a shart so we’re forever changing him.

Not on anything for reflux, GP said try cmpa first because if that’s causing the reflux it’ll solve both rather than me give you both and you not know what’s fixed it.

He slept great last night after I stopped offering bottle/dummy, the times he slept:
8-11 then bum, boob and burp
11:30-2:30 then change of clothes (wee’d escaped), both boobs and burp
3:00-5:30 boob
6:00 back to sleep and I’m writing this 😃

If breastmilk was making him scream I just don’t get why it’s absolutely fine sometimes, how am I having to ‘top up with a breastfeed’ to get him to go to sleep? It’s the opposite of what I read everywhere.

Is reflux meds the way to go instead? I am calling them back today. I tried cutting dairy/soya with DS1 but even after 6 weeks he was still reacting to something in my milk, 3 days on pepti and his symptoms cleared. I will try again but I don’t want him in pain for 6 weeks whilst we wait..

Hi OP, I'm sorry to hear you and your baby are having a tough time. It's so hard when they can't tell us everything is based on guess work, isn't it?

From what you've written, I'm thinking it sounds like it could be GERD to me (gastroesophageal reflux disease). It is still reflux, but more severe and would require some help to make things more comfortable for your baby. Feeding little and often can help in these circumstances, hence why the breast top ups probably were able to soothe your baby temporarily. I would go back to your GP and suggest this as a plausible possibility. Look it up yourself too, and see if it sounds at all familiar. Good luck. The early days are rarely easy!

Sorry, my first paragraph was missing an 'and'!