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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

7 week old baby umhappy

11 replies

pamelat · 08/03/2008 20:00

my daughter was 7 weeks old last thursday, the last 12 days or so have been awful as she so grouchy/unsettled

seen doc twice and nothing medically wrobg with her, other than wind - tried everything to help her with that

seen health visitor too and she more sympathetic and suggested maybe reflux and to try docs again on monday for gaviscon.

she breastfed with a 10pm formula feed.

she has gone back to newborn type feeding, every hour and half for half hour and yet occassionally will go 4 hours, so know she can do it! i still feed her on demand.

she fed for 3 solid hours few days ago too

if not reflux then no idea what wrong as she never happy, stopped giggling and smiling and instead just fractious between feeds, not even sleeping at night now unless beside me, and only sleeping in day in car

tried raising her head etc but just desperately awaiting docs to open, and hoping it is reflux and not just an inexplicably umhappy baby?

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 08/03/2008 20:02

GROWTH SPURT ALERT. Completely normal I'm afraid. It'll go on for about three days, she's trying to get your milk supply up - why are you giving her formula at 10pm. Just let her feed solidly for a few days and your milk will catch up.

She's trying very hard to give you the hint that she needs to nurse a lot at the minute, to up your supply to what she needs. Honestly, it'll get better if you go with it, take her to bed and rest.

chiefcookandbottlewasher · 08/03/2008 20:13

hi pamelat, my dd is exactly the same age as yours and we have just been through this too. For two days in a row, she fed solidly between midday and midnight - 12 hours just swapping sides, it nearly killed me! Fortunaltely, someone on a previous thread had reccomended i look at www.kellymom.com so i was kind of wating for the growth spurt to happen. Still knocks you for six though, i can only second what whomovedmychocolate says and advise you to go with it. The good news is that now we're out the other side she's going longer between feeds both day and night.
good luck!

Original poster
pamelat · 08/03/2008 20:15

hi thanks whomovedmychocolate, thought spurts only lastedfew days though? this been weeks now

she putting on more weight than expected too?

formula as cant express and bottle allows me some sleep

OP posts:
TinkerbellesMum · 08/03/2008 20:15

Ditto whomovedmychocolate.

If you really feel the need to supplement, try not to do it at night as that is when your prolactin levels are at their highest and you can affect your supply, at the moment you need lots of milk because of the growth spurt and to be ready for the bigger baby.

Nurse-ins are not uncommon when you have a growth spurt. I have had a three-dayer. 45 mins on, 15 off for three days. I had to have everything done for me and take her to bed with me at night so she could feed through the night. I highly recommend co-sleeping when your baby is waking at night as neither of you will have to wake too much and daddy shouldn't be disturbed either.

TinkerbellesMum · 08/03/2008 20:17

More posts since I started writing!

Growth spurts don't last long, but the lead up to them can and some are so close together that it seems to go from one to another without a break.

A breastfed baby shouldn't put on more or less weight than is right - it's only HVs and charts that tell you different!

For getting sleep, see my co-sleeping comments.

whomovedmychocolate · 08/03/2008 20:20

I also coslept with my daughter for the first six weeks to help establish breastfeeding. I slept while she fed. Honestly once you get used to it, you don't actually wake up to unclip your bra and its a lot less faff than formula. Though I do understand your exhaustion, I remember it well and am not exactly looking forward to doing it again when this baby arrives!

If it's been weeks, it could be that your baby needs some help settling - do you swaddle? We found this really helpful.

Also a warm bath can relax some babies.

If she is growing fast don't worry - DD went from the 50th to the 99th percentile about seven weeks and just kept on going. She's perfectly normal but they don't take into account the height of the baby or that babies don't actually grow in a linear fashion. You just can't get them to read the books and now what they should be doing

FINALLY - one thing people fail to mention often is crying reaches a pitch at about six or seven weeks. The baby is learning to communicate and until about 12 weeks crying is about all they have to work with - it does start to get easier in a few weeks and then they start to make different noises (at which point your proudly tell everyone your clever baby is 'talking' only to later realise that was just the 'I gotta fart' noise - or perhaps that was just me?

Original poster
pamelat · 08/03/2008 20:23

night is the only time i can supplement as only time i am by myself, cant sleep if i am the one doing the bottle feed. done it for 4 weeks now and works for me,its about the only feed which satisfies her?

i really believe she in pain but not showing symptoms of reflux?

she strains, poos a lot, goes blue with wind eyc, really feel for her, makes you feel useless

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 08/03/2008 20:30

You are doing the obvious things right? - winding her properly? Have you tried elevating one end of her cot? Have you tried cutting out gas causing foods from your diet? Onions, cabbage, beans, etc.

The only other thing I can suggest is a cranial osteopath. I went to one when DD was very unsettled - she'd never slept for more than an hour in her first eight weeks and then she did for four solid hours (while we nervously hovered thinking she was about to die ).

bb99 · 08/03/2008 20:52

Have you tried cutting out dairy? That helped with my DS when he was unsettled and seemed to have tummy pain - it was really noticeable if I sneaked some cheese!

With the formula would it be worth trying a different brand, my nephew needed to try a few before he found one that suited?

Also baby massage helped my ds (and me - as it was a nice experience) I used to 'do' his tummy at almost every nappy change - only took a couple of minutes and it seemed to help him work out his wind and I found it a calming, bonding experience . Ask you HV - they should be able to help you / show you / put you in touch with a class (should be free).

Plus, if baby is difficult to wind and hangs on to it (DS did - wouldn't give anything up that had got into his tummy!) walking up and down stairs (while holding bubs ) can help it to come up - holding bubs carefully of course!

It does get better and the growth spurts do calm down, as does the feeding as they get older!

Original poster
pamelat · 08/03/2008 20:58

Thanks all, we start baby massage classes in 3 weeks time (feels like time away)

winding her, elevated one end of cot, I dont really eat much diary anyway other than milk with my breakfast cereal

Had thought about cranial ostepath, did you use a baby specialist, am desperate now and will try anything

OP posts:
TinkerbellesMum · 09/03/2008 17:51

Breastmilk tends to come in smaller doses than bottle milk (ebm or formula) which could be why that feed settles her more.

Obviously you have to do what works for you, I'm just explaining why night feeds are important, what you do with that information is for you to decide. I hope you didn't feel I was criticising.

Have you tried co-sleeping to get you through the nights? I know I personally wouldn't have been able to function without it and I never felt like I missed out on sleep.

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