4 week old baby and really struggling with feeding and wind etc any help gratefully received!!

[excitedfornumber2]

Hi, DS2 is 4 weeks old and i am having problems with his feeding etc, with DS1 he used to feed very well, and quickly established a routine, so this is all new to me.

Tried BF but DS2 ended up in hospital cause he lost too much weight as used to fall aslepp after a couple of sucks, became jaundice and wouldnt wake up.
Now Bottle feeding, again struggled to get him to stay awake to drink the milk, was only taling about 2-3 oz and then waking up after an hour or so hungry. HV suggested fast flow teats and have finally managed to get him to stay awake to drink his bottles, and going approx 3-4 hours for a feed.
Have a big problem with wind as well, before using new teats was because he would fall asleep, now he is just struggling, have been using infacol for about a week, and did help in beginning but now getting progressively worse, and crying and not settling from feed about 5pm/6pm, also not sleeping fantastically because uncomfortable.

Can anyone give me any suggestions, am wondering if not settling with milk choice, as has red rash on front of body, originally thought it was heat rash, but doesnt calm down, even at night and only been sleeping in vest.

Sorry for long post!!!

Anyone???

have you tried 'cycling' his legs? that worked for my one, -

i would switch milk brands, might help too

get dr to look at rash - might answer some questions about rash

We ended up using a dummy with Ds2 for that evening unsettledness and it really worked!

hope all else going well, we found 2 a bit of a shock !

Hi, I'm not an expert but wanted you to know someone had read your post.

The red rash could be pretty much anything, they get rashes from time to time, but yes it could be the milk, what are you using? We swapped from SMA gold to aptamil when ds was little and his wind dramatically improved.

Infacol prevents wind, gripe water treats wind. We found an oral syringe with gripe water (or when he's finished the bottle, sloosh a tsp in the empty bottle and get him to drink it) helped a lot. Plus try lots of different winding positions.

If he's struggling with the new teats and if you think they're making the wind worse, switch back to the slower flow ones, and just try twisting the bottle in his mouth when he's falling asleep, or lick his forehead and blow gently to keep him awake. hth

Thanks for the answers, we are already using a dummy as hospital recommended it for when he was being tube fed in hospital, this does settle him, but the wind wakes him up again,
Interestingly i am using SMA gold, so will see about changing, im not sure the teats are making the wind worse as we are managing to get some up, as he is awake, rather than asleep as with the slow teats,

I cant believe how diff things are with number 2!!!, and turning the bottle doesnt work to wake him up, he justs lays there asleep,
Thanks again.

Has anyone heard about swings helping with wind, due to the movement?

Also his poo is a slimy green cclour with yellow bits in, is this normal?

I think iirc that ds's poo on SMA was rather green and manky looking, then went to an even yellowish colour akin to breastmilk poo on aptamil. I just swapped the milk over, and he was fine, helped straight away.

The swing might help, as might a sling if you could keep him fairly upright. Walking upstairs with them on your shoulder can help.

Not sure about the poo, as ds is bf, but yes I've heard swings can help with colic. Also gentle tummy massage as well - massage baby's tummy in a clockwise direction that can help ease wind and any constipation.
As for the rash it might be baby eczema, which is pretty common in newborns, my ds was plagued with it until he was about 3-4 months old, he got it on his arms and legs. Aveeno cream (which you should be able to get on prescription) is good, or try massaging with olive oil as well to keep the skin nice and moist.
Try tickling his feet to keep him awake as well.
He is still very little though so needs plenty of sleeps! Plus some babies do like to drink little and often but they do settle down.
HTH and congrats as well

things that worked for us (a bit!):

Colief

changing milks

different bottles (we found Dr brown's the best, has a valve to stop bubbles in bottles)

baby massage

lying dd across lap on her tummy and rubbing back really vigorously)

feeding dd in her bouncy chair

propping up end of cot

good luck

I had a very windy newborn too, and found that feeding in a position that meant that his head was significantly higher than his tummy helped a bit. Just meant using an extra pillow under his head.

I did have one midwife suggest feeding so that he had to 'work for the milk' meaning that his head should be level or above the milk so that he had to drag it up rather than lie back and let it fall in his mouth. I never managed it - but you might!

Best of luck

sorry not sure saying what i want to say very clearly!!!

DS was sleeping lots when using slower teats and was falling into deep sleep whilst feeding did try tickling feet, prodding and poking and nothing would wake him up to continue feeding and so was feeding little and often, was unable to wind him fully due to being asleep.
Switched to faster flow teats and he is feeding better and going longer between feeds, but is truggling to settle between feeds and at night, and is still not winding fully, which is why he is not settling, if i hold him all the time he does sleep though, so a sling may be the way to go.

think i will change his milk as i really dont think this is helping, and used SMA gold as DS1 was fine on it.
thanks again!

HV has recommended us for baby massage although she said could not do this until LO 6 weeks old,

HazeyJane - I have considered the drbrown bottles,as when DS is feeding bubbles are visible in when he is sucking, i have tried all the rest,!! How are the teats on the DRbrown as he is not very good at sucking on them, What milk did you change from and to?

i agree with hazyjane dr browns are miracle bottles. my ds3 was 4.5 wks perm and wouldnt feed very well. he would only use the disposable premy teats from hospital for first couple of months but he was v windy unsettled and cried constantly. Was advised by hv about dr browns and they worked that well with him i could have kissed her. Not sure what speed teats come on the bottles but you can get fast flow and varyflow ones for them.I found that the aptimel woked well for his wind also.

I switched from Cow + Gate to Aptamil.

I found the Avent bottles the worst for bubbles, found it helped to unscrew neck and re screw, after shaking, also helped if milk was hot enough when mixing.

I think I've got 1 or 2 slightly used (dd2 wasn't bothered by windiness at all!) bottles, which I can stick in the post to you if you would like (there are also some unused teats, no 1 - which is very slow, and 2 which my dd1 - the windy one! used from the start). She liked the teats as they are very soft and long, she had problems with the Avent, and I thought this might be because she had a tongue tie.

Sorry forgot to say, yes baby massage not rec until 6 weeks, but we tried some very gentle stuff, I still have the intruction sheets (i think it specifies stuff for colic), which i could photocopy and stick in with the bottles if you like.

My windy ds2 used to settle better on his side...i would then turn him onto his back when we went to bed at night.

I just used a rolled up blanket to prop him on side.

They do grow out of it...honestly and he is a fab sleeper now.

My windy ds2 used to settle better on his side...i would then turn him onto his back when we went to bed at night.

I just used a rolled up blanket to prop him on side.

They do grow out of it...honestly and he is a fab sleeper now.

Dr Brown Bottles ROCK!! Try them ASAP!!!!
Might be worth trying an easy digest formula, such as Aptamil Easy Digest or Cow and Gate Comfort. These diets helped our ds ++++++

Thank you everyone, i went to see the HV yesterday and she could clearly see that he is a colicky baby. She recommended a couple of things like changing the milk, or trying colief drops, I had already got some Aptamil milk before i went which she agreed could help, however has sugested if that doesnt work maybe using cow and gate comfort milk, and then she mentioned the drops, isnt annoying how they dont just tell you what to try!!!.

Anyhow went to boots, and they recommended trying the drops, but after speaking to MIL and SIL, i have decided to try the aptamil first as my SIL son was colicky and she used that and it worked,

No major problems with the Aptamil so far, although still having to use the fast flow teats, so will pick up a Dr Brown bottle today, and see how we go. (Hazey - Thank you for the offer of the bottles, ill see how i go and maybe will ask you to send them if i get on ok) I do think he needs the bigger teats just like DS1 as he seems to take a while to realise that its in his mouth!!!!.

Strangely enough i started putting him on his side in the day a couple of days ago, and last night settled him on his side and then turned him over, we had the best night since he arrived so will continue with this.

Thank you again, its so lovely having someone to talk to who understands!!!

Glad to hear it