Breastfed 6 week old crying in the evening.

[suiledonn]

Hi, dd2 is 6 weeks old. I'm breastfeeding on demand and we don't really have a routine yet. She feeds very frequently during the day and is sleeping well at night (co-sleeping). Once we go to bed for the night I feed her lying down and it might take a while for her to settle but once she does she sleeps really well and only wakes for her feeds. The evenings are a disaster though. On and off for the past couple of weeks she has been very unsettled in the evening, crying and shouting and seems in distress. We have tried gripe water but I'm not sure wind is the only problem. I am starting to loose confidence in the breastfeeding. A couple of nights I have given her a bottle of formula as she kept latching on, crying and coming off the breast. She seems hungry but not satisfied by the breastfeeding. I don't want to stop breastfeeding but I have a 2 year old dd and I look forward to having a rest in the evening but at the moment it is not happening. I am starting to feel totally exhausted. Does anyone know if there is a reason why my supply might be up and down if I am feeding on demand or why dd is so unsettled? Could it be colic? I thought that babies usually cried early in the evening with that. Thanks

Should have said the crying doesn't usually start til late in the eveining 8.30/9pm ish.

i's very usual for little babies to cluster feed in the evenings.
i would just settle down on the sofa with a nice cuppa and just feed her as and when she wants it.

could be colic too, prime time for it. ds2 was a nightmare all night with it until he got to about 4 months

suiledonn oh it is so hard, but is entirely normal ime. it is demand building supply and there is nothing to do but feed. dvds with subtitles are very useful for this stage.

yes, it is common in the evenings - some good info here

www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

I had something similar with DS1 (although, as you say, it tended to happen a bit earlier in the evening with him). Not full-on colic, but definitely a very unhappy baby for a couple of hours each evening.

It's true that subtitles really come into their own at this stage

I know it's dispiriting when you're in the middle of it but hopefully it won't last for long. DS1 was well and truly over it by about 12 weeks.

I have no problem sitting with her at the breast all evening - this is what we have been doing all along and at for the first few weeks it was fine. For the past while though she keeps latching on, coming off, dozing, latching on again and getting frustrated and crying and getting so upset. It is stressing me out and I'm sure she picks up on it. I just don't seem to have enough milk to satisfy her in the evening. I thought the constant feeding would increase supply but it doesn't seem to be working.

DS2 suffered from evening only colic at around this age. We discovered Colief - it's a natural remedy. It's a bit of a fuss, as you have to express a few drops and mix it in with that, given before each feed. However, it was magic, especially as he went on often to cry after every feed. It's available from Boots, and is a bit pricey, but if it works for you, you can get it on prescription.

HTH.

Sounds like colic, you'll just have to ride it out.
Also, it could be that she's been overstimulated during the day, especially if there have been a lot of people around and noise over xmas. That can make them like this in the evenings. Try and do less during the day if possible, make everything quieter and slower iyswim.

Notquietgrownup - how did you manage the expressing for the Coleif. I have looked at it but I have never been able to express by hand and don't know how I would do it. Do you pump and use some of your EBM or just express a little on to a spoon??? Sorry if these are silly questions. I breastfed dd1 for almost a year but feel like a first timer again with these new problems.

there was a study done and actually all the colic remedies such as gripe water, colief, infacol were no more effective than plain water.

i wouldn't bother personally. not worth the faff of expressing and feeding and all the rest of it.

I didn't think that colief was included in recent studies TIY. Do you have a reference for that recent one (I'd be genuinely interested as I have recommended it a lot since)? I consulted our local breast feeding clinic - one of the country's leading experts on bfeeding - somewhat cautiously, as she normally advises no intervention, and she said that it would work - though improving the latch would work better.

I used the Avent Isis pump, just got out a few drops, then added the colief to that. I used a spoon or, if he was wiggly, an ordinary syringe to squirt the mixture in, then started feeding. It worked wonderfully for us, and saved my sanity - probably my marriage too!!

Colief is lactase, which is the enzyme found naturally in the gut. I was told that some babies intestine go into spasm when the milk arrives, particularly if they are getting lots of foremilk, which is very easily absorbed by the gut - sometimes too quickly. (This tied in as with ds1 I found that expressing off some of my foremilk, and throwing it away helped a little. The creamy hind milk is more slowly absorbed by the gut and therefore less likely to cause problems.)

I know that Colief worked for us. I had to give a few drops before every feed. Once a week or so, I tried skipping a feed to see if we still needed it - and he always started screaming within a few minutes.

HTH

My boy got a bit like this at 7-8 weeks. Nothing would soothe him. He stopped after about 2 weeks. He's still more grumpy in the evenings but nothing like he used to be. I think it's because he's tired but it's bloody hard to get him to sleep before 10 so it's a bit of a slog. I think they just go through these difficult phases! Oh and BTW my boy is FF so it's not necessarily because you are BF.