Is my baby ill or just uncomfortable??

[jigsawlady]

Would really appreciate help from someone more experienced.

My 1 month old baby seems to be constantly uncomfortable, it's getting quite distressing to watch. She grunts and strains most of the time but especially after a feed and when we try and put her to sleep.

I think this could just be wind as a lot of the time when grunting she will do a big burp or fart, so we are constantly winding her sometimes for about 45 minutes after a feed. Whether she burps or not she still seems in pain and the grunting can last a few hours.
She has always had quite watery poos and the hv has said its not really a problem unless her poo changes, but in the night her poo was the consistency of water. Only the one poo, shes still weeing often and breastfeeding every few hours and we are watching her carefully to see if its like that again.

First time mum so I dont know whats normal. Does anyone think she's ill or does this just sound like normal baby stuff??

Normal; 30% of their body is digestion-oriented and it takes a lot out of them to get used to it.
Breastfeeding babies do have very runny poos. Does she go daily? Common for them to start going only once every 4 days or so at this age, too.

Sound exactly like our 4 week old. The winding is exhausting!

Ds had this, I think it was because he hadn't got the hang of farting. He'd tense all the wrong muscles! It's so hard when they're tiny and have wind but you'll both get better at getting it up!

Sounds very normal. I often lie DD2 on her back and cycle her legs up to her tummy if she is grunting and moaning a bit. Invariably she does a load of farting and then settles down. Could try that, although doesn't always work.

Hey this does sound similar to my DS when he was a baby, struggling with wind, my advice is find out if there is a baby massage class near u. I took my son from 2wks old and it helped loads! The best action is using 2 fingers massage using some oil, round his belly button in a circular motion clockwise, u can sometimes even feel the wind cos his wee tummy will b hard, hope this helps! X

Sorry for delay in ckming back. Difficult to find the time to do anything, appreciate your answers. Glad to hear it all sounds normal. Been thinking about baby massage, cant drive just yet due to c section but when I can will definitely go to one of the classes if its hoing to help with her wind and make her a little more comfortable.

On the poo thing... 11wo DD poos orange liquid. Sometimes it's a bit green, but mostly orange. DS was th same until weaning.

DD is three weeks and very similar. She's very squirmy, as if constantly trying to pass something. Her poos are explosive though. I'd put it down to her just getting to know how her body works ... Some great tips here if it gets unmanageable.

My DS is 4 weeks and the same. Grunting and squirming, particularly during a feed. It seems really difficult for him to poo or fart. It's horrible, nothing seems to help - bicycling, massage, no joy. I'm guessing it's something that they grow out of as their digestion develops and their tubes all get bigger so the bubbles are smaller. We have tried infacol, but it doesn't seem to do much. Am moving onto the gripe water next to give that a go...

baby massage can really help. if youhave a local breastfeeding group it mite also be worth droping in to make sure your latch its optimal, as slight changes can sometimes make a difference in the amount of air they take in.

The poo sounds normal, they don't get solid type poo until they are on solid food. formula can make it more solid to. But liquid is the normal for a baby this age.