Help

[Lizzy86]

2 week old doesn't settle on feeds and I'm about to lose my mind. I've not slept properly since he was born and I'm so exhausted

I use both formula and express as he didn't and doesn't latch

After each feed he tightens his stomach muscles as if he's constipated? Constantly looks like he has wind too,I spend hours trying to wind/settle him to sleep. But more often than not he struggles to settle and sometimes once I've fed him he projectile vomits and then wants to feed all over again.

I'm so so exhausted that I've started sleep walking. My husband wants to help, but baby just doesn't settle and we're both so fed up. First time mum, I know I know, it's hard early on but is this all normal?

He does have wet and soiled nappies but how do I know if he's struggling with something?

Could be trapped wind, colic and/or reflux?

I would give your HV a call and maybe start by trying some infacol to see if that helps? (Check the age for it as its 5 years since I needed to use it)

Hi. Sorry you're feeling so tired. It's a hard slog for the first few weeks, isn't it?

Do you still want to breastfeed and have you sought help with the latch? Call the community midwives office and ask for help as they should be able to assist until baby is 4 weeks old. If they can't then ask your health visitor.
Does your baby have a tongue tie? This can cause problems with latching and lead to wind too. Can your baby feed from a bottle ok or does he dribble because he's not making a seal around the teat?

The other thing to consider is reflux. My DD had this and it was dreadful. It took months before we realised how serious it was and pushed the gp for a paeds referral.

Good luck and congratulations on your new baby.

My DS was similar, I remember saying to my health visitor that "he seems like he is always trying to poo" does this sound similar?

With Ds it was colic, we switched to Dr Brown bottles and used colief(not cheap) it was worth it and he turned into a different baby almost overnight!

But I would see your GP to rule out any other issues (reflux, tounge tie)

Just try to keep in mind that whatever it is, it won't last forever and you will be getting a better nights sleep soon(ish) I know that's easier said than done, but when DS used to scream from 3am until 8am I just tried to keep repeating that in my head.

Good luck OP and congratulations

Aww thank you. Can you get colief on prescription?

I'm not too sure it's a very small bottle we were so shocked when we saw it! But you only need a few drops and a bit of a faff to administer, changed our kid though, it's worth asking your GP to double check that it is just colic and if they agree then ask for a prescription.

Oh, you have my sympathy. Dc2 screamed and threw up for the first three months of his life. Before I had him, I had absolutely no idea how awful vomiting children were. With dc3 I would feed her and she would just drift off to sleep. With dc2, I would feed him, wait 30 mins, he'd projectile vomit, I'd have to change every item of his and my clothing and all bedding, and then start the whole rigmarole from the start because he'd be screaming to be fed. Went on all day and night. Absolutely horrendus.

I don't know if this is worth exploring, but in retrospect, I'm pretty sure dc2 had some kind of milk intolerance. As well as the vomiting and screaming, he was often covered in a rash, refused to eat normal food at all until he was 8 months, and as soon as he did, rejected anything with milk in it. Infacol helped. I didn't go an talk to the GP because my dc1 was similar so I thought it was normal. It was only after dc3 was diagnosed with various allergies that I read up about intolerances and had a lightbulb moment.

I hope you find a solution. From a just "getting through the day" point of view, it would be good if you could find someone who could hold the baby for a couple of hours, preferably in a different house so you can't hear the screaming, so you can get some interrupted sleep. Everything is better when you have sleep.