Newborn eye rolling, bubbles and straining issues

[Mama1984]

Hey all,

Am I being a first time mum and worrying about things that are normal?

My baby boy is 7 weeks. He was two weeks over due and born via emergency c section after 14 hours of labour, he had not move far enough down and I couldn’t dilate past 9 cm.

1- Rolls his eyes why asleep, sometimes he looks like he is trying to force himself to wake up but can’t. When he was 3 weeks, he used to go stiff sometimes but it would pass as quick as it came. I mentioned it to the doctor, he didn’t seem concerned. The stiffening stopped but today I notice he gets a twitch, he’ll be kicking around and his leg or arm will tense and shake for a second.

2- he struggles to poo, he grunts and strains. Some days nothing. He’s never gone longer that one day. But when he goes its runny and could fill two nappies. The doctor said I was over feeding him? At 3 weeks I noticed a small red thing appear when he was opening his bowels, which disappeared back inside when he stopped. The doctor seen a picture and because he didn’t appear in pain said they were worried.

3 - he gets milky looks bubbles around his mouth. He’s just had thrush but this has cleared up with the mouth drops.

I’ve tried massage, moving his legs, rubbing his tummy, bouncing him, vibrating chair, no nappy on for freedom. Nothing helps. Normally there’s no pain or so it appears, but today he has cried out in pain a lot which isn’t like him. And he has been docile and sleepy most of the day, when he’s normally just a cat nappier.

I’ve changed from tommee tippee to mam bottles, it’s day one. He doesn’t dribble like he does with the tommee tippee but it’s too soon to say if this might be the toilet issue.

And I being a worrier?

The twitch of the arm is normal. The straining is normal but not if it’s like super runny. Not sure about the eye rolling. When you say runny.. how runny - like korma sauce or like a browny muddy puddle water? How much are you feeding him? What did the small red thing look like shape wise and was it like a protruding object or did it look like skin?

Thank you.

Like runny korma. Initially I was breastfeeding, but I wasn’t producing enough milk. So I started combination feeding use an aptamil 1. Due to him having thrush for the last week I’ve been unable to breastfeed, so has been purely on formula. He has around 30 oz a day, he weighs 11.5LB (this was a week ago)

The protruding object looked like a soft bright red bubble. I haven’t noticed it since but obviously I’m not always watching when he poos.

Slightly Runny korma is normal, especially if starting to teeth. The object would worry me though and I’d watch out for that again . Also an Aptimil combi feeder here. No experience of thrush though or the eye rolling. He’s probably over feeding by one feed as aptimil club says around 25 ounces a day for that age, although it does jump up to 30ml at 8 weeks.

My ds both do the eye roll its creepy as hell but completely normal, hes just in a deep sleep.

Babies need to learn to poo, they can feel it but instead of pushing it out actually clench as they learn to use their muscles - hence the grunting and groaning, ds2 is now 13 weeks and has only just stopped all the noises and straining when pooping.

Bless you OP - its totally normal to worry about things as a first time mum! Everything you have described sounds completely normal for a little baby. The rolling eyes (although creepy) are often just them switching from a deep sleep to a lighter sleep. Newborns are really noisy and can strain/grunt/whimper all day long! Its really nothing to worry about as ling as he doesnt appear to be in pain and isnt constipated.

I see you mentioned he has been sleepier recently and is now fully formula fed - this is probably the main reason, as his body will be adapting how to digest the formula, which can be a little heavier on their tummies than breast milk. Have you heard of paced feeding? Its just a technique on how to bottle feed so they arent gorging themselves and over feeding! Hope this helps a little, you sound like a brilliant mum!

Yep mine do the eye roll thing too and it freaks me out. The twitching is also normal I think. Not sure about the stiffness though. They also do enormous korma poos every 10 days or so. I would second the advice above about paced feeding - apparently bottle fed babies can overfeed because the teet triggers their suck reflex, rather than them sucking because they are hungry. Paced feeding mimicks bf so should slow him down a bit :). Do you know what centile he is on for weight?

Thank you so much. I’ll have a look at the amounts. I’ve tried to introduce a dummy to slow down the feeding, as I think it is a comfort thing sometimes rather than him being hungry. And we have our 6/8 week appointment on 2nd, so will speak to the doctor. The telephone consultation just seem to feel like the doctor is appeasing you.

I did read that they have to learn. I am pleased to hear I’m not the only one with a loud grunting baby 🤣 thank you 😊

Ahh thank you. I’ve been around kids my whole life, have much younger brothers. But it is so different when it is your baby. You really have put my mind at easy and Not made me feel like an over the top first time mum. I will definitely look at the paced feeding, thank you 😊

Thanks. I feel better knowing he’s not the only baby with the freaky eye rolling issue 🤣 the doctor said 25oz when he was 11LB. But he’s nearly 12LB now and the chart shows it as 30oz. I’ve just been trying to drag out the time between feeds, hence introducing a dummy, just to try and do it without him getting so upset and worked up. Thank you for all your advice. And I will definitely look at the paced feeding 😊

My six month old still does the eye rolling thing on occasion...combined with a big grin, nose wrinkling or sticking her tongue out. It really scared me at first but nothing to worry about.

The "red object" sounds like a hemorrhoid/piles to me, not sure what that means for a baby though.

Thank you. He’s been crying out in pain tonight while passing wind, so I’m going to call the doctor in the morning and say I want someone to check him. Telephone calls just aren’t good enough. I know with everything we need to be careful, but I also don’t want something missed because of it.