Excessive crying/ screaming newborn

[FrostyBear1]

Hi All. I wondered if anyone has had the same experiences and would share/ suggest alternatives I could try and alternative routes to explore!

My 6 week old for the last 5 weeks has been having;

• Excessive crying and screaming/ irritability, inconsolable for long long periods, unable to settle
• Even after feeds/ unsettled with feeding
• If can console will settle for 20 minutes then starts crying again
• If can’t console will get so worked up, is hysterical, arches back, extends all limbs, flails limbs, goes red and hot/ sweaty, tears
• The above is only waking hours 9am- 10pm, the 2 night feeds at 3 and 6 he feeds well and drifts to sleep after
• Not sleeping/ relaxing/ fights sleep, will only sleep for 6 hours overnight (broken into 4 hours then 2 hours around night feeds) fights sleep any other time, I can get down but will last 20 minutes before wakes

Seen GP and Paediatrician at hospital. Feel it is reflux and colic

Tried the following

• Check nappy
• Check temp
• Check clothes/ nappy not too tight
• Offer feed- feeding signs/ preempt to reduce crying/ air swallowing
• Infracol x2 before feeds- tried for 3 weeks but hated sensation of it building inside
• Gripe water 5ml x6 day- preferred this as forced wind out, now is settled passing wind- only thing that has improved! have not weaned down
• Gaviscon infant 1 sachet with 5ml cooled boiled water x6 day before feeds
• Omeprazole 1.6ml x1 day before first feed
• Calpol infant for pain relief
• Feed lying down or head up during feeds
• Feed off both breasts, burp/ rest between, ensure fully fed and not crying for hunger
• Comfort milk (aptamil pepti) thickener top up to ensure fully fed and not crying for hunger- never takes this so I’m assuming is full after breast feeding
• Burping during/ after feeds unless goes to sleep
• Or kick out on mat
• Electric rocker/ bouncing chair
• Head up after feeds
• Head up on cot
• Reflux head up change mat
• Change on side to avoid any discomfort caused by lifting legs up towards stomach
• Settle in side lie hold on tummy on one arm or lap
• Holding/ carrying/ motion- over shoulder/ up down rock/ cuddles into chest/ horizontal sway/ flat across lap
• Quieter room
• Darker room
• White noise
• Shushing
• Singing/ talking
• Play with baby/ toys
• Pacifier/ sucking finger
• Warm bath over baby’s tummy
• Kick nappy free
• Car
• Walks/ pram
• Leg bicycling
• Tummy massage clockwise
• Osteopath/ cranial sacral therapy- did 3 sessions but no effect
• Started dairy free diet one day ago but I have minimal diary diet anyway

I feel my days are like Groundhog Day- nappy/ feed/ cry inconsolably between 9am and 10pm. It’s really really worn me down this last week as I just can’t console baby and have constant crying/ screaming and I feel completely empty :( I’m ashamed to admit empty of not just energy but feelings for baby :( :(

Thanks in advance

I don't have any advice but this sounds really really tough. Bumping for you.

Shel Banks is an IBCLC and all round guru of all things unsettled newborns. She wrote a lot of the guidance that GPs/HVs use etc. She does private appointments. Might be worth getting in touch with her. She has an Instagram page and a web page if you look her up. All the best to you - unsettled newborns are the absolute pits

instagram.com/shel_banks?utm_medium=copy_link

That sounds so hard

Cry-sis website might have some advice.

https://www.cry-sis.org.uk/

Are you breastfeeding or formula feeding? You say your baby is going red and sweating there has been a heatwave what are you dressing your baby in. The arching back and stretching limbs doubled like wind pain. Is your baby vomiting?

My daughter was like this. She would scream all day every day. If I walked around rocking her she would be quiet but it was exhausting. I couldn’t put her down or even sit down holding her.

The only photos I have of her in the first 4 months, she was either asleep or purple faced crying.
It was awful.

The screaming only stopped as she became more and more independent. As soon as she could move herself around a bit she was happier and since she could walk, she’s not really had any screaming fits since.

My doctor (although it seemed incredibly unhelpful at the time) said, some babies hate being babies. He was right.

I knew there was nothing physically wrong with her though because she was gaining weight etc. If you feel like there may be something physically wrong, push your GP.

I absolutely empathise with you. It was so, so hard and seemed never ending at the time.

Sorry you mentioned breastfeeding is your baby clusterfeeding?

Although this didn’t help the crying, it did reassure me that it would get better

purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php

Reflux is so hard.

My last baby, I just had her in a sling 24 hours a day, myself and my husband just swapped over with each other while the other slept.

Keep going with the medicine and remember it needs to be adjusted as the baby puts on weight. We used Zantac. All the best.

I have no advice but just sympathy as my DD was like this until 3/4 months. She would cry between 5-9pm non stop regardless of what we tried and it was soul crushing, and very much Groundhog Day.

A friend of mines DD would cry all day long as it was bloody hard on her mental health and on the other kids.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

My daughter was like this. She would scream all day every day. If I walked around rocking her she would be quiet but it was exhausting. I couldn’t put her down or even sit down holding her.

The only photos I have of her in the first 4 months, she was either asleep or purple faced crying.
It was awful.

The screaming only stopped as she became more and more independent. As soon as she could move herself around a bit she was happier and since she could walk, she’s not really had any screaming fits since.

My doctor (although it seemed incredibly unhelpful at the time) said, some babies hate being babies. He was right.

I knew there was nothing physically wrong with her though because she was gaining weight etc. If you feel like there may be something physically wrong, push your GP.

I absolutely empathise with you. It was so, so hard and seemed never ending at the time.

Absolutely this. My DS2 hated being a baby and didn’t become bearable until he was walking and didn’t sleep until weaned from breast at 2.5. It was two years of unmitigated hell, I feel for you. With hindsight I wish I had bottle fed as at least someone else could have taken him for a bit, but by the time I thought to introduce a bottle it was too late and he was having none of it. for you.

@JosephineDeBeauharnais

I remember going to buy formula from the pharmacy because I was told only breastfed babies do the purple crying thing. The pharmacist told me that it wasn’t true and some formula babies cry excessively too. Also, that the change in breast milk to formula may upset her stomach and make her cry more.

I got back in my car and broke down.

It was absolute hell.

She’s four now and people comment on how happy she always is.

Me and my husband look back on those days and laugh now but at the time I thought I was going to lose my mind.

Thanks for the kind replies so far- I’m grateful for any help.

Thank you for the different links to Shel Banks, cry-sis and purple crying- I will check those out

People have asked some extra questions that I should have included-apologies

• baby is fully breastfed. Have tried offering comfort milk after but doesn’t take, so presumably full from breast feed. Isn’t an issue taking a bottle as has taken a bottle of expressed breast milk from my other half to allow me a walk for sanity!
• has had episodes of cluster feeding related to normal growth but this presentation has been over 5 weeks and i can recognise the cluster feeding episodes as separate
• baby goes red and sweats from hysterical crying as gets self so worked up- I actually took a video for GP and Paediatrician. Again presentation has been over 5 weeks so unrelated to the heat wave
• some possseting but improved when started gaviscon and now minimal. No vomiting
• I rang cry-sis on Monday as baby just cried hysterically all day. They were lovely but couldn’t add anything. Suggested doing a diary so I’m doing that
• I don’t think anything is physically wrong as exams by GP and Paediatrician normal but the presentation just seems so extreme to me for reflux/ colic but not experienced this before so was hoping others may have experience to advise

Thanks again all

Mine had 3 month colic. Stopped dead on the 3 months.

On,y thing that helped was baby sling all day and co sleeping

With my second I cut out all dairy from my diet (I was breastfeeding) and no colic. So that's worth a try?

I’ll politely just disagree with you @Handsoffstrikesagain

😊

Like I say, she was fine if being walked around but it’s not possible to do that all day every day after feeding every two hours through the night.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

My daughter was like this. She would scream all day every day. If I walked around rocking her she would be quiet but it was exhausting. I couldn’t put her down or even sit down holding her.

The only photos I have of her in the first 4 months, she was either asleep or purple faced crying.
It was awful.

The screaming only stopped as she became more and more independent. As soon as she could move herself around a bit she was happier and since she could walk, she’s not really had any screaming fits since.

My doctor (although it seemed incredibly unhelpful at the time) said, some babies hate being babies. He was right.

I knew there was nothing physically wrong with her though because she was gaining weight etc. If you feel like there may be something physically wrong, push your GP.

I absolutely empathise with you. It was so, so hard and seemed never ending at the time.

Some babies hate being babies is bang right! My eldest was like this and it was “colic” (doctor speak for “no fucking idea”). She improved hugely at 8 weeks and then again at 16 weeks. She really did just hate being a little baby.

My first one was like this - three month colic but also just wanted to be able to move and explore and basically not be a baby. I formula fed, wasn't able to breastfeed, and what worked for us was a relatively strict feeding schedule. It's not fashionable, but it worked, and also worked on me as a baby. My DM reckoned she was actually overfeeding me and that's what caused the pain and crying. Of course I didn't withhold a feed if there was obvious hunger, I just knew that if the crying started up within a certain time after the last feed, it was very unlikely to be hunger and to try other things first.