Please help , 5 day old baby

[D1anax2x]

I’m just looking for some advise please if anyone has experienced this with their newborn. I have a 5 day old , he was absolutely fine but for the past 2 days he seems very unsettled. When he’s awake he always cries and goes red , he also goes very tense and fidgety. Almost seems like he is constipated but he isn’t. He is formula fed and on hipp organic. He feeds absolutely fine and has wet and dirty nappies. He doesn’t seem constipated , his poos are a normal consistency but he does do a lot of little poos. He does also make a lot of grunting noises. When he feeds he does also spit up little bits but not alot. We saw a health visitor today who did say he can be abit mucusy as he was delivered very quickly which can cause the spit up and sneezing. Just looking for some advise really if anyone’s been through it as it is very hard watching his constantly be like this whenever he’s awake. And to mention if we put on white noise or give him a bottle he settles down eventhough he’s probably not even hungry. Thankyou.

@Edizzler25 thats what I was thinking he seems to be taking a lot of milk very often for a 5 day old who weighs 7 pounds. In the nights he seems settled and wakes up every 3 hours for a feed so might be a case im giving him too much in the day to try settle him.

If baby is already worked up from the discomfort, they won’t let you do the massage ‘nicely’ - try doing it when they’re more relaxed, several times a day as part of the routine. If they’re stressed, you might need to calm them down (things like rocking, your voice, swaddling etc)

Could he be having too much? 4oz is a large amount for a baby of only a few days. Little and often can be better.
I wouldn’t use a perfect prep anyway because they are not proven to heat the water hot enough to kill any bacteria in the formula. Use a kettle the old fashioned way! Then you can also make smaller amounts. If he wants to keep sucking for comfort to replicate the breast you can use a dummy.

You mentioned about pumping- you’re only on day 5 so it may have been that your milk came in and if you don’t remove it regularly it can cause mastitis which is what gives you the flu feeling, not the pumping itself. You could still go back to that if you wanted to combi feed.

If using formula it can cause constipation and you mentioned about that. Poos for a newborn are usually quite loose, so it’s worth keeping in the back of your mind.

Do you have a sling?

When my ds was gassy and unsettled I found having him upright and on me settled him, me moving around naturally helped move the gas (north and south 😂) and gave me the freedom to move around getting stuff done which for your own sanity can be wonderous!

@SiberFox Thankyou I will try find some massages online it might trapped wind as I have noticed he burps easily but hasn’t really been passing wind in his bum. As a second time mum I should really know what im doing but I just overthink and panic over every little thing even with my first one still x

All 4 of mine have had something similar the first couple of weeks, it was a mixture of wind and hunger for mine, they were all milk monsters (still don't stop bloody eating now tbh)
I also found the prep machine to cause more wind and I started using the kettle instead and not shake the bottle but roll it instead
And mam bottles, I tried every bottle going I think and mam won it for me
I hope the little guy settles soon though, it's bloody hard work 💙

Have you heard of the Frida baby, gasspassers?
I never used them myself but I have a friend that discovered them and uses them on her newborn and she said they work instantly for babies that struggle to pass wind from the south

@fashionqueen0123 yeah he seems to be taking the bottle as a comfort even when not hungry , I offer it to him and if he latches on and takes it I let him have it but if I notice he’s latched on loose and dribbles milk from the sides I take it off him as that’s when I assume he’s no longer hungry. A few people have said prep machines aren’t any good but im just no good with making them with kettle I wouldn’t know what to do when the baby is hungry and you have to wait 30 minutes for it to cool down first I’ve tried many methods with my first but prep machine was the only thing I could get a hang off and worked best for me.
His poos seem to be fine and normal consistency and im changing dirty nappies very frequently x

This sort of behaviour can be quite typical for a lot of babies. It could well be that his digestive system is still learning how to work (dyschezia) or he could have wind or colic or reflux.

I tried EVERYTHING for my son, all the different over the counter drops, even reflux medication from the doctor, nothing did anything, and after 4 months he just started improving by himself.

You may just be in for a rough few months but things will eventually improve.

@itsgettingweird No I don’t actually but I was going to look into getting one as I’m struggling to find time to do anything with a toddler as im always holding the baby. Do you have any suggestions for a good sling please ?

@Littlemiracles232504 a few have commented about the prep machine on here so it’s making me think it might be that now , I might have to look into and learn the kettle method see if that makes a difference. Mam bottles is what I’m currently using as he seems to be latching on and feeding the best from those. Thankyou though I hope some of the suggestions on here help out and he settles soon x

Could it be reflux/silent reflux? This can be cause by a tongue tie, an allergy, other causes. Get an appointment with a lactation consultant and they should be able to find out what is going on. Yes newborn babies do cry, but they also should be satisfied and settled after feeds. Good luck OP

I find baby carriers easier than slings personally (I use a Becco carrier, but ErgoBaby is probably one of the most famous). Check out Karrie Locher's blog post on carriers and slings, she does a pretty detailed review on lots of them.

@TheBerry its just so hard with babies as you can never be sure if anything’s wrong or not but you’re right I’m sure my first one was like that but you I probably just forgot by now 🤣x

My daughter was like this and feeding was the only thing that would comfort her. I was advised to try a dummy, which she wouldn’t take so she used to suck the tip of my pinkie finger. The farts she produced were something else. The sucking motion helps the gas get out, which is why feeding is comforting, but adding more milk on top makes the gas worse.

Honestly, with my first I used to make six bottles at the same time and keep them in the fridge then warm them up when needed and never had any issues (I know they say you're not supposed to do that but it worked for me). With my second he threw up a lot and I didn't know why at first so started making his bottles fresh each time and never waited half an hour for it to cool - just boil the kettle, make the bottle up straight away and then stick it in a jug of cold water to cool it. Again, never had any issues doing that (and the throwing up was reflux).

A sling sounds like your best option. We had a cheap stretchy one at that age which was perfect. Then we got an ergobaby embrace which is suitable from newborn and I would completely recommend.

@D1anax2x try a Nuby rapidcool, I wish I had bought two of those from the start instead of the prep machine. It makes the bottle really quickly.

Baby is being massively overfed. His stomach is almost the size of an apricot at the moment and therefore should only be having 1-2oz per feed. Feedings should be small and frequent, e.g. 2 hourly is a good guide.

I'd also strongly advise against perfect prep machines. They have been tested and proven to not sterilise the milk which can give babies food poisoning.

Please make up the bottles properly using a kettle.

You can make up bottles using the perfect prep method but with a kettle. Have a bottle of cooled boiled water ready in the fridge. Powder in, boiling water in, swirl to dissolve the powder then top up with cold to the desired amount. It’s also good when you’re out and about, you can take a small flask of hot and a bottle of cold boiled water out with you and make up as you go

Are you doing paced feeding? It actually sounds like he could be over fed hence all the spit up after a bottle and discomfort.

www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/baby/paced-bottle-feeding

Have you tried paced feeding? Google if not
I would do that and a dummy. To make sure he’s not taking too much in one feed.
Yes you’ll have to get used to making bottles in time but I’d do it because I don’t think the risk of the prep is worth it x

Could try switching formula if it continues , also I found infacol helpful. Before bed , I always paced around with my son )who was very gassy) to let th wind settle. Do bicycle legs after every feed.

Don't babies get colic anymore? My small (at birth, anyway!) son had what was thought to be an immature digestive system, and needed medication for a few weeks before feeds. He put on weight very quickly anyway.

I also recommend the nuby rapidcool rather than the prep machine. It’s a game changer!

If it does seem like wind, try a bottle of ready-made formula. The single bottles you can get from the supermarket. My midwife recommended using a couple when my baby was unsettled due to wind and constipation. It did the trick!