Spot quiz - newborn crying

[Fluxboxuk]

Okay, random spot quiz...

At 6 weeks, how much did your baby cry?

Not interested in NHS or baby center speeches, im looking for real world experience answers here :)

We have a newborn 6 week and 3 day baby boy, no heath issues, all 10 fingers and toes, but he refuses to stop crying unless he is on one our shoulders, or my wife's boob... with me, I have to be moving around too, and my back is about ready to give in.

We've tried different feeds, doctors have even started us on some special cow milk mild-moderate cows' milk protein allergy, which seemed to help a little, but even on that we get days where he will feed and then for the next 3 hours just cries (like someone just committed the world atrocity in known history, right in front of his eyes... then shot his dog for good measure.) just in time for his next feed.

Tried massage of belly to try and help pass stuff... every winding technique I could find on the web, all of which produce wind well enough. Moved from tommee trippiee bottled to MAM (which is a right pain in the ass, cus the only way to cool them is under a running tap, as they suck water in the base if you stand them, im gonna be personally responsible for the south west water CEO personal bonus this year).

So.... is this normal at all, or should I be looking for a doctor who actually has a clue and doesn't just keep poking him and saying "yea, babies cry... come back in a week if it gets worse"... worse ;/ ?

I used to just pop the baby on and feed. No timings or whatever, crying is a late cue so first sign of wanting fed on they went.

I never really made them wait for their next feed, if they were crying and BFing settles them, I just let them BF.

Has he ever been checked for Tongue Tie? My first cried a lot and had it, my second was a dream and she didn’t.

Don't think I've been officially told he has been checked for tongue tie, but when he crying I can't see anything...

He cries before feeding, after feeding, during feeding... so can't say it's to do with being hungry :/

I don’t think tongue tie is rountinely checked but it’s estimated that it can affect around 1 in 10 babies.

Is your DW getting out to any BFing Support Groups? Is she in touch with her local La Leche League? Even if they can’t help with the crying it should be good for her to get out and have some adult company and a

Is your DW on MN too OP? How’s she coping?

I posted simaler OP a couple of weeks ago. By no means an expert here but sounds like my dd. 8 weeks old this week.

Sounds like your baby is mixed fed? So is ours. We also switched to mam bottles. We got a perfect prep machine second hand off Facebook 20 pound which solved the cooling issue. It makes each bottle at exactly the correct temp. Won't help with the crying but will make your life easier.

We also got a rocker. Not a bouncer but a seat that rocks. She does like that and it does help settle her. The bottles also helped. We did try infacol which did not work for us for colic. Lots of people suggested silent reflux may be an issue but the bottles seemed to suggest colic for us. Medication is available if silent reflux. Others will be able to advise.

Are they checking weight? I say this because here dd was losing weight and I wrongly assumed she was gaining as she fed so much. That was also contributing to the crying. She was just not getting enough milk from me and an increase in formula for her was needed.

All in all a combination of bottles, rocking and increase feeds helped us. Both backs also in agony here.

Hope things improve for you. Lots of advice in infant feeding section and as suggested about breastfeeding above.

I bit the bullet and brought a perfect prep machine last week, it is a helpful device, but im a cheap b-tard at heard and the idea of paying out that much money for something which wasn't needed 10 years ago made my heart strings cry a little... infracol did nothing for us really either (though i did have hope for a couple of days)...

Iv tried suggesting a couple of times that my misses get an account on here, iv only posted a couple of things, but its nice to have the re-enforcement that im not totally insane :) alas, she's quite reluctant for some reason. I mean were both quite private people, moved to a different part of the country away from immediate family many years ago, so pretty much only have ourselves to support one another, so it would be great if she had something to fall back on during the day now im back at work. I have been taking wednesdays off each week since the birth, to give a little more help, and provide a mid-week break, but those Leave days will run out sometime.

I took a look on the laleche website, but they don't have any groups in our area (typical)...

The idea of the rocker might not be the worst idea, he does seem to settle quite well when i rock him, but im an IT engineer, so the strongest part of my body is my ass, thus my arms are not designed to holding him for long dirations (and before you suggest it, iv already renewed the gym membership, as im acutely aware that he will get heavier)... which brings me onto the weight question, he has been weighed a few times by health visitor and we have been tracking him at home ourselves. Happy to say, he is following the lines in the magic red book quite nicely...

Can you throw me a link to the type of rocker your talking about, ill do some investigative work.

Oh and yes to the mixed feeding, had troubles getting things flowing to begin with, but supply is increasing steadily, alas still not enough to meet the demand, though that could be down to the fact my DW doesnt seems to get the time needed to pump, as its quite hard to do while a baby is asleep on your chest (least that's what she tells me, and im not willing to try and prove her wrong) ;/

No help, I'm afraid, but my eldest cried from 6am until 10pm until he was 13 weeks old and nothing stopped him, other than walking around with him. I tried breast feeding, bottle feeding, no difference. At 13 weeks, he just woke up one morning and smiled.

It was absolutely horrendous, but a distant memory now.

Yes I couldn't get a BF support group here either.

We got the fisher price 3 in 1 swing and rocker on a lightening deal. Again you can get these things second hand as are pricey. Takes up half the room as well. She does however love the rocker part and will sit happily.

That's good about the weight. Trial and error really then. My biggest problem now is sleep. She just doesn't. Not crying as much though. But not sleeping.

A few things I’ve learnt to add to the great advice already:

Infacol takes a while to work, it’s not an immediate effect but builds up over days/weeks of use. We gave up and focused on lots of different winding techniques instead. This worked best for our baby who hated infacol and the like.

Baby feeding directly will increase supply better than a pump as a rule, also breastfeeding isn’t done to a schedule like bottle feeding can be. Mine would feed for hours on end and still scream for more half an hour later. This is building supply.

Do you have a local ‘what’s on’ guide for play groups and the like? If there’s a local breastfeeding support group it would likely be promoted there. Or if you search Facebook/google for breastfeeding your town or your local sure start that might have info too. These groups are amazing.

My six weeker cried a lot. It was horrendous at times, but we got through it by basically just feeding through it. Cutting out dairy was also a massive help in our case.

Your DW doesn’t have to join MN of course, but the whole point of the site is that in anonymous, so ideal for people who prefer to be private

Can I ask why she’s pumping?

OP, I can’t help re the baby, I’m afraid, but just wanted to say you have an excellent sense of humour! Good luck

My eldest didn't cry that much - but then she was a thumbsucker from 2 weeks so settled herself a lot. My youngest spent most of her waking moments for the first six months either feeding, screaming, or throwing up. No reflux, no allergy, no medical issues. She just didn't like life on the outside until she could do things for herself (she is now 2½ and lots of fun, it's hard to believe that she was such a horrible baby).

Both mine needed bodily contact with an adult almost every time they slept. I spent a great deal of time on the sofa breastfeeding or holding a sleeping baby.

If your wife is breastfeeding, then kellymom is a great resource (I found it much more helpful and less preachy than LLL).

And feed, feed, feed some more. It's good for milk supply, and is often what the baby is complaining about (remember milk is both food and comfort). There is no such thing as "I just fed you, you can't be hungry again already". They can!

I feel for you both, it is such hard work. Make sure you keep an eye out for postnatal depression, inconsolable crying definitely doesn't help.

He sounds like my DS who would scream constantly, the only time he didn't cry was when he was asleep. We saw a paediatrician and turns out it was CMPA, reflux and posterior tongue tie. We had the tongue tie snipped which stopped him taking in so much air, he was prescribed nutramigen formula (cows milk free and lactose free) and he was also prescribed carobel thickener for the reflux. This was after weekly visits to the GP for quite a while. The other thing helped was time, the first 12 weeks were by far the hardest and he started to improve a lot at around 14 weeks. We also have the perfect prep which is a god send when he's screaming for his bottle at 3am! I hope things improve for you all OP I know how exhausting it is.