8 week old is very uncomfortable when sleeping

[landyb]

Hi, I am relatively new mum with an 8 week old little boy. Currently at night we put him down in his bednest, which is next to me, whenever he has his last feed, which he has fallen asleep at. He seems to sleep for around 3 hours and then wants a feed, but after the feed, even if he looks asleep when we put him down, after about 5-10 minutes he starts writhing around in what looks like real pain, with his back arching, and his hands rubbing at his face, which is also turning from side to side, and with an on/off wailing cry. This can go on for 2 hours, unless I lie him on me to sleep on his front. I have tried winding him, waking him up, feeding him and putting him down again, but the same thing haapens. He is only pooing around once every 2 days, which is then a big nappy. Does anyone have any suggestions ( he is breastfed only). Thank you

This sounds like a description of my DS at the same age.
Does your DS vomit much after feeding?
If so it could be reflux. Even if he doesn't vomit it could be silent reflux where the milk comes back up to the throat after feeding, but not out of the mouth. This is particularly likely to happen at night when he lies down immediately after the feed.
The acid from the stomach causes a burn in the throat which can be very painful and cause the crying. I guess this is why he's pulling at his face too.

If you take him to your GP you can get a prescription for Gaviscon.
This is an antacid medicine. It will reduce the acid in his stomach and hopefully control the burn. (When it gets really bad they actually refuse to feed even when they're hungry because it hurts too much in the throat.)

In many babies the cause of reflux is unknown.
In my DS's case I found out what it was. He couldn't tolerate the dairy in my diet. I cut out all milk, cheese, yogurt etc and he was cured within 24 hours. It was a miraculous change. His vomiting stopped completely.
I replaced all dairy with soya products so it was no hardship for me.
It may not work in your case, but it might be worth a try for a few days to see if it helps.

It sounds like wind or some other gastro-intestinal problem to me. Some babies suffer more than others with a tricky digestion. Have a word with your HV or GP about the infrequent nappies.

Try osteopath. We took our our little girl who is 5 weeks old and she diagnosed twisted diaphragm. She was bringing up lots of milk after each feed and would behave just like you describe. 48 hours later, the hiccips stopped and she is a much happier baby. Bringing up a lot less milk (I'm breast feeding too). I'm going to take her for another session as the first one was a very quick visit. I'll let you know how it went if you would like me too.
I'd personally try something different before resorting to drugs especially in newborns.