Why is my baby so grumpy?

[FranticallyPeaceful]

My little man, aka Lt.Moody-Bugger, is 10 weeks old now and he’s just very rarely content, I hold him 95% of the time and he’s just so cranky, he’s cranky in the Sling, in his chair, in the mamaroo, in bed, on the floor, on the sofa, in the car seat... you get the idea.
He seems fine for maybe a few seconds SOMETIMES and then he just gets super pissy. I can’t play with him really because he’s so moody, he’s super smiley when I look at him but then after a few minutes he’s pissy again.

Why is he never content? He’s healthy, clean, dry, fed, etc

Have I just forgotten how to interact with babies??! I’ve no idea what to do and I don’t have time to do ANYTHING else, which of course I remember from previous children but he’s not even happy when I’m holding him so I can’t even just pop him in a sling and get things done.

ANY help or advice would be appreciated

I had a baby like this. A shock after an easy first dc. Quite simply, I think being a baby frustrated him! He grew out of it when he was more mobile and even more so when he could walk. I tried all sorts, including cranial osteopathy. He was just grumpy and frustrated at being a baby! This may or may not be useful/welcome information to you You do have my full sympathy. It's hard when they are so discontent all the time.

Has he always been like this OP or is a fairly new thing? My DS is 18 weeks and goes through phases where he isn't very happy for a few weeks and requires a lot of attention and entertaining. A colleague recommended the Wonder Weeks app and I have found it so useful to help me understand why he is like this for weeks at a time. It shows all the developmental leaps babies go through and when and also what to expect when they do. So far it has been very accurate for my DS. It helps to know when the leap is likely to end and I know I just have to get through the next couple of hard days/weeks and things should improve.

This is me! My little man is 7 weeks today and I could have wrote this thread! We have hardly any nice awake time together because he seems so unhappy :( hope things better soon x

@MrsL2016 since he was born, to be honest! He’s just rarely content. He won’t do anything either, I know that he can turn on his back from his front and his front from his back as he’s done it a few times when sleepy - but instead of trying to move he will just lie down and cry until I pick him up. Tummy time isn’t a thing at all, we’re lucky to get 30 seconds and half of that is crying. He is absolutely nowhere close to being able to grab things yet so my day is just feeding, dealing with crying and cleaning up vomit. And gp won’t give me anything but gaviscon because the reflux “isn’t bad enough to warrant it”.

I’m going rather insane.

Hang in there Frantically! My DS was the same - I remember going to meet my nct friends and would end up leaving early in tears as he just would not stop crying.

It is soul destroying.

He got a bit better at 6 months when he could sit up and food became a thing but the real turning point was when he could walk (he didn't bother with crawling).

Having had a second (I know, hormones) I know it wasn't me, he was born that way.

It sounds so hard but I am sure you are doing everything you can and hopefully things will get better. How does he sleep? Is he perhaps chronically overtired? We had a couple of weeks of hell because of this. Regarding the reflux, I don't know much about that as it wasn't an issue with DS, but have you tried all the things you can buy over the counter? Dentinox, infacol, gripe water and colief. We tried them all and they worked to an extent but colief was by far the best, it's pricey though. Sorry if you have tried all this but it's so hard to know what it is that they might be struggling worth and you get so desperate that you try anything and everything. Also my DS hates tummy time too, so you're not alone there.

Sorry I meant to say we tried them all for colic.

I don't want to freak you out. Ds1 was like this and so was I. We have aspergers. It's obvious now I look back but I wish I'd realised it before he was 13. And I was 44! I would have done things differently and he wouldn't have ended up with particular problems now. Also Ashton and Parsons Teething Powder. From the pharmacy. The only other thing that soothed him was car rides or in the pushchair for a sleep.

@Brideslave my middle child was an absolute angel as a baby, so placid and easy -so this is a MASSIVE shock to the system! I remember how difficult my first was, and then after my second I just assumed that it wasn’t him and it must have been me not knowing what to do... then number 3 comes along and it’s safe to say I’m done having babies lol . I know how you feel about going out... a trip to Asda brings my anxiety to the moon. DP works away all week so it’s just me trying not to melt into a stress puddle

@MrsL2016 I’ve just ordered some colief after seeing your post, is it okay for EBF babies? I’ll try anything at this point. I have tried gripe water and infocol and they didn’t do anything

@RosaMallory my eldest was a very difficult baby and he has aspergers so it wouldn’t surprise me I suppose. Although I’m hoping it’s just a phase so that he doesn’t have to endure any struggles later in life. And he absolutely hates the car! And his (absolutely beautiful) pram