Cries constantly when awake

[Lwat86]

I'm stressing out hugely. My baby is 4 weeks old and whenever he's awake he just cries and screams. He's got a clean happy, he's fed twice on breast (8am, 11ish this one was extra as he seemed hungry) bottle (2.30) and he's still screaming as soon as his eyes are open! He napped from 12-1.45 today and naps generally well. I really don't know what's going on with him. He's passing wind and had a bit of a poonami last night but otherwise hasn't poo'd much. I can't even leave the house at the moment as the screaming is so intense. I don't know what to do???

My LO was like this as a New born. It could be a number of things but the most basic is that he's not quite used to life on the outside of the womb. He just wants to be held and be close to you. I'd try using a sling to carry him around the house and see if that helps. Those wrap slings are best for the cosy feel.

Are you regularly offering milk? He might be gearing up for a growth spurt. My baby loves being held over my arm for some reason, it always calms him down. Google ‘tiger in the tree baby hold’ if you want to see pictures.

The thing I mainly remember from that sort of age was that if he wasn’t hungry, it was nearly always wind, he just found it really hard to bring up, so it might be worth googling a few ways to help with that to see if any of it helps.

Good luck and for you, a lot of crying can be really rough after a while.

Also, I would feed every 3 hours. I noticed he fed at 8am but the 11am was extra. My BF 6 week old would no go that long between feeds. Maybe he is hungry x

When you say the 11ish one was extra, does that mean you had planned to go from 8am to the bottle at 2.30pm with no feeds in between?

Agree with pp, feeding every 2-3 hours should be normal, especially during the day. Up to 4-5 hours at night.

Oh goodness no I wouldn't have left him until 2.30! If I fed at 8, it would've been around 12, so every 4 hrs roughly. I'm not massively rigid with the feeds, it's just he seemed like maybe the crying was hunger? If I do every 3 hours - is 120ml/4oz too much? Should i do 100ml?
He is also a windy baby, he pumps a lot but not much in the way of pooing so can't tell if he's sore? It's so hard to know what to do!!

MIne was just like this and he turned out to have a dairy allergy. Maybe do some research into CMPA and see if your baby fits any of the other symptoms?

How often is he having a bottle?
My bf baby probably fed every 3 hours on a good day. More often than that typically. I'd feed 8f he is upset, and see if it helps. I'm sure he'd reject milk if that wasnt the issue.

Mine also refused to be put down, and spent much of his time in a sling.

Was he awake from 8 until 12?

Okay, at that age really just feed on demand. My first baby was ff abs she couldn’t manage 3 hourly feeds until about 8weeks. I would always offer milk whether breast of formula. Also around 4 weeks they have a growth spurt and feed much more to stimulate supply. I didn’t know any of this this until I downloaded the wonder weeks app. Worth a look.

Amounts of milk to give are trial and error - keep offering 4oz, and if he never takes more than 3oz, you can lower it to 3oz. If it's sometimes 3 and sometimes 4, then just stick with offering the full 4oz.

Try not to feed by the clock - watch him instead. Look for when he's rooting and sucking his fingers, and feed him then. If you make him wait longer just because the clock says he shouldn't be hungry yet, it could affect his growth.

My (breastfed) 4 week old would feed waaay more than that. Have you tried offering a feed much more often? Even every 1-2h!

My baby screamed at that age due to colic and health visitor changed milk to lactose free it made all the difference.

Very colicky baby here too until a dairy allergy was confirmed, she slept well but mainly because she was so worn out from constantly crying! I held her upright as often as I could as she also had silent reflux. It all stopped once I cut out milk though. I know it's hard and really sympathise, if you have a HV or GP you feel happy chatting to they might help xx

I'd offer more feeds. Is baby finishing the bottles? If they're finishing offer more so you know they aren't hungry. With breastfeeding you really just feed when they seem hungry. Babies don't understand feeding times and schedules. He could simply be hungry. You won't overfeed him. They'll stop when they've had enough.
If he's fed enough and still crying then you might want to start thinking about reflux and colic.
Hope it improves for you. A screaming baby is hard work for everyone.

Offer boob - whenever he’s awake/crying...boob first unless he obviously has wind or a dirty nappy. Always boob! Read up on the 4th trimester. Congrats on the baby! Xx

Firstly, congratulations. Secondly, boob, boob, boob.
Even if he’s literally just finished eating, boob. And agree with those who have said read up on the 4th trimester

Have you tried just sitting with baby and boob out and allowing them to latch whenever they want and offering a lot more. At that age my DS fed a lot more than that, so encourage another coup,e of reeds and see if that helps

At this age mine were feeding every two hours. Their tummies are tiny. If you are breastfeeding if your baby starts crying pop in the boob.
Also maybe worth investigating reflux.
Also do you have a sling/baby carrier. My first wanted to be carried all the time. He cried a lot. Other things that worked were in water up to his neck, looking at the washing machine going round and white noise - Hoover was popular. I’d pop him next to it.
It’s hard but try and have a little walk every day. Good for you and for baby too.