6 week old baby

[notakardashian]

Ds is 6 weeks old and I need some advice. Breastfeeding didn't work out so we have switched to formula.

Was offering on demand but he can take 5oz every 1-2 hrs then bring some up. One day he polished off 48oz (very little came back up). Today I've been offering 6oz every 3 hours, he takes 5oz but the hour before feeding he screams ( he is the loudest child I have ever heard ).

He doesn't nap other than in the pram or in the car so I do either in between every feed. He is constantly over tired. He sleeps at night 8-7 waking twice for food and a nappy.

He doesn't seem to like being held anymore either. Can't use a sling as infected section incision. He's also huge at nearly 14lb. Height and weight all match up so not fat.

He is just not a contented baby at all. In fact, he's downright miserable most of the time and very loud about it. He gets hysterical very quickly and has damaged his vocal cords by screaming.

Can anyone advise how to make him happy please. I'm struggling.

Should say pregnancy was hideous, severe polyhydramnios and baby had many tests to determine cause. They thought he might have birth defects, hence the need for paediatric assessments.

More posseting than proper sick, although the gripe water and new 3hour 6 oz regime makes more come up.

I was going to ask why you'd seen 3 paediatricians, that seems a lot. So did you discuss the feeding issues and distress with them all?

Well my daughter wasn't being sick lots as she had silent reflux, but had gagging, choking an crying for hours (blocks of hours) but as soon as she got medicine she was like a different baby. Slept longer, smiling etc. I'm not saying that's what it is and every baby's different but if you're worried about baby then don't be fobbed off. Plus she constantly wanted something in her mouth be it dummy or milk bottle and sometimes it wasn't hunger. Does he have any behaviours? Back arching, constantly trying to suck, writhing etc

Was offering on demand but he can take 5oz every 1-2 hrs then bring some up. One day he polished off 48oz (very little came back up). Today I've been offering 6oz every 3 hours, he takes 5oz but the hour before feeding he screams ( he is the loudest child I have ever heard ).

So he was having 5oz every 1-2 hours and now 6oz every 3 hours? What was your reason to moving him to 3 hourly feeds? Is it because you felt he was having too much across the day and this way he'd be having more substantial feeds and less frequently? From what you've said it sounds like he wants little and often and that his tummy isn't big enough to take 6oz in one go yet. My 4mo is 15 lb and manages around 5oz evert 3 hours on average, sometimes 6oz every 4 hours. If he's screaming the hour before food then he's hungry. Feed him. Forget what the tin says and go by his queues...you'll figure out his rhythm.

Are you winding him enough? All 3 of mine needed a good 20-40 min winding session until they were about 10 weeks old. You think it's all out but it's often not. Infacol can help with that.

What about comfort milk - would that be worth trying? Can appreciate if you don't want to try without doctor's say so.

Have agreed with dh to go back to on demand feeding as of tomorrow. With infacol again. It was better.

Yes, tried to instigate a routine over the last two days as he was so miserable feeding on demand and was taking a huge amount. Would often just mess about with the bottle and not feeding properly either but screaming if I took it away. Also was stuck in a cycle of small feeding, constantly wet nappies and only sleeping for twenty minutes before crying for food again.

Behaviours are thrashing arms and rolling eyes, fighting sleep it seems like, or wind. We wind him for hours, he spends most of his life over my shoulder as that's where I'm most comfortable holding him. Think my ear drum is probably perforated.

Is there a reflux remedy I can try without gp? A better formula? Am using cow and gate first milk. Tried hipp organic but made him worse. Tried expressing breast milk but he was refusing it and screaming.

Would switching milk upset him? When we tried switching to the hipp organic he was even more unsettled.

If it's reflux caused by CMPA you would need to trial a hypoallergenic formula to see if symptoms improve. GPs can prescribe it but you can also just buy it yourself if you're desperate and GP isn't helpful. I think Nutrimagen is the first one to try. (Some babies with CMPA still react to that and need Neocate, but it's about £50 a tin which is why GPs prescribe Nutrimagen first!)

It might not be caused by CMPA of course, might just be reflux - in which case you'll need medication prescribed by a GP. First they'll tell you to try infant gaviscon and if that doesn't work (often doesn't with reflux this bad) next step is ranitidine and then omeprazole.

The book I recommended has other tips but basically you need a sympathetic GP.

The level of crying has also ruptured his belly button. It's been tested and not infected but not healed and developed a granuloma. His cough is awful but no infection and unlikely to be viral as he's had it since birth. Most likely cause is damage to voice box from crying.

Not discussed feeding issues with all paediatric consultants. At the time was still breast feeding and was advised to top him up 3oz after each feeding. He bf constantly and would down each bottle as soon as we gave it to him. This quickly messed up my supply, one breast dried up completely and one developed blocked ducts and became engorged. He couldn't get anything out of one and couldn't latch on to the other so began screaming at the breast and won't take expressed breast milk.

Will look for the book.

Dh has put him to bed tonight and he's sleeping like an angel. Just want him to be a happy boy. Is it possibly a big hungry baby issue? Why the not cuddling though? Is it because I'm not breast feeding maybe and he's confused?

Will try the comfort milk if it might help. Have looked at cmpa and he has a red dry spotty rash around his face/neck which I thought was baby acne but maybe linked?

Right, whoever said cmpa might have nailed it. Just did the nestle website cmpa symptoms checker and he has all of them bar the hives.

Feel like the shittest mother in the world not to have known about this but at least I asked.

You are absolutely not a shit mother, you're an amazing one. You've sought advice from several health professionals and now on Mumsnet.

If it's any consolation we didn't realise DS had CMPA until he was 8 months old (In my defence he was breastfed and it only got bad when we started giving more formula).

Lots of helpful info and advice here
www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice/conditions-and-symptoms/469-cows-milk-allergy

Do I make an urgent gp appointment?

That's exactly what our daughter has. Changed her milk rash cleared up on face, writhing stopped. No crying (unless triggers ie hunger) bowel issues etc

And you're not a shit mother. You've observed all this and doing everything you can to console him.

Yes, urgent GP appointment. Take printed info on CMPA from allergy uk website. Insist on prescription for hypoallergenic formula.

And yes to the appointment. She nearly had feeding aversion by time we got milk changed.

How could you be expected to know?? I had never heard of it before I had a baby either.

Grrr at everyone fobbing you off when your
instincts were right to begin with :(

Do they test for it or just prescribe the formula and see if it helps?

That's the test. Trial of a hypoallergenic formula. If symptoms improve it confirms the diagnosis.

Ok, dh was very dismissive until he also did the symptoms checker and is now convinced too.

Thank you all so much for the advice. Hopefully it is this, I know that sounds odd but if it is a problem that can be fixed that is far preferable to a just generally unhappy baby.

I found the helplines on the side of formula containers helpful - DS1 was a hungry, crying baby who didn't sleep during the day, didn't like to be held etc etc but my health visitor refused to refer me to a paediatrician until I'd tried every formula on the market. Lactose free worked for me but it was more luck than judgement so if you can find a GP who doesn't just tell you to go away because it's your first baby then I'd go that route rather than experimenting!

Forgot to say that for us DS1 was like the text book baby (ie he slept during the day) within 24 hours of changing formula.