Is my newborn unhappy?

[Dav87]

Hi everyone! First time Mum hoping for a bit of reassurance and advice!

My daughter is 2 weeks old, and seems to cry a LOT. Is this normal? If she’s not sleeping or eating then she’s screaming inconsolably, and it’s really hard to cope with day after day.
She doesn’t have any other symptoms of colic so I don’t think it’s that, I’m worried that she’s just really unhappy and doesn’t like it here 😢
I’m also worried if she’s starting off like this, is she going to be a “crier” for good? How can I help her? She literally cries as soon as she wakes up until she’s got her bottle, and then again until she drops off yo sleep.
Even while she’s sleeping she makes faces and noises like she’s crying.

I’m so worried she’s not “content” - I always hear people saying this about other babies and just wonder what I’m doing wrong 😢

She’s formula fed, eating and nappies all fine, HV happy with weight gain.

Is it the heat? How can I help her? C

Are you winding her a lot? She may have trapped wind which can be really painful.

More generally is she in a sling? Hard in this heat I know, but usually small babies just like to be held upright and snuggled up with their mums.

It’s not that she’s unhappy! Have you read about the fourth trimester? I found that concept helpful with newborns.

It's so hard having an unsettled newborn. Mine was the same - screamed every waking moment and the only thing that helped was walking or bouncing with her in a sling. I didn't go anywhere because I was afraid to be judged and I ended up with terrible PND.

Now she is a very contented 1 year old, always smiling. Things got gradually better from about 8 weeks, but 6 months was a huge turning point. Hang on in there - it will get better!

All ‘colic’ means is unexplained long stretches of crying.

It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong at all, some babies just do this. Have you tried a sling? Or holding her sort of tummy-down over one arm (hard to explain, Google ‘tiger in the tree hold’)? Or bouncing on a big yoga ball worked pretty well with one of mine.

DD1 had to be constantly held! I couldn't put her down for anything! Maybe is that?

If it is something that is nagging you, that she might be in pain (check Youtube videos maybe??) then go to GP

Good luck :)

Try massaging her tummy with her legs. That's the best way for getting right of gas pain.

There is special formula for babies with colic issues. It's thicker (it needs a different teet btw!!!)

My HV told me colic is just a catch-all term that means ‘baby who cries a lot for no apparent reason’. So going off that, it could be colic. Infacol may work. My son had colic and it seemed like he was screaming any time he wasn’t asleep or feeding. If I’d had another, I’d have used earplugs - not so I could ignore his cries but just so it would be easier to hold him and look after him without constant noise.

If it’s worse after a feed or upon being laid flat then 100% check out silent reflux. Very, very painful for them. Mine didn’t grow out of hers until over 1, but it eased considerably when she could sit independently.