Baby cries alot after 3 months

[Eshaar]

My baby is 3.5 month old and on combination diet. For the past 3 months, he used to be an easy baby. less crying, plays well and happy baby. he will sleep very less during the day and sleeps ok during night. But now everything changed.

For the past 1 week, in the day time whenever he is awake he is fussy and at times he screams so loud unless i carry him on hand and walk. But when i walk he is not crying. When ever he is about to cry, he straightening his legs and arm and cries loud. His playtime is drastically reduced. He doesn't want to be on play mat or bouncer or crib. He stays only 10 mins on play mat then cries. Even when i take him out, he stays ok for 15 mins and then cries loud. His voice is gone now so you can imagine how load the scream was. The only thing that console him is when we carry him on hand and walk. The moment i put him on mat or bouncer he immediately starts to cry. He even cries after a feed and when i pat him he stops crying. But whenever he cries if i distract him, he smiles and goes back to crying immediately.

He is not vomiting after feed so GP ruled out reflux and as he is 3.5 months old, they ruled out colic. After so many calls to GP, they gave him gaviscon we tried that but his poop became hard so we stopped that. But as a mother i feel very bad and it looks like he is having some kind of pain.

Have you tried baby massage, cycling legs, burping him more (including during a feed) and in different positions/harder?

Yes. After every feed i burp him and he does burp and also keeping him upright for 20mins. Not sure why his behaviour suddenly changed. I am worried alot but as there are no symptoms GP and HV are not considering/seeing us.

Honestly if my child had screamed so much they had lost their voice I'd have them at A&E. I'd be worried there was a fracture or something somewhere causing pain.

We went to A&E today they checked him and said he is fine. But crying and fussiness still continues. If i distract him he smiles and goes back to crying immediately. He sleeps ok at night so we ruled put pain.

Hi @Eshaar
This is tough on you and your baby.

Apart from gaviscon affecting his bowel movements was he more settled when taking it? If so it sounds very much like reflux.

Have you tried changing his formula or are you breast feeding?

If you are not breast feeding I would suggest you try a different formula such as Cow and Gate comfort or some mothers find the ready made formulas help.

If you are breast feeding you could perhaps try infacol.
I know drs have ruled out colic but having had experience of baby with both colic and reflux your baby sounds very similar.

My experience was that baby would only settle when being walked about and having his back patted.
Also he never liked to lie on his back was always more comfortable on his side or propped up.

Don't let dr and health visitor dismiss you. You know your baby and you know there has been a change in his behaviour.

I hope you find a solution soon as this is just so stressful.

Hello

My baby cried a lot and sounds like your did. He had reflux so we had medication for this. Could he have silent reflux? Or could it be that the milk is giving him digestive issues?

I gave up dairy for 6 months to see if it helped with my son’s reflux (I was bf) and it did help for a bit. Also, while the medication helped a bit, it only really helped with the reflux and not him being “content” as he would still scream/want to be held a lot.

Tummy time helped my baby with the digestive issues. He cried when we did it initially but he soon became used to it and I think it really helped with him being an early crawler.

Also, I found my baby wasn’t really content until he could start moving. When he discovered how to drag himself around he was so happy! It may just be you have a baby that doesn’t like being a baby and wants to move/be active etc.

I’m sorry for how things are going. I’ve been there and know it’s hard, especially when you see others who have “content” babies. But I promise you it will pass

Thanks all!

We tried gaviscon but it made the poo hard. Baby struggled alot to poop. We stopped that.

Baby is on combination diet. Expressed breast milk and formula. We haven't changed the formula and no change in my diet. Can baby become allergic to something suddenly? Baby is 3.5 months old.

We monitored him today without gaviscon. Every time after feed, we burped him and kept him upright for 20 mins. For some feed, he dint burp but we made sure we kept him upright for 20 mins. But even after that he spits curd multiple times after each feed. Whenever he is about to spit he became cranky, fussy and it looks like something is irritating him. The moment he spits out the curd, he is unsettled for couple of mins nd then back to normal. But this happens multiple times after a single feed.

Hey op

My lg has silent reflux and hardly ever spits up, lots of gps don't have a clue about it.
It's where the feed and acid comes up the throat after the feed and burns, wind makes it worse.

Take a video of your lo and what they're like to show hv and doctors and be persistent with them, only way i got anywhere.
Try to get a referel as reflux can peak 3, 4 5 months.

I really do feel for you as I'm going through it myself and tried allsorts.

There another thickner called carobel that doesn't seem to cause constipation, from reading on here so we are going to try this next as my lg has been trumping loads, crying and thrusting to go poo on gaviscon.

Is there any other symptoms? Sneezing, wheezing sounds, coughing, digestive issues, rashes? Could be a milk intolerance that's built up.

It's all trial and error really to find what works, but I'd definitely get a referel to a pedestrian. Babies cry but not all day and night. Poor bubs!

I know it's hard but try to see if anyone can give you some respite. Even hiring a night nurse once in a while