Please help. Baby won't feed or stop crying

[blowyernose]

This is very out of character for my baby. She's 4 months old but 6 week prem if that's relevant. From yesterday she's been crying like mad and not settling down. Hours will go by before she feeds and we have been giving her calpol because there must be something wrong with her. She has no temperature, no cough/cold/rash or anything that you would normally look for. She's kicking and screaming and hardly has a voice left. I thought maybe a sore throat. I'm away from home visiting my mum and don't know what to do. This is so unlike her and she won't take her bottle. She's not being sick (anymore than usual) and seems ok when she eventually takes her bottle. When she has been calm and I've changed her nappy she doesn't seem in pain so her body doesn't seem in pain. Any ideas? My mum is saying I need to ring someone professional for help but there no temp or anything. She's been pooping ok too. Any ideas? Please do help.

How are things this morning @blowyernose?
Hope you're okay x

Hi I called 111 they cut me off because it wasn't covid related. Called my doc and they said they couldn't help as I'm not in the area.
So called local GP and they made her a temporary patient and want to see her mid afternoon. I'll let you know what they say. Meanwhile I might get another pack of formula to rule that out I am wondering if she has a sore belly and perhaps I have a bad batch?
Thanks for all your help. Not managed to reply as been dealing with a screaming baby. Finally got her to take a small bit of milk after lots of drama and distracting her with lights etc.

Glad you’ve managed to get a GP app, hope all goes well.

@TrashKitten10

If you're worried enough to post for advice in the middle of the night then I think it warrants a call to 111. Hopefully it's just teeth but it's so hard to tell when they're so small and she's obviously very distressed about something. Is the calpol helping at all?

Calpol not making much difference unfortunately

@simplebuteffective

Echo what PP said about 111 as she's still little and never any harm to ask for advice. However, just wanted to say; a few weeks ago my DS (just turned 5 months) started doing this awful new high-pitched cry out of the blue one night. Turned out he had started teething and we had also hit the 4 month sleep regression around the same time so he was chronically overtired as well. I think this combo was too much for him & went off his feeds and just cried a lot for a few days, especially at night. Just a thought but maybe check her gums just to make sure? Hope she is ok

I checked they are a bit white I don't know if that's normal? 😬 she's still crying. I hope it's something as simple as teething but no temp and no rosy cheeks.

@WinterRose92

My first thought was teething - both mine were really distressed when teething. That being said, if you’re worried then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ring 111 for advice.

Hi thanks for your reply. She's going 8 hours between feeds and having about 140ml. Think that's too little for a 4 month old (nearly 3 month corrected age)?

Hi, now is around the time the baby might want a faster flowing teet. My baby did this at 3 months and was a NIGHTMARE. basically, he hated feeding because the teets were too slow. Worth a try!! It instantly solved our issue X.

Definitely follow your instincts and call 111 if you're worried but I also think it could be teeth. Both of mine went right off their bottles when they started teething. I think the sucking causes the gums to hurt even more, maybe see if she would feed from a cup or if you're really desperate, milk in a calpol syringe?

Look into milk allergies

Check all her little toes and check there’s not a rogue hair caught around one. They can often cut very deep.

@blowyernose

Hi I called 111 they cut me off because it wasn't covid related. Called my doc and they said they couldn't help as I'm not in the area. So called local GP and they made her a temporary patient and want to see her mid afternoon. I'll let you know what they say. Meanwhile I might get another pack of formula to rule that out I am wondering if she has a sore belly and perhaps I have a bad batch? Thanks for all your help. Not managed to reply as been dealing with a screaming baby. Finally got her to take a small bit of milk after lots of drama and distracting her with lights etc.

I find 111’s response truly shocking! Surely they’re not just there for COVID related problems! I hope your daughter is ok OP! Thankfully the local GP sounds sensible & helpful.

Hope you were able to get some answers OP