Is this normal? My sad little baby :(

[Thaimoon]

I am blessed to have a six week old beautiful baby girl.

After a few weeks' struggle I think we have finally worked out breastfeeding between us and it's more often than not now a peaceful time, she's gaining weight and seems content after most feeds.

She will often fall asleep on me after a feed and if I'm lucky she will then nap for up to 3 hours in her cot at night and sling in the day.

However whenever she is awake she will only last about 1-2minutes as a max before beginning to cry. This is regardless of where she is when she's awake, if she's being held or not.

Being a FTM I wonder if this is normal? I thought that at six weeks babies have more time awake and begin to smile but she seems so sad and grumpy when awake.

Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice? Thanks in advance

Aw no, bless her!

My baby was really similar at that age, I think she was often either overstimulated, tired or gassy. I remember saying to my partner that she barely gives me 30 mins a day of not grisling.

How often is she napping? Does she spit up a lot? I cut out dairy around that time as she seemed extra unsettled and in pain when I'd had dairy and we suspected she had an intolerance. It could be silent reflux or trapped wind?

If it helps my LO was a grumpy little thing at that age but now she's 5 months she's as happy as Larry. It's just a bit of a shock to them, being out of the womb in the cold, harsh world!

Thanks for your reply @LikeTheOceansWeRise.

She naps pretty much most of the day as it's the only time (except feeding) when she won't cry! She does seem to be pretty windy and sicky but again I have no reference point really as to how often this is normal in newborns!

I did wonder if she just doesn't feel ready to face the big wide world just yet?! She had a pretty traumatic entry into the world, maybe that makes a difference bless her

Windy and sicky?
Is she happier upright rather than lying down?
Does she get hiccups?
Could be worth considering whether she has reflux and/or CMPA?

My little girl was very much the same. It didn't help that I had to have antibiotics for an infection in my c section wound, and that made her bottom really sore.
She's nearly 5 months now and is a smiley, giggly little thing. I would say things improved about about the 3 month mark.

Don't worry about it, some babies are just a bit more vocal than others. It was a really long time before my son would wake up without crying, but my daughter always just woke happily and quietly. Both exclusively breast fed, no change in circumstances just different personalities.

Probably colic hun. Try giving her infacol 20 minutes before a feed, it helps them pass wind And burp much easily. Also try giving her some colief, some babies find it difficult to digest milk. My LO is 2 months and is definitely a lot more settled since adopting this routine.

Definitely happier upright and often has hiccups. I will look up cmpa- I did consider it though I thought it was pretty rare

CMPA can cause reflux (among other symptoms) but reflux can also be an issue by itself.

Helpful info about CMPA here www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice/conditions-and-symptoms/469-cows-milk-allergy

Also have you or baby had to take antibiotics at any point? If so that can affect baby's digestive system and it can help to give baby probiotics eg BioGaia.

Thanks for your suggestions @NameChange30 I was on antibiotics for the first two weeks after she was born

I know they are thought of as quacks but friends of mine who used cranial osteopaths with their babies swear it made a difference. Apparently they can help with issues caused by a difficult birth.

YY to osteopath as well, one who has experience with babies obviously.

I swear by osteopathy as it got me through two pregnancies with debilitating PGP! And can be helpful for babies too.

Aaaagh please don’t start medicating her or cutting things out of your diet, if she is EBF it is so so unlikely she has ‘reflux’ or ‘colic’ or any of those other things (colic isn’t an actual condition btw, it’s just the medical term for ‘we don’t know exactly why your baby is crying for hours on end’). Look up Jack Newman breastfeeding online, he answers questions too. With EBF babies it’s almost always a latch/supply issue, and usually very fixable. Just feed and feed and feed some more, you can’t overfeed a BFer, they self-regulate, and your milk changes according to their needs. And you’re doing absolutely the right thing keeping her close and upright in the sling. If you can feed in the sling even better. Any long term BFer will tell you to be wary of Dr/HV breastfeeding ‘advice’ as many are quick to diagnose and medicate without really understanding what the issue is. Trust your instinct, and look up Jack Newman. You won’t look back. Good luck

My baby (now 9 weeks old) was similar at that age. We had also struggled with breastfeeding because it was SO painful, I was really having a hard time.

Turns out we both had thrush (his mouth, my nips) - it’s much more common if you’ve had a recent course of antibiotics. It also makes babies more windy and fussy.

Two days treatment = a world of difference. Breastfeeding MUCH less painful and my son was nice and sunny and smiley 😃

Saying that, it also just seems to be generally unpleasant being a newborn and crying for no reason seems to be a popular hobby

Yep totally normal I'm afraid but it doesn't last forever. Crying peaks about 6 weeks.
It doesn't mean there's anything wrong. If they are still so gringey after 10 weeks go to the GP.
Before then their little digestive systems are really immature and it causes them discomfort.

Do you burp her after every feeding? Even is she is asleep? When I had my kid this was the first rule everyone told me: put him on your shoulder, make him burp by slightly bumping his nappy and NEVER put him down without burping.... :D I really thought they were mad. But it turned out to be the best advice

@SandMason my DD was EBF and still had CMPA causing silent reflux, it's entirely possible. Hiccups were one of my DD's symptoms before she was prescribed ranitidine.

OP, if it is CMPA and you cut out milk from your diet it can take up to 6 weeks to see the effect in your DD. It did for me, but she was like a different baby! And to reassure you, she grew out of the allergy not long after she turned 1, despite how miserable it made the early months.

Hope you get things sorted, whatever the 'reason' is.

Thank you all, I appreciate everyone's advice- just shows there can be so many things causing it... how do you ever know for sure?! But I will definitely give some of this a go and hope to see her smile soon

My DS2 was similar to your baby.Did not settle, would wake up abut half an hour after every feed , fight and grumble before starting a screaming bout and he could do it for England.
He eventually settled down at six months, used to wake every night until then demanding food.He scowled at everybody, including me.He would be quiet outside as long as the pram was moving.
DS1 was a very contented baby I was spoiled rotten with him.
Both of them very difficult and traumatic births so I could not blame that all.
It does settle over time.He grew up to be a very friendly and sociable child.He is now a grandfather. He has caused me to weep a lot though

Hi op, my dd was v similar - she was 5 weeks prem and had antibiotics as she was in scbu. She also slept all day and cried a lot, v sicky and windy, I was always up half the night with her as she would vom if I put her down straight after a feed.

No one ever tells you that it’s totally normal for babies to be like this, as a pp said their little digestive systems aren’t really properly developed. Have you had her checked for tongue tie? I bf dd for about 6 weeks but it was horrifically painful and it turned out she also had a posterior tongue tie that everyone had missed 😑.

I would give it a few more weeks before medicating your dd - we found at around 8-12 weeks the wind/sickiness/crying drastically subsided and she became a happy, smiley baby 😊.

My eldest dd was like this for six months, I nearly lost my mind. After six months or so, things settled down one way or another (although nights were horrendous for a long time) and we found our routine. When she wasn't colicky she was a smiley cheerful angel.

@WinWinnieTheWay yes it does make you feel that way, so exhausting and upsetting. But I'll take comfort from the fact that everyone has said it does get better eventually! 🤞

I'm going to disagree with the others here. If she is crying from 5 minutes awake then I think something is really bothering her.
My first was a happy happy one, hardly cried at all.
Second cried ALL THE TIME. 5 or 10 minutes in his cot ... then cried, 5 or 10 being held... cried, bouncy chair ... cried.
Saw a doctor who diagnosed reflux.
We couldn't get the gaviscon reflux medicine in him as he was EBF and spat out the syringe of gunk that was supposed to be mixed in a bottle. I followed some wrong tracks but he carried on until six months old then improved.
Six months old is when their stomach valve matures enough to stop reflux hurting so much. (Which is why people are saying their child "grew out of it". But 5 months is a long time to suffer and wait I'd say!)
My poor boy was crying in pain. I now really wish I had pushed for a better medicine for an EBF baby. It would have saved us both a lot of pain (mostly him obvs)
So I do urge you to go see your doctor or health visitor and get her checked out. Your instincts are usually right that something is bothering her.

Reflux. Mine was exactly the same - we talked a lot about how she was either sleeping, eating or crying. We could hear the reflux (she didn't actually vomit much) and she'd cry out in pain. I fed her always upright (laid back position) and tried to keep her upright for as long as possible after feeds. Started getting better when she found her thumb and sucked for comfort. In hindsight I should have given her a dummy from day 1 - dummies are recommended for reflux babies. It is getting better now she's older but we did the whole journey - exclusion diet, omeprazole, probiotics. Time has proven to be the best healer.

@Bewilderbeastie yes looking at the symptoms of reflux she certainly seems to have a lot of them, plus I've noticed she pulls a face when I put her down like she has a bad taste in her mouth. Did you find that omeprazole made a big difference?