New mum - fussy baby, need advice!

[EOP2020x]

Hey! New to this!

I'm a new mum, my newborn girl is 4 weeks old, almost 5.

She sleeps in our room in a next to me crib. Since she was around a week old, she started making grunting noises at night, lifting her legs up to her chest like she was almost straining for a poop. (She does it so often though that I don't think it can be straining, seems to be more discomfort in her tummy). This wakes her up and even if it doesn't, it keeps me and my husband awake because you're constantly hearing her and trying to take away any discomfort.

We've been back and forward to (different) doctors and they first thought it was reflux. Prescribed gaviscon but it made her really constipated, so they stopped that. They then prescribed similac milk incase she had an intolerance to cow & gate - no change. Then we went back to cow & gate with carobel milk thickener and they now think it's "just colic and she will grow out of it". Told us to use infacol/colief instead for wind. They've also suggested that babies are just noisy at night etc

I do maybe think it's wind, but I'm at my wit's end here. She's gotten to the point where she's uncomfortable all of the time. The only real time she's relaxed is when she's worn herself out or finds a comfy spot (me holding her). Obviously it's hard enough with a newborn, but I'm getting no more than a couple of hours of sleep and my husband is back at work. I'm having to sleep with her on the floor in her nursery so she doesn't keep him awake.

Has anyone had a similar experience? I feel like something is going on with her but that I keep getting fobbed off - or maybe she is fine and that this is just 'what babies do'.

Just looking for some advice or experiences you might have had. Thanks!

@EOP2020x did you find your baby took a few bottles to adjust to the new milk? We’ve just been prescribed the SMA version but it seems watery and she doesn’t seem very keen? Drinking only 7oz all day in 3 feeds!

@LST87 she did take it but the amounts she's drinking have definitely changed. But ive seen the health visitor and she's happy with weight gain so they've said she might just not need as much from this milk.

I must say though she is drinking like a minimum of 15oz and other days can be like 22/23.

Maybe she doesn't like it? I'm sure if she gets really hungry though, surely she'd just take it? If not I'd 100% go back to the drs and ask for an alternative or check that it's okay.

Really hope things get better for you 😩 it's a constant battle isn't it.

Id really recommend coleif it's working very well for us x

Ok thanks that’s helpful it’s her first day on it today so I’ll see how she goes over the weekend. She’s very sleepy today so can’t be causing her too much discomfort. Have some colief in the cupboard I can try if needed. It doesn’t ever seem simple no, always something to keep you on your toes 🤣 x

@LST87 I know 😂🤦🏻‍♀️ bless your Baba, it's horrible isn't it. Yeah maybe she's sleeping more because she feels more relaxed?! 🤞

Let me know how you get on next few daysxx

Hey @EOP2020x, just to let you know think the change to dairy free formula has worked. Her rash has improved and she will now sleep happily on her back and generally more settled 😊. She does still suffer a bit with tummy ache/trapped wind towards the end of the night as she’s a nightmare and doesn’t burp after night feeds 🙄. Don’t suppose you know if you can use gripe water or infacol with the prescription formulas, thinking that might help in the night feed. Hope your little one is still improving 🥰

They’re noisy little buggers, my dd did the exact same thing and I’m in an online antenatal group (postnatal now I guess) and everyone said the same thing. Between dd, the dog snoring on the landing and DH it was like sleeping on a farm at times!

It’s also really normal for them to only sleep on you for a while. I’m sure you know all about the 4th trimester but I found that reminding myself it was biologically normal and necessary for her, not anyone was doing wrong, really helped me through it. I ended up bed sharing for a little while as I figured it was safer than falling asleep holding her which happened one night. Google lullaby trust safe sleep 7. I know it’s not for everyone and I thought I’d never do it but it worked really well for us. She’s 4 months now, back in her next to me most of the time and sleeping through - obviously every baby is different but on the whole it really does get better I promise. She’s still a noisy little piglet though.

There are lots of techniques for relieving trapped wind. I found burping dd by rocking/ rotating her whilst sort of bouncing her on my knee worked best. Bouncing with her on a birthing ball also helped. Some people say lying them on their tummy across your knees works wonders, or the ‘tiger in the tree hold’ which you can google. Also cycling their legs or doing a tummy massage can help.

And there’s no way someone who gave birth less than 5 weeks ago should be sleeping on the floor. I get your DH is back at work but unless he’s doing lots of driving, flying a plane or maybe performing surgery he can cope with a little less sleep - fair enough if you want to organise it so you do the lion’s share (we did and still do) but he can certainly do his part. At that stage I would go to bed between 8 and 9 whilst my DH had the baby downstairs till around midnight so I could at least get a few hours. Then he’d get up at 6 and take her for another hour before getting ready for work so I could have a little longer. Can your DH do similar, or maybe take the first night wake or and then swap with you? And definitely no more sleeping on the floor for you!

Oops did the thing I hate most and didn’t rtft- sorry! Glad to see you’re making some progress

@LST87 hey 😁 so glad your Baba is getting better! Think it defo takes a bit of time to get used to the milk.

I don't know if you can but don't see why not, we used infacol with gripe but it didn't do much. Coleif has helped much more.

Mine is the same, still noisy but much better 🧡

@AliasGrape thanks for your advice! I'm not sleeping on the floor now haha, we've had a big improvement. After her last feed she does get in bed with me to sleep and it really helps. Glad you've said it's normal and also reminded me of 4th trimester, she is going to be more needy right now for contact x