Constantly crying

[AutumnLeaves26]

My dd2 is only 4 weeks old and we've just recently stopped breastfeeding and on formula. She seems to be always crying unless feeding or sleeping and I'm finding it so hard. After googling I'm not sure if it's silent reflux or if it's her getting used to the formula. Has anyone else experienced this? I might phone my health visitor tomorrow but don't want them to suggest things and medication when it's not that as they misdiagnosed my DD1 with CMPA and it was a nightmare to get resolved again.

Is it just a phase? I think I could cope better knowing it'll pass. I don't remember this with my DD1

Without telling you how to suck eggs, how much are you feeding her? She may still be hungry. My DS was the same. Screaming the place down and it turns out he's just a hungry baby so we increased his feed and he is so much more settled now, thankfully.
It could be a number of things really:
Colic
Reflux
Constipation
Hungry
Rule out the obvious and then speak with your GP if you're not getting anywhere.
Hope you figure it out ❤️

My baby cried constantly until she was about 8 weeks before slowly beginning to settle. It is so very hard looking after an unsettled newborn - you have my sympathies. I spent hours just walking around with her on my shoulder or in a sling - the second the movement stopped she cried again. It is exhausting and draining.

She did have silent reflux (medicated) but I think it was a combination of that and a traumatic birth. I took her to a cranial osteopath at 7/8 weeks and it really did help - who knows whether it would have just passed anyway but I would have tried literally anything to make her more content.

Even if it is reflux and/or colic (fancy word for 'crying for no apparent reason') those things will resolve in time. I felt we really turned a corner at around 4 months.

If she has just started with bottles she could be struggling with the extra wind intake. Does she do a few burps after feeding? Try and get as many as possible, my ds would scream and scream until he'd farted or burped a few times but it could take up to half an hour of winding :( if you find it is wind, a different milk might help. We used comfort milk in the end as it is thicker and there aren't as many air bubbles. And obviously stored the milk instead of shaking it for less air bubbles. Anti-colic bottles are also great for the same problem x

*stirred

@lockdownpregnancy thanks for your reply. We just upped her to 5oz yesterday and she has 5 bottles in 24 hours as recommended on the box. I did wonder if she was still hungry as she does finish the whole bottle but quite quickly which made me wonder if it's gas/wind. Could actually be constipation as she hasn't had a dirty nappy today now.

@ihaveoflate thanks for your reply too. Good to know it'll get better in time. The sitting on my shoulder is the only thing apart from feeding that's helped today. It is so tiring so sorry you had to go through it as well.

@helloitsme4432 thank you. Been doing a burp every couple of ounces and get a good burp out of her each time but could maybe need more? I'll try stirring rather than shaking first before looking at changing milk xx

@AutumnLeaves26 our baby is way over what it says in the box. Babies aren't machines and following what is on the box isn't always best. I don't want you to learn the hard way like we did! 😫 We did that and it got us a very unhappy baby! I think your baby might be hungry. Maybe lower the volume of milk but increase the frequency of feeds? Little and often.
My DS has 6oz every 3 hours. He's supposed to have 3oz every 3 hours according to the GP! There's no way he would be happy on half of what he has now.
Babies don't poop everyday either. My DS is every other day or every 3 day. As long as it's soft/runny(ish) and yellow in colour baby is fine.
Also try some cooled boiled water. It helps with reflux, colic, digestion and sometimes babies get thirsty. I know mine does and he loves a bit of water every now and again ❤️

My bottle fed baby had significantly more than it said on the box. I planned to combi feed my youngest but she was always unsettled after formula I think it hurt her tummy so she has been fully breast fed. So from my experience it could be hunger or that breast milk is kinder on her tummy. Also 4-8 weeks is the peak of fussiness. Could you go back to breastfeeding and see if that helps?

@lockdownpregnancy that's actually good to know as I was worried I'd overfeed her. Sometimes she throws up a wee bit at the end of a feed so maybe need to lower and be more frequent as you say. How old is your DS?

@3WildOnes She wasn't gaining weight with exclusively breastfeeding so had to combi feed to begin with but now we've been gradually moving to fully formula fed as something isn't quite right with the breastfeeding sadly. I have wondered if it's upsetting her wee tum 😔

Hiya.

My little boy was exactly like this, cried CONSTANTLY and didn't sleep for hours on end. He had really bad colic, silent reflux and CMPA.

Before he was diagnosed with CMPA changing his formula to the comfort milk helped quite a lot, as did infacol, gripe water + infant gaviscon.

He's on a prescription milk now and still has gaviscon but I noticed a major change around the 2-3 month mark. I know that feels like a lifetime away at the moment but it does get better so quickly 🥰

@AutumnLeaves26 my DS is 8 weeks but just after 5 weeks old he was on 5oz every 3 hours. He spits up too, quite a lot actually but Doctor said that as long as he's happy, full nappies and putting on weight then not to worry.
It's just a lot of washing! 🤣
I do have a big baby though and does have a large appetite. Every baby is different, but I'd definitely consider increasing your babies feed and every 3 hours. If they don't drink it, it doesn't matter, but at least it's there if they want it 👍🏻

Another one here for comfort milk or colic formula. You need to give it a few days to see the impact but it worked wonders for me with my middle child.

I haven't formula fed so have no idea about quantities, but there must be quite a long time between feeds if you're only giving 5 a day - I'd try increasing the frequency I think.

That sounds tough. A friend switched her baby to Kendamil and she said the fussiness went away. I’m not sure if it was the goat one or regular. You could try a few different ones maybe.

Also I think my babies were having 10 feeds a day at the age. Every two hours in the day and then 3-4 hours at night. I would try small bottles more regularly.

My baby was having many more bottles than that at that age. He’s only just on 5 bottles a day now, but also has 3 meals (8 months).

At 4 weeks old, my baby was having a minimum of 9 bottles a day, he’s quite a small baby too ( 50th P).

Try and increase the frequency of feeds to every 3 hours. Sounds like you may have a hungry baby.

Hope things get better soon.

Wow thanks everyone I hope I've not been starving her then would feel bloody awful! She was just under 9lb so a bigger baby too so maybe that is the issue. I'll give that a try before thinking about switching milk xx

Hopefully it is something as simple as that OP :) and don't feel guilty if it is! I only realised when my second slept literally all the time that my first probably cried so much because she was exhausted - oops!