Extremely unsettled baby

[Mazzatron]

My 6.5 week old is very unsettled, especially in the evenings and he is also a very poor sleeper.

The health visitor and GP have both said they aren't completely sure what's going on but he is unfortunately at the 'extreme end of the unsettled baby scale'. They say it could be colic, he's being treated with omeprazole for silent reflux. Or he could just be at a very unsettled age for a baby. They said he will likely grow out of it by 3-4 months.

Has anyone else experienced this where it's not really known why your baby is so unhappy. The worst part by far is the poor sleep (he wakes every 30 mins at the moment and has never done more than 2 hours).

Hard to believe this will pass after 3 or 4 months as it feels so severe atm.

Has anyone had similar and can honestly say it passed?

Hi didn't want to read and run.

I have experienced this with both DS1 and DS2.
DS1 was worse out of my 2 as he didn't sleep at all, no matter what we tried, finally diagnosed with silent reflux at 4months, and it settled at 8months. He's nearly 3 now and it is now a distant memory. Or was until DS2 came along and can only sleep sitting completely upright at the moment on either myself or DH, his has got worse recently (5months today). But he also has an intolerance to milk so doesn't help.

It will pass, and I know its easier said than done but try hang in there, you're doing great!

My boy was like this. Was dairy and egg allergies. Key signs were explosive, frequent and mucous/bloody poos, face and nappy rash, terrible wind, screaming in pain and never sleeping.

Good luck, it is fucking hard when you get one like that

If it makes you feel any better, every stage since has been an absolute doddle in comparison!

@DrHWeasley @Titch1993

Ok thanks. Sorry you went through it too.

People keep mentioning about cows milk protein allergy but other than being really unsettled and not sleeping unless being held I'm not sure he has the symptoms.
He gets bad gas and constipation and his pops are green but not bloody / mucassy or explosive. He doesn't have any rashes or eczema. We don't have any allergy history in the family. Do you think it could be that from what I've said?

Yes, it could be. I would discuss the possibility with your GP. Allergy babies tend to go one way or the other with either constipation and diarrhea. Green poops are definitely a sign.

@Mazzatron
I'd lean more towards reflux maybe, with CMPA there's a lot more symptoms.
I'd say sounds more like my DS1, he was so unsettled for ages before diagnose, his was silent reflux and after being put on meds, after 3 weeks he was sooo much better. Id give the meds a couple of weeks to kick in.
There are also different formulas you can try for reflux or CMPA (if you wanted to see if that helps) only issue with the lactose free is it's thinner than normal and LO more likely to bring it up.
We also don't have any allergies in family so I think that's why they were reluctant to diagnose DS2. Go with your gut instinct, if you think something isn't working or there's more too it you are most likely right.

Although anti reflux meds can also cause constipation so difficult to know. Are you FF or BF. If FF you could ask to trial a dairy free formula- the sooner the better too as they taste gross and some babies struggle to accept them. If BF the decision is more finely balanced as you would have to give up the offending allergen (I went without egg and dairy for a year ) so obviously it is more of a hassle and can impact your own health if not managed properly. Definitely discuss with doctor. I hope you get it sorted.

I had my second a year ago and honestly she is a bloody dream compared to DC1. People tell me she is a normal baby though! It has been very good for my confidence and actually confirmed it was just being a shite mum with DC1!

People really have a hard on for CMPA right now. Beware.

To me, it sounds like silent reflux but deffo get allergy testing carried out

Poor wee soul. for you op. It's hard

How is he going to sleep? Does he sleep on you or in basket etc?
You could try folding a blanket under the mattress so it is raised a bit and see if that helps. Same for pram. My box slept upright, on me, for 3 months. I used a V shaped pillow to wedge me in so I couldn't roll

My DD2 was exactly the same. She came out crying and didn't stop until she was around 3-4 months.

We explored tongue ties (she had hers released but it didn't make much difference to her terrible latch), reflux (Omeprazole- presumably caused by her terrible latch/tongue tie), I went off dairy and soy for 6 months. I don't know how effective any of these were in making her more settled.

But she became much more settled when she became more mobile and could sit and crawl. She's just turned 7 months old and although she's still a bit of a Velcro baby, she's much happier, cries a lot less and sleeps for longer stretches. I've also become less stressed out by her crying.

I'm seeing the light now.

@DrHWeasley I am going to phone the GP on Friday and ask about this allergy. When she prescribed the reflux meds she said in 2% of cases it can be a milk allergy but she didn't think that's what DS had but not ruled it out. They wanted me to give the omeprazole 2-3 weeks first.

@Horehound thanks I noticed a lot of people talking about the CMPA. How do they do the allergy testing? I guess it would be ideal to get it ruled out.

@Horehound prior to a week ago days ago he wound sleep 1.5 hour stretches in his Moses basket but now he will only sleep on me on my chest. I've tried persevering to get him in the Moses but he wakes up every single time and doesn't resettle. Right now we all just need some sleep so I prop myself up and he sleeps on my chest. It kills my lower back a bit and I'm worried where this will lead and how to ever get him to sleep independently but I guess he's so little at the moment there's no point thinking like that.

@Horehound how does your boy sleep now? How did you break the habit of him sleeping on your chest?

@Minkies13 how did she sleep? I do think it seems like silent reflux. I'm so glad things are improved for you. My boy is still not even 7 weeks so it's a long road ahead. I'm just incredibly anxious there is something wrong and I don't know how to help him and the sleep deprivation doesn't help matters. Any tips on how to stay sane?

I would explore CMPA. How are you feeding at the moment? It might not be this at all, but maybe worth a try.

My DS had CMPA. We didn't work it out until he was about 5 months as he didn't have the classic symptoms. Confirmed on weaning when he came out in massive hives and face swelling on contact with yogurt. I wish we'd tried dairy free sooner but everyone I spoke to said it was highly unlikely.

His symptoms were silent reflux, extreme fussiness, issues with sleeping, bad gas/tummy pain, constipation - but when he finally went it would be liquid and explosive.

My DD was horrific for weeks - would scream from 6pm up until 1am. The only saving grace would be that she would conk out after that and sleep until 7am or so. Poor love was inconsolable and it lasted from 2 weeks - 16 weeks.

It did turn out to be CMPA for us. Also had a tongue tie snipped. A lot of people suggested cranial osteopathy but we didn’t explore that in the end.

@TheOpportuneMoment
Wow that must have been scary to see his reaction to yoghurt. I switched to formula feeding 2 weeks ago in the hope it might help, he's on comfort formula for constipation and colic. It's not made any difference. Was thinking I'm causing problems with a bad latch, started pumping and giving him bottles of breast milk but with a 2.5 year old in tow it was all too time consuming and now we're on formula.

Will talk to the GP about ruling out CMPA on Friday. Thanks

@DrHWeasley congrats on your second baby! I've got an older son aged 2.5. He had absolutely no issues like this and was a very happy, calm baby. Gave me a false sense of security and confidence as a mum I think! Shame ☹️

Hi @Mazzatron I didn't get a notification you had replied to me so sorry for the delaytbh I just rode it out! I started noticing things improving slightly as weeks went on so with those little improvements o did manage to get him sleeping in a cot by 4-5 months but I always had to put him on his tummy. He always, without failure, woke up if put down on his back. He just likes to sleep that way and even at 22 months he still does! Obviously the guidance is to put on their backs, put some babes just simply don't like it!
I remember having to hold him for 30-40 mins though even at 6 months to get him to sleep before I could put him down in the cot and I was really losing the will to live at that point. I bought a book and followed some gentle sleep guide when we moved him to his own room.
Made good progress there but any illness or teething set is back and so I'd have to start all over again.
Even now I have to stay with him for ages before he sleeps.

But really that's by the by and you just need to focus on the here and now. If it is silent reflux I genuinely think it only gets better when their tummy valves get stronger. So at 6 months it was strong but then we noticed any time he had a growth spurt he kind of regressed with the reflux and then had to wait for the valve to grow and be strong enough not to let acid back up.
I think it's really, really common but it is a bloody nightmare! I hope you have a good support network
I didn't and found it all a big struggle.

Could likely be cows milk. If you're ebf cut dairy and soya out of your diet and you should see an improvement in a three days or so. Both my boys only presented with being unsettled. No diarrhea, skin signs etc. GPs don't seem to know much about cmpa. Great groups on fb

Also with cmpa I think there's like two different types of it and there's only a test for one.
But I did get sucked in thinking my son had cmpa and took him to the drs absolutely convinced he did. Doc checked him over did see a bit of a rash on his slim bit said babies skins are adapting constantly to the world around him and that if I went dairy free it would likely prolong any allergies if he did have one and told me he though DS was fine and not to cut anything out of my diet. Honestly, after that the scales fell from my eyes and realised I was looking for the it to be cmpa.
I think of course somes babies will have it but from what I've seen, those babies have incredibly bad rashes on their faces etc

Does baby sleep better or for longer when on your chest? My first baby had silent reflux and would wake every time I put him down until he was around 10 weeks old, at which point he then slept through the night. I found gaviscon took the edge off but ultimately he needed to grow out of it I think.

My boy had reflux; he was sick up to 25 times a day. His sleep was poor and he'd scream from 6-9pm every day. He was also very colicky so we found a sling helped for those screaming hours.
In the end we popped a yellow pages under the legs of his cot (head end) so that he slept a little less flat; that helped a lot. We put him on formula and by about 6 months he was happier.

My son was the same and the health visitor also said he was at the very end of extreme. We had no idea what it was so eventually thought it was silent reflux because there just had to be an explanation. He was on omeprazole for 2 months... was it really silent reflux? I’ll never know.. I don’t think so. Had tongue tie snipped, went dairy free, tried it all. In the end I just think he was a very unsettled and uncomfortable baby and he ddI eventually grow out of it. 4 months got a bit better. And as time went by and he could do things for himself and start crawling etc he became a very happy baby. IT DOES GET BETTER. Sending you lots of love it was honestly the hardest time of my life. Would Cosleeping work for you? Might help you get more sleep to get you by for the time being xx