Newborn advice with crying

[Heavingham]

I am a typical new parent and kind of trying to figure things out with my newborn (3 weeks yesterday). Elijah has been on and off with crying when it comes to being fed and I am unsure if he's getting upset with colic symptoms, trapped wind, full belly or possible silent reflux.

So the issue I am having is I will feed him a good amount. At the moment he is taking around 3 to 5 oz of formula (aptamil), with being winded about 3 to 4 times during the feed. He seems okay taking the formula with no issues, but about 15 to 30 minutes after a feed he will become unsettled and begin to cry. The cry he makes sounds like he is in pain and he begins the stretch out and arches his back whilst in my arms. He also curls his legs up towards his stomach. This can go on and off from half-hour to 2 hours.

I am having concerns he is in pain from something but there is nothing I can see which could be causing it. He is not unwell and does not have a high temperature, so I am ruling these out. My thoughts go to silent reflux but I am unsure about this. He is not a sickly baby, I would say he might bring up his milk about once a day where I would have to clean myself and him off. The rest would be dribble milk. When he does bring up the milk, he does seem to settle after and can then sleep.

With the trapped wind and full belly, I'm not sure about it. I know it's common for babies to have trapped wind and cry from discomfort but the way he cries and arches his back, just seems something else is upsetting him. I could be wrong. I make sure he is winded during the feed but sometimes he will just wake up with the same cry or if he is laying on his back.

I've tried Infacol, which I didn't see a difference and still seems to be unsettled after a feed. I am also trying at the moment Colief Infant Drops, just in case if the trapped wind is causing the issues and can help him pass the gas. Still not much of a difference at the moment.

Just wondering if anyone has had these issues with their newborn and could help?

What's his sleep like? Before you go down the very popular route of colic, reflux, silent reflux, CMPA and other allergies - check your baby is actually not just tired.

He should not be awake more than 45mins to 1hour before he naps (even if the nap is only 30mins). He should be sleeping most of his time. My 1st one would scream a lot and sleep a lot. My 2nd one does not scream unless dead tired and sleeps well too. I am no expert with just 2 kids but from my limited experience all problems arise from lack of sleep. And hunger :-D (but perhaps that will come later).

No advice on bottles as we did not use formula so cannot advise on how much and what milk. Good luck :)

Infacol for the wind until 1 month then gripe water, sounds very much like normal newborn/ infant reaction to digestion pains, also try offering more milk if he's emptying the bottle.

My daughter suffered terribly when she was first born from feeding, both breast and formula and out of desperation I took her to see a cranial osteopath and wow the results were amazing and instant. My daughter was suffering with undiagnosed lock jaw but they can assist with trapped wind, constipation, colic and reflux etc so I'd definitely recommend going to see one. Big hugs.