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Original poster

Grunting - Early hours!

31 replies

mummy1202 · 27/07/2021 08:10

Hi everyone,

My little one is 8 weeks old and for the past month or so he has been grunting/straining and generally seems so so uncomfortable during the night. It usually starts around his 4/5am feed and carries on until we get him up around 7ish. He also scratches and claws at his face as if he is uncomfortable. If we life him out, he will sleep more peacefully on our chest, but as soon as we lay him back down, the grunting starts again. It is so so noisy and he sounds so uncomfortable. He never does this during the day, it is only at this time every morning.

We recently moved onto Nutramigen formula for suspected CMPA as he was very uncomfortable and this has been going well, touch wood. The grunting has been going on for much longer than the change in formula though, he has been doing it for over a month.

Does anyone else have experience of this at all? I have read that it can be a case of waiting for their digestive system to mature and that he will grow out of it. But if this isn’t the case, I’d like to try and do something to help! Not sure if it can be a sign of reflux, but if that was the case it seems strange to only be during these early morning hours.

Please help!

Thank you x

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Pissinthepottyplease · 27/07/2021 08:42

Grunting as in sound like baby dinosaurs? Completely normal. Sleeping next to a new born is like sleeping in a farm yard.

Floopyandtired · 27/07/2021 08:44

Oh my goodness I could have written this! My little boy is 8 weeks tomorrow and he is so grunty and squirmy all night. He also claws at his face and seems really unsettled, but he does manage to sleep through most of it. I think it’s wind as a big grunting session is normally followed by loads of farts. I am BF but I have not given up dairy as he doesn’t have any other signs of CMPA but it’s interesting to see your little one could have it as I hadn’t considered it. I have no advice but you are not alone!

Original poster
mummy1202 · 27/07/2021 09:00

Thank you @Pissinthepottyplease and @Floopyandtired that is so interesting!!

He struggled so much with passing wind from his bottom end and used to cry all day and be generally very miserable. It has improved massively since we changed to the CMPA milk but hasn’t made any difference to the grunting.

So interesting that we are in the same boat - and I agree, it is always followed by wind or a poo, but sometimes not for hours later! Very bizarre.

Hopefully it might pass soon?

Smile
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Floopyandtired · 27/07/2021 09:06

@mummy1202 I remember my eldest doing the same at this age and he did grow out of it, although I can’t remember when. I’ve got videos of him on my phone sounding like a whole farmyard that I’d show to the health visitor, who would smile kindly and say it was normal. It’s so annoying when they’re right!

Original poster
mummy1202 · 27/07/2021 09:44

@Floopyandtired I really hope he does soon! He isn’t crying so I’m hoping that means he isn’t in pain with it.

OP posts:
whateverintheworld · 27/07/2021 10:10

Completely normal - was done by 11/12 weeks

Original poster
mummy1202 · 27/07/2021 10:33

Thank you @whateverintheworld - more peaceful nights to come hopefully!

OP posts:
Capuchini · 27/07/2021 10:49

My baby did this, I was so worried something was wrong with her. I spoke to my health visitor as she said it was her maturing digestive system. ( BF baby and would poo about 6 times a day!!) got to about 10/11 weeks and suddenly stopped!

Original poster
mummy1202 · 27/07/2021 10:58

@Capuchini Thank you so much. That’s so reassuring! Fingers crossed x

OP posts:
Fleetw00d · 03/08/2021 20:18

My dd was exactly the same and I infact posted a thread on here a while ago about her sounding like a dinosaur 😂 I can't actually pinpoint when it stopped but she's now just 4 months and hasn't done it in a while, at least a month maybe more!

Babydust13 · 03/08/2021 21:25

My boy is 10 weeks now but has been doing the same for as long as I can remember we've been using infacol before his feeds but I'm really hoping he grows out of it soon

MintGreenLife · 04/08/2021 14:20

I’m glad I found this thread! My baby boy is just over three weeks old and a few days ago he started straining/grunting a lot, it’s worse at night. The last two nights it’s started after a feed around 3am and he’s not settled again until we get up. He doesn’t really sleep through it, but doesn’t cry much either, just makes a lot of noise and seems really uncomfortable. Interesting that a possible dairy intolerance is mentioned - before I was pregnant I cut out dairy due to IBS but I reintroduced it at about 14 weeks pregnant. I still avoid high lactose things like milk, but not sure if a dairy intolerance can be passed on. May try cutting it out for a few days to see if that helps!

MintGreenLife · 04/08/2021 14:23

Should have said I’m also breastfeeding and using Infacol. Interesting about the comment of baby pooing 5-6 times a day as mine seems to go after every feed! So around 10 times a day 😂

Fleetw00d · 04/08/2021 19:28

@MintGreenLife mine was exactly the same, 3am not wide awake but stirring and grunting and then fine every other part of the day. I was just told it was normal and they'll grow out of it, part of it being an active bowel time for them at 3am and part of it being the maturing communication between brain and bowel. I was having milk and yogurt every day and still do and dd has been totally fine and stopped making noises I think from about 2.5/3 months old so for us don't think it was dairy intolerance. My friend had a dairy intolerant baby (now outgrown) and he was sick after every breastfeed.

Capuchini · 04/08/2021 20:30

@mintgreenlife
I tried infacol but found it actually made the grunting / straining worse. Now she is almost 6 months and barely makes a noise to do a poo, you just hear the poo coming out! I also got worried around 3 months as she would only do 1 poo a day instead of like after every feed! So don't worry if yours does that too, it's normal apparently!

SantoPalo · 04/08/2021 21:13

@mummy1202 I could have written this myself. My son is 7 weeks and has been doing this for about 3 weeks and I was concerned also. I did a Google and read about a thing called grunting baby syndrome

YorkshireGirl35 · 04/08/2021 21:33

Just want to add that it’s totally normal. No-one tells you about it before you have a baby though! My daughter is 5 months old now and I think it stopped around 3 months but I found I was able to sleep through it more as the weeks went on. Noise cancelling headphones helped as you could still hear actual cries

MintGreenLife · 07/08/2021 14:25

Does anyone have some tips on getting through the nights when baby is grunting/learning to use pelvic flood? Seems to be so much worse at night! For example last night I took him up to bed at 9.30am, by 2.30am he was still awake, breastfed five times, and every time I tried to put him down was so noisy! At that point I gave up and brought him downstairs so they DH could get some sleep. Between 2.30am and 8am we both must have managed an hours sleep. Otherwise I was either feeding or rocking him in his Moses basket while he grunted away. Any tips/advice?! He seems to do it mostly when put down, if he’s on me he’s not so bad x

MintGreenLife · 07/08/2021 14:35

Meant pelvic floor!

BuffySummersReportingforSanity · 07/08/2021 14:37

@Pissinthepottyplease

Grunting as in sound like baby dinosaurs? Completely normal. Sleeping next to a new born is like sleeping in a farm yard.
This. Both of mine sounded like truffle pigs at night. I used to sleep with earplugs in.

It's normal and they grow out of it.

AmIEmptyOrNumB · 07/08/2021 16:09

Please check with your HV rather than MN

Capuchini · 07/08/2021 16:33

@MintGreenLife do you have baby in a moses basket? If so you could try tilting it slightly so not flat on their back. My HV actually suggested this to me. I didn't tilt it hugely ( otherwise she was a bundle at the bottom of the basket which isn't safe!) but enough so they aren't completely flat. Hang in there though as it will just get less and less until one day you will say, they haven't grunted tonight!

MintGreenLife · 07/08/2021 16:59

@Capuchini yep we have a Moses basket downstairs. It has a rocking base, so actually when he’s in it it’s tilted anyway with his weight as of course placing him in feet to foot position. We have a Tutti Bambini Cozzee upstairs which can be tilted so maybe we will try tilting slightly. He slept in the crib in hosp tilted sometimes due to reflux. Thanks so much for the tip ☺️ From what others have said I fear we have another month or so of this; but we shall see! Personally I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of wearing earplugs to bed just in case I didn’t wake x

Elisemum · 07/08/2021 17:11

My son was exactly the same OP! It would start around 3 or 4 am and he would kind of grunt until the time he was getting up. It sounded so uncomfortable, he was never crying he would kind of sleep through it but it wasn’t a proper sleep. It stopped around 3 or 4 months I think! We would never co sleep or let him sleep on me (only during the day) so taking him out of his next to me cot was not an option. You can and you will get through this!

Capuchini · 07/08/2021 18:39

@mintgreenlife anything is worth a try. I think it helped slightly but my DD was around 8 weeks I think and it kind of just vanished by 10 weeks so not sure if it was the tilted moses basket or not. I also swapped to a bedside crib which she enjoyed much more as could fling her legs around much better! I found eventually I was so tired I slept through it, my husband used to say to me, she's grunting again, but she had her eyes shut so I knew she was OK! He couldn't switch off like I could. Confused I'm sure in a few weeks it will lessen. If you are worried ( like I was!) you can always give your HV a call. They were not overally worried at all when I said, they even heard her doing it. X