Newborn crying a LOT

[Cafeaulait27]

Hi everyone, FTM to very much wanted 3 week old rainbow baby!

Unfortunately he cries a lot - I mean like pretty much all day between feeds some days, luckily we get a bit of respite overnight between 11-8am ish but today he started crying at 6am.

It seems to be a wind/digestion issue, I know all babies tend to strain and go a bit red when digesting but this seems to really upset him and he screams and screams and it’s so hard to hear.

We’re using Colief and trying to burp him as much as possible although he doesn’t burp loads. We tried Dr Browns bottles but he seems to get tired half way through and doesn’t finish his feed so we have up on them for now. I do also have some infacol so may start using that as well from today, as well as buying some comfort milk. We were given some carobel pn prescription to help as one health visitor thought it might be reflux (discussed over the phone). But that made him constipated and he struggled with feeding as it slowed it all down so we had to stop using that too.

We’re really at our wits end, especially in the evenings when the tiredness really kicks in. I think I I may be getting the beginnings of PND. Last night I just couldn’t cope at all and sort of shut down. My husband is very supportive and we split everything, last night he just took over as I just couldn’t do it.

I can’t cope with holding him, changing him, checking he’s comfortable, rocking him, seeing if he wants a bottle etc and none of it working. Plus sleep deprivation. It’s so hard seeing him look like he’s in pain but nothing working to soothe him.

Does anyone have any tips for this, or is it just colic and there’s nothing we can do?

If anyone has any success stories to keep us going or just can tell us that it does get easier that would be great! I can’t do this for months and months on end 😵‍💫

My little boy did this and was barely ever sick and rashes only started after 4 or 5 weeks. He had CMPA and when we started neocate he was so much better within 1 week. He also took lanzoprazole for reflux. I feel for you as the 24/7 crying is awful but it will get better. 16 weeks was a real turning point for us once colic had subsided!

Silent reflux can mean little to no actual sick being brought up, that’s what my little boy had. Honestly I thought the world had played a huge joke on me when I had my baby, I definitely didn’t have PPD but definitely didn’t enjoy the newborn stage very much at all, I think there’s a middle ground between the two. Keep communicating with your HV and she’ll probably know where about your mood is on the scale. Our rock bottom was the 4 week mark, it gets better more quickly than you can comprehend. My 19mo is the love of my life and worth every awful newborn day ha x

Mine was like this and like others have said, it was a dairy allergy causing silent reflux. No other symptoms but when we switched her to prescription milk she was like a different baby.

She was always a bugger to get to sleep for naps though - I second the birthing ball recommendation!

Not all reflux treatment will cause constipation. If your baby is really bad with it you can get Zantac or omeprazole (though I think protein pump inhibitors like omperazole have had some negative press recently for correlation with asthma when prescribed to babies. I’m a recent mouse study Zantac increased the prevalence of food allergies. But the chances are small and you’ll have to weigh it up). They’ll probably give you Gaviscon first though.

I read a theory online that parents always attribute crying to pain, especially digestive pain, when in reality it could be linked to overstimulation. Have you tried swaddling in a dark room? Google ‘purple crying’ as it’s quite interesting anyway.

Infacol and medications like it don’t actually have research evidence in their favour unfortunately so probably a waste of time.

Comfort milk might help with the constipation. It has less iron than normal formula.

I know this sounds flippant but please remember that babies change constantly and this crying could stop tomorrow, or in a few days, or next week. It will not be forever. Just try to survive as best you can say to day for now and at some point this will all be a distant memory.

My dc2 is 4months. He used to cry sometimes for six hours in the day nothing would console him. Every dat he cried so much. We tried colief but no joy. Used infacol which helped with wind but still crying. Hv suggested he might have cmpa and we got prescription formula. Within a day of using it the crying stopped. I couldn’t believe it. Everything is worth a shot it’s all trial and error.
Good luck

My 1st also had a very colicky tummy and would scream every night from about 6pm through until midnight. It is tough going and I remember feeling helpless that your poor wee baby is in pain and nothing you try seems to ease it but these are a few things that did help us out.

Gripe water before every feed, deep warm baths, bicycle legs and tummy massage. Burping after every ounce and snuggles on my shoulder for a while after feeds to keep baby upright. I also used a wedge in the Chicco to prop him up so he wasn’t lying completely flat.

Glad it's going better.
For our lo with colic it was Infacol, different burping methods eg leaning forward, tiger in the tree hold, catching up on sleep by any means possible (us and baby) so everyone was less frazzled. If you've got a friend or family member who'll push them in the pram while you grab a nap or chill in the bath?

Warm baths are a good shout for baby too.
It does stop eventually! Ours could scream for 8 consecutive hours at 2/3 weeks, she used to sleep a total of 8 hours a day and scream the rest. She wound down over a few weeks with us trying every tip the Internet has, soon strangers were commenting what a happy/chilled/relaxed baby she was. I used to tell them she got all her screaming out early on. You will get there!

Thank you everyone, it’s always very helpful to hear that it gets easier too ❤️ It’s a struggle!

He’s not crying inconsolably anymore but sometimes cries randomly between feeds, and I have noticed a couple of times he’s brought up a little clear liquid. He also has a stuffy nose sometimes.

So now I’m thinking it could be the reflux? Might try the GP again 😵‍💫

Really feel for you OP! My boy had tummy issues when he was little and I think it sorted itself out when we took dairy away (tried lots of things).
I found the parent and baby coach podcasts really useful, she talks a lot about colic and reflux and causes. Now we are out of the haze and I know a bit more I think he may have had silent reflux caused by gas/dairy intolerance.