6 wk old baby won’t stop crying - normal?

[Orangepen13]

Hi all,

I’m a first time mum and just trying to work out whether my baby’s behaviour is to be expected or not.

She’s 6 weeks old and for the last three days she has been constantly crying. The only time she’s not crying is when she’s feeding or sleeping. Because she’s crying so much, it’s also been really hard to get her to sleep in the day. The only thing that works to stop her crying is walking in the sling. She’s been crying a lot for the last two weeks, and I gather that’s normal, but this just feels another level. I’m at my wits end and really struggling to cope with the constant nature of it.

Other things I’ve noticed are:

• being sick during and after feeds, plus probably one projectile sick a day
• hiccups after every feed
• lots of crying while straining to push wind/poo
• lots of smelly farts! V veggie smell
• only pooing every few days (but normal poos when she does go)
• resisting sleep like a trooper

I’m finding this all so hard, utterly exhausted and the sound of her crying is bringing me to tears.

Things I’ve tried:

• infacol before every other feed
• wonky winding
• white noise, rocking, singing lullaby, reducing stimulation in the room, wearing her in the sling around the house, skin to skin - walking outside seems to be the only soother

Is this all part of the development phase around this age? Or should I be questioning this more? I have HV and GP appointments next week, so can explore more.

Thanks so much for any advice, thoughts or just solidarity!

Oh bless you, my first was like this and it was torture.
I’ll start by saying there is probably nothing wrong. This went on for six months for me and then stopped almost overnight.
Young babies want to be held all the time and they like motion. Mine would only nap on me or in the buggy on a walk if I was lucky. Mostly had to carry them in a sling.
Babies are often sick so I wouldn’t rush to thinking yours has an allergy. I found myself feeding an awful lot, babies do like to feed a lot.
Their little digestive systems aren’t very developed at this age so trouble being winded, smelly farts and strange poos are common (all j happened among my three kids). Holding upright after a feed and winding upright can help.
All you can do is keep doing what you’re doing and try and get your partner/parents/whoever to hold them when they can do you can shower/sleep/get a break.
It DOES pass I promise.

Potentially reflux. Especially if crying is when being laid down.
Speak to your HV and they can advise

My baby went through a very fussy period at 6 weeks, now at 8 weeks he seems to be going through it again :( . He didn't cry to the extent you're describing but he did have times of crying uncontrollably, to the extent that I couldn't even nurse him which is not like him at all. The only thing that calmed him down was skin on skin contact. He also had the change in poos...went from 6-8 a day to one or none a day. This only lasted around 3 days and then he went back to normal.

Sounds similar to my 7 weeks old. He had reflux and now been prescribed omeprazole by the doctor which is helping. Try keeping upright for 20 mins after feeds before laying her down. Is she breastfed or bottle?

Agree, sounds like reflux. See if HV can help. It's so hard. If he's crying when laid down, pop something under the mattress so he's sleeping on a gradient. (If you Google it I'm sure you'll get a pic of what I mean). Is she gaining weight?

If she is project vomiting a lot see a doctor when you can. You'll get sorted, it's such a difficult time

Sounds like my dd and she had reflux. Take her to the gp as soon as you can and get a wedge for her Moses basket so she isn't so flat laying down. It won't last forever, even though it feels like it will!

Mine cried all day til about 10 weeks and then it just gradually stopped. She's very happy now! I think she just hated being a baby and now she can touch and play she's happy

More ideas: Measure out milk in 5ml increments and throw it on a muslin and see how much she's actually bringing back up as possetting is very normal. The fourth trimester is where the digestive system really kicks into gear and your baby is learning how to cope with pooing etc.

There is a normal development leap at 6 weeks. Have you read about Purple crying? A lot of reassuring stuff on that website too.

I agree it sounds like reflux. DD2 used to be sick after being bottle fed 80% of the time until she was 4 months but not projectile. Speak to your HV and see what she says

Thank you all, it’s really helpful to compare to others experience - I never know what i should just be expecting and what might be different! I’ll ask my HV on Monday about reflux, having read more about it it does sound like my girl. We’re breastfeeding so will try different positions and keeping her upright. We cosleep so lifting her to sleep might be difficult but any other ideas v v welcome!

Thank you

Just in case anyone is following this with a similar experience… i looked at advice for reflux and started to feed my little one in a more upright position and holding her upright for 30 mins after feeds and she’s like a different baby! Maybe coincidence, but much less sick and tears, and lots more sleep! Thanks so much everyone xxx

Okay, this did not last. Baby is now 9 wo and still crying the majority of her wake time. She’s also still only sleeping 1-2 hours at a time.

I’m really sad for her and me. It’s making me avoid baby groups or going out as she’ll cry all the way through. The GP wouldn’t prescribe medication as she’s not losing weight, and said gaviscon has to be mixed with milk so we wouldn’t be able to breast feed.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a reason she’s so unhappy that I might be causing?

Any symptoms (besides the reflux and constant crying) that may indicate CMPA? (dairy allergy).

Could you pump some breast milk and try a bottle so it could be mixed with Gaviscon? I’ll be honest, in your position I would try introducing some formula to see if it improved things but completely understand that may not be something you want to do.

@Orangepen13 I'd be calling the GP back and demanding a prescription.
People wonder why the BF rates in the U.K. are so low! If you were bottle feeding they'd probably prescribe it straight away.
You can definitely give a BF baby gaviscon - I do! I express 10ml to mix with the powder and syringe feed it to my DD.

We're at 19 weeks and sadly still experiencing issues with unsettled behaviour and very poor sleep. The crying does get better with time, once they're more alert and can be distracted with toys things definitely improved for us.

We also co sleep as near constant feeding is the only way my DD settles

I agree with reflux and also potentially CMPA. I breastfed and DD still reacted through my breastmilk; she started off sleeping fairly well and it got gradually worse- she used to cry non stop and would only sleep 30min at a time. She is non ige and had no eczema etc; just gastrointestinal symptoms (+GORD). She's now 8 and still allergic to dairy. Her symptoms were arching her back, pulling up her legs, bad wind, screaming for hours on end, slightly better when held or when in a sling, she also turned over from tummy to back very early on. Hated tummy time when flat.

Speak with your GP. Join the CMPA support Facebook group. If I were you I'd go diary free for several weeks to see if it improves; you may also need to cut out soya (though I'd try dairy one first as cutting soya is hard, it's in so many things). Ask your GP for omperazole for the reflux as you're breastfeeding - gaviscon wouldn't be suitable as that needs to be added to the milk which you can't do.

Also to add - in my experience you really have to put your foot down. It took us over 5 months to get diagnosed as GP didn't take us seriously; like you DD didn't lose weight and had no skin issues etc so in their words she was "thriving". It was awful and we only have one child, mostly because I could never go through that again.
Keep going back and don't take no for an answer (easier said than done); maybe videoing her at her worst and showing that to GP may help persuade them. I feel for you OP.

Sorry, one more thing. It may be worth going to out of hours GP if your own GP is unhelpful... We found them much more understanding (own GP dismissed me as "neurotic FTM who had no idea what babies were like").

I’m actually doing veganuary, so can test out what difference going dairy free makes. Thank you for all the support, it’s so hard to know if you’re doing the right thing sometimes

@Orangepen13 have you had a bf consultant look at her latch? My first was similar to this with the frequent vomiting and he had a tongue tie (posterior so couldn’t be seen could only be felt by someone who knew what they were doing-ie not a hv or GP). He was taking in air with feeds and it was irritating his stomach and making him gassy and miserable-similar symptoms to dairy / CMPA but it was actually the poor latch and tongue tie.

I understand if you'd rather continue bfing but Aptamil comfort formula was my saviour when I was in your position.
Stay strong and remember you'll all get past it.

I’m so sorry OP - that sounds awful for you both.

Sounds maybe like colic - my DS was like this. Lactose free formula helped a lot, as did extremely assiduous burping. It did pass for us after he was about 2-2.5 months old. I mixed lactose free formula and BF. Worked for us. Agree with others that reflux should also be looked into.

Crying the majority of thee time doesn’t sound right at all - can you push GP for a specialist consultation?

Only sleeping got 1-2 hours at a time was unfortunately the norm for DS until he was about 3.5/4 months old. Hang in there x

[quote Narwhalsh]@Orangepen13 have you had a bf consultant look at her latch? My first was similar to this with the frequent vomiting and he had a tongue tie (posterior so couldn’t be seen could only be felt by someone who knew what they were doing-ie not a hv or GP). He was taking in air with feeds and it was irritating his stomach and making him gassy and miserable-similar symptoms to dairy / CMPA but it was actually the poor latch and tongue tie.[/quote]
Really good point. A friend had this. She had to go private in the end as NHS kept fobbing her off. Went to a private lactation specialist at 7 weeks, he sorted the posterior tongue tie very quickly, transformed baby.