Here I am, back again, baby now 9 months and still very unhappy.
Recap: dd cried excessively from birth. Diagnosed with ‘colic’ ‘reflux’, tongue tie (fixed), stiffness (seen an osteopath), probiotics, and then eventually CMPA after a private referral. Prescription formula helped a little. It’s been a very very difficult and long 9 months.
I thought this would get easier, we would get a routine, she would cry less in the day. However she is still seriously unhappy and difficult. We started weaning at 6 months and she has hated it, only finished a meal once in all that time of 3 months and just screams in her high chair. Clamps mouth shut, turns away, spits out anything we manage to get in. We’ve tried everything, spoons, no spoons, floor mat, high chair, baby led, purées. She refuses to eat anything. (This is not an exaggeration. She does not eat solids). We make so many things and she just launches them on the floor. Her formula has reduced from 40oz to 20-30oz daily.
Her wake windows are also still really short, often just 45 minutes after waking in a morning. She gets so grumpy, screaming, tears, and falls asleep as soon as put in the cot. She sleeps 6:30-7:30 every night no issues. Any longer than 2 hours awake in the day and my life is hell as she just becomes inconsolable. Other babies her age are managing 4+ hours nice awake time.
She seems so slow on development too. Not rolled yet or made any attempts, screams if put on tummy. No indication she might want to crawl. Recently learnt to sit unaided. She cannot hold her feet flat on the floor and does not try to support her weight. She just raises her feet and legs and cries if they touch the floor. She is good with babbling, laughing, making eye contact, fine motor skills are brilliant.
My days are miserable, just constant feelings that I’m doing something wrong, everything is wrong, she’s broken. Why does everyone else’s baby do it and mine can’t? I can understand one or two things a bit ‘different’ but all of these things? She seems so unhappy too, lots of tears, lots of crying. She’s actually only really ‘happy’ when out of the house and watching the world.
She suffers almost constantly from constipation and has stool softeners.
We spoken to health visitors and doctors and they all said she seems fine and is putting on weight. They put a referral into paediatrics in February and wait time will mean an appointment in august. Apparently nothing more they can do and only paed can do blood tests.
So, can anyone reassure me? Suggest what might be wrong? Tell me what I can do? Will this end? An awful pregnancy with HG from week 6, and then this every day for 9 months. Not much left in the tank.