9 week old constantly unsettled, what’s normal?

[Missymoo345]

My 9 week old seems to be constantly unsettled. He always has wind, even straight after doing a load of farts and a poo he will strain and grunt constantly (both night and day). I’m completely exhausted. He just doesn’t seem happy or content for more than 10 mins a day. I put him in the bouncer and he is smiley briefly before grunting again or will be happy in his pram for 20-30 mins. He also won’t nap for more than 30 mins unless in the carrier but my back hurts so much from using it so often.

He was 2 weeks early so think his digestive system is still not fully there? he feeds well and is gaining weight etc. I am getting him checked for tongue tie but there aren’t feeding issues, just looks like he has it and I’m looking desperately for solutions.

did anyone go through this? When did it get better for you? I’m desperately hoping the 12 week mark is a huge change like everyone says but not sure what to do if not.

Get tongue tie assessment and speak to someone about possible silent reflux. The two can go hand in hand where the tongue tie causes the baby to gulp in more air and it triggers reflux.

My daughter had severe reflux and a dairy allergy which contribute to her reflux but it is independent of the allergies. Things got better for us at 17 weeks when I went dairy and soya free as we saw a paediatrician who fixed her reflux meds as her GP wasn't prescribing them properly

Do you drink any fruit juices or fizzy drinks? My son was like this and the health visitor suggested I only drank water . It worked

I’ll check tongue tie thank you. He does have a tiny bit of reflux I think. Not enough to bother him much!

I don’t drink fizzy drinks or fruit juices at all, never have

There are two types of reflux. Regular reflux that causes vomiting ranging from frequently possetting to projectile vomits and there is silent reflux where they bring up a feed but instead of being sick the swallow it and bring it up a second, third, tenth, hundredth time. This is harder to spot as you don't have visible symptoms. Often it is unresolved crying and unsettleness that are the give aways as well as frequent hiccups and being unhappy if put down or lay down on their backs

My daughter probably always had silent reflux but had regular reflux from 5 weeks until about 6 months as well. It was probably 1/3 regular reflux 2/3 silent. After 6 months it has been purely silent reflux and she still has it at 3. It's much harder on her than her regular reflux was as it keeps on going where as if she was sick she would be no longer able to reflux that milk.

he is usually happiest when lying on his back so I’m not sure it is reflux? He is sick in his mouth and swallows it probably 3-5x a day but he seems unphased by it for the most part. He’s cried a couple of times when he’s already worked up and that happens but I don’t feel it is this?

hope your daughter is ok sounds like tough going!

I would put money on him refluxing a lot more than 3-5 times a day if the are the silent refluxes you hear. There will be more that you can't.

I would definitely seek the advice of a lactaction consultant for a tongue tie assessment. Tongue tie assessment are notoriously poor.

I would keep a log of when he feds, nappy out put and what he is doing. I would focus on looking for reflux symptoms and starting doing some of the behavioural things to improve reflux like leaving them upright for 20-30 minutes after a feed. Reflux apparently peaks around 4 months so it could be still on a upward trajectory. My daughters reflux got so much worse from 8-12 weeks where she mildly grumbled to 12-16 weeks where she was continuously upset. She also has food allergies and with the help of lots of food diaries I found that not being able to be put down or stay occupied were her first symptoms that she was having an allergic reaction. I'm not say you baby has food allergies but wanting to demonstrate that babies can express discomfort in subtle ways.

So yes I would get that tongue tie assessment, look into un-invasive reflux treatment and approaches and for the next 3 or 4 days keep a detailed diary of their life in case there are patterns