Please, please any advice or wisdom, baby won’t stop crying

[4658Lou]

Please some wisdom and advice. My baby is 6 weeks old and a couple weeks ago started to become really gassy (farting) lots and seemed to in pain when passing wind bringing up knees, going red, crying. I changed his formula and started using Colief drops I did see somewhat improvement. Now he is 6 weeks and it’s a week on using Colief, but for the last 2 days/nights he has not slept properly and is screaming and constantly wanting feeding (my baby is formula fed) a couple days ago baby was going 3/4 hours at night sleeping well and about 2/ 2 and half hours through day between bottles and taking naps, but these last 2 days / nights he continually screaming for milk every hour or hour and half and during the night there is no warning he’s just starting to scream, even after a bottle it’s continuing and he seems to not able catch sleep he has not napped for more than 15 minutes during day. To sum up main things he is:
-Cranky/fussier than usual.
-Hungrier.
-Is not sleeping well.

what could this be? How do I ease this in really at the point of breaking as I don’t know how to bring comfort to baby I’m trying everything massage, holding, soothing nothing works x

Just to note baby doesn’t seem like he’s unwell he doesn’t have temperature or anything. It’s just the symptoms above 🤷🏻‍♀️

This definitely sounds like a growth spurt. 6 weeks is a classic time. Should settle down again in a day or two. Hang in there!

I am so sorry. I empathise. 2 of my babies did this for weeks. My first until he was 12 weeks old and then it stopped. Like magic. It’s so so exhausting, but you’ll both get through this. And if it is a growth spurt- very likely it should be over in next few days. I found massage helped.

@Caravansandfestivals omg is it really?? Last 2 days/nights I have not known what to do I’m crying because I was that much of a loss with it. So it could be a growth spurt?- so the hungrier and not sleeping well is symptoms of growth spurt you would think a baby would sleep more? But my baby is not catching sleep at all he will doze off through day for 5-15 mins and wake up crying then at night he’s only going hour or so screaming for milk. It’s exhausting but I was more worried what was going on 😢 x

@SilverBranchGoldenPears oh really so you have been through it too. You’re right it’s exhausting and it doesn’t help I came on my first period 6 days ago from
c section / post birth and omg it’s heavy like really, really heavy plus I have the post c section niggles of pain still it’s hard physically. Thank you I will continuing massaging and just doing everything to comfort him, it just seems like everything I do he cries/screams louder x

My daughter was like this and turned out to be CMPA, if he's worse after feeding I would definitely see Dr just in case.

Ah I feel for you and remember it well. My son was exactly the same at that age. Like a demented milk monster. He also didn’t sleep during spurts. I had heard that some babies sleep through them but it wasn’t my experience. He was also a windy baby. That took longer to resolve - about 12 weeks? Fingers crossed it will settle really soon for you hunger wise in a couple of days.

I agree it could be a Growth spurt! Definitely feed to his cues at this age.

What kind of things have you tried to settle him? Skin to skin is really comforting for babies, I used to pop mine on my chest and then wrap my dressing gown round is both and pace the bedroom. Some babies like white noise (made no difference to mine though and sent me a bit loopy). Also a bath or shower with you,.or even just being in a steamy bathroom with the shower on.

If he's uncomfortable with gas then have you looked at rocking him in the 'tiger in the tree' hold ? Mine liked that! And also wonky winding after feeds. Also do the usual cycling legs/tummy massage at nappy changes throughout the day.

Hope this helps a little bit. It is exhausting and worrying and stressful when little one gets so upset!

Does he have any other symptoms? Around 3-4 weeks is a prime time for cows milk protein allergy to start to manifest itself. In addition to being really uncomfortable with gas/reflux there's symptoms like mucousy or green tinged poo, sometimes poor weight gain, eczema, nasal congestion. For my son, he didn't have poo symptoms, he was pretty constipated with really stinky gas (sorry 🙈) not wanting to feed, reflux but not really sicky just horrid 'wet' sounding burps, and his weight gain was completely fine. Once we went dairy free (and soya free soon after) he was a different baby.

It could just be a growth spurt as others have suggested but do look up CMPA in case anything else resonates. Good luck x

Try lying him on his back and gently circling his legs in big movements (babies are very flexible) to see if that gives relief.

Gentle massage May help. This website has some good ones to try

www.healthline.com/health/baby/baby-massage-for-gas-2

And here's a nice Video to show you how (lovely calm British lady explaining it all 😊)

This stage can be hard but you'll get through it.

With the link this time.

Colic peaks between 6 to 8 weeks so it will be worse.

Holding him upright helps. Do cycling legs and bringing his legs up to his chest.

I'm currently going through this with my daughter and first baby also had it. It does get better OP

DS1 was 'colicky' and Tiger In the Tree hold was very soothing for him

Get the wonder weeks app. I think there is a development leap at that point x

I think probably colic or reflux (look up silent reflux).

To be honest, nothing really helped at 6 weeks but at around the 12 weeks mark things started to improve significantly.

Baby swing.

I think this could be reflux. Definitely look into it. I am sending you hugs.

My daughter cried for 16-20h a day. For her silent and physical reflux as well as lots of food allergies were the reason.
She would be worse when going through a growth spurt and going through some developments periods. She became extra cranky and emotional

Does he have a swaddle?

At this age they realise their hands belong to them and that they can move them about. It scares them until they get used to controlling them.

I always recommend dentinox for gassy babies - it works like drain in locker and pushes the wind through plus it's totally harmless and makes their burps smell lovely!

Also, check fingers and toes for a hair tourniquet - hairs can get tightly wound round their fingers or toes and cut into the skin which makes them fussy but is really hard to see unless you're looking. I know a couple of babies who have suddenly been fussy and it's been this.

you say he’s constantly wanting fed, so are you giving him more?

When I formula fed my babies, I’d always make the bottle about 1oz bigger than I figured they’d eat (when they started acting like they wanted more). I’d rather they didn’t finish a bit than be screaming for more that wasn’t ready!

But I’d also be concerned about reflux/CMPA at this age.

Sounds like CMPA. My baby started showing symptoms around 3 weeks. Mucusy poos, absolutely disgusting smelly poos, pure voluminous liquid. Nasal congestion. Horrendous crying. It was also causing silent reflux so she'd drink more to soothe this and then make herself iller

Try a bath, might make baby feel a bit better for a little while?

Id second the possibility of silent reflux. Try raising one end of the cot onto some books, keep upright for 30+ mins after feeding and see if it helps. Does he do wet sounding burps/hiccups at all?