4 month old moaning all the time

[Kelseymay12]

Hi,
My 4 month old is constantly moaning all day she seems annoyed and stressed out stretching and tensing herself constantly. She doesn’t like being rocked or going in the pram so I’m struggling to get out of the house. It is also hard to entertain her after 5-10 minutes of tummy time, jumperoo, play mat or just face to face interaction she will start moaning again. She has only just been put on the correct milk for her CMA so I assumed it was due to wanting to being held all the time as we did to console her before but this doesn’t seem to be the case. She is eating normally and sleeping through the night still although she screams and cries before her naps during the day and will only contact nap.

Has anyone experienced this is it normal and does any have any suggestions on how to help?

Screaming before nap sounds like over tired to me. Can you try and get her to sleep a bit sooner? Contact napping is fine at this age (assuming your ok with it). Do you have a decent sling/carrier so that you can move around wihout hurting your back?

Tensing sounds like pain. Any reflux? How long has she been on the correct milk?

What milk are they on? the initial hypoallergenic formulas still contain dairy just broken down a little Bit which is good enough for some babies but not others. How long have they been on it and have they previously had any symptoms of reflux? The allergy formulas are thinner than regular formulas so often need thickeners to reduce reflux. Reflux also peaks around 4 months.

I try and get her to nap after her 2-3 hour wake window although she sleeps between 9 to 12 hours every night so I assumed she was fighting it as she wasn’t that tired? I do have a sling but I’m not able to wear it at the moment as I suffer with my back. She doesn’t seem to have any reflux symptoms other than then tensing as she has been on gavison before and has not helped. She has been on the new milk around 3 week. She has every symptom on teething although her gums aren’t swollen.

Gaviscon is pretty rubbish tbh and I wouldn't rule out reflux based on it not helping. Not all reflux needs treatment too but if it low lying reflux you might find that with colds and teething in becomes more prominent for a few weeks whilst they are teething and then it will go back into the background again once it passes. One of my friends has a 1 yo that has been like this. Her little is slightly prone to reflux and most of the time it doesn't bother her but when she ill or cutting a tooth it is more bothersome for a short time.
3 weeks is still early days, I would give it another week or two before looking at other options. There are 2 proteins in cows milk caesin and whey. Some of the formula have whey broken down and other caesin but I don't think any do both so you usually have to test one from each group as you can be allergic to either or both. An amino acid formula that has no dairy at all is the next option. You might need to investigate a thickener, gaviscon isn't the only option, especially the amino acid formulas which are very thin.

https://sarahockwell-smith.com/2013/08/29/help-my-4-5-month-old-is-sleeping-like-a-newborn-again-aka-as-the-4-5-month-old-babies-from-hell/

Im not actually a big fan of S O-S generally but I think this article is bang on. DS1 was an extremely moany, unsettled, ‘difficult’ baby. 4-6 months was particularly rough as he hated being in the house but also hated any form of transportation. He got better with every developmental milestone. He was quite easy by the time he wasn’t a baby anymore.

4m is a tough phase - they’re going through huge developmental leaps. Look up 4m regression for more info!

No advice but my four-month-old baby is the same. Tenses and goes red faced often towards the end of wake windows and resists sleep. She used to sleep through the night but the four-month sleep regression is here and she’s waking up every 3 hours — sometimes every 2 hours or hour!

Chances are baby has silent reflux and may need something stronger than gaviscon - eg omeprazole. Especially the CMPA formulas are very thin and often worsen reflux.
Also potentially if it's an extensively hydrolysed formula that might not be enough and you may need to go onto an amino acid formula (the likes of Neocate or Alfamino).
Keep going back to your gp.

Could be frustration while working on a new skill. My eldest was very frustrated all the time till he could run and jump...! Sorry! Made for a lot of moaning and grizzling. Also became very competitive as he got older.

Was NOT happy in a carrier till I got him on my back and he could see everything. Was NOT happy in the pram till he could sit up and we switched to push chair.
He's a delightful 11 yr old though!

Youngest was more passive and chilled and just got on with things.