Newborn screaming all night

[Coco1oco]

This is a long one but wanted to get as much info in as possible.

Our baby is 10 days old and is great during the day with feeding & sleeping albeit is quite hard to wind - I'm not sure if he just doesn't have much wind in the first place? I've tried the countless positions but only ever get the odd burp.

However the past 2 nights he has squealed solidly from 11pm to 4am, and I think he only sleeps at 4 as he's that tired.

He will lie on me and fall asleep but if I try and put him down he will squirm and the start his roaring, also one wrong move and he'll cry. I am really worried about falling asleep with him on me and something happening to him and I want to avoid co sleeping too as it would worry me too much.

He is going red with the crying and scrunching his legs up which makes me think there could be trapped wind from the say building up.

Is this normal? Midwife said about witching hour but this is longer than an hour or two! I just want to cry as I feel so helpless and exhausted. Husband helps too but he will be going back to work so can't have him sitting up all night.

For info he is formula fed and is taking 3oz bottle every 3 hours or so but I think could take more. He is trying to guzzle the bottles, although I am trying to pace & wind despite his protests.Midwife said not to up it just yet but maybe should be doing more feeds?

Hi, a few thoughts from me. At this stage if your baby is finishing bottles - you can increase them. It could be growth stage so why limit milk? I had a friend with a baby taking more that the daily recommended amount and midwife sent her to the GP who looked like - baby is hungry - feed baby. Once they are toddlers and eating it all evens out.

given the time and leg scrunching it could be wind. My first was hard to wind so we used infacol. My first also used to scream for 3 hours a night until we started using infacol. It can take a few days to make a difference.

regardless of when my babies were crying I hd a mental tick list - nappy, hunger, too tired etc.

it’s hard when they are still young as you are just getting to know the cues so even if a feed isn’t due, you try - a bit of wasted milk isn’t the end of the world because if it is hunger better to try.

also even though I swore to never use them - dummy’s do help and give comfort - you can ween off later

I would ALWAYS try more food! Every 3 hours doesn’t sound enough at 10 days.

How much does he weigh? The number of ounces his stomach can comfortably hold is dependent on his size.

I agree- more milk. Newborns feed every couple of hours, 3 hours is quite a long time to go.

Agree that if he’s draining bottles you need to up the quantity in the bottles. So if he’s regularly draining 3 Floz offer 4floz at all his feeds today.

Is he happy to go 3 hours between feeds too or does he want them more often?

If winding is difficult have a look at The Tiger in the Tree on YouTube, That can work for some difficult to wind babies.

It’s also worth reading this on Tongue tie just to rule that out.

If he’s not settling in the crib, try using a T-shirt DH has worn as the sheet. The smell should be reassuring for him. Have you tried swaddling and white noise too?

Forgot to add that you’ll need to make the changes ine step at a time so that you can work out which one is helping.

If you’ve upped his feeds, in quality and frequency, I would think about changing his formula before you make any other changes.

This article on feeding on your baby’s cues might help too. Babies that are happy to feed every 3 hours from the beginning are exceptionally rare

3 hourly feeds is v normal for a formula fed baby and usually if draining the bottles I’d add an extra ounce going forwards but before you do in this case I think I’d see the GP because I’d be wondering about silent reflux. Guzzling bottles can be a sign because the swallowing provides relief as can not wanting to lie flat and hours of crying. Of course those things can also be symptoms of other things but good to check it out I think.

Also as a guide- in a 24 hour period they should be taking roughly 2.5 ounces per pound of body weight. Work that out and you’ll have an idea if he needs more milk or is potentially over feeding.

Ok so maybe they’re not that rare but it’s better for the baby to be described on their cue rather than by the clock.

If you look up infant dyschezia, does that resonate with you. My baby was the same (except not always at night it could be any time) and every day would have a four hour plus spell of a gruntier eh-eh-eh type crying, more like a shout than a cry, lots of leg cycling, red face and it didn’t often result in any poo as a result. But when he did poo it was frequent and normal. It’s not a disorder, they just don’t have their muscles coordinated enough to poo but trying really hard. It’s not painful for them. My baby was breastfed and would spend hours on the boob at that time because sucking is meant to help, so maybe a dummy might help your baby if increasing he feeds as suggested by other posters doesn’t help. I was convinced it was wind and tried all sorts of of winding techniques and massage and none of it worked and just pissed him off even more. Letting him suck was what helped him though and he grew out of it.

Witching hour isn’t literally one hour of crying. With my sons it was more like 3+ hours a day

If he’s falling asleep with you and crying when you put him down, it’s probably because he doesn’t want to be alone and that’s a survival instinct, not something you can fix. One parent sleeps while the other is awake with the baby in a sling and you switch (assuming you remain against cosleeping).

Op, always offer more food. Ignore the midwife. Also, cosleeping was only way I got sleep. It’s normal for babies to prefer to sleep with Mummy.

Thanks everyone, he was 7lb 12oz when born - is now 7lb 14.5oz as of today.

It was the midwives in the hospital who said to try and stretch the feeds beyond 2hrs - but that's what we were doing. Other people had also said if sleeping not to wake but we had been to ensure he was getting enough.

He seems content during the day to go 3 hours (or longer) so perhaps could it be he just wants more at night?

Sister in law and today's community midwife said to try a 4oz bottle and see how he goes. Midwife has also said to try infacol so will get that and see if there's any improvement.

Will have a look at the tongue tie info and mention to hv when she is out next week!

Should also say he has a dummy. When he has the screaming episodes he will spit it out. If we try and put it back in he'll take it out again.

Agree with witching hour - is witching night!!

Ahhh Im so sorry you going though this, its so rough. My little one was the same, and it was heartbreaking. Might juat be a short phase, or if it continues maybe look at a range of things to try. I was alao so stressed about the burping sometimes they just dont need a burp, dont.over stress try a few times, change position then accept it. Are you swaddling your little one for sleep? Can try different ones as well, my baby went though a phase of liking the love to dream type arms up, then later preferring them down. Friends baby hated them, and when she moved him to a sleeping bag he was happy. I agree with others make a bigger bottle, and throw out. They go though phases when growing, sometimes they need more sometimes they take less. The other thing to keep in mind is silent reflex if it continues, then it could be a case of holding them up for 30min after feeds etc but just a thought if it continues. Also some babies like mine super sensitive, loved being held. If you dont have and budget allows try get a co side sleeper basinate. They safer in that they there but you cant roll onto them etc, can also get ones that can tilt for reflex. Again just try a few different things, do you have white noise on? And most of all even though the beginning can be so hard, remember to pause, take pictures and just enjoy the moments.

In the day, whatever you count as the start of the day don’t let LO go longer than 3hrs, as you can often pay for that hunger at night.
It is really hard, but try and use the mental checklist -nappy, Feed, wind, nappy, cuddle/rock etc. Sometimes it can be other extreme things like a hair wrapped on a toe.
Other tips/thoughts When trying a dummy, I used a NUK one or the pointing up ones & hold it in place post a feed, sucking can give relief of tummy ache, but over feeding can give tummy ache. Once a dummy is established it can help distinguish between hunger and tummy ache - but this is when they are slightly older.

White noise or the radio on for sleep can also make a difference in the night, as the noises can wake them or appear to, so constant noise can help everyone.

You may want to explore what bottles you use, some are just too fast flowing and give little ones tummy ache & other times they can be too slow & exhaust them trying to get milk out of a slow teat.

I used NUK bottles but had to change the teat to be easier for one child, faster for another. But I know there are hundreds of bottle types so maybe worth asking the HV to observe a feed or gather opinions on.

Lots of formula options to explore if the above does not work. It does get easier, but be gentle on yourself.

With winding try sitting him on your lap, one hand supporting his head and chest front the front and one from the back, then slowly rock him round. Like a weeble.

We were shown this by an ex nicu nurse for our youngest and it was revolutionary for winding her

Ok so if he’s going longer than 3 hours in the day I would personally wake him up for a feed if it’s been longer than 3 hours since the start of his last feed. Just so that you can try and get as many ounces as you can in during the daytime.

Newborns don’t really figure out the difference between day and night until they’re about 6 weeks either but you can help this along by getting him up fed, changed outside at around 7 am for a blast of sunshine so he knows it’s daytime. Make sure he’s outside at least twice a day as sunlight has been known to improve nighttime sleep although obviously not in direct sunlight as you don’t want him to burn in this heat.

Keep things bright and noisy in the day and quiet and dark at might

Hopefully you’ll start to see a difference with some of the things we’ve suggested

If he's calm and will sleep lying on you but screams when being put down, I would say this is normal for the first few weeks of life with a newborn. It's just separation anxiety. Neither of mine would be put down in the side sleeper at night until they were about 4 weeks old and only slept on my chest at first. Have you tried swaddling or a swaddle suit? It will get easier and won't lead to a lifetime of co-sleeping. The fear of dropping off any smothering them is real though - can you and your partner take turns?

Agree with this. It might also be worth looking at the Basis website as this has some really useful information on sharing your bed with your DC.

I'd be reluctant to give a 10 day old baby bigger feeds as their stomach capacity should only be about 2oz at that age and I wouldn't want to stretch it.

Smaller feeds more frequently is biologically normal and what a baby would be doing if breastfed so you could try that. An 8lb baby should be having around 20oz milk per 24 hours.

It's also biologically normal for a newborn baby to resist being placed away from it's mother at night. There may well be nothing 'wrong', your baby is just wired by evolution to be held close.

@toastofthetown the grunting noises, good grief, they were a shock. Mine was like a little baby goat, so noisy! They got better around 8 weeks IIRC.

Are you feeding him during the 11pm-4am period? If the dummy normally soothes him but he's spitting it out then, then I would trying feeding him again

This is a guide on the size of a babies stomach

We
co slept
used baby sleeping bags
and maintained complete darkness in the room

have you considered an intolerance to the formula….