All she does is cry..

[JuniperandI]

Hello

I have a 15 week old and she cries about 75% of the time she is awake. She has almost completely stopped napping during the day (she would nap for 6 hours+ total before) and won't sleep in her carrier or pram. Even standing and sshing and rocking her doesn't work anymore. IF she naps, she fights it for an hour beforehand, making herself overtired, naps for 30 minutes and she wakes up crying. She doesn't show any signs of illness.

Is this normal? Did it happen to you? What helped? When will it end? My husband and I don't have any help nearby and we're losing our minds.

It sounds like my cmpa baby. Cried constantly, never slept, couldn't go anywhere. The gaviscon is to mask the symptoms but you need to get to the cause (i.e.allergy)

Don't do cranial osteopathy. If you suspect a physical issue like torticollis this go to a paediatric physio.

But first time would be requesting dairy free formula (not hydrolyzed but completely dairy free).

My dd was like this and in the end I bought The Contented little baby book. My dd needed to go back to bed an hour after waking up in the morning, the room needed to be really, really dark (black out blinds and very quiet).

She would then get up for about two hours and then back to bed.

Basically if she was awake more than two hours she would get overtired and be inconsolable.

Dd was like this. I think it’s up to was due to digestive issues. We never got to the bottom of it. But she improved a lot when she was six months old and started weaning.

My DD was like this around this age and this was when we had to start enforcing naps in a dark room with white noise on. She was also CMPA but undiagnosed (GP thought I was just an anxious FTM) and would be very uncomfortable with bouts of constipation followed by diarrhoea as well as bad reflux. Not sure if any of that relevant to your baby but food for though possibly.

This absolutely screams of CMPA to me.
She needs you to advocate for her so do not let them fob you off. 15 weeks old is plenty of time for the usual colic symptoms to subside or at least begin to improve so there is definitely more going on here. Poor little thing.

Definitely ask for a paediatrician referral, it won't hurt.

Torticollis can be quite frustrating for them if they're trying to build muscle towards rolling - lots of micro advancements happen at this age. The wonder weeks app is great for keeping track of the developmental leaps per age, and explaining some fussiness too.

In the mean time, looking after your own mental health is so important! Dealing with a crying fussy baby isn't easy. Make sure you're getting time for your self too.

Has she always been like this with the crying? Just asking because my just turned 4 month old went through the same at 15 weeks, but he was actually cutting both his bottom teeth much to my shock even though there was literally nothing there until they came right through. Then the 4 month regression has hit us this week so currently going through that just now with 2 x 20min naps per day, crying and moaning all day and fighting me constantly - it’s mentally draining, but he’s also still sleeping his 10-12 hours at night. Hopefully it’s just a stage

Car naps might help.

Have you had her checked for tongue tie? My son had his cut around 4 months (he was a constant crier up to this point) and he was instantly better. I think the tongue tie was causing him to take in too much air.

the tiger in the tree hold helped settle him (pics on Google)

I hope things get easier for you both

My eldest was like this. We had to enforce naps. Basically if she was awake for more than an hour she cried. She needed huge amounts of sleep ( and did until she was a teen) . It got better when she learned to walk and could entertain herself.

good luck op it’s very hard work. I remember when my second baby was born and he was contended from birth, cried very little…. Such a different experience…

She's always been a cryer but the last few days have been worse 😣

Morning update

Hello everyone, thanks for your replies and suggestions. She's woken up upset again, but seems to be feeling a bit better after some Calpol and a warm bottle. I'm not sure if she is teething, her gums just look pink and white as normal. I also tried to put a teether in her mouth and she didn't like that 😅

My mum said I had colic when I was little. I cried for 9 months non stop 😵‍💫😵‍💫

Oh lord don't say that 🙈

You may already do this, but when our babies would get distressed, my parents showed us if we held them, gently rubbing their back and walked round the house just cooing to them to look at the pictures (gently cooing about what was in the painting/photo, the colours etc) they would sort of get distracted, go quiet gazing at the picture and inevitably a burp would be released once they were calmer and you could see the relief from discomfort for them, no tears after. Also worked a treat focusing on flowers/bees/birds in the garden with both them and their baby cousins. Baby massage might also help if wind. Some lovely baby groups (with other desparate parents, quite bonding) or probs YouTube videos these days.

Hope you have some success! So difficult with no sleep or break for you. All best.

DD2 was like this. Although I never timed how long she cried for, it certainly felt like all day every day. When she was a couple of hours old a midwife told us off because she was screaming: took her away, did all the things we'd already done, and gave her back still crying... It improved as she became more independent: as soon as she could sit, she was more cheerful. Crawling saw her more cheerful again. If she got upset/tired she'd often go away and have a lie down on her own - and interfering meant it took her longer to come around.

Now she's 9 years old and still fiercely independent: wants to do things herself, and takes herself off alone if she feels overwhelmed. She's a huge amount of fun and in many ways a much easier person to parent than easy-baby DD1, who defaults to seeking help/giving up rather than trying things herself. Sometimes babies are just screamy.

It's rough on the nerves though, and my mental health was in the toilet for a long time. My health visitor was very kind to me, she was wonderful. If you can get any respite or support anywhere, take advantage of it.

I feel for you @JuniperandI - I used to read those guidelines on colic and think they must have been written by someone who had never met a colicky baby - three hours crying was “this morning”.

It’s awful. Nothing but sympathy. Do get advice because CMPA, reflux etc can be a real nightmare, and sometimes it helps to fix those things.

I know it’s awful, and I didn’t really appreciate it when people said it - but it really does get better. This is the worst bit and you will come through it. In the meantime, the priority (assuming your baby is safe) is you, your rest, your mental health.

Water was a magic trick I used - put the bouncer in front of the sink or shower (obviously on a safe surface) and let them stare at the water running. Calms anyone down!

Can you ask your partner to take a day off work, and send them out of the house? It's really really restorative to have your own bed to yourself in day time. Dealing with crying isn't easy on the mind!

We have a GP appointment in an hour. If she tells me this is normal I'll probably explode. I'll ask about CMPA.

We have tried everything, taking her around the house, showing her the different rooms, etc. This isn't a case of just calming her down, she's in pain.

I found my GP was very quick to dismiss me as a nervy FTM. Having the symptoms written down in formal speak helps

• e.g. crys for X hours a day, even while soothed
• difficulty moving neck in X positions
• diarrhea / constipation X times a day. CMPA poos are usually green & frothy so referencing any of that helps. Relating things back to Bristol stool chart helps with medical speak
• any distended belly or wind problems

Really hope you get help!

I had one of these.....severe silent reflux and multiple food allergies.
She's 5 and a half and it's only in the last 6 months that we have managed to wean her off some of her reflux meds having dropped 2 of the 3 she has been on.

I know a lot of people have said CMPA or silent reflux. But if she's sleeping well at night then it's most likely not these issues as she would find it difficult to sleep at night as well and be unsettled then to.

I would actually say it's more likely that she's just a high needs baby and needs more attachment and comfort during the day. Some babies are just like this. Colic is another option, but again this is something they just grow out of. This is most likely the case if she's more fussy in the evenings.

It won't be lactose intolerance as that is rare in babies and causes them to not gain weight. And is actually quite a serious medical issue and would have been noticed before now. Depending on race children can become lactose intolerance with age but that is because not everyone had the gene which allows us to tolerate lactose into adulthood. But it's very rare with babies.

Tell the GP your husband has real concerns it's cmpa. Or make up a random man who has commented. That usually helps get taken seriously.

Same same!

And with food allergies, they may not be IgE allergies so there is no test except cutting things out

Sad but true