Please help! FTM and newborn in pain

[sadtoday21]

Hi everyone, I just gave birth to my first baby three weeks ago and desperately need some advice. Baby has been very unsettled in past week, crying even when he has been bathed, fed, changed, etc. He’s very gassy and screams when he has to poop or pass wind and arches his back. He also started to burp and spit up milk more often. It’s interfering with his sleep and he’s exhausted but nothing I do seems to take away the pain. I noticed he has some blister-like scans in his anus and I wondered if this is the reason he is in pain and if so what should I do? Just feel at a loss as no family around and also very little medical support atm due to Coronavirus.

Please can more experienced mummies tell me what to do and is this anything serious? Baby is feeding fine and doesn’t have a fever or any other rashes, besides the sores in anus. Is this nappy rash? How do I treat it? Is it normal?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

The first bit sounds like reflux but I don’t know about the sores

Are you breast feeding or formula feeding? Either way, it could be an allergy - CMPA? You'd either need to cut things out of your diet or get a special formula mix if so. I don't have experience but a couple of friends who have had babies with it... hope someone more knowledgeable comes along, but speak to your HV / GP as soon as you can

Yiur GP will see your baby that day

Ring your health visitor too

Support is there

@4amWitchingHour thank you, I’m exclusively breastfeeding.

@Doryhunky yes, it does sound like classic reflux or colic symptoms. But I don’t want to assume it’s that, he just seems inconsolable sometimes!

@00100001 I will ring them but reluctant to break isolation if this is normal. My GP is closed and HV said they wouldn’t be available anymore.

Any mucous in his poo? Sounds like maybe an allergy to me. My dd is allergic to cows milk & was like this (not the sores, but a nappy rash). I'm ebf too, cut out all dairy for at least 3 weeks & see if there's an improvement but also get in touch with your GP. I'd be very surprised if they refused to see a baby so young

Obviously your Gp is shut today as Sunday, but are they closed during the week? They shouldn’t be, and should definitely see your baby. If you cannot get an appointment you should phone 111 to get a GP appointment. No one will mind seeing a tiny baby even in current situation, please don’t leave it for that reason.

Have you tried anything on his bottom?
The other thing which you could try today would be to phone the pharmacy and see if the pharmacist would help, but they are extremely busy and often don’t see such tiny babies.

Newborn babies are gassy. They have immature guts. It doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong so try not to jump to conclusions.

Are you winding him after every feed?

It sounds like he has nappy rash so buy some metanium (yellow cream) and apply a very thin layer. This is by far the best nappy rash cream on the market.

Look out for mucus (looks like snot) in his nappies which could be an indicator of CMPA (cows milk protein allergy).

The sores are unusual. I would phone for support. Don't know if you would get through on 111 but definitely try. Hope you get it sorted

Thanks everyone!

@Jamandpeater no mucus in his poop, lots of wet and dirty nappies that look normal. Thanks for the tip on dairy! I will try that.

@Coldhandscoldheart I tried nappy rash cream and also bathed and changed him. I guess I can call 111 for advice, just not sure if that’s the right course of action. Part of me thinks this is normal newborn digestive issues, but he’s my first so I don’t really know what’s normal.

@user1480880826 thank you, that’s reassuring and what I thought as well! The blisters on his anus are small and I’m not entirely sure it’s anything more than nappy rash. No bleeding or swelling or pus or anything. Just 2-3 small bumps right at the opening. Maybe I’m not changing him often enough? I usually do it 3-4 times a day.

Thanks @Bluewater1 really appreciate it! I just hate seeing him in pain and I feel like I don’t know what I am doing 🥺

Any greenish/ frothy/ explosive nappies? Do you seem to have a lot of milk?

@villainousbroodmare nappies are normal for bf baby - yellowish runny poo and urine average amount I would say. I think I have decent milk production - I can pump 4 fl oz in about half hour and I can tell baby is sucking deeply at breast.

Okay. I had gallons of milk with my first (subsequently fed twins with milk to spare) and he suffered badly with foremilk excess, lactose overload and fermentation in his guts. He rarely got to the hindmilk so was perpetually hungry and dissatisfied. I didn't understand why he was so distressed, and all my desperate midnight online research suggested that you cannot overfeed a bf baby, so I offered bf at every whimper and made it worse. His bum was burned with the diarrhoea. An old-fashioned 3-4 hourly schedule with a soother to comfort in between made an immediate difference. I don't know if that's your issue, possibly not, but a three hourly schedule would be a harmless thing to implement for a few days just to see if it helps.

I would change a newborn nappy more that 3-4 times per day. Do it every time they wake up from a nap and (obviously) straight away when they poo.

Newborns need changing every time they poo and wet nappies every 2hrs. 3-4 times a day is not enough. You should also be changing at night.
If your baby doesn’t have wet nappy after 2hrs I would be concerned they aren’t drinking enough!

If the nappies are wet after 2hrs then I don’t think there is anything wrong with your baby, they are often hard to wind, I expect you just need to do it more and find a technique that works.

Agree on the nappies. I'd use warm water and cotton wool rather than wipes, and v gently clean the blistered area, then use Sudocrem at every change.

You might be able to Facetime with GP to show the sores. They have started doing that where I live

I agree with above posters - do not use wipes, even water wipes

Sores will need a prescription cream, try to get a video consultation

He also has a white tongue with sores- is this thrush?

That tongue looks thrushy to me- are your nipples or breasts sore?
Not sure about the blisters as bum doesn’t look red and sore but I’ve never seen blisters at the bum either...
is your HV taking calls at all or your breastfeeding support team?

The tongue could just be milk tongue. Thrush tends to look more like plaques of thick white. But I think you need to speak to a GP or even pharmacist because he's so little. It could be hand, foot and mouth, if he has blisters inside mouth, but with such a tiny baby I'd want to get him checked.

And yes, you need to change his nappy much more. We were on about 10-12 nappy changes a day when DD was a newborn!

Thanks @Isadora2007 my nipples are a bit sore and I just got off a course of antibiotics for mastitis. You can’t see in photo, but there are also white sores on side of tongue. He’s a lot more fussy than usual and coming off the breast when feeding to cry 😢.

@Stet thanks so much and yes we are changing much more often now and bathing him a lot.

If you've just had antibiotics the chances you've got thrush are higher. I'm sure your gp can provide a prescription over your phone and you can get a delivery? We have a scheme in our village to deliver for vulnerable people- perhaps theres something like that near you?

I would want to rule out thrush and then look at Cmpa. Only because it'll take weeks after cutting out fairy before you see huge improvements.

A PP mentioned oversupply as well which caused extreme gas for both of mine. Does your LO cough and splutter when feeding?

Thanks @HidingUnderMyDuvet I agree with you completely.

Just got off the phone with GP who took one look at photos and confirmed thrush. Now need to find someone to help me get the three prescriptions for it as we are self-isolating! Thanks all for your replies!!