2 week old baby wont sleep

[1lumpor2]

my DS is 2 and half weeks old and im having an awful time getting him to sleep. during the night he will go down in his carrycot and want feeding every 3 hours but in between he spends the whole time grunting and grizzling which i think is wind, i have his carrycot tilted at an angle which helps a bit i think. needless to say, noone gets much sleep. during the day it is very difficult to put him down at all, he screams if hes put down in his carrycot, i try to get him to sleep in the pram on walks or in the sling but he naps for maybe a few mins then wakes again. he is generally quite windy and i dont know whether i should try some colic medicine? im getting so little sleep that i just end up crying all the time and wondering what im doing wrong and why i cant keep my baby happy. he is also very sucky and when he gets very overtired he does rooting for food but is generally happy with a finger to suck on so think he is just comfort sucking and not really hungry at all, all the advice suggests waiting til 6 weeks to use a dummy though. any advice would be much appreciated as i just dont know what to do.

Does he vomit much? Is he pooing normally?
I wonder if there are any other signs of a stomach upset other than the wind and grizzling.
Does he burp much when you feed him? Do you think you need to burp him more to help settle him?
Is he breastfed or bottle fed?
Many babies go through such phases, but you certainly don't want it to last long and you might want to start thinking about what other causes there could be.
In my DS's case, he was intolerant to the dairy in my diet. He vomitted every feed and found it very difficult to settle. He couldn't go horizontal at all. When I cut dairy out of my diet he was fine within 24 hours.
I hope you can find the cause of your DS's gripes.

You could try a dummy. After 6 weeks they won't know what to do with it - that's my experience anyway. Wish I'd introduced it earlier as DS won't take it now.

Sounds like it could be wind but it should settle as he matures. You could try infacol though I didn't find it worked well. Gripe water does get the burps up but think he has to be 6 weeks for it - have a look at the bottle. Really have to work hard to burp some babies I think.

Am sure he will settle down soon.

thankyou ladies. he's only vomited a couple of times and his poos are generally green and liquid, not sure if this is normal? he usually has a poo every feed which also seems alot but im a first time mum and just dont know what to expect. i havent eaten any dairy in days as im not a big fan anyway, i have a wheat intolerance but ive been keeping that to a mimimum aswell. i burp him loads and sometimes do get burps but most of the time nothing. i have a go several times (in several different ways) during a feed as he squirms like there is wind. ill have a look at the gripe water and keep on trying with the burping.

Is he BF or bottle fed? Either way, feeding every three hours at night sounds normal, even fairly good! He is fresh out of the womb, so is not going to have a scoobies as to whether its day or night - that comes later.

WRT poos, if you're breastfeeding, green is perhaps unusual. Keep one if his nappies to show your MW. Usual BF baby poo is orangey yellow. WRT number of bowel movements, anything goes at this stage - from one a week to three or four a day. Try to note down when he has a BM and discuss with your MW or GP.

WRT dummies - if you're BFing it's advised to leave dummies to about a month old so that your baby doesn't get nipple confusion.

Could he have a cold? If so, the grunting at night might be a bit of congestion. Slightly raising the basket/cot at the head end sounds like a good idea. If you're BFing, you can squirt a bit of milk up his nose - the enzymes in breastmilk will help break down the snot.

With regard to needing to be held - remember that until recently, he was 'held' 24/7. A sling will help as he gets more settled (which he inevitably will), but you might have to resign yourself to (literally) having your hands or lap full for a few weeks. Some babies sit and coo in their baskets between feeds - other yell to be held. It's nothing to do with 'doing it right/wrong' - it's just that they're all different. Don't stress about whether he's the same as other babies you may know - if you think he needs a cuddle, pick him up and cuddle him.

If he does have a dairy intolerance and you're breastfeeding, cutting dairy out of your diet will help. Have a look at www.kellymom.com for further advice.

To keep yourself sane, try to nap when he is napping (if ever), or ask your DP or a good friend to take him out in his pram for an hour during the afternoon so you can have a kip. Think Survival at this stage in the proceedings, not housework/gourmet meals/ social life.

Last of all, don't make the mistake of thinking that this motherhood lark comes easily to every one. I don't know one woman who hasn't struggled with the adjustment and grind of the early weeks and months. It will get better, you have to hang onto that. Crying is normal when your hormones are all over the place and you're sleep deprived. Don't beat yourself up - this is the hardest few weeks/ months that you'll have, and you will get through it, but don't be afraid to ask for help if you want it.

Go through these silent reflux symptom lists to see if that might be it....my daughter had it, while son had colic. My daughter grizzled 24/7 and hated 'lying down'. My colicky son just wailed at certain times and at other times had a normal predisposition to sleep .

It's really tough, but these website have suggestions on how to deal with it.

www.livingwithreflux.org
www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/Colicorreflux.htm

Just to add and no disrespect to previous poster but I think 'nipple confusion' is a bit misleading. Babies can suck and BF is my experience. Leaving it until after 6 weeks means they then don't know what to do with it - just my experience though and some of my friends

I know loads of babies who BF and who had dummies from the off - no problem.

Anyway don't mean to hijack but the concept of nipple confusion bugs me as am not sure it actually exists!

Not advice, more moral support.
My DS2 is 2 weeks old tomorrow and also not sleeping much at night. DH and I are now totally zombies due to lack of sleep! Last night DS was awake from 1.30am to 6am. Like your DS he does lots of rooting for food whenever I hold him or try to put him in the Moses, but when I put him on the breast he just does light comfort sucking rather than actual eating. The last couple of nights we have been trying a dummy which has helped a little and doesn't seem to be affecting him latching on to breastfeed. We are only planning to use the dummy in the middle of the night when we get desperate as I don't really want him dependent on dummy or breast to go to sleep in the long term, but seeing as he is so small at the moment I'm happy to try whatever works!
Hope you get a bit more sleep soon.

It is normal for a new born to poo every feed. You should expect about 10 pooy nappies a day at that age.
However, it shouldn't be green. That suggests a lack of hind milk. Could it be that you are not keeping him long enough on one breast?
Do you always make sure to feed him first from the side on which you finished the previous feed?
As Lagrandissima said, you might want to show a nappy to your health visitor.

WRT to the green nappies, DD's were green from when she was about 10 days old to when she was about 11 weeks, when all of a sudden they became more orangey, less runny and less frequent (had been pretty much every feed). I was told this was all perfectly normal (not necessarily a hindmilk/foremilk issue) and nothing to worry about; she was pretty windy as well in the early weeks (and sicky) but just seemed to outgrow it (now 5.5 months), I guess it was her digestive system maturing. Is he gaining weight ok?

But if your DS seems very uncomfortable and isn't sleeping then it's probably worth asking your HV/GP about reflux.

And don't feel bad about crying a lot and finding it hard - I think everyone does but you just don't realise it. The first few weeks are especially horrendous, and tbh I'm still finding it all really hard several months on. People keep telling me it does get better eventually though, so hang in there!

Oh lumpor I feel for you so much. No-one tells you how hard it can be, really, do they??!

I would also look into both silent reflux and oversupply of milk as possible causes of prolonged periods of unsettled-ness and an inability to sleep. In my DD's and DS's cases, it was reflux, but some wise people on here also mentioned the possibility of oversupply, which I believe can cause similar issues and may be indicated by greeny nappies. Someone more knowledgeable about these things will surely be along shortly.

Just wanted to say that I second lagrandissima's very eloquent and spot on post. She is absolutely right.

HV was round today and his weight is piling on so no problem there. she didnt seem concerned with the green poos and recommended infacol, she couldnt get DS to burp either even though he was squirming round with obvious wind. fingers crossed! ive also bought a dummy and DS loves it, he went down to sleep tonight with much less crying and scratching at his face and agitation so hopefully he'll at least get some more sleep, which means ill get some more too. its much needed! seeing as he's clearly feeding so well the HV didnt seem concerned about any problems using the dummy might cause with BF'ing. talking to the HV and not being told i was just being silly and that the constant grumbling and wind/pain was normal has made me feel a lot better too :)

Keep an open mind. I was told for a month that it was 'wind' and it was silent reflux. Reflux babies are always windy babies, my dd took 45-90 mins to wind.

Hopefully that's all it is and try all the recommendations/lotions and potions for winding.

Glad to hear you sounding happier. Hope things continue to improve, but don't stress if you seem to be taking one step forward, two back. Again, it's normal. They like to keep you on your toes! When things are tough, remember that this time next year, he'll be much more settled, you'll be loads more confident - things will be different (and usually easier) again.