Help and advice wanted please. Baby crying and won't stop!

[flowers1]

dd is 7 days old and is lovely but has developed very early a huge problem with crying. She is breast fed and spends an awful lot of time between feeds rooting and crying if not put back on the breast. Think this is for comfort rather than food? Yesterday, dd started crying and continued howling for 6hours from 7.30pm. Only stopped crying when put back to breast, then gradually fell asleep only to start crying again when put down and whole cycle repeated again. Have thought it might be problem with milk supply but dd has gained weight over last 2 days so is probably not that. Now think that it is possibly gripey wind problem (colic? This young?). Today problem started at 2pm and is only now settling with me. I fear that if I put her down this will all start again. I am finding this exhausting and frustrating but have been advised that this often occurs naturally. I would appreciate any advice on coping with the lack of sleep and any methods of improving the problem. Even to know how long this stage might last would give me and dh something to aim for.

DS cried for the first 3 months. He was breastfed too. I gave hin infacol even though I was pretty sure it wasn't colic. The one thing that worked almost without fail was turning on the hoover right beside us. DS could be very fussy about feeding too and the hoover helped at those times too. He definitely found it reassuring. Good luck!

might be wind. try infacol. also, my ds wanted to feed constantly between 6 and 11pm, basically off one boob, onto next and then back again, just was a hungry time for him. another thing good for wind is to put on her tummy, either lying on you, or somewhere you can supervise (not left unattended)...may just want cuddles? try to relax yourself, they pick up 'vibes' and sometimes someone else holding them can calm them down too. i'd give lots of cuddles, at this age, and just hold her close, everything must be so strange for the poor little mite. brings it all back...ds was born 18th nov last year!

sorry, didn't answer how to cope. ummm...don't clean, sleep when they sleep, put visitors off if more than 1 lot per day, and make them work like cooking for you and comforting the baby. if the crying gets too much, put baby in another room and let her cry till you can get your head together, it won't do any harm in the long run, your sanity is more important.

Have you tried swaddling? It was a great help to me when my DD went through this and can stop them noticing so much when you put them down. Don't worry too much if she camps out at the breast for long periods - she is helping your milk supply get established is enjoying being close to you. Also, you say she is rooting between feeding? My DD used to sort of peck at me, which I took as meaning she was hungry for a while, but it turned out she had wind and was tired. The swaddling and Infacol both helped with this. And finally, don't stress. She is only tiny and this won't last forever.

OK flowers - first relax. Its very early days, this won't last, things will probably get better by themselves.
Breastfeeding is mad, completely mad. Bear that in mind - it WILL get better.
If baby seems to need to feed constantly then go with it, it WON'T last. If you think its just comfort, then so what...it won't last.
Don't try to do anything - at all, expect to be stuck on the sofa for the next month. Think of it as Mother Natures way of helping you to get over the birth. It won't last and you'll reap the rewards later (easier to get out and about, baby less likely to be ill etc etc).
I'm not convinced its wind, it could be but not necessarily.

My advice - the technical bit - is to try to make sure that baby gets a full feed each time. You won't know for sure but here's a way to give it a shot.
Feed baby from one breast, she'll probably drift off at some point, lift her up over your shoulder and wind her. Rub hand firmly in a circular motion on her back. This should (a) help wind her if she needs it and (b) stir her awake again if she isn't really that tired.
Then, put her back on the SAME breast and see if she carries on. If she doesn't, put her to second breast and again, if she drifts off, wind her and offer her second breast again. If she drifts off again then she probably is ready for sleep.
The reason I suggest offering her the same side again each time if that if you switch too soon then she could be getting too much foremilk. This could mean she'll get a tummy ache and also not enough of the good stuff to help her sleep very well.
Don't look at the clock to tell you if she's had enough, look at your baby. Don't keep track of how much she has fed and for how long. Don't worry about at what point foremilk becomes hindmilk. It doesn't matter, go with it, it won't last (did I already mention that ).
Try to give FULL feeds each time, even in the middle of the night when its tempting just to top her up and go back to sleep. You're both more likely to sleep longer if she gets a good feed.

Another thing to think about is to put her to bed earlier. I know its hard, you want her with you all the time. She probably goes to bed with you, right? She may be getting overtirred so try to bath her and help her unwind before she gets out of hand. If she starts to howl at 7.30 then start to bath her at 6-6.30 and try to have her fed by 7. I'm not saying she won't be waking up yelling by 8-9 but you at least will hopefully get a bit of a break.

Something to look forward too...at about 4-6 wks when you think you've got the hang of b/feeding. Think about expressing milk. You can either do a little each day (alot if you are lucky) and then each night, or save it up for the once a week, you could give baby a bottle at 10-10.30ish. Ideally someone else should give the bottle because she's more likely to take it but it also means you can have an early night.

DON'T WORRY - IT WILL GET BETTER !

flowers, sorry you are having a hard time. to echo the other comments, it will get better. if you think that the constant bf is for comfort (but it may well not be, in the early days they do feed nearly all the time), you could try a dummy. I was v reluctant to do this as was afraid that i'd end up with a 4 yr old dummy sucker, but i gave my ds one at about 3 weeks and he kind of dropped it himself by about 16 weeks when he found his thumb. I know that there is a lot of debate about the use of dummies, but some babies like mine are just very sucky and it really soothes them, and its really quite easy to stop when you want to.