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Original poster

Newborn grunting and fussing in early hours

14 replies

MrsB19 · 04/08/2019 15:00

Hi all

I'm a FTM to a 3 week old little girl. Obviously sleep is very broken and limited as to be expected, but I wasn't sure if anyone else had experienced similar to what's happening in the early hours with us.

It tends to be anytime between 12am and 6am and can last most of this time. I put her in her cot attached to our bed for the first couple of hours and she'll sleep there (as long as she's put down asleep!) sometimes she'll wake and have another feed and do another couple of hours in her cot, other times she will want a feed and then refuses to go back in. She will just cry and fuss and I'll bring her in bed with me and she'll just grunt, bring her legs up and just want to be attached to the boob all of the rest of the night. She might sleep a bit, but generally unsettled, a lot of grunting and fist clenching and just generally won't settle well. She will sometimes cry if taken off the boob briefly, but not all the time. She wants to feed and I assume some of that is comfort- but neither of us get much sleep and I'm trying to transition her to her cot from bedsharing- but she seems to only last so long! We have a sleepyhead so she's snuggled up and I wind her during and after most feeds at night. I tend not to wind so much when she is just attached to my boob lying down as it doesn't feel like proper feeding to me, more just nipple in mouth and the odd suck here and there! I just wondered if it's a bit of reflux (she does posset quite often but not after every feed) or wind/digestive discomfort. Tried inclining her cot a bit and infacol- neither seem to have made much difference to me and she HATES infacol 😂. It might just be an age thing and it doesn't happen every night but just wondered if anyone else has/had a similar thing with their little ones? Apologies for the long winded description & thanks in advance!

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SecondTimer2019 · 05/08/2019 16:38

We had a similar experience with my now 16 week old. I believe the grunting is down to an immature digestive system and wind. Also, babies don't know how to relax to let out gas/poo. He stopped grunting around 14 weeks but still struggles to sleep after around 2am because he is so windy. I think the digestive system slows down at night or something.

Doctor had us try gaviscon and ranitidine for reflux but I really don't think that was the problem.

The things that have helped us are probiotic drops (think they're called Bio Gaia from Amazon), Colief and lots and lots of massage (in every awake period). I've also recently found that on the rare occasions he'll take a dummy it relaxes him so much that the wind just comes out.

I have a really fast letdown and lots of milk, so block feeding has also helped me. He was getting lots of foremilk, which supposedly is more sugary and more quickly digested, creating gas. So maybe look into that if you are breastfeeding. However, the foremilk/hindmilk distinction is much debated... So that could be a load of rubbish. Makes sense to me though as certainly seems to fit with my experience.

ElspethFlashman · 05/08/2019 16:42

Yeah that's digestive. She's feeding because it stimulates motility so it gives relief. She needs more winding or something to help with wind.

We always had more success with Dentinox than Infacol.

Caveat though: if the poos become foully acidic smelling and explosive, and the digestive distress becomes well, distressing, and it's definitely lower gut, then it could be CMPI. But at 3 weeks I'd presume it's merely a winding issue.

ElspethFlashman · 05/08/2019 16:44

(Also agree dummies can help, as sucking = motility even though at 3 weeks their tongue thrust generally means you have to keep putting it back in)

Middledistancerunner · 05/08/2019 16:49

I was also going to say that that sounds like wind.
I found that infacol and dentinox don’t help, just fiddly and frustrating.
Little feeds, lots of winding. Good luck

MyNameIsRachel · 05/08/2019 17:36

My baby stopped grunting about 3 months.

It was the most annoying sound ever - he was asleep but I couldn’t as the grunting kept me awake!

It passes and it is the digestive system sorting itself out

Oh and we had lots of pig sounding snorts

Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 10:38

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

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Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 10:38

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 10:38

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 10:38

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 10:38

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 11:03

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 11:03

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 11:03

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsB19 · 06/08/2019 11:03

Thanks very much for your replies! I'm relieved to hear it's not unusual- even if hard for the both of us! I'll have a look at some alternative treatments that have been suggested! I'm continuing to wind at every feed and hope that as her system matures it might get easier! Thanks very much all!

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