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Original poster

Colic? or just a fussy baby?

26 replies

Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 18:28

Hi everyone, I have a month old little boy who sleeps all day and awake most of the night, my health visitor has told me he could possibly have colic but I'm not too sure. His feeding is a nightmare as sometimes he wants a bottle every 2 hours and then sometimes every 3 hours. Sometimes he will take an oz or 2 then fall asleep or he will take 4ozs. He has been struggling with his wind but seems to be getting a little better since I have given him infacol. Every night he always seems to have a crying fit around 8/9oclock and it seems like he is fighting his sleep and wont give in. He wont sleep in his crib and everytime he does fall asleep on me if I need to put him down he wakes up straight away. Help anyone? Please

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Notverygrownup · 02/12/2019 18:33

Try colief - it's a natural substance which helps the milk to be more easily digested. It's available over the counter - a bit expensive, but you could get it on prescription when we used it yonks ago. It saved my sanity/marriage/life, with a lo who screamed after every meal. You've not lost anything if it doesn't work, but I know it worked because the screaming stopped. As soon as we tried a feed without it, the screaming started again.

And look after yourself. Endless sleepless nights are a killer. It does get better, honestly.

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 18:43

@notverygrownup Oh i know its causing me and my partner to argue all the time as we are getting no rest. And i will have a go at trying that, thank you fingers crossed it works. Iv even tried changing his milk and his bottles but doesnt seem to make any difference. Im at my wits end with it all as nothing seems to be working and would love a chilled night in without constantly having to hold him so he settles.

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SS1987 · 02/12/2019 19:40

Gripe water may help and definitely colief. Can you let him in his Moses basket and keep your hand on his chest so he knows you’re still there. Sounds silly but worked when my little boy was small. It’s not for everyone but a dummy may also help

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:04

@ss1987 i have gripe water so will give that a go tomorrow, does that work straight away or is it like infacol and takes a couple of days to kick in? and tried everything to be honest he just wont settle unless being held and pretty much cries himself to sleep cause hes fighting it. we keep giving him dummies but he just heaves on them or spits them out.. but then there is other times where he will take it for a short time

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MumOf1plusBump · 02/12/2019 20:06

It's probably no consolation, but it will pass with time. We had this for about 10/11 weeks. The only way to deal with it was in shifts, ie one sleeps while the other takes over, then swap

missanony · 02/12/2019 20:09

Try nuk dummies. I personally put a lot down to over tiredness so I’d look at the daytime routine. At one month old, once he’s been awake for an hour it’s time to sleep again so swaddle, dummy and try to get to sleep. This applies all day, no trying to keep awake.

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:10

@mumof1plusbump i wish we could do shifts but the other half works nights so he sleeps most of the day lol so i feel exhausted and really wished there was something i could do or give him to make it a little easier for everyone

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missanony · 02/12/2019 20:10

There is definitely a point when they get it’s nighttime. Dc1 was around 3 months, dc2 got it instantly. Not a lot you can do about it 😴😴

notnowmaybelater · 02/12/2019 20:11

If he's only four weeks old that's fairly normal... The upside being he'll grow out of it. I held my babies most of the time til about 12 weeks - you can still watch a series or a film and have a chilled evening, but obviously sleep deprivation is awful. As you're bottle feeding take advantage of that and do shifts - if your partner has to be up at 6am for work watch a film together til 8 then you go to bed and sleep til 1am, then swap so he can sleep 1-6...

It could also be reflux - you can't put reflux babies down as the Cid indigestion is painful if they lie flat - this improves with the weeks - or a lactose intolerance if he's very gassy.

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:12

@missanony i will have a look at them thanks, i have got some premature dummies but he still gags on them. and does that include when im out and about as he does alot of sleeping in the car and pushchair? as i do school runs and stuff in the week.

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notnowmaybelater · 02/12/2019 20:13

Sorry, cross posted about the shifts but there will be an overlap unless he works 16 hour shifts! He can still give you 5 hours and he isn't tired if he's sleeping all day - he needs to pull his weight.

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:14

@notnowmaybelater he is okay laying on his back when hes awake and we put him on his play mat thing but its when he sleeps and he doesnt feel like hes being held he just wakes up and screams

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Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:16

@notnowmaybelater

he works 8pm till 4am then sleeps from 6am to 8am for school run then sleeps 9am - 3pm

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Tefiti2 · 02/12/2019 20:18

@Beckyj93x how long is baby awake for in between naps? DC2 was like this in the evenings until we worked out that she was just massively overtired and needed us to put her to sleep - some babies just don’t know how to get to sleep without sucking/rocking/bouncing. How long do the crying spells last for?

SweetSally · 02/12/2019 20:22

You need to feed him every 3 hours if he's bottle fed on formula. He won't be able to digest otherwise and have tummy ache. Routine is a key here . If breastfeeding I can't give any advice. My HV and midwives made me establish a routine of 3 hourly feeds and it worked a miracle. (Let him sleep through the night and feed only when he wakes up). Otherwise follow 3 hourly feeds every day at the same time of the day. Also, as others recommend definitely use gripe water and infacol. Every other feed . It should take about 2 days and your little person will be back to normal. X

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:26

@sweetsally i have been trying to do that but on some feeds he would only take 1 or 2ozs then go back to sleep or just spit it out then wake up n hour or so later screaming cause he is hungry? and does that apply when your out n about and hes sleeping? you wake him up for feeds in the day but not at night?

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missanony · 02/12/2019 20:28

Yes, in an ideal world you need to try and get the naps in whether it’s in the cot or the pushchair or on you. I’ll find you the link to the awake time chart but it’s basically just wake up, feed, awake time then sleep on repeat!!

JuneWind · 02/12/2019 20:28

Hi OP, definitely sounds normal for his age (sorry!). If he cries when he realises he’s not being held, have you tried swaddling? We have one of the zip up type ones for my DD and she loves sleeping in it as I assume she feels secure in it.

Also, definitely second trying gripe water. DD had horrible wind for the first 3months, we’d give her some gripe water during or after a feed and she’d bring up massive burps almost instantly.

You probably already know this but keeping him upright for around half an hour after each feed should help the milk to digest and may not feel as uncomfortable when laying down after.

And another thing, if he’s possibly fighting tiredness in the evening, do you have an evening routine? Eg bath, book, bottle then sleep with dimmed lights/low noise so that he starts to associate this time of day with sleeping?

I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it does get better. Around the 3month mark for us, and now she’s nearly 6 months and it’s great!

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 20:33

@junewind do you have a link of the swaddle thing you have please?

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JuneWind · 02/12/2019 21:50

@Beckyj93x Sure, the one we use is a Woombie - woombie.com/

They’re American but you can buy them in the UK on Amazon. There are also some UK based companies if you google zip up swaddle, I think other well known ones are ergo cocoon and gro company.

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 02/12/2019 22:00

@junewind thank you so much

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Moreteaplease84 · 02/12/2019 22:18

Hiya! My son was like this and it was such hard work!
He was diagnosed with a milk allergy (still has it at 21 months) reflux and has a tongue tie which meant he could only drink a couple of ounces at a time and he would still be hungry and unsettled.
It could all be normal for his age but I just wanted to give you a couple more options to check out because I'd hate to think your baby was going through what my son did and not get diagnosed!x

Original poster
Beckyj93x · 03/12/2019 01:57

@Moreteaplease84 did you go to your doctors to get diagnosed?

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Moreteaplease84 · 03/12/2019 12:49

The milk allergy was diagnosed by gp as my son had a rash and was very wheezy. Also the reflux was diagnosed by our gp too,my son would never be put down,always wanted to sleep in his front or side from birth and was sick a lot
The tongue tie was something I spotted myself after seeing it when he was crying,I googled it and he had every sign of one. We hit his tongue tie snipped privately and feeding got so much better.
Do check for tongue tie because it's really common in boys,can cause a lot of feeding issues and it isn't something they routinely check for in hospital x

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