6 week old grunts and wakes up crying after every night feed

[RachCor13]

Hi guys

Looking for some advice - I have a 6 week old baby boy who is good as gold during the day but come the evening he has started to not settle in he’s next to me cot - he falls asleep on me straight after feed then once I have placed him into the cot - after about 10/15 minutes of really loud grunting and straining he wakes up crying! When I try to settle him with the dummy he refuses to take it.

Does anyone have any advice? Is this normal? There is sleep deprivation - but I am getting no sleep at all I am having to go bed once hubby gets home from work then he brings him up to me once he is ready for bed.

Myself and hubby are currently I n separate rooms because we both wouldn’t be able to get any sleep otherwise

Should I be using a routine this early on?

Thanks in advance for help and advice

I have been burping him after feeds using infocol and also keeping him upright on me for at least 20-30 minutes after the feeds!

Do you think he could have reflux/silent reflux?

It’s a possibility! It seems to only be at night time he suffers with this! During the day he doesn’t have any of this trouble. I have my post natal GP appointment today so i will mention it to see what they suggest

For what it’s worth, my DD has reflux and it was only affecting her at night at first so it could be! Worth asking about and hopefully they can help!

I think I may have posted an almost identical plea for help when my DD was about that age!

She was grunting constantly all night, would only sleep on one of us, I ended up sleeping on the sofa with her crib downstairs after a while. Some nights I only got 40 mins of sleep... it's so painful.

DD was treated for CMPA (she seemed to be in discomfort when she was feeding), and is now on Neocate formula - it took a while to settle but it has definitely helped. She is on infant Gaviscon for silent reflux and we also give her infacol before feeds. Her crib is tilted a little to help with the reflux. We have also taken her to see a cranial osteopath (her last session is in two days).

We couldn't really implement any sort of routine until about a week ago because her feeding was so sporadic, it just wasn't working. If you have a solid feeding pattern, then maybe trying to start a routine may help, but remember he is still so little that it could be that he just wants the comfort from you (fourth trimester etc). I know it feels like it's impossible and never going to end, but it will as he gets a bit older. My DD is now 12 weeks old, the grunting stopped probably about a month ago and she is (touching wood) pretty well settled in between her feeds. She's now sleeping in our bedroom again and we have a semi-decent routine going, with decent stretches of silent sleep overnight.

My advice to you would be to speak to the GP about any possible intolerance causing the grunting (if you are breastfeeding this can be managed through your diet) and silent reflux. Try and split the night time as much as you reasonably can between you and DH (I see your DH is working, but you also need sleep so don't let your need for that be deprioritised), make sure you each get a decent lie in and if possible an uninterrupted night's sleep at weekends. And then you will have to just wait it out a bit... but it will hopefully improve in the next few weeks.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for all the advice, I will definitely be speaking with my GP tomorrow as I do feel like it is something that is making him uncomfortable in the night - but you could be right it could just be he is very needy still of cuddles!

I just want to explore all avenues - if this is something I can help him with then great if not I am happy to wait it out until he grows out of it but if it’s something we can avoid so he is more comfortable during the night then that’s all I ask!

I am starting to think this is reflux related fingers crossed in a month or so this passes. I am on cow and hate formula using the anti colic bottles - hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel soon!

Today we are trying to implement a bit more of w routine for him

Oh my this is such a blast from the past... this is exactly the same as my daughter who was diagnosed with silent reflux. She was awful at night and not too bad during the day (mostly because we wore her in a sling for naps) so lying down at night was so painful for her. Our GP put her onto omeprazole and a milk thickener and it was like a different child! She has been the happiest, most content, clever wee dote ever since wishing you all the best.