4 week old grunting

[bluepixie]

I have a 4 week old. Since 3 weeks in night she grunts. Really loudly for hours on end. After 20 mins or so of it she cries so we pick her up she falls asleep we put her down abs and it starts again. She kicks her legs up doing it too. I hear her pass a lot of wind while she does it.

Last night which is typical of the entire week was

Feed at 8pm . Sleeps perfectly till 12ish. Not a stir.
Has a feed . Put down . Grunts and cried on and off non stop till 230. Finally goes to sleep
Has a feed 430am. Grunts and cried on and off till 8am when woke till feed.

I can’t sleep during grunting as so loud and interrupted with crying.

I’m using infacol , bed is at an angle.I hold her upright post feeds. I moved to dr brown bottles as she’s super windy and brings up the worlds biggest burps.

What is she doing? What can I do to help?

She hardly does it in day but she’s totally out of it as still has day night confusion and doesn’t do it post 8pm bottle (again as sleeps very soundly then)

Reflux? Colic? Normal baby will grow out of it.

Anything to try?

It's not really an indicator of anything unusual, it's pretty normal I think. My 4 week old also has a really good 2-4 hour quiet sleep in early part of night then is grunting and snorting all night long. She sounds like a wild animal. Doesn't seem distressed and eyes are closed etc. just think some newborns are noisy

My lo was a really noisy sleeper, too. She grew out of it.

@thingymaboob it’s just mine cries every 20 mins into it …a lot so she needs comforting and the legs being pulled up makes me think she’s in discomfort?

Hi there, our DD is 8 weeks old now and it sounds like she struggled with the same problem. So very grunty, especially when she was half asleep/waking up from deeper sleep.

When our DD sleeps a lot during the day it means that she can struggle to sleep soundly at night. Maybe try to extend that awake time during the day so she sleeps better at night? Obviously she's so small, only suggesting you keep her awake an extra half hour at a time. It could work, or I could be completely wrong!

The doc prescribed gaviscon as she did spit up (only a little tbh). I was really hoping this would take care of some of the grunting too, as it kept me awake at night. However I can happily say that she is grunting less now, and doc thinks this is due to her getting stronger, and used to her bodily functions I.E - pooing, and passing gas. We hardly use the gaviscon now (once a day if we remember). We may as well not use it at all.

Burping a few times during each feed did help as I reckon that's less gas that needs to come out the other end!

Unfortunately it may be something that lasts a few more weeks until your LO's stomach/bowels get used to all that lovely milk. If it's not TMI- what colour is your LO's poo? Could be CMPA if poo is unusual in colour and consistency.

I hope the grunting subsides soon. I agree that it's horrible, and keeps you awake at night. Please contact the doc if you are worried. All the best.

We used to call ours 'goat boy' because he made noises like a goat all night long. Plenty of farting too.

It's normal for them to be noisy, their digestive systems aren't well developed when they're born and it can take a while for them to improve.

Ours stopped grunting and kicking around 10wks.

My DD was the same really noisy grunting only at night. As FTM i was shocked as you always hear 'slept like a baby', i didnt expect her to be so loud!..Sometimes it was wind I think and sometimes I think she was a little cold. She grew out of it around 12 weeks ish.

I had similar with one of mine but realised I wasn’t winding him enough. I thought he just needed to burp once or twice. But he needed more like 15 minutes. His legs would go soft and floppy when he was done.

It’s also worth trying different winding positions- he did best lying up against my shoulder having his back stroked, the next one preferred sitting supported and moved in little circles.

Thanks for everyone’s messages. I’ll ride it out. This is dc 2 I should know better but my other one never did this but had had reflux so I’m on the lookout for it (he had different symptoms)

@dufdha thanks for advice - she’s so sleepy in day I could put her in a bath of cold water she would cry wake for a min and then pass out! (I don’t actually put her in a bath of cold water!!!) . She’s just very sleepy in day. Even feeding her I have to undress her and water wipe her legs so she wakes a bit to drink. She will happily go to sleep after an ounce and then stir quickly after as she’s not actually fed properly.
It won’t be helping her night sleep I know…think I just have to ride it out till she works out day/night.

@dufdha she has watery yellow mustard poo. She’s 1/3 breast fed as I pump and 2/3 formula roughly. She poo 1/2 a day but they are pretty huge when she does!

Congratulations on your new baby

Op I am not an HCP but I am going to go against the grain here and say get it checked out. It doesn't sound like it is this problem, but there is a sound that some babies can make that is more of a murmuring than a grunt, that is indicative of a respiratory problem. It probably isn't anything to worry about but as your baby is only 4 weeks old and she is very sleepy, I don't think any doctor would mind checking her over.

Mine did this - I tried her on a cocktail of colief, infacol and gripe water but honestly I don't think anything helped other than the passage of time and co-sleeping. It went away at about 10-12 weeks, which I know sounds so far away but honestly it will come around before you know it!