6 week old absolutely inconsolable unless he’s eating or sleeping.

[gtasoldier]

FTM here at her wits end. Around the 3 week mark my LO started crying after every feed and it’s slowly ramped up to absolute screeching now at 6 weeks… we’ve suspected all of the things- gas, reflux, etc. He’s both breast and bottle fed and we do paced bottle feeding, burp between breasts, hold him upright after feeds, etc. We’ve tried gas drops, gripe water, nothing has worked. We’ve communicated all of this to his pediatrician who has only suggested I change my diet and continue with the gripe water/gas drops…

Quite literally, if he is not actively eating or sleeping he is scream crying. And recently he’s taken to absolutely refusing to nap during the day and I can just tell he is in pain. I don’t know how to help him…

Looking for some solidarity out there. Is this “normal”? Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything we can do to help him? Does it get better?

 

[volunteers]

@gtasoldier I have an almost 3w old but my health visitor told (warned lol) us about this, almost all babies go through a fussy/crying stage around 6weeks that then peaks at 7/8w and as quickly as it starts it tends to stop. It’s a developmental leap that they go through where they suddenly realise there’s a world around them and it’s kinda overwhelming for them. Comfort them as much as you can, whether nursing or skin to skin if you’re not breastfeeding and take solace in the fact it won’t last forever!

 

[alxlee1]

@volunteers Agreed! In fact, one of the symptoms of this type of crying is a "pain-like" face, even though they are not in pain. It gets better!
Tell yourself that your baby is loved, fed, and clean. Sometimes all you can do is just be there with them.

 

[hilarious]

@alxlee1 Agree with all of the above but also don’t ignore your motherly intuition OP! Just know that it’s probably ok and you’ll know right away if something is really wrong

 

[ronald452]

@volunteers This is so great to know! Makes the period we're in right now make sense. Glad to know it won't last forever!

Sending good vibes to everyone going through this!

 

[sega]

@gtasoldier I have an almost 6 week old baby girl and she is so fussy all the time too unless eating or sleeping. My husband and I are frustrated. I’m formula feeding but I honestly think she is just a high needs baby. Her dr said around 3 months the fussiness should get better… you’ll get through it

 

[rigogpu]

@sega currently in the same position with my 8 week old. slowly counting the days until three months

 

[theemcon]

@gtasoldier This was my baby 6-8 weeks too. We have him on famotidine 2x a day and changed his formula to alimentum. I also started tracking wake windows and rocking him to sleep before he gets overtired for his naps during the day. He sleeps well in his bassinet at night but only contact naps. It was so bad, he was screaming crying constantly. We even brought him to the ER because of it and they said nothing was wrong. It’s very scary to see your baby like that. I know they go through a growth spurt and 6-8 weeks is peak fussiness. It slowly gets better but you’re not alone. It is extremely overwhelming when that happens. He’s almost 10 weeks now and the crying has improved a lot. He still does it but nowhere’s near what it was. Hugs

 

[canedunkan]

@gtasoldier Absolutely, my son was like this! Get her checked for MSPI/CMPA. If I may ask which formula are you using? You may consider switching her to a more hypoallergenic formula along with a restricted diet where you will need to eliminate dairy/soy in all forms. Run it by your provider. Also check for:
1. Hair tourniquet
2. Infections (fungal, viral, thrush etc)
3. Reflux

Tip: swaddling works great and almost immediately to help baby fall asleep. You can try that too. You can also consider playing some white noise while baby sleeps, it can be helpful.
It gets better, take care!

If it happens that it’s a developmental thing and unrelated to feeding in your case, it’ll pass!

 

[reviewmayhutmui]

@canedunkan I second the CMPA watch-out. My son was SO fussy, to a point that I don't believe was normal (I had a lactation consultant tell me he was the only baby she couldn't settle in her entire career). Turned out he was allergic to the milk protein in my breast milk. Within a week or two of cutting out dairy, he was a completely different baby.

Just remember it's all forms of dairy, even hidden. It's not the lactose that's the problem, it's the protein. And with many kids, even one minor exposure completely derails them again, so you need to be strict if you're going to test it out as a possibility.

Good luck!!

 

[azeem]

@canedunkan Came here to comment on a CMPI. It’s more common than people realize.

 

[loo]

@azeem This. My LO is EBF and I cut out dairy after she started having bad reflux, and she hasn’t had reflux since!

 

[zikus]

@loo How long did it take for you to notice a difference after cutting dairy?

 

[loo]

@zikus Hmmm I’d say 1 week to 2 weeks. My dr said that it transfers to the LO quick, but it takes 2 weeks for the baby’s the gut to completely heal from it. She was having reflux, runny, mucousy and slimey poops :/

 

[bookinweasel]

@loo What defines runny poop?

 

[loo]

@bookinweasel for my LO, her poops would be very very watery when she had GI issues. Now that i've cut out some things her poops have been less watery, and more seedy

 

[bookinweasel]

@loo Interesting…I ask bc I’ve witness some watery stool mid diaper change but figured it was normal (not a large amount) and we were using pampers for a bit… honestly it was hard to tell what our LO’s poop looked like because there’s a mesh net in the diaper, can’t see a whole lot on the surface. Either way, we’ve switched diapers and amidst all of this, I can observe the stool better and therefore the effect of dairy on his GI system.
I gave the dairy up/limited it for about a week and poops seemed large healthy and fine, napping pretty good day to day. I caved and ate something with heavy cheese two nights ago and oh my god do I regret it. Increased mucus, darker color stool, like greenish, more fuss, and more gas pains. It’s been 48 hours since my cheesy meal and he’s still working some of it out, I think we’re on the mend again. But By George! is this wild to observe.

 

[loo]

@bookinweasel Watery could also just be normal for your babe! My Ped Dr mentioned that as long as baby is growing, has 6 wet diapers, eating well, and no fussiness then there’s nothing to worry about! Aww thats good you’re on the mend! I’ve decided to just eat plain food going forward

 

[charlottebieldt]

@azeem YES! We ended up seeing a paediatric immunologist for our son who told us this exact thing, Our GP and midwife just said the crying and unsettled sleeping was developmentally normal, and as a FTM my concerns were dismissed. It took until he had blood in his poop to get diagnosed, and the day we switched to a prescription amino acid based formula (Elecare in our case), he was an entirely different, much happier and more settled, baby.

 

[wongmaunchin]

@canedunkan Yes! It’s so easy to test for, I'm surprised OP's ped hasn't suggested it.