My 4 week old daughter cried a lot and can’t be consoled. Don’t know if I should switch formula or not

[mjwise]

Background: I was going to combo feed but my baby ravenous hunger, impatient nature, and me not producing enough made me switch to formula feed exclusively. She literally tore my nipple inside out when she latched on and refused to let go the first day. When we switch med to formula feeding we just buy what the hospital gave in powdered form which was the Similac Pro advance. We followed what similac website told us what to do for making it in bulk. We poured 23oz of purified water and mix it with 100 g of powder (about 11.63 scoop since 1 scoop is 8.6 g). We used the munchkin pitcher/ mixer for formula and store it in the fridge for 24 hour max. After each feed we make sure to chuck any leftover formula that been left out for an hour max. We hear it back up using a warm water bath.

We had no problem at first but now she’s been extremely gassy and her poop come every 3 to 4 days (thick toothpaste/ peanut butter consistency) In the beginning of this gassy period (2nd weeks of life) she would want to eat more and more so we thought it was a growth spurt and the doctor also said that she could be in a growth spurt as well. But as she eats more towards her 4th weeks of life (3.5 oz to 4 oz every 2 hours) she became more and more gassy. Her farts began to smell like rotten eggs and she begin to be more fussy. Yesterday and today was our breaking points she stayed awake 8 hour straight each day with on and off inconsolable crying. We offer her the bottle when she show hunger cues ( biting at her hands and opening her mouth) which is like every hour at 2.75 to 3 oz of formula. It just made the fussiness worst and if I don’t give her the bottle she would banshee scream and cry. I had to get her to burp multiple time per feed and have her do bicycle kicks for long stretches for her to release a very loud fart each time to get her to calm down a little. We also followed the advice of the doctor to give her 0.5 oz of apple juice mix with 0.5 oz of warm water everyday for twice a day to see if it help with the pooping and it still didn’t help. We were wondering if we should switch it to a sensitive formula. It’s the weekend and the doctor office is closed and the nurse line is not answering so I’m turning to Reddit to see if anyone else had similar experience. Also if anyone who had the same experience, did changing formula help. Or did they use a different method of making formula (example: making it by the bottle) to get them to be less fussy. Me and my husband can’t stand seeing her in pain. We were actually arguing about whether or not to take her to the Er. She’s been poked a lot during her second and third day of life due to high bilirubin count. Did the whole phototherapy and she was wailing the whole time. I had high anxiety and depression a couple of days after where I wouldn’t sleep, drink, and eat.I finally starting to get over it. However This 8 hour span of her crying in pain kind of bringing me back to that period so I would highly appreciate any answer. I don’t want to take her to the ER unless it was an emergency due to Covid. I had Covid when I was pregnant with her and I don’t want her to get it.

 

[johngill]

@mjwise My baby is mostly breastfed and gets formula maybe 1-2x per day and he also went through almost this exact thing at around 4 weeks. He would be inconsolable for a time, let out a fart, and be better for a bit and then start fussing again. I would also be concerned because he also started pooping less frequently. His belly would be rock hard after feeding. He would throw up a lot, 2 hours after feeding.

We were contemplating calling the pediatrician about it, but then it kind of resolved itself? We did gas drops, bicycle legs through out the day, and " I Luv U" belly massages while it was bad. I don't notice the rock hard belly anymore...but I don't know if its because of the stuff we did or if his digestive system just matured in those 2 weeks.

I would say hold out until the doctor's office is open again. You could switch to a sensitive formula to set your mind at ease and see how she does in the meantime. Be assured that this could be completely normal and could very well resolve itself on its own. Newborns are hard, but most of it is temporary.

I also wanted to add that overfeeding is so easy with bottle fed babies. My husband tends to think all cues are hunger cues and would feed our baby lots of formula on his shifts. It increased his fussiness because he was so gosh darn full! It rarely happens when I nurse him because he takes what he wants. Some hunger cues like sucking on her hands and opening her mouth could be seeking comfort sucking. Babies just love to suck, especially if they are experiencing pain. Something to consider.

 

[mjwise]

@johngill I tried to give her a pacifier because I thought all the eating episode couldn’t all be all from hunger. She spit out that pacifier as soon as she suck on it once or twice. I keep on offering it for her but she refuses and then she scream. She stop screaming as soon as a bottle is offered. I’m at a lost on whether she’s hungry or not anymore since she refuse the baby pacifier so many times. She did use it before this whole episode. Now she just don’t.

 

[johnb445]

@mjwise You need to take her to your pediatrician to be evaluated

 

[esy]

@mjwise So the pediatrician told me that formula can be hard on the baby’s little digestive system. My baby girl has always been gassy. Similac for some reason made it worse. We used Enfamil gentlease for a while and then Gerber soothe pro. Have you tried infant gas drops? That’s what helped her a lot. I give her the gas drops with almost every bottle even still and she’s 11 weeks.

 

[baytrum]

@mjwise I would all your Peditrician about prune juice instead of apple juice. Also baby gas drops.

 

[jeruel]

@mjwise We were in a similar situation around 3-4 weeks of age where my little one would look so uncomfortable and be fussy and gassy. She still pooped 2-3 times a day but would just have the most audible poops and be gassy all day.

At her one month appointment, we mentioned this to her pediatrician and she said their digestive system is adjusting and they themselves are adjusting to how it feels. But that it wouldn’t hurt to try a sensitive formula. We tried Similac sensitive which was so chalky/powdery and had so many bubbles, but I also read that was common and solved by stirring rather than shaking. We then tried Enfamil gentlease (if drinking right away, stirred rather than shaked), bought more anti-colic bottles and simethicone drops and while her poops are more pastey and green (something I read can happen with gentlease), she’s much much more comfortable in general with the occasional short-lived fussiness. Also her poops come out “silently” rather than audible regurgitating gassy sounds. Oh yeah, and we used the frida windi a couple of times during fussy moments and that’s helped release some gas.

I also second another user’s comments about not over-feeding. Granted my baby is small for her age but she only takes 2-3 ounces every 3 hours. We used to feed with all fussiness, but now we give her a pacifier or just bounce her and more often than not she needed that rather than being fed.

Good luck!

 

[mts216]

@mjwise You definitely have to get to the pediatrician but a similar thing happened to my babe…all the regular formula gave her terrible gas pain and it took us a while to figure out the right kind. We did end up switching her to enfamil sensitive and that helped a LOT, as well as infant gas drops, which our doctor recommended and which helped a ton. I combo feed so we mix formula in bottles for each feeding. It really is painful and awful when your baby is in so much anguish. I feel for you. These are the early days and it’s going to work out and you’re going to find a solution!

 

[whydis]

@mjwise Try baby gaia probiotics and the baby Frida windi (as last resort) and switching to sensitive formula + gas drops. We did all this and baby is much more comfortable and poops at least once a day.

 

[mickeym]

@mjwise Unfortunately babies digestive systems are just crap at this age. We switched our son to the Similac organic and it seemed to help quite a bit. We also gave him Mylicon drops in his bottle. Seemed to help significantly. He’s two months now and he can take the regular similac again.

 

[tom94567]

@mjwise My second baby had the inconsolable crying that went on for 2 weeks before I decided to change formula myself. The last straw for me was him crying for 10 hours straight. He refused to nap or calm down despite me trying everything. We already had him on sensitive gentle formula and he threw up every single time I fed him.

Once we got to a breaking point, I did some research on this sub and other parent sub and speculated that my child had reflux. So I changed his formula to Enfamil AR. This was recommended by some posters whose children had reflux. It was a game changer. He took the first bottle of this new formula and went right to sleep. I bought probiotic drops and gave it to him once a day as well. He still throws up sometimes but overall a much happier baby.

 

[bef]

@mjwise Sounds like she could have reflux. What you’re describing is what my bub was like. It’s awful to hear that pain cry. We now add infant gaviscon and infacol to every bottle. It was a game changer for us! Infant gaviscon is a reflux powder get from the chemist and infacol is a liquid that helps ease gas pains. When you feed her, do it as upright as possible and burp 2-3 times per feed. And then make sure she stays upright for at least 30 minutes after the feed. I use nan comfort for formula so not sure if that’s a thing where you live.