Help! My 2 week old won't stop screaming!

[EmmaNZ]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts..........

 

My newest addition is just over 2 weeks now. He's number 4 so you'd think I'd know what to do by now but I'm stuck! Basically he's REALLY hard to settle most of the time. If I manage to get him off to sleep, he wakes up screaming after 20 minutes or so. It makes no difference if I let him cry to sleep, or if I hold him.

 

He is feeding well and putting on weight, but he feeds sporadically because he's not settled in between. Sometimes he'll go 3 hours, other times much less. He does seem quite windy, more so than my others.

 

Any thoughts on what to do?

[StartingOver]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts..........

 

My newest addition is just over 2 weeks now. He's number 4 so you'd think I'd know what to do by now but I'm stuck! Basically he's REALLY hard to settle most of the time. If I manage to get him off to sleep, he wakes up screaming after 20 minutes or so. It makes no difference if I let him cry to sleep, or if I hold him.

 

He is feeding well and putting on weight, but he feeds sporadically because he's not settled in between. Sometimes he'll go 3 hours, other times much less. He does seem quite windy, more so than my others.

 

Any thoughts on what to do?

 

 

I have had two babies like this. OH JOY !! yeah, I feel for you !! One was just plain a crier, we never found a reason. My daughter was allergic to milk and eggs, even milk through my breast milk. Are you breast feeding ? Are you using formula ?

[Jen in NY]

Two of mine were very sensitive to any dairy I had...

 

Good luck!!

 

I miss those days ... sometimes. ;)

[StartingOver]

If you are using formula try soy or alimentium / nutramigen ? If you are breast feeding I would cut out anything spicy, acidic, and any dairy - eggs. And see if there is an improvement. With my daughter it took 4 days, and she was a totally different child.

[Parrothead]

If he has a bad tummy it might be beneficial to let him sleep in his car carrier on his back in a semi-upright position. This will let gravity help move that gas.

[rfoster]

Poor baby, and poor mommy! I have lots of experience with these type of symptoms, it sounds like it might be food related. Are you breastfeeding or formula feeding? We mostly formula fed, and had to use one of the more expensive formulas (similac alimentum) due to intestinal discomfort. Even with breastfeeding, there are also many things that can pass through mother's milk that will cause extra gas and upset tummy.

[CalicoKat]

a swing?

 

One of my babies loved listening to classical music in her swing.

 

Another of my kids was allergic to everything including his disposable diapers which were giving him migraines. He used cloth and was just fine.

 

:grouphug:

[rfoster]

If he has a bad tummy it might be beneficial to let him sleep in his car carrier on his back in a semi-upright position. This will let gravity help move that gas.

 

:iagree: We also found this helped A LOT!

[Tracy in Ky]

Reflux most likely. Don't lay him down flat; keep him at an angle--slightly raised. Ds had this, and it was very hard. His naps as an infant were maybe20 - 30 minutes at a time. Dh and I took turns in the recliner through the night, sleeping with him on our chests so he would be in a slightly inclined position.

 

:grouphug: hang in there!

[KS_]

If you are breast feeding I would cut out anything spicy, acidic, and any dairy - eggs. And see if there is an improvement. With my daughter it took 4 days, and she was a totally different child.

 

Both my dc were very sensitive to what I ate, and some of the things I would never have thought would cause problems. Ds was highly bothered by peanut butter - if I ate that, he'd wake up 6 or more times a night (and he never really napped during the day, even as a little baby). I should have cut out more foods, but didn't really know enough to. With my second (dd), I started keeping a food diary and made notes of her reactions and found she improved tremendously when I cut out beef, nuts, whole wheat, broccoli. . .I can't remember everything, but was really surprised about things like beef.

[MeaganS]

My daughter did this until she was almost 2 months old. It was a very sad and stressful time. It turned out she had acid reflux and one little antacid pill a day made all the difference for her. You could ask your doctor.

[StartingOver]

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

[Jean in Newcastle]

In addition to the other wonderful suggestions, we found that gently massaging the little tummy in a "z" pattern helped to move the gas down.

[unsinkable]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts..........

 

My newest addition is just over 2 weeks now. He's number 4 so you'd think I'd know what to do by now but I'm stuck! Basically he's REALLY hard to settle most of the time. If I manage to get him off to sleep, he wakes up screaming after 20 minutes or so. It makes no difference if I let him cry to sleep, or if I hold him.

 

He is feeding well and putting on weight, but he feeds sporadically because he's not settled in between. Sometimes he'll go 3 hours, other times much less. He does seem quite windy, more so than my others.

 

Any thoughts on what to do?

 

If you are breastfeeding, I'd make sure he's nursing long enough to get hindmilk. There are techniques for that.

 

Also, at 2 weeks, I am not sure what you mean when you wrote let him cry to sleep?

[sbgrace]

For us that was reflux. I wouldn't do a car seat type situation (though I did at the time) because it puts further pressure on the tummy and has also been linked to positional asphyxiation.

 

If you suspect reflux meds may be needed. My son slept in a tucker sling but he still needed medication. It did help with his sleep though.

 

It could also be he's waking not because of pain but just startling/unsettled type stuff. We also swaddled and he slept so much better with a swaddle. Will he sleep in a sling?

[EmmaNZ]

Thanks so much for all the replies.

 

Sorry, forgot to say I'm breastfeeding - I did wonder if I need to think about my diet but didn't really know where to start with it. Food diary?? Start with the 'usual suspects' eg. dairy, eggs?? Also wondered about reflux, but he doesn't seem to sleep any better in his chair than in his cot - does that rule reflux out?

 

We don't have a baby swing - maybe I should invest if I'm gonna get some peace!

[StartingOver]

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

 

Is a wealth of information. I had to do an elimination diet with my daughter, then add things back in. But you will find wonderful information on Kellymom.com

[Supertechmom]

Wheat is a main culprit in reflux too. it's easier just to eat a plain diet for a week or two -plain fruit/veggies/meat the ones least likely to cause reactions and then add in.

 

 

hope it stops soon.:grouphug:

[EmmaNZ]

Thanks Jana - that site is really helpful.

 

Not looking forward to not eating what I want though! Milk, eggs, wheat - all my favourites!!

[Pippen]

I had three colicky babies. I nursed exclusively, watched diet very carefully (I cut it back until there was nothing much left to eliminate and it didn't help at all). Honestly there was no magic cure until they outgrew it at around 3 months. The third time around I just scheduled in the colic. :blink:

 

What helped the most was swaddling them tightly (arms inside). Sleeping in the carseat helped a little and two of them would often settle down when I stepped outside.

 

Good luck, and hang in there.

[StartingOver]

Thanks Jana - that site is really helpful.

 

Not looking forward to not eating what I want though! Milk, eggs, wheat - all my favourites!!

 

Oh I understand, I did 11 months with no cows milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, you name it !!!

 

HUGS !! It is only one thing to try. It was better than my child being miserable !!!

 

 

My daughter had an anaphylactic reaction at 6 months to pears, her allergy test at 11 months and what I suspected was confirmed. It was a very very very hard 11 months !! She was able to drink Soy forumla that last month, I just couldn't take it anymore. She is on soy - almond or rice milk now. But cooking for her is challenging !!!

[phathui5]

Do you have a sling or wrap you could wear him with?

[dirty ethel rackham]

You have received some great advice, so far. One more suggestion - have you thought about cranial-sacral therapy? I had a student with a baby who screamed (not just cried) for hours each day. The neighbors in the apartment complex were complaining. After suffering for 3 months, she took the baby in for a manipulation with a cranial-sacral therapist. The crying was cut in half that day. Within a couple weeks the baby was much more normal in behavior.

[Susan in KY]

Happened to us with dd, every.waking.hour, for 12 days straight, and then a nasty case of colic to follow for 3 months. Milk was the culprit, along with my stress level during pregnancy. Besides eliminating milk, prayer helped more than I can say—especially at the beginning there. We asked the pastoral team to pray for her. (Don't know if you are a God-follower, but it really worked for us!)

 

Poor thing, she was so red from hollering, I told dh to name her Rosie when he went down to register her birth. Thank God he didn't, since she is the most calm child that ever walked the earth since she outgrew that initial phase. All the best to you. :grouphug: Really, it won't last forever.

[kmacnchs]

didn't read all of the threads - sorry if I'm repeating...do you swaddle? Mine are ALL very active, especially as babes and they would wake themselves up all the time by smacking themselves in the face (moro reflex)...swaddling takes care of that!

 

many were suggesting great things - my SIL is going through a bit of this and I looked up colic (just google it). I am not saying your baby has colic but if you look at a website for signs of colic and what to do if your baby has colic, it has a LARGE list of possible triggers of crying and what to do about it - great info!

 

This was the best site I found: http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/babys-and-colic.htm again, not that yours has it, just has good suggestions on how to figure out WHY baby is crying

[joannqn]

Besides looking into possibilities with breastfeeding issues (ie. hindmilk), diet issues (dairy is often a problem), and reflux, consider finding a chiropractor who knows how to work on babies.

 

My oldest daughter had "colic" which was cured with one adjustment by our chiropractor. Her neck was out of alignment. I know from personal experience that your neck being out of alignment can be quite painful. Now all of my babies get an adjustment before they are a weak old because birth is hard on their necks. If you think about it, they are using their head and neck as a battering ram on your cervix and then often getting pulled out by the head. Induced or augmented births (pitocin) are especially hard on the baby's body.

 

My youngest screamed due to a reflux and a dairy allergy. The reflux didn't go away until after I had been totally dairy free for over 3 months. Before then, she needed a high dose of Prevacid to keep her pain free and not spitting up constantly.

[Harriet Vane]

When ds was a newborn he was like this. He is sensitive to milk--as soon as I gave up milk (I was so desperate!!!) I had a completely different baby.

 

A word of warning, though--if it is a milk or other food sensitivity, you need to try the elimination diet for a solid month. I started seeing good results with ds after a week, and it kept getting better from there.

[Lily of the Valley]

A friend of mine had a very similar situation with his month old ds. The doctor told them to use BioGaia Probiotic drops. Apparently it took about a week for results, but he said it literally changed his son's life! The difference is night and day.

 

Christina

[specialmama]

I used Gripe Water, found at any pharmacy or WalMart. 5 minutes, a good burp, and all is well with the world. :D

[PinkInTheBlue]

I had this baby as well. Cutting out the dairy helped but not a lot. He was just a crying baby. I spent months and multiple changes in doctors trying to find a solution for my baby. He had always been a challenge and a delight. I would definitely assume the dairy would help and go ahead and cur it. But, of course, I had 3 babies with varying degrees of milk allergies and sensitivities. It's nor what I would call a fun ride.

 

One thing that really mattered to me is not accepting "he's just a colicky baby" and being patted on the head out the door. I knew something wad wrong and really appreciated the doctor who was willing to help.

[khope1]

you didnt mention what type of delivery you had. Most people and doctors have a widespan for what is a "normal" delivery and even that doesnt really matter. I can tell you from experience that after 4 months of crying for 10+ hours a day, a chiropractor was my saving grace.....after 1 adjustment, she was like a totally different baby. And my Ped was dead set on reflux AND colic and that wasnt it at all. My chiro said that it is normal for babies to have a lot of issues after delivery, just make sure that you go to someone that is trained to work on babies.

I feel your pain and just know that you will get through it. For what its worth, even the nurses brought my daughter back to me in the hospital after her incessant crying and they were the ones trying to give me a little bit of a break-and she is my only, so I had no idea what was going on. :001_huh:

[smrtmama]

If you are using formula try soy or alimentium / nutramigen ? If you are breast feeding I would cut out anything spicy, acidic, and any dairy - eggs. And see if there is an improvement. With my daughter it took 4 days, and she was a totally different child.

 

I would NOT do this. Pick only one thing at a time to eliminate if you feel the issue could be a reaction to your breastmilk. It takes up to a month for dairy proteins to be completely out of your milk, so if your baby is reacting to dairy, you can't know that right away.

[Pink Fairy]

Add me to the list of moms who had to cut out dairy while breastfeeding. She was my first, so it took me about 4 grueling weeks to figure it out, but the difference was night and day. Every once in a while I'd try to sneak in a little dairy, and we went right back to where we started. Funny thing, dairy was only a problem when I ate it. When I very carefully introduced it into her diet, it was fine for her to have a piece of cheese or a bite of ice cream. But she still reacted to it in breast milk. Weird.

[Cera]

My first thought was dairy as well. Cut it out completely (which is hard) for at least two weeks as it takes quite a while to get out of your system. Also, try letting him sleep upright (swing/bouncer/car seat) and see if it helps.

 

I spent three years dairy free thanks to my little darlings. (and #1 still needed zantac for reflux)

[rafiki]

.

[lighthouseacademy]

Add me to the list of moms who had to cut out dairy while breastfeeding. She was my first, so it took me about 4 grueling weeks to figure it out, but the difference was night and day. Every once in a while I'd try to sneak in a little dairy, and we went right back to where we started. Funny thing, dairy was only a problem when I ate it. When I very carefully introduced it into her diet, it was fine for her to have a piece of cheese or a bite of ice cream. But she still reacted to it in breast milk. Weird.

My daughter was like that with garbanzo beans!

 

Anyway, I second/third the chiropractic but especially the cranial-sacral work. I had a baby who screamed NON STOP for days. After 8 weeks, she had smiled ONCE and after one visit, she smiled at a complete stranger and became literally the happiest baby you ever saw. In fact, people would stop me in the store and ask if she was always that happy.

Also, mine was sensitive to dairy and beef. ONE bite of beef would send her SCREAMING for days.

Dairy, wheat, eggs, soy, and corn are the most allergy causing foods. Dairy is the worst for babies and mamas nursing. The others can be as well. Wheat can take 3 weeks to get out of the system. Hang in there. It is easiest to eliminate them all for a month and then test each one individually. Otherwise, you could potentially be testing for months.

[justamouse]

It doesn't matter if he was your 12th or third, every kid is different and just when you think you have the one personality down, you get another.

 

Do you have a cling? Something like the new native?

 

and start figuring out what the darling is allergic to.

[StartingOver]

I would NOT do this. Pick only one thing at a time to eliminate if you feel the issue could be a reaction to your breastmilk. It takes up to a month for dairy proteins to be completely out of your milk, so if your baby is reacting to dairy, you can't know that right away.

 

What exactly would you not do ? If she was breastfeeding she should try to eliminate the most common foods that cause problems like this. If she was formula ( which she isn't ) she should try a different formula. I am confused.

 

I beg to differ on " you can't know right away " as I saw a noticable difference in just 4 days from screaming almost constantly to occasional fussiness. I am not the only one either, I was on kellymoms.com when I had the issue and many other mothers had babies who responded partly much faster than a month. Of course it did take a bit longer to have a completely happy baby, but when you have one crying 18 hours out of a day, a small improvement is WONDERFUL !!! I have experienced it !

Edited June 8, 2010 by alatexan68

[Pink Fairy]

What exactly would you not do ? If she was breastfeeding she should try to eliminate the most common foods that cause problems like this. If she was formula ( which she isn't ) she should try a different formula. I am confused.

 

I beg to differ on " you can't lmpw right away " as I saw a noticable difference in just 4 days from screaming almost constantly to occasional fussiness. I am not the only one either, I was on kellymoms.com when I had the issue and many other mothers had babies who responded partly much faster than a month. Of course it did take a bit longer to have a completely happy baby, but when you have one crying 18 hours out of a day, a small improvement is WONDERFUL !!! I have experienced it !

 

That was true for us as well. My dd had a major response within a couple of days. I'm sure she continued to feel better as the dairy left my system completely, but the difference was obvious very quickly. It worked in reverse too, every time I tried to reintroduce dairy I regretted it very, very quickly.

[StartingOver]

That was true for us as well. My dd had a major response within a couple of days. I'm sure she continued to feel better as the dairy left my system completely, but the difference was obvious very quickly. It worked in reverse too, every time I tried to reintroduce dairy I regretted it very, very quickly.

 

 

Yes me too, I tried twice and within minutes she was reacting.

[dirty ethel rackham]

What exactly would you not do ? If she was breastfeeding she should try to eliminate the most common foods that cause problems like this.

 

Not Smrtmama, but I'll chime in here. Some people, when faced with a severe restriction of food all at once will become so overwhelmed that they give up breastfeeding and turn to formula thinking it will be easier. One thing at a time can be a less intimidating way to do an elimination diet.

 

I beg to differ on " you can't know right away " as I saw a noticable difference in just 4 days from screaming almost constantly to occasional fussiness.

 

I think it is more accurate to say that you won't always know right away. It can take several weeks for the milk proteins to leave the body. So, some babies will not show improvement until all of the offending proteins are gone. Many moms will think that, if the baby does not get better after a week, then it can't be a reaction to milk.

[StartingOver]

Not Smrtmama, but I'll chime in here. Some people, when faced with a severe restriction of food all at once will become so overwhelmed that they give up breastfeeding and turn to formula thinking it will be easier. One thing at a time can be a less intimidating way to do an elimination diet.

 

I never said to severely restrict. But to eliminate the most common to see if there was a change. Even I added in back what I suspected to see if it was the true culprit !

 

I think it is more accurate to say that you won't always know right away. It can take several weeks for the milk proteins to leave the body. So, some babies will not show improvement until all of the offending proteins are gone. Many moms will think that, if the baby does not get better after a week, then it can't be a reaction to milk.

 

I also sent her to a site with specific information on the many things that could be causing the issue. So that she could read and decide what she needs to do. So she could talk to many mom's in the same situation at this moment.

 

She asked for suggestions, I don't see an error in mine. I didn't say it helped immediately, I said that there was an improvement. She didn't sound in the OP to be a first time mom that would just give up. She wanted advice, I gave it and links for more info.

 

I guess I am still confused !

Edited June 8, 2010 by alatexan68

[dirty ethel rackham]

I never said to severely restrict. But to eliminate the most common to see if there was a change. Even I added in back what I suspected to see if it was the true culprit !

 

 

 

I also sent her to a site with specific information on the many things that could be causing the issue. So that she could read and decide what she needs to do. So she could talk to many mom's in the same situation at this moment.

 

She asked for suggestions, I don't see an error in mine. I didn't say it helped immediately, I said that there was an improvement. She didn't sound in the OP to be a first time mom that would just give up. She wanted advice, I gave it and links for more info.

 

I guess I am still confused !

I was responding to your response to smrtmama. You took her to task for things you apparently felt were in error. I was trying to clarify what I felt she meant, knowing her extensive background in helping bf-ing moms.

 

For many people with a new baby, just giving up one thing such as milk can be a huge deal. Giving up several things, especially if they are staples can seem like an insurmountable task. For me, giving up several common allergens would have been a severely restricted diet. Lack of sleep, stress from crying and then having to overhaul the diet would have put me over the edge, especially if I was having to take care of other children. I think smrtmama was trying to give another point of view, an alternate way of approaching the situation, not bash your suggestions.

[StephanieZ]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Not much help here, but my #3 was like that and I remember how hard it is. If I had it to do over, I'd have bought earplugs and drank heavily, lol.

[Ellie]

Thanks so much for all the replies.

 

Sorry, forgot to say I'm breastfeeding - I did wonder if I need to think about my diet but didn't really know where to start with it. Food diary?? Start with the 'usual suspects' eg. dairy, eggs?? Also wondered about reflux, but he doesn't seem to sleep any better in his chair than in his cot - does that rule reflux out?

 

We don't have a baby swing - maybe I should invest if I'm gonna get some peace!

Diary is the most common problem food. I'd cut that out. "Reflux" can just mean he's reacting to the dairy; eliminating dairy from your diet might very well clear up any "reflux." It can take up to a month. Really. I have not heard that eggs cause reflux; they would not be on my list of foods to eliminate (dairy, wheat, corn I believe are the top three).

 

You could also try taking a bath with him in the evening when it's close to bedtime (whatever that is for you). When you get out of the tub, just lie down with him on your bed (with appropriate *padding* of course!) and just nurse, skin to skin.

[StartingOver]

I was responding to your response to smrtmama. You took her to task for things you apparently felt were in error. I was trying to clarify what I felt she meant, knowing her extensive background in helping bf-ing moms.

 

For many people with a new baby, just giving up one thing such as milk can be a huge deal. Giving up several things, especially if they are staples can seem like an insurmountable task. For me, giving up several common allergens would have been a severely restricted diet. Lack of sleep, stress from crying and then having to overhaul the diet would have put me over the edge, especially if I was having to take care of other children. I think smrtmama was trying to give another point of view, an alternate way of approaching the situation, not bash your suggestions.

 

 

She specifically quoted my post as "DO NOT DO THIS !"

 

I gave my experience, and a link. That is all I can do. I don't pretend to know everything. But I thought we were all on here to support each other, to share what we think might help. Gosh, I guess I have it all wrong.

 

I do have 5 children, 24 nieces and nephews and 8 grandbabies, all of their mothers breastfed. Many of them with me as their personal lactivist / experienced nursing mother when things went wrong.

[Lucy in Australia]

First of all, you have all my sympathy and lots of hugs. My DD (now 7 months) was just like that. I eliminated every possible thing I could think of and it made not one iota of difference. Due to my eliminating so many things, my supply dropped off, and I switched to formula, thinking it might be better for her any way. No change.

 

The only thing that did help some was taking her to the chiropractor. We are fortunate enough to have a chiropractor who has a special interest in babies.

 

She still screamed a lot till she was 4 months old. Coincidentally, that was when I started her on solids. I still don't know if that helped, or if she outgrew it.

 

If it's any comfort, she is now the happiest baby I've ever had and far more sociable than her brothers. It will get better :grouphug:

[LibraryLover]

Three of mine were like this. They needed to be in- arms almost always. I could never 'put them down'. It was not easy. Today, you would not know this about them. They are awesome sleepers and loving young folks.

 

Infancy is exhausting. :iagree: But it doesn't last very long. (although each day feels an eternity).

[cjbeach]

Tagging on, if you suspect colic.....

_tummy time (supervised on blanket of course)

_feed then sit upright in swing or bouncer or on you for about 45min after feedings

_at this age check for reflux in a 2 weeks or so

_lay baby on back and bicycle feet, tummy massage(we did upside U from under belly button up and around belly button and back down), bring knees into chest and move knees from side to side

_start at diet allergy log, I think kellymom.com has some printable info for bfing mama

_check latch that baby is not getting too much air, latching correctly, that you are not having a heavy letdown (i had a very heavy letdown and it made my babies very gassy)

_i remember being advised to try the football hold rather than the across the body hold so that the baby is being fed with head elevated. I use to try to do the same thing with baby's leg going down my other side, head sorta elevated propped on a pillow on the one side versus whole body on pillow (does that description make sense?)

_the usual suspects: gripe water, Mylicon, fennel tea for Mama or one of the Yogi nursing teas with fennel in it

 

HUGS. btdt... it gets better.

[LibraryLover]

Ime, some babes have more difficulty adjusting to the outside world. They may or may not have allegies. Some babies (ime) just want to be held near the warm breast, and nurse on and off. My babies did not have any allergies. They were happy on my chest, near my nipples, and unhappy being put down. Perod. (Love my Maya Wrap). It was not easy, but it was clear; in -arms, calm. Out-of-arms, screaming. My babies slept in the crook of my arm for weeks (months?). I haven't regretted that.

 

You could try eliminating dairy, depending on your ethnicity/background. It might help, couldn't hurt.

Edited June 8, 2010 by LibraryLover