baby help

[crazymummy]

hiya

you've all probably heard this all before..

my baby son is 5 weeks old and has very unsettled evenings from around six to eleven with bouts of crying. he is a breastfed baby and will sometimes root around so I'll put him to the breast. this results in more crying and wiggling, he'll sometimes take a drink but never much and then will pull away screaming, wont latch and only stops when sat upright. other times he'll sit with my breast in his mouth doing nothing and any milk that does come out when I eventually detatch him myself comes out of his mouth. I'm worried about him not getting enough milk (always do, and this is my first child). another mum I spoke to said her baby did the same and that he "didnt like her milk" and converted to formula. once he has settled he will drink wholeheartedly when he wakes for a feed and settle straight afterwards. no offence to those who bottlefeed but I don't want to go that path,I love the closeness and the knowledge that it is really good for him. Is he just needing to suck to settles himself? he's just been sucking onmy hand as I type and has fallen asleep. I just cant help but worry

Sara

[Anna07]

Hi Sara

I am sure some of the other regulars will have some good advice re the BF.

My second daughter who is now 5.5 months was a bit like this, we had the screaming in the evening and the feeding was very hard at first. I persevered with the BF and it is much much easier now, i always offered her the breast if she needed soothing or anything.

Some babies do just like to suck for comfort have you tried a dummy to help settle? That worked wonders with my first daughter.

With Abbie in the evenings when she was screaming we used to wrap her in the swaddle, hold her very close to me on her left side whilst rocking her and playing a white noise CD or "shshing" noises, this seemed to help her to sette a bit.

Anna

[Bubba82]

could be colic, try her with a dummy, or maybe your bubs is over-tired???

[gemjazz2000]

Hi

My little boy had very bad wind/colic

I gave him infacol which worked well, at around six months it just stop.
He is still bf he is 20 months now.

Treating trapped wind and griping pain with Infacol, helping to treat infant colic and trapped wind

I brought the 1st bottle to try and then i went to the doctors who precribed it for me.

If you need any more info please let me know.

gemma

[ladybug]

Originally Posted by crazymummy

hiya

you've all probably heard this all before..

my baby son is 5 weeks old and has very unsettled evenings from around six to eleven with bouts of crying. he is a breastfed baby and will sometimes root around so I'll put him to the breast. this results in more crying and wiggling, he'll sometimes take a drink but never much and then will pull away screaming, wont latch and only stops when sat upright. other times he'll sit with my breast in his mouth doing nothing and any milk that does come out when I eventually detatch him myself comes out of his mouth. I'm worried about him not getting enough milk (always do, and this is my first child). another mum I spoke to said her baby did the same and that he "didnt like her milk" and converted to formula. once he has settled he will drink wholeheartedly when he wakes for a feed and settle straight afterwards. no offence to those who bottlefeed but I don't want to go that path,I love the closeness and the knowledge that it is really good for him. Is he just needing to suck to settles himself? he's just been sucking onmy hand as I type and has fallen asleep. I just cant help but worry

Sara

This does sound to me to be very familiar! It is difficult to figure out what's up with them when they're so tiny. Try not to worry as so many problems seem to just solve themselves at this stage.

You say he roots around but then doesn't feed - does his mouth seem sore at all? You could check for signs of thrush.

The fact that he calms down when you sit him upright does suggest possible trapped wind. Do you gently rub his back throughout and after feeds? You can even take him off half way through a feed to wind him. The fact that it's in evenings, too, does again point at trapped wind which has built up through the day. Infacol is good but I think he might be too wee for it yet. Some friends recommend gripe water for this, too. A nice natural way of solving it is getting him used to a sling. It can be a bit hairy at first, but once you both get used to it, it has a nice calming effect and often sends them over to sleep. Don't be fooled by reports that it somehow frees up your hands to enable you to get on with he house - it doesn't! LOL But it does gently encourage release of wind and it is warm, close and comforting for them. If you get really expert at it, you can even feed while he's still in it. Worst bit is it often encourages poop which is less than fun when it's directly under your nose. Nice.

Please don't worry about him 'not getting enough' milk. It is a really common worry for new mums and the most common reason for stopping, but soooo often it is not the case. The main thing that would make you worry about that is if his weight gain is really slow. If that is the case then further investigation is needed.

As for him not liking your milk - that's nuts. Your pal was obviously misinformed! Or was she on a bizarre diet?!? The thing is, you can't compare how a baby reacts to formula to how they respond to breast, mainly because all you've got to go on can be misleading - a baby who all of a sudden 'seems more content' is possibly just bloated from the heavy new formula milk, and the fact that he's all of a sudden sleeping for longer spells is not always a good thing for tiny infants. If ya want more details let me know lol

If he is sucking on your hand, offer him a feed. If you pacify him with something alternative to suckle, his body is not getting what it is telling you it needs.

I think that covers it... hope this helps

[CarlaK]

Sorry haven't got loads of time to reply but the worst time for my LO reflux was from about 7pm- midnight. Just a very, very quick thought. Will pop back tho.

[ladybug]

Originally Posted by CarlaK

Sorry haven't got loads of time to reply but the worst time for my LO reflux was from about 7pm- midnight. Just a very, very quick thought. Will pop back tho.

Tis a point. Also you said he likes to sit upright - this can be something reflux babies like as it can stop the stomach acids flowing into the mouth. Have you tried feeding him when he is in an upright position? Tis a tricky one but might work. Really, really hope he's not got reflux as it is a royal pain in the ass for all concerned... x

[Anna07]

Abbie had reflux (under control now with meds) but night was worst, i made sure i sat her upright for half an hour after a feed either on me or in her chair.

dummy is supposed to be good for reflux but Abbie would never take one.

also paediatrician told me that there is something about breast milk that helps them to empty their tummies more quickly and digest it so if he does have digestive probs breast milk is better for him.

[CarlaK]

Same here- night time was worst- she was hungry but in pain which interfered with her feeding.

Like previous suggestions, we fed upright and cot had a tilt to help relive pain. It is really difficult to diagnose by but my LO used to make funny gulping noises, like a goldfish, and I learned that that was caused by her reflux.

Good luck- sounds a tricky one but some useful advice here.

[crazymummy]

thanks for the advice unfortunately for my son, I think :S, I have a fast flow of milk that shoots itself away from me and seems to end up coming out of his nose (poor kid) and he tends to let go at the start and gets shot in the eye and we both end up having a bath milk :/ it only really happens from one breast though. is there a way to get it to slow down?