Hi guys,

just wondered if anyone can help with any advice please.

For the last 2 days and nights Edith has been really grumpy, not sleeping for more than half an hour in the day and in the evenings is inconsolable, i would say she is bordering on colicky but the only thing to console her is booby!
i understand colic to be fussy with feeds too is that right?

i am cutting everything out of my diet that might upset her tum but she seems very windy (poopy) rather than burpy, after a feed we struggle to get more than 2 big burps out of her.
BUT i can decide whether the rumbly tum is hunger or wind.

she is feeding anything between 30min and 2 hours and we seem to get 4 hours at night for the first night feed then 90mins for subsequent ones.

any help would be massively appreciated lovelys!

Hey Jo, sorry Edith is feeling a bit grumpy!

My friends little boy who is 6 weeks gets really bad tummy wind and is really inconsolable til it gets out, she lays him on floor like for bum change and then lifts his legs up, with knees towards his head and cycles them round like on a bike, and a big trump comes out and he stops crying!

Have you tried that?

do you think she might be having a growth spurt that's making her grumpy when she's not feeding?

Hey hun,

Hannah was like that in the evenings for weeks - it was a nightmare coz she would start about 5pm bang on tea time and literally scream and feed alternately untill about 9-10pm. She was such a nightmare to get wind up too so I started her on infacol and noticed a definate improvement after a few days. However she did still feed A LOT of an evening - practically non stop from tea time to bed time and in the end I just put it down to cluster feeding. Basically it seemed she was trying to fill herself up nice and full for the night and subsequently has been sleeping through the night (11 hours) since 5 weeks.

Whilst I dont have a great amount of advice hun other than try the infacol if you think it could be wind related, I know how you feel and it's so frustrating. I haven't eaten an uninterupted meal now for over 4 months because even now she is quite hungry in the evening. I do however do ok for sleep so it makes up for it.

Hope you can find a solution soon hun, you know where I am if you to chat

xxx

I was gonna suggest growth spurt as well hope you get it sorted soon XX

Aww hun - hope she is ok and settles soon for you..sorry i can't be of more help
xx

Thanks girls,
she has had a half hour nap and is up and crying again and rooting, i am going to give her a couple of oz of formula although i am scared this will make the wind worse.

she is on infacol and though the burps she does a huge i dont know if its really working or not. she doesnt seem to be drawing her legs up but she does make lots of grunting noises before pooing or pooping.

she never seems to be really full like Alice did, the limp arm thing was really obvious in Alice but hasnt been the same in edith!

will keep you all updated, i am not used to a crying baby

Oliver was the same at that age and would feed all night long and would create merry hell if I took him off the boob, my boobs looked like spanials ears We moved him onto infocol - this worked a treat I would give that a go.
Also I used to pop him in his sling to keep him up right and walk round a little after a feed and would help with his wind/colic.

As the others have said it probably is a growth spurt too.

topped up on 2oz of formula and so far been asleep for an hour!
i just dont know what to think.

Caitlin was like that for weeks. From 5pm to midnight screaming constantly and the only thing that calmed her was the boob. She then started that after her 2/3am feed she wouldnt settle for hrs, and then became unsettled during daytime too. Tried every wind/burp product & gaviscon. Turned out it was the milk allergy. I know 90% of the time it is just colic but thought Id let you know what my experience is.
If Edith settling better after formula and isnt having worse symptoms then that rules the allergy out (though it was the 3rd/4th time Caitlin had formula she reacted horribly). It could be something in your diet I suppose is the point im making. The only rubbish thing is it can take hrs for the food you have eaten to enter your milk and days after you cut it out to leave so its really hard to work out what the problem is...

Really hope she settles soon and its just a windy stage. Its horrible caring for an unsettled baby. you feel heart sorry for them but at the same time there were nights I could have cried for hrs about myself being so tired and annoyed that everyone forgot about me (selfish me ) and just said poor caitlin... it was me who wasnt getting more than hrs sleep at a time & seemed to BF constantly. Anyway, sending hugs and hope you get some much deserved rest. xxx

well she slept for 2 hours, had another 3oz of formula has stopped rooting but still cries if she isnt being hugged, she hates her bouncer, stayed quiet for 5 mins looking in the mirror on her play gym and is now quiet cos i am cuddling her again. i just feel sorry for alice

God I forgot about how Alice might be . Can she entertain herself with cbeebies/blocks/crayons while you are feeding or is she needing played with all day? Iv no experience of caring for 2, hopefully a pro like mara or Jen can offer some advice....

Does she like to 'help' with Edith, bringing nappies etc or is she getting annoyed/upset at her crying? Im not really helping much sorry. Really hope Edith settles, could you get a sling maybe so she is close to you and your arms are free to play with Alice? xxx

Sounds just like Isla & Jess was/is....from 2 weeks to about 12 weeks!!! Colic x

The things that got us through are putiing baby in a sling to keep them close, and swaying them in it! Great for getting on with bits with Alice. I use the 'close baby carrier' because it keeps them really tight to you, and you can bend and stoop, and pick up toddlers etc!!!

Dentinox and Colief drops.....a big big improvement on Infacol, which I found not much better than useless

Other than that, I hope it gets better real soon


Lisa xxx

Thats just what i was hoping it wasnt Lisa, i had a feeling it might be though.

she cant be put down for a minute! and wont go in the moses basket unless she is already asleep which is a nightmare cos she just isnt full....ever....

not sure whether to stick with bf, switch to bottle or try combined, cant use colief with bf though.

i feel crap at the mo, like i dont know how i am going to cope. she is asleep at the mo after 4oz formula and then a BF top up.

feel like its all going horribly wrong!

my sisters lo was like that only just stopped at 15 weeks and that was because the breast milk wasnt thick enough so wasntsatisfying her hun along with a peadeatrics (sp) appointment and is now on medicated milk because she is actually lactose intolerantxx

Oh Jo hun, these first few weeks are so stressful with an upset baby. You have been given some great advice here tho.

My first two were VERY colicky but Lucas hasn't suffered with it at all (thankfully!!) but he did go through a phase where he would scream the house down from about 7pm til 10pm. Having tried everything, I put it down to him being overtired and eventually he grew out of it. He too would cluster feed in the evenings and I felt like he was permanently attached to me.

Obviously some people do suffer with problems with their milk and I don't know if you BF Alice but in all honesty the first 3 months are the hardest. You either have boobies fit to burst or not enough milk to satisfy!! But perseverance certainly pays off! I remember Lucas going through growth spurts and he would take an hour to feed and then want another feed an hour later!!! I felt like I was going to crack under the strain, but we got there eventually. He just loves the boobie...in fact he still has 5 milk feeds a day now! (although I am trying to cut him down!!)

Speak to your HV and see if they can be of any assistance. Hope you can get some peace hun and feel free to PM me anytime x

Thanks Jo, yeah i did bf Alice and she was a dream i think i have been spoiled and its just taking some getting used to, i am gonna carry on for now and top up formula if i need to, she doesnt sleep through the day and is probably overtired too.

Dont think that Jo......I promise you its all gonna be just fine!!!!

Just adapt your ways a little, and you will find a 'new normal'.....I sometimes think we beat ourselves up when things dont fit in with how we imagined coping! BUT YOU ARE COPING, and every day gets closer to the colic buggering off

You can give colief on a spoon in a few mls of expressed breastmilk, then carry on BF'ing as normal (Just read the leaflet )

I was getting all stressed with her because she wouldnt let me put her down either, so tie the little bugger to you (lol), and carry on.

Jess has been loads better lately (just give it a good week to see the improvement if u use colief)

Also I was completely anti-dummy with Isla, but Jess has one (and loves it) because it helps no end with colic. Thats why Edith wants to feed a lot, its not because she is hungry, its because the sucking action eases their bellies, but actually overfeeding them makes their colic worse. Its a vicious cycle, but letting them have a dummy or suck your finger etc calms them right down.

Hope im helping xxx

Just reads hopadoms post, and completely agree that shes probably overtired too. As a rule of thumb, once Jess has been awake for about an hour'ish I 'encourage' her back to sleep again. Whether its a walk, a sway, or some sling time.

Since this she has become a lot calmer generally xxx