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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Any ideas?

Well we had another night with Emily crying until 2am and it continued through today.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for us to try- please let me know.

Last night at her 9:00pm feeding she was very fussy.  After eating she dozed off for a few minutes and then woke up crying.  This went on all night- dozing off, waking up, crying, rooting and wanting more milk.  There were points during the night that she was crying uncontrollably, almost screaming.  We tried a pacifier, holding her in a  more upright position, bouncing, swaddling, walking around, her swing, we turned on the vacuum and that made her quit crying but she still wouldn't fall asleep.  This fussiness/crying has been going on for three nights now, before that she was pretty content and didn't have any problems sleeping.  I can't think of anything that has changed in the past few days. The crying happens both when I breastfeed her or give her a pumped bottle.

Before today, she had no problems going right to sleep after eating during the day.  She would eat every 2.5- 3 hours and wasn't fussy. She would then fall asleep for about 2.5 hours and I would wake her up so I could feed her and change her diaper and play.  Well today was a different story.  She has continued with the crying/screaming all day.  I feed her and she will fall asleep for maybe an hour and then she wakes up crying, rooting and wanting more milk.

She doesn't spit up very often and when she does it's not very much. I have noticed that she gets the hiccups a lot throughout the day. We have tried to sit her up after feeding and propping up one end of her bassinet.

Steve and I are lost on what to do at this point.  Am I supposed to feed her every hour like she wants? Do I need to cut certain foods out of my diet? If so how do I know what foods to stay away from? Does anyone have any ideas?

15 comments:

  1. The first two weeks with a newborn are often termed the honeymoon phase? Or something similar. Around two weeks they get their "cry" and "wake up" which is probably what she's doing now. It peaks at 6 weeks and steadily declines until 12wks So.. what she's doing is normal (sorry!~!) I have been there though and to say it's tough is an understatement!

    I would feed her as often as she wants, but stay away from stimulants (caffeine: coffee, and chocolate). Dairy is also another big sensitivity, but generally, if there is an allergy you'll see blood in her stool. The only other thing I can say is whatever you do, do it for at least 20 mins. When they are crying like that they are shutting the world out so it takes a bit for them to recognize what you're doing is soothing! *And* try to keep her window of awake time to 30mins - 1hr max! Sometimes this may mean feeding, and immediately starting to soothe to sleep.

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  2. Sounds like colic. Just like my baby. Mylacon drops work for gas. Something is upsetting her tummy. You may try a formula for sensitive tummys just to see if it works. Did you call your Dr.? Good Luck,
    Tracy

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  3. I had all these thoughts for you, but then Courtney up there went and said everything I was going to say. I was a bit irritated when she woke up and started crying at week 3. :) If you go back and read old posts from around that time, you will see what I mean :)

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  4. i wish i had some advice for you, but i'm letting you be the guinea pig and i'm just going to come to you with all my questions when our baby boy gets here. ;)

    i hope she sleeps well for you tonight, though!

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  5. I agree with the comment above. Also I know that sometimes certain things you eat can bother a babies stomach when breastfeeding. I could not eat onions when I was breastfeeding with Wyatt because he would do what you little one is doing.Just a thought.

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  6. Sounds like it could be a growth spurt to me. If so, it should probably last several days. Katelyn went through something similar at 2 weeks and again at 4 weeks. She didn't cry so much as wanted to eat all the time. After a several days, she settled down again. I hope that is the case for you too!

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  7. The only thing I could think of was reflux (if she seemed like she was in pain) but I don't really know much as I am new at this too. I will say that I agree with Courtney...the first two weeks seemed easy. Then it got hard..like really hard... I hope it gets better for you guys soon and little Emily will get some sleep.

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  8. I don't necessarily agree with everyone above, it doesn't sound "normal" to me. I guess it sounds to me like reflux, gas or an intolerance to something in your breastmilk. I wouldn't hesitate to ask your ped if you can bring her in, there is a thing called "silent reflux" and she won't spit up much but will get fussy after eating, which let's be honest, is when she SHOULD be happy. I would try the superman hold if you haven't already - lay her facing down on your arms in front of you, with her belly on your forearms, great for gas. I would also try cutting out dairy from your diet to see if that has an effect BUT that takes a while to show improvement and Courtney's right, there's usually a little blood in her stool.

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  9. ^I was also told it could be reflux, and even tried the medication. It didn't help, in fact it made things worse because it caused diarrhea. I did the gas drops, the elimination diet, the Happiest Baby on the Block - EVERYTHING. The only thing that helped was time and he grew out of it by 12 wks.

    There is a broad range of crying in babies - some only cry when they need something and others cry all the time. I had a baby that cried all the time. That is normal. It's not what a parent wants to hear - it's not what I wanted to hear, but it's the truth.

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  10. Bridget I'm not a mother yet, but was a nanny to a little boy who displayed similar behavior. We actually started putting him in his car seat after feedings and to nap and that seemed to do the trick (literally put the car seat inside his crib). Not sure if that will help, but just wanted to offer up my experience in a similar situation. I also agree that it does sound a bit like reflux. Good luck!

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  11. For the hiccups, I would try Gripe Water. You can find it in the baby section of the grocery store. We give that to Aiden and the hiccups stop. I would call the doctor and let them know what Emily is doing. Maybe she has some acid reflux problems or is just super gassy? SO sorry you guys are going through this and I hope it will get easier soon!!

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  12. I still think it is tummy trouble. It could be something as simple as reflux or more complicated like lactose intolerance. It's time to call the pediatrician, there are no dumb questions when it comes to a new parent. You could see if it helps to remove anything from your diet that causes you gas especially dairy, beans, broccoli, cucumbers etc.

    But screaming like you describe is also colic-like. If you already have a humidifier going and it's not helping, you can try to steam up the bathroom with a hot shower and sit in there with the door closed (in the bathroom, not the shower) and see if it helps. Make sure she is not too hot or too cold.

    Also, so that you can keep your sanity, take turns with Steve. Leave them at the house and go for a walk or a drive if you have to to cool off after a screaming session. And hopefully he has the chance to do the same. Removing your stress and anxiety might even help Emily calm down a bit.

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  13. I'm sorry I was there 4 weeks ago and it is hard. I tought she was colic . . .she wasn't. I thought I was reflux . . .it wasn't. It was just her crying. She grew out of it at about 6 weeks. It peaked at around week4 for me.


    I hope you get through it, it is sooooo hard.

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  14. ofcourse I don't know much, lol, but I will say from what I hear from other mothers that what you put into your body that is different can have a drastic affect on emily- maybe you had something a little different?

    i will be thinking of you and praying that you find some peace, rest, and patience. you will all get through this and remember to use your resources- call your peditrician if you think it may help and just have for suggestions from them- I am sure they have heard it all!!
    luv ya hang in there!

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  15. I found this woman who had done a ton of research and was a genius, she found that you can tell what a baby needs by the type of cry they are doing, as if they are actually talking to you, all babies are born with this inate ability. There is also a book/video called happiest baby on the block. These two things were a life saver. Hope they can help. I can't remember the woman's name for the baby cry's but I bet if you Google it you can find it pretty easy. She was from Australia if that will help.

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