Screaming when being given his bottle? (kinda long, sorry)

CourtneyRenee9109

DS hasn't been sleeping well since he turned 4 months old.

He wakes up about 5+ times a night.

However, he usually falls right back to sleep with a bottle.

Over the last few days, when he wakes up he doesn't grunt and groan like usual...he just starts crying. Then when I try to give him his bottle, he squirms and screams...and seriously, acts insane. I don't know another way to put it.

I've tried to burp him and never get anything; I've tried gripe water/tummy soother which hasn't worked either.

It takes anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours to get him back to sleep, and this happens about 1-2 times a night.

There is just NO way to console him. Sometimes I hold him and rock him which calms him down, but he will not fall asleep unless he is in his crib. And as soon as I lay him in his crib, he returns to his screaming and crying.

He has reflux but it's been well-managed and have had no problems for a couple months.

He had a little cold about a week ago but I haven't seen any evidence of a cold in the past few days.

So I'm wondering what is going on??

Teething? Sleep fighting? Ear infection?

Please help =(

(P.S. He is FF and this has been happening during the day sometimes as well)

agemmell

oh no, poor little guy!  does he take zantac for the reflux?  he may need his dosage adjusted.  my daughter takes it for reflux as well.. they did warn me that she will start experiencing her reflux symptoms (back arching, screaming when she tries to eat) again as she grows, and so will need a higher dosage of meds. 

 otherwise, does he have a fever?  it may be teething if he's chewing on his hands.  i might try tylenol and/or orajel (if you've ruled out the reflux) over the weekend and see if that helps at all in case he is in pain from teething.  either way i'd call the pedi monday, just to make sure it isn't an ear infection or the cold coming back!

CourtneyRenee9109

agemmell:

oh no, poor little guy!  does he take zantac for the reflux?  he may need his dosage adjusted.  my daughter takes it for reflux as well.. they did warn me that she will start experiencing her reflux symptoms (back arching, screaming when she tries to eat) again as she grows, and so will need a higher dosage of meds. 

 otherwise, does he have a fever?  it may be teething if he's chewing on his hands.  i might try tylenol and/or orajel (if you've ruled out the reflux) over the weekend and see if that helps at all in case he is in pain from teething.  either way i'd call the pedi monday, just to make sure it isn't an ear infection or the cold coming back!

He is actually not on Zantac; the doctor, DH & I decided to take him off of it when we switched from breastmilk to formula because the formula seemed to help. We really haven't had any problems with it since he's been on this formula. (it has added rice starch so it stays down better)

I guess it could be his reflux? He is arching his back & screaming when he tries to eat...I have some left over but he hasn't taken it since he was about 3 months old so I'm not sure what dosage to give him?

I will definately call the pedi on Monday & in the meanwhile will get some baby oragel He is chewing on his hands but...he's always done that. lol.

(No fever & no sign of sickness either..)

Thanks so much for the thoughts & suggestions!

Amitchell0626

Have you tried a faster flow nipple? DD went through this around 3 months, screamed through every feeding. Turns out she was mad the food wasn't fast enough and she was working too hard to get it. We switched to a faster nipple and never had a problem since.

agemmell

hmm well my daughter is 4 months old, and 13.9 lbs.  she takes 1.5mL in her formula every 12 hours.  a friend of mine has a son on it also, he is just under 12 lbs and takes 2 mL twice a day.  depending on his size, and what you used to give him as a dose, i'd maybe try giving him 1-2mL 2x a day if you decide to go that route before calling the doc.  the back arching/screaming while eating is pretty textbook reflux.  a thicker formula may help with that also, we have my daughter on enfamil ar, and she spits up way less.  so she has less acid coming back up as a result.

 anyway, good luck!  having just gone through this recently i know how difficult it is to see your baby in pain like that.  hope the little guy feels better soon!