How much did your LO cry while awake?

jadebaby

My DD seems to be crying a lot. I know she's only 12 days old but it seems to me she basically cries all of the time when she is awake. Is this normal? We have recently switched her formula to the Similac for gas and fussiness. She seemed to be in pain from what I could tell. She would scream, arch her back and turn red.  So we assumed it was gas related. I'm just worried she is in pain or upset about something and obvious,y she can't tell me what.  

Can you tell I'm a FTM? I'd really like to enjoy my time with my DD but it gets to me that she is constantly crying. Oh and we do go to the doctor on Wed. Just like ome fellow mom advice, please? 

ThePastor'sWife

Is the crying/back arching occurring soon after she's eaten?

FWIW, some NBs are more easygoing than others, and all of them love to be held/kept close for the first several weeks (can you blame them? They've been snuggled up tight and warm for months). DS hated being put down and would flip out unless he was in his bouncer - then he was happy as a clam. Anything else though and he'd lose it.  We spent a lot of time holding him and wearing him in the early weeks. We did need to use gas drops (others like gripe water; it's your preference - Mylicon worked much better for DS than gripe water) bc he did have issues with gas early on.  He also had fussiness issues due to reflux... But I can explain more about that depending on your answer to when she's displaying those behaviors.  

KathrynMD

First few weeks DD pretty much cried any time she wasn't being held; she'd sleep w/o being held for MAYBE 30-60 minutes.  At around 2 weeks, she started being able to sleep next to me in the Moses basket for about 2-3 hours at night.  She was swaddled pretty much 24/7 for the first month also.  I think that helped w/ the crying too.  The swaddling isn't really helpful if you are BFing b/c they need the close skin contact and being a little cooler helps them stay awake to nurse.  Newborns cry ALOT, but it doesn't mean anything's wrong necessarily.  However, FTM or not, if you think something's wrong, you are probably right.  When DD was ~4 days old, I knew something was wrong, and I was right, she wasn't latching properly and was losing weight.  If you think something's wrong, call your pedi and go in tomorrow and have them do a weight check and describe the symptoms to them. 

ShandaB

That sounds like what Anderson would do before we found out he had reflux.  Once we started treatment for the reflux he was like a completely different baby.  You should talk to your pediatrician.

KissyFishyLips

Annabelle cried constantly, it felt like, in the first 3 months. We put her on Nutramigen (the fussy/gas formulas didn't work, but the hypoallergenic stuff did) and she started to do much better. By 5 months old, she was an all-star, a completely different child.  There's light at the end of the tunnel - Annabelle is now the happiest baby you've ever met even though she was a complete banshee gremlin for the first few months!

JennigoesUSA

I was told that Similac is hard to digest for babies. Was your child on Enfamil before? If not I would try that. Enfamil Gentle Ease seems to work for many kids. If not that then maybe go to something soy based to test it out. She might be a little colicky. Devyn had colic the first 4 month of his life and it sucked. But it WILL get better. *Hugs*

moonfaerie

My oldest cried all.the.time unless she was eating, for pretty much the first ten weeks. (I don't mean to scare you.) It wasn't from gas or anything; she just didn't like the outside world.

If you do think it's gas, try doing a bicycle motion with her legs and give her gas drops. That worked for my second baby.

AKBrideinMD

My DD cried a lot the first 6 weeks...I think the first four weeks were due to a lot of BF problems. Much to my dismay at the time, we started supplementing with formula around that time too which did help, but I noticed more colic and crying symptoms at night. We switched from Enfamil Infant to Enfamil Gentlease and that helped a ton.

I'm not sure if it's "normal" or not, but I remember saying many a times in the first 6 weeks that if she wasn't asleep or latched onto the boob, she was crying - and most of the time she'd only sleep latched onto the boob so I felt like a human pacifier. It got better...not sure if it was the formula supplementation or switch to Gentlease or eventually adding a paci, but it did get a lot better.

Also, from "Happiest Baby on the Block" the 5 S's helped a ton - swaddle, suck,  swinging, sushing, side position. Especially swaddling. We just unwrapped her (sometimes completely undressed her) in order to wake up to nurse.

lauranne

A lot of crying at the beginning is normal.  She's used to being all cuddled up inside of you, listening to your heart beat and sleeping her days away.  Now she's out in the cold world, it's bright, and not so fun.  Some people even call it the 4th trimester.  It will pass, I promise!

Do you have a sling or carrier?  I recommend trying a mei tei or other carrier.  Aiden was a very fussy newborn, and sometimes the only thing that would calm him would be to wear him. Being up close to me (or DH) like that was the only thing that would get him to stop crying.  It was also the only way I could get anything done around the house!

daisyterp

DD slept for pretty long stretches from the beginning. DS not so much. He liked being held and nursed a ton. 

Ditto PP on getting a wrap/sling or mei tai.

At 12 days she is still getting used to being on the outside and being curled up in a carrier, next to you so she can hear/feel your heartbeat, etc. should be very soothing to her.  

Is it possible that when you are feeding her you are feeding her too fast? Like the formula is flowing too fast and she is getting overwhelmed by it and then her stomach is too full, etc.? I never bottle fed that early, but have read a lot about how small their stomachs are at that point and how they can't always control the nipple flow if the bottle is held a certain way, etc.  

SarahKate31

What other kinds of formula have you tried? It sounds like it may be reflux so feeding may be the issue. How much is she taking per feeding? We were FFing and BFing at 12 days and DS was only taking 1/2-1 ounce of formula per feeding (plus 30 mins on the boobs). We have had him on Enfamil from the start.

jadebaby

When we came home she was on Enfamil Newborn. Her poops slowed down to once every 36 hours and when she did poop it looked lke really runny honey mustard (sorry, tmi)  and there was a LOT of it. Then as of Saturday we switched to the Similac Sensitive for Gas and Fusiness. She seems to be a little better, but still not happy. I moved up her doctor appointment to this afternoon so I can't wait to get there and hopefully find a solution. 

 

KathrynMD

might also look at how you are burping her.  I *thought* I was burping DD, but I really wasn't.  My grandmotherly neighbor showed me her method and it worked like a charm and really helped DD settle down.

jadebaby

KathrynMD:

might also look at how you are burping her.  I *thought* I was burping DD, but I really wasn't.  My grandmotherly neighbor showed me her method and it worked like a charm and really helped DD settle down.

You have me curious. How do you mean? 

SarahKate31

jadebaby:

KathrynMD:

might also look at how you are burping her.  I *thought* I was burping DD, but I really wasn't.  My grandmotherly neighbor showed me her method and it worked like a charm and really helped DD settle down.

You have me curious. How do you mean? 

I'm not sure what Kathryn is going to say, but I was so glad that a nurse at the hospital showed us how to burp DS. I would never have given him such a firm thump on the back unless I had seen the nurse do it first. When DS was tiny, we'd sit him up in our lap with our hand supporting his chin/face and burp him sitting upright. It wasn't until he was older that we put him over our shoulder.

Are you getting burps out of her?

jadebaby

Yes I use the method where I have her sit like a Buddha and hold under her chin. She is a pretty good burp er  and sometimes puts me to shame. 

KathrynMD

I tried burping her on my lap or shoulder, but never heard/saw much, so I just thought she was a quiet or non-burper.  My neighbor showed me her method - holding DD on my hip, facing outward and bouncing her pretty hard.  It was pretty funny seeing an arthritic 70ish lady do it, but man, she got some BURPS out of DD and it was a total lightbulb moment for me. 

rainstar752

If she wasn't nursing or sleeping, she was crying, for basically the first 3 months.  Happiest baby on the block worked great, and so did lots and lots of walks in the stroller.  We did eventually get her on zantac for reflux and that seemed to help some of the tummy issues.  Gas drops could sometimes help and gripe water for hiccups. Good luck!  The newborn phase was not my favorite but now my DD is a super happy baby.