Screaming baby-just need some encouragement

[momto4plus4]

I've so been through this before but even knowing that it'll pass, it's still hard to listen to the screaming for hours a day. My ds is 2 months old, on his 2nd bout of thrush, horribly gassy, most likely experiencing food intolerances like his siblings did. I know all the stuff to do with my diet, soothing him, etc. I just need some encouragement that I can do this, that I'm not alone, that others have been there or are there right now and that this will eventually go away.

[sapphire_chan]

You will get through it.

By the way, what's the difference between allergic gassiness and normal gassiness at 8 weeks? Is it the pain factor?

[Knitting Mama]

My two month old is also phenomenally gassy, and very fussy because of it, the poor love. We can't do an elimination diet because 75% of her milk is donated breast milk because of my lack of supply (breast reduction 10 years ago), so I have no way to control what those mamas ate! We're just hoping that she outgrows her painful gas as she gets older. It's already better than it was a month ago, so I have hope. Don't lose faith, mama!

[momto4plus4]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

You will get through it.

By the way, what's the difference between allergic gassiness and normal gassiness at 8 weeks? Is it the pain factor?

Well, he's exclusively breastfed and his stools are watery and sometimes green instead of the cottage cheesy look, he screams (not just whimpers or fusses) sometimes 7+ hours per day. His brother and sister ended up with allergic colitis (bleeding colon) from the allergy and most subsequent babies have it if their older sibling did. Thankfully, he hasn't had blood yet and both siblings had bloody stool by 4 weeks so we don't think it's that but the pediatrician said he's exhibiting the signs of a dairy intolerance so I'm now on a very restricted diet (we've eliminated lots of foods to try to heal his body then figure out the food rather than just eliminate one at a time). He's literally given me a headache from the loudness of his screaming. Today's his record-going on 11 hours of screaming with only 10-20 min breaks here and there.

[Nicole730]

(Hugs)

Have you ever tried giving probiotics? Maybe talk to the doctor about them and see if they would be a good fit for you son. They will help him digest your milk better, at least that's how our ped described it to me.

[Starry-eyedMom]

I have a suggestion. Not sure it will help, but I've read (and experienced) some amazing things that have been accomplished with accupuncture--accupressure is used for infants and children. My family has some terrible allergies and we found a very knowledgeable acupunture physician in FL that has worked some seeming miracles in that area. She was also NAET trained (specifically developed to treat food and environmental intolerances and allergies). The treatments are also great for reducing inflammation. I've taken both my older children and will take my 1 month old when we visit next month because she exhibits some colicky behavior and now excema.

That being said, it is often not covered by insurance, but if my child is having problem/pain I have done/will do whatever I think it takes, kwim?

Best of luck. I feel so bad for your little guy!

[carmen358]

You CAN do it...you already know you can

I find just constantly going back to feelings of compassion for what baby is going through helps through the rough spots. (And for yourself!)

And remembering that it will pass, as you said.

[hildare]

i've been there, and not too long ago. it DOES get better! you are an awesome mama.

[texaspeach]

do you have symptoms of over supply? they can look the same as dairy intolerance and cause a very uncomfortable baby

you will both get through this.

[marinak1977]

you both will get through this. Hope your LO feels better soon.

[colsxjack]

Originally Posted by texaspeach

do you have symptoms of over supply? they can look the same as dairy intolerance and cause a very uncomfortable baby

you will both get through this.

My DW had over supply and our DD exhibited a lot of the same symptoms. ie: watery/foamy green poop, gassiness, spitting up, screaming at the boob and not eating and then screaming from hunger.
Our midwife said the green poop was from too much formilk and not enough hind milk.

My wife got some good advice from kellysmom.com
It helped quite a bit. Plus we did take our DD to a chiropractor.

Good luck. you can do it!

[sugarpop]

Hang in there! You have done this before and your children survived and so did you...even though right now you are questioning it right now.

I have been there, thought it wouldn't end, questioned everything I ate and every move I made. She is 8 months old and happy, got happy long ago though so you should make it to the other side soon. I eliminated dairy too and found it helped. Never tried accupuncture...but now that you said my future LOs might have the same issue maybe I will. We found relief in Chiro and constant pacing and pressure on the belly and then

Someone here gave the strangest advice...hold LO in front of you facing out, pull legs to chest so they are in the squatting position, thighs pushing on the belly...kind of like they are squatting on a toilet but a little more scrunched...then she pooped and the crying stopped. I no longer change dirty diapers, just wet ones, dirty all goes in the toilet or sink. this REALLY made a difference too!

[rhiOrion]

I'm right there with you. My dd maybe cries somewhat less than yours, but she still fits the definition of colic. I definitely think we have some reflux going, and I've tried cutting out dairy and chocolate so far. She's also very gassy. It's so stressful.

It's extra stressful when people around you are having babies and talking about how easy their babies are.

[momto4plus4]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I'm right there with you.
It's extra stressful when people around you are having babies and talking about how easy their babies are.

It's good to know I'm not alone. We still tease my best friend about when their ds was 5 months old and started crying hard and they flipped out because he'd never cried like that before. Dh & I looked at each other in total shock as our dd had cried like that from out 8 days old! Amazing that some people do have happy babies-some of us just don't get to experience it.

Thanks for all your encouragement-it's just physically & emotionally exhausting. Did the chiro today and she said the same spot in his neck was acting up. She does accupressure on him so we've got that base covered. We're doing probiotics-both he & myself. I've tried the squatting position with him but that often makes him worse. Pumping his legs gently seems to be helpful, at least this week.

Have wondered about oversupply but starting around 2 weeks I've been only switching sides about every 3-4 hours so he nurses on one side for that long then the other side for that long to prevent too much foremilk. Not sure of anything else I could do but I'll check out that website. I did post in the bf'ing forum a while back about one side Always leaking and never feeling empty-maybe a sign???

Have to say, my 5 year old (my most colicky one) is so sweet and has said to us (while tiny ds is screaming his lungs out) in the most sincere voice "it's so nice to have a baby in the house!" Aaaawwwwww! "

[jess5377]

You're doing awesome and they can't scream forever.

Remember - "This too shall pass."

[jsh7809]

It will all be a memory soon! And you'll find yourself missing this age (though not the screaming!).
I too had lots of oversupply issues in the first weeks, block feeding wasn't helping enough so I took some sage tincture (with guidance from my herbalist) and either it helped, or it was coincidence and the baby started being able to handle more at once or my milk slowed naturally.
Anyway, hang in there, ask for breaks from your partner or family (or anyone you can!) and take a nice, hot bath...
With earplugs in

[Just1More]

Yeah...screaming baby. Oof. Been there. He was still doing it up to 9 hours a day until about 2 years old. It switched from belly trouble to angry toddler with barely a breath in between. He's one stubborn fella'. Sometimes I wonder if his pain as an infant made him have a short fuse...or if his pain wasn't as bad as it seemed and he just had a short fuse anyway. Who knows. But, what I DO know is that I am really, really, really enjoying him now. He is the sweetest little guy.

And, you've got firsthand experience. You know that this stage isn't THEM, and it isn't YOU. You love them (though you might not like them right now), and they love you. In fact, you adore each other. It did help me a lot, like a pp said, to think of the baby's pain. I look back and tell myself over and over that ds was technically sick. He was not a "normal" baby, and we did not have a "normal" experience.

But, you know what? We did a lot of growing, and the whole experience made him who he is and who we are today. I certainly wish I had acted with a lot more grace, but I recognize that I lived just below my absolute breaking point and in a state of exhaustion for nearly 2 years. I'm actually kind of proud of that.

If you've done this more than once, you should know you are an awesome Mama. All mamas make sacrifices for their children, but a screaming baby is TOUGH. You had another baby, gave another person life KNOWING that it could be this way again. You did all the hard work, and you are still giving because of this spring of love in you.

You may not look it, and you may not feel it right now, but you need to hold in front of yourself that you are a GOOD mama.

You CAN do this.

[momto4plus4]

Thanks everyone. The encouragement really helps. I really am in total love with ds and am probably bonding with him more than any of my others at this stage but those long screaming days just test my strength.

I read the bottle of probiotics I was using for him last night (I'd had dh pick it up and hadn't read it as it's a brand we've used with other kids) and realized it has dairy, soy & tuna in it. UGHH. We already knew that he couldn't handle me eating tuna so know wonder he's screaming after he's having probiotics. And, of course, I was giving him what I thought was a Good thing for him.

We'll see how he does after being off the probiotics. Now I need to find one that doesn't have all those in it.

Again, thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure many of you understand the not feeling like a good mama thing. It helps to be reminded.

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by momto4plus4

Thanks everyone. The encouragement really helps. I really am in total love with ds and am probably bonding with him more than any of my others at this stage but those long screaming days just test my strength.

I read the bottle of probiotics I was using for him last night (I'd had dh pick it up and hadn't read it as it's a brand we've used with other kids) and realized it has dairy, soy & tuna in it. UGHH. We already knew that he couldn't handle me eating tuna so know wonder he's screaming after he's having probiotics. And, of course, I was giving him what I thought was a Good thing for him.

We'll see how he does after being off the probiotics. Now I need to find one that doesn't have all those in it.

Again, thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure many of you understand the not feeling like a good mama thing. It helps to be reminded.

go to whole food we found one there...let me grab it and tell you what it is...ok just read it, this contains "trace amounts of lactose and milk". We had no adverse reaction to it, but I don't know how much that helps you...we were milk/casen free.Maxi Baby-dophilus by Country Life

http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo...Product_ID=122
Here it is

Good luck and don't beat yourself up over it

[momto4plus4]

Thank you for the info. Things have been crazy here and I just haven't been able to post. I'm going to look into that probiotic as my 5 yr old needs the non-dairy as well. We've been doing the culterelle non-dairy one for him but I had wanted to try to find one formulated for infants for the baby.