6 week old miserable all day and not sleeping

[stelly]

My son is 6 weeks old and ebf.  Over the past week he has started resisting sleep.  It can take up to 2.5 hours to get him to sleep at night and he's not sleeping more than 5 minutes during the day unless in the car.

Even when he's in our bed in the early mornings he won't go back to sleep, he will fidget, groan, cry and whimper.

I am exhausted from trying things and he has dark circles under his eyes presumably from lack of sleep.

Added to this he is only eating for typically 10 minutes at a time (longer at night if he's actually in the middle of a sleep/eat cycle), often he will eat for 5 minutes, pull off with gas and then after I've burped him he will refuse to go back, or go back, suck a couple of times and then start crying. Sometimes he outright refuses the breast.  I know I have overactive letdown so this is making him gassy, but there is plenty of milk and he resists all my attempts to slow the milk flow by laying back or holding him in different positions.

I am kind of at the end of my tether, I have a 3 year old I'm trying to look after and I just can't deal with the grumpiest baby ever all day.  He hates all my slings (goes straight and rigid when I put him in the Moby), and stays awake in the stroller too.

Any ideas?  Anyone else had similar happen?

[neonalee]

I don't have any great advice sadly. If the OALD is the problem have you tried pulling him off when it starts and letting it spray into a cloth until it calms then let him back on? Thats what I had to do. DS screams bloody murder when I do that but it worked for both the pressure and the fore/hind milk issue. Good luck!

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[nstewart]

Originally Posted by neonalee 

If the OALD is the problem have you tried pulling him off when it starts and letting it spray into a cloth until it calms then let him back on? Thats what I had to do. DS screams bloody murder when I do that but it worked for both the pressure and the fore/hind milk issue. Good luck!
 

Ditto this.  The other thing I can think of is possibly reflux??  My DS didn't have reflux but it sounds similar to other posts I've read where this has been suggested as an issue...

You've tried the moby and a sling...not sure if it would be worth trying an ergo or other soft carrier?  What if you try getting DS to sleep on your chest while you sit in a rocking chair or armchair?  I imagine with a 3 year old it would be hard to sit there while he naps, but maybe if you can do it on a weekend when you have some help your DS will catch up enough on sleep that he'll get over being over-tired?

Good luck!
 

[stelly]

Thanks, it's weird but the milk will only spurt out for a moment or two before it stops so it wouldn't make a difference.

He's napped for an hour so far today, he's been in the swing for 30 mins wide awake.. I despair.

[Just1More]

Any other symptoms of allergy maybe?  Green poo?  Frequent spit up?

I also have an oald/over supply, and it messed my ds up the worse.  He also has a partial tongue tie, and would cough and sputter.  It seemed like the little bit of milk he would get, combined with the remaining air bubble (even when he'd burp), made him feel full when he wasn't.  So, he needed to eat, and was fussy because of that, but he couldn't because he didn't feel well.  And I was about to loose it, too, because he wouldn't sleep.

For us, I was able to trace the problem pretty quickly to wheat.  I stopped eating it, and all the funny forms in can come in.  3 to 4 days and he was a different baby.  But, that didn't handle the oversupply problem, it just made him a bit calmer.  I just rode it out, but it was TOUGH. 

If I should face it again, I would try to pump off the foremilk, and scream as he may, offer less frequently.  I did try to offer less, but he would be hysterical.  He was hysterical anyway, so I should have just stuck it out.

I wanted to add a few random thoughts that I wish I would have known...

1.) My ds seems to have some sensory issues.  He is a seeker, but yet, as a baby would be really overwhlemed.  He especially hated any kind of carrier or being swaddled, but sometimes even being held was too much for him.  He needed a combination of freedom/left alone and hard/deep touches.  It took me until he was 2 to figure it out, and it made a world of difference for him.  You could try some deep massage for your baby.

2.) His panic and confusion as an infant has defintely followed him, and shaped his personality.  He tends to be easily uncertain, and, while really tough for external injuries, flips out if he feels sick.  It has gotten much better as he gets older and we can talk about it, but it used to seem that any little internal ailment would terrify him (like a cold).  I think it would have been good for him for me to be consistent in my responses.  I remember noticing a few little things I did seemed like they were calming for him, even though he was really upset, and I wish I'd had more.

3.) This is a short time in your life.  You will look back and marvel at how strong you were, and how well you kept it together.  Your ds will be a really sweet little guy, and all this will be behind you before you know it.  My guy is almost 4, and I still get shivers when I think about his first two years, but he was so worth it. You CAN do this.  :)

[stelly]

Originally Posted by Just1More 

Any other symptoms of allergy maybe?  Green poo?  Frequent spit up?

I also have an oald/over supply, and it messed my ds up the worse.  He also has a partial tongue tie, and would cough and sputter.  It seemed like the little bit of milk he would get, combined with the remaining air bubble (even when he'd burp), made him feel full when he wasn't.  So, he needed to eat, and was fussy because of that, but he couldn't because he didn't feel well.  And I was about to loose it, too, because he wouldn't sleep.

For us, I was able to trace the problem pretty quickly to wheat.  I stopped eating it, and all the funny forms in can come in.  3 to 4 days and he was a different baby.  But, that didn't handle the oversupply problem, it just made him a bit calmer.  I just rode it out, but it was TOUGH. 

If I should face it again, I would try to pump off the foremilk, and scream as he may, offer less frequently.  I did try to offer less, but he would be hysterical.  He was hysterical anyway, so I should have just stuck it out.

I wanted to add a few random thoughts that I wish I would have known...

1.) My ds seems to have some sensory issues.  He is a seeker, but yet, as a baby would be really overwhlemed.  He especially hated any kind of carrier or being swaddled, but sometimes even being held was too much for him.  He needed a combination of freedom/left alone and hard/deep touches.  It took me until he was 2 to figure it out, and it made a world of difference for him.  You could try some deep massage for your baby.

2.) His panic and confusion as an infant has defintely followed him, and shaped his personality.  He tends to be easily uncertain, and, while really tough for external injuries, flips out if he feels sick.  It has gotten much better as he gets older and we can talk about it, but it used to seem that any little internal ailment would terrify him (like a cold).  I think it would have been good for him for me to be consistent in my responses.  I remember noticing a few little things I did seemed like they were calming for him, even though he was really upset, and I wish I'd had more.

3.) This is a short time in your life.  You will look back and marvel at how strong you were, and how well you kept it together.  Your ds will be a really sweet little guy, and all this will be behind you before you know it.  My guy is almost 4, and I still get shivers when I think about his first two years, but he was so worth it. You CAN do this.  :)

Thanks for your reply.  He doesn't have green poo, no allergy symptoms that I can see.  No spitting up.

The only thing I can think of is that he's sensitive to caffeine, and that the 3 cups of tea and large quantities of chocolate I've been having each day (it WAS Easter after all...!) have stimulated him too much?  He was fine earlier last week, on Tuesday he fell asleep after 20 mins of pacifier when swaddled and slept for 5 hours straight, but then it's been downhill since then with nights first and now days too.  I cut out all coffee/tea/chocolate yesterday evening so I'm hoping tomorrow things will start to improve somewhat.... I can handle the grumpy baby, but the not sleeping at all baby really worries me.

[Greenlea]

If cutting out caffeine doesn't work, try a chiropractor.  They work great for fussy/upset babies.  One little adjustment and you could have a completely different baby.

[Just1More]

Caffeine can cause a lot of trouble! I hope that fixes it for you!

How's it going?

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Have you tried what's called "cluster feeding" where you feed on one breast for 2 hours (whenever the baby wants to eat) and then switch?  I read on Kellymom that this can help with active let-down and help your baby get the good hindmilk.  

Other things to try: swaddling, making the "shush" sound, holding the baby on his side, the sling (my major crutch!).  

Kellymom should have some good links for you.  Good luck, Mama! 

[newmamalizzy]

Your description would definitely make me suspect reflux or food intolerance.  Perhaps you're opposed to this at his young age, but has he ever had pumped milk from a bottle?  I'd just be curious to find out whether he still has feeding problems from a well-vented bottle (like Dr. Brown's).  It might help you determine whether he's refluxy or just having trouble with the OALD.  We had a lot of problems with BF-ing with my DD and during that time she was cranky and had terrible nights.  It turned out she wasn't getting enough to eat, even though it seemed like she was nursing a lot.  Any chance your LO is somehow not getting enough? 

[Jayray]

It could just be the six week growth spurt--they get restless and fussy and just weird.  I'd give him a few days...

[gemasita]

You say he slept 5 hours in a swaddle and that he sleeps well in the car.  Can you pursue that more?  We still swaddle 3.5mo DS at night and he sleeps way longer than without.  Maybe your LO needs the swaddle for naps too.   DS also sleeps a lot longer in the Moby or swing.  The motion seems to get him back to sleep when he wakes up before he's finished sleeping.

[dejagerw]

I highly recommend the video "Happiest Baby on the Block". It is amazing and full of great ideas you really have to see in action to believe.

[Greenlea]

Any updates, how is your LO doing?