Anyone else with a very fussy baby? « Back to Group Discussions

[EvsMom12]

Hi ladies! Looking for a little advice and/or commiserating about my newborn. Pretty much from day 1, Evelyn has been fussy. She was born on 11/18, wonderful, gentle waterbirth, 7#15oz. Nursed right away, couldn't ask for a better start. She didn't sleep much the first day and by day 2, the fussiness began and hasn't stopped. If she's not nursing or sleeping, she's fussing. Sometimes it's just a little but most of the time it's flat-out crying. I can't help but think something is going on and I don't know how to help her. I nurse on demand and she nurses very frequently - about once an hour unless sleeping. I'm totally fine with that but when she's done, she's still fussing and not content. Of course, I'm questioning if she's getting enough but she has plenty of pee diapers and about three poop diapers a day (although they are orangey and not seedy like normal breastfed babies. She does have a lot of tummy noises and I believe the gas is really bothering her. I've tried all the tricks in the book but she is still unhappy :(  Last night, she started crying hysterically around 4pm and didn't stop until I rocked her to sleep/shhushing for hours. Didn't even want to nurse :(  My first baby was very colicky but that didn't start until 5 weeks so this amount of funniness seems so early to me. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm wondering if it's acid reflux as she always has hiccups, grunts and pulls her legs up in her sleep so she's not getting good sleep to boot. Thanks, ladies, hope everyone is doing well with their new little ones!

Edited by EvsMom12 - 11/27/12 at 7:54am

[abouttobe5]

Hi there! I have a mildly fussy baby girl right now (5 weeks old) but she's majorly congested and has a cough so I think that's it. I've been checking her daily (I'm a chiropractor) and she's needed adjustments about every other day. Extremely helpful in helping her process through the stresses she's under - I would highly suggest finding a chiropractor who is really good with children and knows his/her stuff. :) If you need a referral to someone in your area, let me know and I can look one up for you.

[Carinthia]

I brought my baby to the chiropractor at 2 weeks old for her first adjustment and I think it really helped her out! Of course the other thing to consider is food issues.... I did discontinue dairy because she seemed to be really uncomfortable ( not even as much as you describe with crying in the night and all) and again I'm seeing improvement and she seems more settled. I know in our area you can find practitioners who will test the baby (through you) for food issues - be it muscle testing or this electro acupuncture I heard about. This was going to be my plan B.... food for thought! All the best with your little baby... I know it is stressful to have them cry and be so uncomfortable at such an early age!!!

[Thyme Mama]

This may seem obvious, but are you burping after every feeding? I never burped my other babies, but this new little one HAS to be burped or he is inconsolable.

Another thought, you could possibly have a milk "imbalance", where the baby is getting too much of the gas-producing and tummy upsetting foremilk and not enough of the rich, hindmilk. The solution is to pump an ounce or two out before baby nurses, and also to nurse on the same breast for several feedings, so baby gets all that rich hindmilk. I only mention this because I have the same problem. I never knew it with my other kids and only figured it out this last pregnancy. Doing this has made a world of difference. I have a happy, mellow baby instead of a fussy, screaming baby.

One last thought, your baby could have an allergy to something else. My other 3 children all ended up in the gastroenterologist office because they had weird poo (leafy green, mucousy and even bloody). Each time I've had to go on a restricted diet for about the first 6 months. It's just the baby's immature intestines that are very sensitive to what I ate.

So I had to eliminate:

beans

corn

wheat

nuts

eggs

dairy

soy

citrus

cabbages

acidic foods like tomatoes

What I can eat:

meat

potatoes

rice

oatmeal

mild fruits and vegetables (apples, bananas, carrots, celery)

Between making sure I burp after every feeding, pumping foremilk and feeding on one breast for several feedings, and sticking to my diet, I FINALLY have a baby who doesn't cry/scream constantly. Honestly the more I think about it, the likelihood that all my kids are allergic to foods through breastmilk seems small. I am inclined to think that the foremilk overproduction is really to blame.

[EvsMom12]

Thank you SO much, everyone! We're still dealing with the fussies over here. I'm finding it's hard to enjoy being a parent to a newborn when it's just damage control at this point, especially after the experience I had with my first LO who was was very colicky but that didn't start until 5 weeks but lasted until about 6! I think I must have some sort of PTSD going on, I'm sure my anxiety about it isn't helping baby, either. It would just be nice to have a small window of a happy baby but hoping it's coming. Thinking about the elimination diet.... If she was sensitive to something in my diet, would that show up immediately? Would it be in my colostrum? I assume yes but was thinking if it was only in breast milk, then that's probably not it since she was a fussypants from day 1. I called a LC at the hospital where I delivered regarding the possible foremilk/hindmilk imbalance but still haven't heard back. I tried pumping for the first time this morning and only pumped about a half an ounce and that was from both breasts. Granted, she nursed maybe an hour earlier but I guess I was hoping for more. Maybe I'm just not producing enough for her? My left breast produces maybe half of what my left does. This happened with my first LO but I was told my left would make up for it. Ugh, it's so hard to know what to do but willing to try anything. Thanks again, ladies. Oh, and with the burping, how do I burp her after every feeding if she likes to nurse to sleep? Burping wakes her up and momma is tired!

Originally Posted by Thyme Mama 

This may seem obvious, but are you burping after every feeding? I never burped my other babies, but this new little one HAS to be burped or he is inconsolable.

Another thought, you could possibly have a milk "imbalance", where the baby is getting too much of the gas-producing and tummy upsetting foremilk and not enough of the rich, hindmilk. The solution is to pump an ounce or two out before baby nurses, and also to nurse on the same breast for several feedings, so baby gets all that rich hindmilk. I only mention this because I have the same problem. I never knew it with my other kids and only figured it out this last pregnancy. Doing this has made a world of difference. I have a happy, mellow baby instead of a fussy, screaming baby.

One last thought, your baby could have an allergy to something else. My other 3 children all ended up in the gastroenterologist office because they had weird poo (leafy green, mucousy and even bloody). Each time I've had to go on a restricted diet for about the first 6 months. It's just the baby's immature intestines that are very sensitive to what I ate.

So I had to eliminate:

beans

corn

wheat

nuts

eggs

dairy

soy

citrus

cabbages

acidic foods like tomatoes

What I can eat:

meat

potatoes

rice

oatmeal

mild fruits and vegetables (apples, bananas, carrots, celery)

Between making sure I burp after every feeding, pumping foremilk and feeding on one breast for several feedings, and sticking to my diet, I FINALLY have a baby who doesn't cry/scream constantly. Honestly the more I think about it, the likelihood that all my kids are allergic to foods through breastmilk seems small. I am inclined to think that the foremilk overproduction is really to blame.

[Carinthia]

In the long run it pays off to burp them though even if they wake up (in my dd's case she goes back to sleep when I vigorously pat her on her bum and jiggle her around). The built up gas would make her uncomfortable and ultimately she wouldn't sleep as long if I don't burp her... DH noticed that sometimes he gets a lot of burps out by switching from upright to sidelying to upright positions....it's true I've tried it... Good luck!!! Also I just read "Happiest baby on the block"...the advice about how to calm colicky babies that's given makes a lot of sense!!!!

[wendelberry]

Oh, I hope you get your window of happy baby soon!  That sounds so tough, thinking of you.

Just want to weigh in and say that the problem is less likely to be low supply than some of the other things that have been mentioned.  If she's not getting enough she'll want to nurse more, and that would build up your supply.  I know so many people who have given up on breastfeeding because they didn't realize that the baby always gets more out than the pump can, and mistakenly thought that as much as they could pump was as much as there was.

We nurse sidelying at night, and I find that it doesn't take much to burp him when he's limp and sleepy; I just kneel and hold him upright against my chest and rub his back, and that usually does it without waking him up.  But of course YMMV.  

Good luck, sending happy baby vibes your way!