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[AppleCrisp]

Is he supposed to do this?!

If he's awake, he's screaming and struggling. He's never just awake and quiet. He's fed, dry, and warm. I can't put him down for even a second. Getting him to deep sleep takes a good hour of nursing, crying, picking up, putting down, starting over when he wakes right up. He was so good for awhile, now he's just miserable every minute that his eyes are open. I can't figure out what he wants. He does quiet down immediately in the sling but as soon as I set it down he wakes right up crying again.

[rmzbm]

The only thing babies are SUPPOSED to do is be unpredictable, so sounds like yours is doing great, LOL!!
Haha...hang in there...sounds like you have already figured out one thing he loves, the sling.
Don't really have much in the way of advice just wanted to offer some support & a !! You're doing great, just keep repeating: "This, too, shall pass..."
Oh...and remember, too - beacuse of your responsiveness NOW, he'll be a much easier baby LATER.

[RedOakMomma]

Noah started doing this out of nowhere last week. I did a search in the life with a babe forum, and it seems to be common around 5 weeks. What was suggested, and what helped us a lot, was to give Noah probiotics. You can give babies acidophilus and bifidus and the like in powdered form at this age. Dr.Sears says to use acidophilus powder....wet your pinky, dip it in the powder, wipe it all around in baby's mouth, then nurse. 2 or 3 times daily.

We're using a brand of mixed probiotics called "max baby-dophilus" from our co-op. It's done wonders. Last weekend Noah was screaming, straining, and sometimes struggling angrily with pooping/gas for hours on end. His whole body was tense. Now he's much calmer, looser, less gassy, and he has picture-perfect bright yellow poops (before the powder they were yellowy green and splattery).

That being said, he still has at least one fussy period a day, usually in the evening. Babes get fussier as the day goes on, and that's normal. For us, if we're getting frazzled, we put him in the bjorn and go for a walk outside or on the treadmill.

Good luck! It WILL pass!

[AppleCrisp]

Thank you

He's just so fussy....so glad I have the sling, its the only thing that calms him down this week.

My (childless) friend came over and informed me that I "made the mistake" of holding him a lot. I am sooooo tempted to give him a pacifier when I am so tired but I know if I do I'll regret it completely.

Off to look at probiotics............

[rmzbm]

Holding a baby is NEVER a mistake!! I can sympathize with you though. My DD must be in arms at ALL times, too. Sometimes it can get a little old, but ya do what ya gott'a do.

[Silvercrest79]

Originally Posted by ahwuko

Is he supposed to do this?!

If he's awake, he's screaming and struggling. He's never just awake and quiet. He's fed, dry, and warm. I can't put him down for even a second. Getting him to deep sleep takes a good hour of nursing, crying, picking up, putting down, starting over when he wakes right up. He was so good for awhile, now he's just miserable every minute that his eyes are open. I can't figure out what he wants. He does quiet down immediately in the sling but as soon as I set it down he wakes right up crying again.

My DD wants to be in arms all the time. I LOVE to hold and cuddle her, especially since she was in NICU from birth to 18 days old. But I do have two other DDs, a house to "try" to keep up with, and I NEED to take a shower once in a while.

My lifesaver has been a jersey wrap. The sling was great but didn't allow much range of motion. With the wrap, I can put her tummy to my chest and she either passes out or looks around contently. I have both hands and arms free, I can bend over to the floor and she won't budge, and my back doesn't hurt anymore.

I'd definately try what the other posters suggested. I know when this little girl even gets the littlest bit of gas she becomes miserable.

Take care!

[amyrobynne]

My son has typically been fussy in the late evenings--he's happy nursing, and sometimes rocking with Daddy, but that's about it, from 10pm-1am. Last night, we tried leaving him diaperless and set him on the couch. Every time he peed, we changed the diaper he was lying on. And he was happy! He'd fuss right before he peed, but that was it. It was SO MUCH BETTER than bouncing/swaying/constantly nursing. We'd been leaning toward elimination communication, but we had no idea that it bugged him so much to be wet.

[berlina]

I can totally relate! In fact, my dh and I were discussing it just the other day about how our ds can't just hang out, awake, on his own without screaming. He must either be nursing, bouncing, rocking, etc. It gets so frustrating sometimes, but mostly, it's just so sad to see his face all red and his body all tense when he's crying. One thing he really loves is bouncing on my birth ball with me or dh. (thank goodness we didn't give it away!) It's comfortable for us to bounce with him and he loves it, too.

[yvonnemlv]

My favorite saying regarding raising babies "This too shall pass."

LIke amy said, babies get super uncomfortable right before they need to pee and poo, so that is a small part of it.

the other thing to write down on your calendars are the growth spurt periods. Babies tend to get more fussy around those times...

10 days,
3 weeks,
6 weeks,
9 weeks,
12 weeks,
3 months,
4 months,
6 months,
9 months,
12 months..

and the spurt happens around that time, so for example, my daughter seems to be doing them about 2 days after she hits that age whereas my son would do them about 4 days before hit that age mark.

Probiotics is a good idea too, only make sure not to give to much as then you end up with the same fussy issue, lol. I hardly remember to do it every day, but about 2x a week I remember. I breastfeed first, than put some on her mouth and top her off with more breastfeeding.

Hang in there, just repeat after me "This too shall pass. This too shall pass." I have to say, i actually enjoy the fussiness in a way as I know this is such a short time she will be a baby. Later, when they are older, this fussiness is going to be like an argument as the hormones kick in, LOL.

I keep having the pacifier thoughts too, but i KNOW it'll screw her latch and suck as that was proven at the NICU. So i use my finger sometimes. I am so used to my son who always wanted to suckle, and she doesn't.. poor dear gets tired of me shoving it in her mouth, tee hee. I'll figure it out soon.

[AppleCrisp]

I Think Its Working!!!!!

Is it possible so soon?!

My happy baby is back! He's napping again, and when he's awake he's finally quiet and not screaming. He's nursing better also. I was going to say that I think he was having a major growth spurt as well which probably contributed to it. I got something called KyoDophilus at GNC.

How often is too often? According to the bottle, half a capsule every day - I've just been wetting it with milk and putting it on his tongue before nursing.



Also, just wanted to add that a little perspective helped - thanks. I had to remind myself that my main job in life at this moment to is to figure out what works for this baby.