Screaming baby with belly ache?

My daughter (nearly 4 weeks old) wakes up from her sleep screaming. She will then continue to scream until she either burps or spews, which normally takes a very long time. She screams after she has her bottle (we have tried Karicare, and Karicare Gold), and doesn't easily burp then either. Her screaming has lasted from around 9.00am to 2.30pm today. She also has an unsettled period from around 8.00pm-10pm at night.

She doesn't seem to take a full feed properly. She will drink some, won't burp, fall asleep and wake up screaming again. She sucks on her bottle, but doesn't seem to actually swallow properly, and she gets so much in her mouth she coughs and splutters. I have the slowest flowing teats, and the cap on the bottle done up as tight as it will go - the milk still runs down her face.

She also seems really upset when she is doing a BM, will turn red, draw her knees up and scream. She generally does a BM once a day, and it is not hard, so I don't think she's constipated.

I've tried gas drops, cycling her legs, rubbing her belly, changing positions when burping her, holding her upright, warm baths, warm wraps on her belly, changing the temperature of her formula... it seems like I've tried everything!

Help!

a gp recommemded 'infant's friend' to help relieve gas, it comes from the chemist. it worked for her son but it didn't work for my DD.

What bottles are you using? I know the avent ones, you actually don't screw them on full on tightly otherwise it does flow too fast, maybe loosen them a little and see how that goes? Hope you find some answers soon

Thanks for the response ladies!

I've tried Avent bottles and we primarily use them, we've also got a couple of different Tommee Tippee ones, and some cheapies. Thanks for the tip about the Avent bottles - at this point I'll try anything once!

After reading the reply about the doctor, MIL (who has been here all day with me trying to settle Annika), hopped on the phone to a friend of hers who is a midwife. Her friend is coming around to see me at 10am tomorrow. Hopefully she'll be able to offer some advice. If she can't, it's off to the doctors! Fingers crossed I can get an appointment in the silly season, otherwise I'll have to wait until the 3rd for our 6 week check-up.

Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

i was going to suggest infacol as wel - i few drops before a feed helps bring the wind up. My son used to get the belly aches as he couldnt burp the wind up quck enough, and it would then go into his belly and sit here. You can get it in the supermarket.

HTH, GL

Big Hugs first of all. HAving an unsettled baby is the worst. Matilda used to scream for 6-8 hours a day (sound familiar?) and I had no idea what was going on, she refused to sleep, breastfed every 2 hours for almost an hour... and we were both generally miserable. I finally took her to the GP at 6 weeks and found out she had reflux. She arched her back scraeming & regurgitated a lot.

Jovie has colic. She draws her knees up (which can be a very normal reflex for newborns as well, doesn't always mean lower abdo pain) and strains, goes very red in the face & I call it the "pushing" face.... like me in labour. She produces very little wind. I give her a bath daily & do massage twice daily with exercises such as bicycle legs etc. With every feed we've tried infants friend for a week & infacol for a week & Marina's mixture... nothing made too much of a difference. Just as things were settling down, I was put on antibiotics so she's back to being super unsettled. I have taken her to the GP, the Child Health nurse and to the chiropractor. The chiropractor did help, she was heaps more settled until I went on antibiotics.

Good luck, its an awful time when they are unsettled & in pain. I hope you get some answers, as the others have said don't hesitate to go to the GP, you may get some answers & help. With Matilda it was the only way I would every know about reflux/silent reflux and start our journey towards her feeling better.

Thanks. It's good to know that I'm not the only mum that's struggled with an unsettled baby!

If the midwife doesn't help, I will absolutely take her to the duty doctor, but I really wanted her to see her regular doctor, so that he could know a bit of her history if we needed to go back.

ah you are not alone in the unsettled baby battle!! Especially at this age. Early newborns have underdeveloped digestive systems which can cause heaps of grief in the early months. It is awful for everyone to endure. Come join us in the baby buddies!! You will hear from other mums similar stories.

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ad.php?t=25416 this is the born in November thread... read the last few pages & join in! :)