At wits end... Wont stop screaming

Ok, so since Tahli now 2 weeks old was 2 days old she hasn't stopped screaming at night. She is an angel during the day but gets hysterical at night.

she is in pain as she brings her legs up, but she wont burp, we try for hours on end, and she will settle for about 5-10 minutes then start again. I have been giving her water, and it helpped on the first night we tried, but last night we were back to square one.

I end up in tears as I am sooooo tired and DH and I argue as we are both over the screaming. I took her to the hospital at 11pm last night but as we were in the car she was settled and they just told me that they can't do anything. The Dr said it could be colic, but as she is fine now there is nothing that they can do! FAT waste of time that was!

Any ideas??? please I am ready to break!

Look at silent Reflux..... I spent 24/7 with a hysterical baby for the first 2 months... It's worthing Googling & looking into!???

It could be colic. My DD had colic for 5 months (she's 6.5 months now) and she was always screaming and crying about something. During the day was OK if you held her- but she could NEVER be put down.. very unsettled. She pulled her legs up to her tummy... and other times she would stretch her legs out and arch her back. I was going crazy!! I didn't take her to the hospital or anything, as I just googled colic and she pretty much had all the symptoms.

Good luck, I hope things get better for you soon!

Oh you poor thing :hug:. It's so hard when they just cry and cry.

Like Tracey said, I would look into reflux. Also, have you tried something like Infacol? I found it worked wonders with my DS when he was screaming with wind pain. Do you have a paediatrician you could take her to? A friend had a screaming baby for 6 months and it turned out she had a UTI that was only detected at the children's hospital. I took my unsettled babies to a paediactric chiropractor and found out they had problems (one had a dislocated shoulder from birth that wasn't detected) and the chiro fixed them up and they were much more settled.

Sorry, just throwing lots of theories at you, I'm not much help!

hey hope you can sort this out quickly...

i would lie her on your knees legs facing you and massage her belly in a clockwise direction for a while before bed, my mum said she was told this by her nan and it did help.

i would also buy one of those wedge things to prop her up a little at night.

do you BF? i was told to BF my DS during tough times it helps to settle them and milk is good for things like intergestion and reflux. it you formula feed i would change what you are using.

you could give her a relaxing bath and massage her belly and back. i bathed my DS many times at 2am it helped to calm him and me, have a SMALL glass of red wine to also relax yourself but only small esp if your BF.

and last of all call trecillian they are open 24hours we called heaps and they talked us through lots of issues we didn't know how to deal with..


good luck and im sure you are doing an awsome job.

kristy

Could be colic - try Infacol like the girls suggested or could possibly be reflux. Try elevating the cot matress by placing some rolled up towels at one end, and keeping your DD elevated for at least 10 mins after feeds. Can you take her to the health centre for a check up or give the maternal health line a ring?

Good luck!

I had this with dd too. All the above suggestions are pretty much what I did but I also tried to get as much wind up after her feeds, especially during the day, so it didn't build up throughout the day. Sometimes it would take ages to get a burp.

We had a similar thing at a similar age and took her to a GP who told us she had a distended bowel and needed emergency surgery so went straight to the hospital who told us there was nothing wrong :rolleyes:. Turned out a combination of colic and being over tired. I was missing her tired cues (always at the end of the day BTW) and she'd cry which just pushed more air into her belly. I started putting her to bed 2 hours after she woke - even if she wasn't displaying tired signs to me. I also did the tummy massage in a clockwise direction and the gentle pumping of the legs (alternate between "riding a bike" and knees to chest). This worked most of the time and the odd times it didn't I would resort to a ride in the car once DH got home (had a c-sect so couldn't drive) and if he wasn't going to be home and I was at the end of my tether - we'd go for a walk.

HTH and keep up the good work.

MG

Thanks guys... A friend told me about infacol, is it ok this young???

Sorry, Mel, I wouldn't be using infacol until about 6 weeks, but that's just me (and I'm not the one having to look after a screaming baby). Could you try gripe water first?
Also, I hear it can be really helpful to see an osteopath if you have an unsettled baby. We never went, but I wish we had've.
Maybe another trip to the dr might be helpful, as others have suggested?
Natalie used to cry a lot too. But she'd always settle down by 10pm. I really feel for you - I know how much pressure it can put on your family. Hope you find a solution soon. :hug:

Sounds like colic to me, especially if shes bringing her legs up.
Jesse suffered this a few times and were told my Tresillian to lay him down and gently move his legs like he's riding a bike. Either that or try rubbing her belly in a clockwise motion.
After this i started stopping and burping him several times during his bottle which seemed to stop him from getting so much wind caught up.

A little bit of warm water can sometimes work quite well for colic too, especially when your bubby is too young for infacol etc. Don't know if you're bottle or breastfeeding but whatever you're doing, try feeding "uphill". If you're breastfeeding you need to sort of lean back a bit so that Tahli is almost looking down at your breast so she is having to suck upwards, which makes it a little harder for her and less likely that she will take in air. It was something that helped a little for me with my DD. Agree with the others about keeping her upright after feeds, although I would be saying more like 30 minutes than 10, and elevating the head end of her cot.

I struggled getting burps out of my DD and was eventually told by 2 paeds that if you don't get a burp in the first 5 minutes you're unlikely to get one! The tummy massage and cycling legs definitely seem to help with moving trapped air, as do nice warm baths.

Hi there Mel,

I can sympathise as the father of a baby that was a bit like that for her first 9 months, and still isn't a very settled sleeper eight months after that!

As someone has suggested, look to the length of time she is up in the day. A 2 week old baby should still be sleeping most of the day and night. A common mistake that new parents make is to miss tired signs during the day - they can be so subtle and easy to miss. The problem is that babies will not self-settled well at this age - there is so much going on in the world they don't want to miss a thing - and some babies will happily stay awake until they are VERY tired. This isn't so much of a problem during the day - they eventually exhaust themselves and fall asleep - but it becomes a problem at night because, when the lights go out, they are over-tired, feel crappy, but all of a sudden there is no interesting world around them to keep them distracted - so they get really unsettled.

At 2 weeks, bub should only really be having 30 minutes to an hour awake at a time - some babies will have less than that.

Something that will complicate things is that, at 2 weeks, they have a growth spurt. That means that they become really, really hungry. It's natures way of stimulating your body to produce more milk - it makes the baby unsettled, and want feeding constantly, which signals your body to produce much more milk than it had previously. Then, 72 hours later, when the increased milk production kicks in, they become contented again. Don't worry - this is a normal process, it's part of your baby's normal growth, and it's not an indicator that you don't have enough milk. Rather, it's a signal to produce some more.

So, my advice would be to try and get more day sleeping in, and the night sleeps might fix themselves - but be aware this is prime time for a growth spurt, so try not to despair if it doesn't work right away.

I could be wrong, but I believe that babies don't settle into a reliable day/night cycle for four to five more months anyway - until then, they should be sleeping as much in the day as they are at night, because they can't really tell the difference.

And I second osteopathy. That is good advice, and many babies - including those with reflux disease - can benefit from it.

Mel - I had a look on the infacol website and it says to be used from 1 month to 2 years. Prehaps you can check with your pharmacist. I am pretty sure we used it on DS from about 3 weeks because we were desperate!

try infants friend. It is more natural and available from the chemist. Can be used after feeds if needed

My MCHN told me that despite what the box says you can give babies Infacol from 3 days of age. It is probably best to speak to your own MCHN about it first though. You could also try Brauer Colic Relief which is all natural and available at chemists.

Schmickers has some good advice, there.
Also, I would absolutely recommend using a soft cloth sling like a HAB, or shoulder sling-type of carrier. DS was screaming in pain for weeks after he was born, until we were loaned a HAB...we never looked back. It wasn't instant, and once he realised that when he was upright in the sling it didn't hurt so much he got to love being in the HAB and within minutes he would be asleep. We also used Infacol (reluctantly) and a Brauers product from the chemist (stopped using Infacol when we found the Brauers one).

Have you tried Infants Friend? I gave this to Madeleine from when she came home from the hospital (even though the bottle says 1 month) - she has been fine.

homeopathic chammomila is really good for calming/soothing - you could try giving it to her (tiny pillule that goes under the tounge and dissolvles or there is a spray option from health food stores) as far as i am aware it is safe to give in new tiny bubs - but check it out.
i highly recommend taking bub to a chiro thats specialises in bub care - i took my dd who had breathing and a 4mth cold (literally 4 mth) and it was gone in three treatments. and i know others that have taken for sleep and settling issues - could be something paining her when she is in the sleep position or a problem with wind that can be easily remedied. (if you are in Melbourne i can give you the details)
Good Luck, it can be so challenging when your at wits end and only want best for bub.

mel there is a great paed chiro in ivanhoe if your interested! name is Braden

I second AJP's recommendation, I saw Braden with my first DS. They also have a practice in Boronia and I've seen Paul C for DS2, he is WONDERFUL. Both bubs became very settled after a visit with them.

trish i saw braeden in boronia!!!

I've been to the Boronia one too & also in Wantirna Mall there's an excellent Chiro!

Me too AJP! Braden is fantastic isn't he? Paul is too, DS2 went from a bad day sleeper to a great day sleeper after our first visit with him. I wanted to go back and hug him!

yep lovely guy, VERY though!!! we went for neck issues/flat head!!
i used to work almost next door to his practise in ivanhoe!

hi tracey!

So infacol and massage haven't helpped...

Schmickers... She eats, plays ans sleeps perfect during the day, she is only up for an hour to an hour and a half at the most... takes a little to settle, but just 'normal' baby settling... it hits 7-8pm and it's on for young and old, and we do the exact same thing with her.... ETA: She has been doing this since 2 days old, so I am guessing not to do with a growth spurt.

Have a M&CHN appt this morning, and if I cant get an answer from her, I will take her to the children's...

Will also look into the paed chiro... thanks!

ETA: We are FF as she was feeding on the boob for 3 hours straight and come off for an hour and go again for 3... I couldn't do anything for DD1 so the boob got the boot!

Mel, I use donnalix to help with the wind pains (helps them bring it up, and has something to lessen the pains) and if u suspect refulx, gaviscon should help (both are OTC meds so no script needed!). I'm suspecting my man get's it at times. I have had exact same problems. But it's settling a bit as he's learning how to push out the wind etc. But he still arches his back when on boob sometimes and has a vomit 2-3hrs after a feed sometimes. But My man is handling it without anything. We manage to get it up and he feels better so...
some things u can try are cycling the legs (lay bub on back and make motions like he/she is riding a bike) helps them move it thru, warm DEEP baths so they can kick legs and move wind thru, pressure on tummy while rubbing the back helps....
Just letting u know it does get better and it shouldn't take too long hon. The main problem is usually that they don't know how to burp it up and fluff it out the other end so they end up in pain. Once they learn that, it all settles a fair bit. There may still be bad times, but they are less regular. Hope some of my suggestions help.

aaww mel i hope the MCHN ha some answers for you today

It does get better I promise! My MCHN told me that the Infacol can take up to 24 hours to work if you give it with every feed so it may be worth persevering just in case.

I wonder if she is overtired by the evening? Just a thought, I'm no expert! Up to an hour and a half of wake time during the day is a lot for a little bub. I realised this with my DS when he was your bub's age and I put him to bed after 45-60 minutes of wake time and he was much happier. Your bub may be different of course!

Hope you find a solution soon :hug:

Thanks again guys...

MCHN gave some goo dsuggestions and was so understanding... We have switched formula to lactose free, as it can help with colic... we are using infacol at every feed not just the night... and having mylanta twice a day. We will see how that goes over the next few days, as well as trying to keep her awake for witching hour earlier, so she might settle better at night.

I also have an appt with paed chiro next Thurs, couldn't get into the ones you guys said, but same clinic at Boronia, fingers crossed...

wish me luck! :D

How are things going today Mel? That is awesome that you are going to the chiro! Will you be seeing Adam? My sister takes her DD to him and she raves about him!

I really hope it all goes well for you :)

Trish - I noticed in this post you talk about not keeping bubs up for too long - does that include the time to breast-feed bubs?

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Trish - I noticed in this post you talk about not keeping bubs up for too long - does that include the time to breast-feed bubs?

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Hi MelbourneGirl, yep that includes feed time. I doesn't seem like you get a lot of wake time in the first weeks!

If you are b/f, try expressing off the breast milk. I know that affected Aidens reflux.

Or, like the others have suggested go with the Brauers, i think its great, and once i started using that, i stopped with teh infants friend.

sorry, I meant - try expressing off the FORE MILK, not expressing off the breast milk :wall:

Yeah Trish we are seeing Adam... Oh I am glad that you know of him, I was a bit worried that he wasn't one of the recommended guys you were talking about but he was the first available, so I took it!

We are going MUCH better I think keeping Tahli up between 4 and 8pm feeds and infacol is working... She has been great the last 2 nights so fingers crossed that it keeps up... I will still take her to Adam as we may be able to cancel out the infacol...

Thanks for the support and advice!

That's great that Tahli is doing much better! You must be feeling relieved. You won't regret going to the chiro. My sister says that Adam is absolutely lovely and has done a wonderful job with her DD. Let us know how you go!

Thanks Trish... we were back at aquare one last night, but hopefully she was just in a bad mood, and is better again tonight!

I will def ket you know how it goes with Adam... I wish the appt was today though!!! three more sleeps... well nights anyway! lol