Newborn belly pain

[marie3246]

We have a 4 week old and he is in what seems to be gas pain constantly. DH and I are at our limit. He rarely sleeps and if he does he is constantly moaning and it seems like he is trying to poop. If he is awake he is screaming. He doesn't sleep more than 1.5 hours at a time and then it takes him about an hour of changing, feeding, calming to get him back to sleep.

I have 2 other children and they can't hold him because all he does is scream. H and I are not bonding with him at all because he's so difficult to deal with. If we are holding him it requires constantly bouncing him, shushing and moving. If we sit he screams. Even holding him, he wakes about every 30 min screaming and we have to calm him again. He has normal looking poops, but they are explosive and seem painful. They are constant. He has terrible diaper rash that we thought was getting better but now has blisters and are bleeding (doctor said it from constant wiping) we are using prescription cream and doing nightly baths which seems to be helping.

We have told our pediatrician (said he needed to grow out of it). We are using gas drops, gripe water, probiotics and the windi. Nothing is helping.

And of course I am supposed to be virtual schooling my 6 year old and I cannot do it because I cannot put the newborn down at all. And I can't help her during her conference because he just screams. I need help. Any advice?

[purplepenguin7]

I’m sorry, that sounds incredibly tough and exhausting. Are you formula feeding or nursing? If formula, maybe try switching brands or type and if breast feeding maybe try adjusting your diet? A lot of my friends needed to cut dairy while nursing.

[lauralala]

Are you breastfeeding or using formula? This sounds like a food intolerance to me.

[Susie]

You have already tried basically everything I would suggest, except for the rash maybe try using a sink as if it's a baby bidet instead of wiping, or Water Wipes instead of baby wipes.

My babies struggled with farting at that age, and we did a lot of bicycling their little legs, and the Windi. They didn't struggle with pooping though. Has your pedi given any consideration to some kind of food intolerance?

What you are describing sounds really hard. I mean yes, babies do go through this and it's sucky and hard, but this just sounds nth degree hard. Beyond what is normal. Can you see another pedi in the practice or try another practice?

You're not a FTM, and it sounds like you know this isn't business as usual. Don't let them tell you it is if you feel it isn't.

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 19:20:34 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

I’m sorry, that sounds incredibly tough and exhausting. Are you formula feeding or nursing? If formula, maybe try switching brands or type and if breast feeding maybe try adjusting your diet? A lot of my friends needed to cut dairy while nursing.

Nursing. Cut out dairy now for 2 weeks with no change. Considering trying formula to see if that helps.

[jennistarr1]

I'm glad you posted this, my 12 day old is showing similar symptoms and it has us concerned

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 19:21:48 GMT -5 Susie said:

You have already tried basically everything I would suggest, except for the rash maybe try using a sink as if it's a baby bidet instead of wiping, or Water Wipes instead of baby wipes.

My babies struggled with farting at that age, and we did a lot of bicycling their little legs, and the Windi. They didn't struggle with pooping though. Has your pedi given any consideration to some kind of food intolerance?

What you are describing sounds really hard. I mean yes, babies do go through this and it's sucky and hard, but this just sounds nth degree hard. Beyond what is normal. Can you see another pedi in the practice or try another practice?

You're not a FTM, and it sounds like you know this isn't business as usual. Don't let them tell you it is if you feel it isn't.

When I talked to my pedi he wasn't as bad. For some reason the last several days have been the worst. No change in my diet. Our OT that seems my daughter suggested it might be sensory issues because he wakes up screaming, farts or poops and then is calm for 15 min. (If he's sleeping).

We use water wipes but the only thing that seems to help is rinsing in the sink and lots of diaper cream but with 2 other kids and shit to do, it's not always possible to be home to do that. I just looked now and thankfully it looks a ton better.

DH is out getting formula now so we'll try that next.

[waverly]

Colic peaks at 6 weeks. Your pedi is right to wait it out if it is colic. You should start to see a difference at 8 weeks.

A couple of other suggestions, maybe ask about acid reflux?

Also, can you baby wear? I know baby is considered on the young side for that, but some you are able to at 6 weeks like the ring sling and you could potentially make it work with lots of checks.

DD was a good nurser, and instead of colic she cluster fed. So that helped a lot even if I was tied down from 5pm to 9 or 10 pm. You can read more on cluster feeding on Kellymom. Another thing that helped me with nursing was taking a calcium supplement. DS has colic though, so I didn’t luck out on both of them.

Is baby old enough for a swing or some other chair that can help keep them in motion? Will he take a pacifier?

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 19:53:39 GMT -5 jennistarr1 said:

I'm glad you posted this, my 12 day old is showing similar symptoms and it has us concerned

Hugs this is so hard. My other 2 kids had reflux and my 2nd projectile spit up for a year. But neither seemed to be constantly in pain and not sleeping like this.

No joke for the last 3 hours he's been in a constant state of screaming to calm and sleeping every 15 min. We think we finally get him to sleep, put him down and 15 min later he's screaming and awake.

We also have everything in the world to assist, swing, mamaroo, halo bassinet, bouncer, rock and play 😬 nothing works.

[pinkpeony08]

My first screamed a lot like this. We thought it was reflux but gave up on reflux meds after they didn’t seem to help. Wearing her in the moby wrap helped a ton. She would nap in there for hours, though required some bouncing and loud shushing to get her to sleep being worn. I would recommend a wrap carrier like the moby if you haven’t tried one yet. Advantage to the wraps is they can easily fit different size parents. YouTube helped me figure it out.

And regardless, the Only true thing about children is change. It will get better.

[kellikans]

My DD had tummy issues as a baby and really bad, acidic poops that would leave her bottom raw and bleeding. I didn't breastfeed much, and I think it was once we switched her to nutramigen that she got better. Before that she always seemed like she had a tummy ache. As far as the diaper rash, we bought something called Ilex (it's actually used for ostomy sites). We would slather it on and it would create a barrier like nothing else we tried. That and airing her out would always help it get better.

Hang in there, mama. I understand the not bonding. It took some time for me with DD because she was pretty difficult. The newborn phase is so tough, especially when you have older kids. There will be an end to this.

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 19:59:23 GMT -5 waverly said:

Colic peaks at 6 weeks. Your pedi is right to wait it out if it is colic. You should start to see a difference at 8 weeks.

A couple of other suggestions, maybe ask about acid reflux?

Also, can you baby wear? I know baby is considered on the young side for that, but some you are able to at 6 weeks like the ring sling and you could potentially make it work with lots of checks.

DD was a good nurser, and instead of colic she cluster fed. So that helped a lot even if I was tied down from 5pm to 9 or 10 pm. You can read more on cluster feeding on Kellymom. Another thing that helped me with nursing was taking a calcium supplement. DS has colic though, so I didn’t luck out on both of them.

Is baby old enough for a swing or some other chair that can help keep them in motion?

Baby wearing is one of the things that helps keep him sleep for longer. But only if I am in motion. I do it as much as I can during the day but there is no ability to put him down so I can shower or poop or sleep myself to catch up on the lack of sleep from the night time. I am calling the pedi tomorrow to see if there is anything else he suggests.

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 20:03:04 GMT -5 kellikans said:

My DD had tummy issues as a baby and really bad, acidic poops that would leave her bottom raw and bleeding. I didn't breastfeed much, and I think it was once we switched her to nutramigen that she got better. Before that she always seemed like she had a tummy ache. As far as the diaper rash, we bought something called Ilex (it's actually used for ostomy sites). We would slather it on and it would create a barrier like nothing else we tried. That and airing her out would always help it get better.

Hang in there, mama. I understand the not bonding. It took some time for me with DD because she was pretty difficult. The newborn phase is so tough, especially when you have older kids. There will be an end to this.

This is the formula DH just bought. I'm praying it helps. I'm gonna try that cream as well. Thanks for the tips.

It is so hard. I feel terrible but I'm having constant thoughts of wtf did we do. I have been so limited in the last month from being super pregnant to healing from a c section that my other 2 have not been getting the attention they need. thankfully my mom and dh are super helpful but I think we are all at our limit.

[marie3246]

I just bought this belly wrap thing (for the baby) that kept popping up on Facebook. I will try anything at this point 🤣

[waverly]

Remember it’s OK to put baby down to scream to take a quick shower and poop and eat. You have to take care of yourself before you can care for the baby. If they are good in the car, maybe go through a drive through.

In terms of sleep, we hired a mother’s helper to hold the baby while I napped. Some days I couldn’t fall asleep but I at least laid in my bed for an hour or two. Some days I was able to nap. She came 3 days a week for 4 hours per day. It was also someone that could hold the baby while I picked DS up from daycare and cooked dinner and ate it with my kids. I think she only helped for 2 months, and she started about 3 weeks in. If you don’t want to hire someone see if your family could do a similar schedule.

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 20:18:58 GMT -5 waverly said:

Remember it’s OK to put baby down to scream to take a quick shower and poop and eat. You have to take care of yourself before you can care for the baby. If they are good in the car, maybe go through a drive through.

In terms of sleep, we hired a mother’s helper to hold the baby while I napped. Some days I couldn’t fall asleep but I at least laid in my bed for an hour or two. Some days I was able to nap. She came 3 days a week for 4 hours per day. It was also someone that could hold the baby while I picked DS up from daycare and cooked dinner and ate it with my kids. I think she only helped for 2 months, and she started about 3 weeks in. If you don’t want to hire someone see if your family could do a similar schedule.

We have my mom here thank God or I think I'd lose my mind. But if this is still as bad when she leaves we may have to do that. I've actually been doing ok with very little sleep. It's weird. I mostly just feel bad that he's so miserable and it's making it hard for anyone to enjoy him at all. All my pictures of him he's crying because the second he's put down he screams.

[sparty04]

That sounds miserable and so frustrating. I think you’re doing the right thing with switching to formula, but also have him evaluated for reflux. DD was so, so fussy and meds helped a little, but she really just had to grow out of it. She projectile vomited a few times a day and it was horrible and I felt like we couldn’t go anywhere. She was also a serial pooper, so we used the water wipes (we did Hello Bello because they were the cheapest at Walmart) and layered her with Calmoseptine cream (found behind the pharmacy counter). That stuff is amazing.

Good luck. I just know that we were so frustrated with DD for the first 6ish months but now it’s just barely a blip on the radar.

[purplepenguin7]

Aug 24, 2020 19:38:15 GMT -5 marie3246 said:

Aug 24, 2020 19:20:34 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

I’m sorry, that sounds incredibly tough and exhausting. Are you formula feeding or nursing? If formula, maybe try switching brands or type and if breast feeding maybe try adjusting your diet? A lot of my friends needed to cut dairy while nursing.

Nursing. Cut out dairy now for 2 weeks with no change. Considering trying formula to see if that helps.

Good luck with the switch. I hope it helps your little guy. Just curious, how is when nursing? Does he seem to in pain then or struggle at all?

[marie3246]

Aug 24, 2020 21:09:45 GMT -5 purplepenguin7 said:

Aug 24, 2020 19:38:15 GMT -5 marie3246 said:

Nursing. Cut out dairy now for 2 weeks with no change. Considering trying formula to see if that helps.

Good luck with the switch. I hope it helps your little guy. Just curious, how is when nursing? Does he seem to in pain then or struggle at all?

The first 2 weeks were hard. He preferred one side, wouldn't latch for long, sometimes pulled off screaming. Everytime I would seek help he would have a good day of much better nursing 🤪. After 3 weeks it got a lot easier and while it's not perfect Everytime now, be latches great, feeds for much longer and seems content with nursing. I have been pumping and bottle feeding a bit since I needed a break and I was worried he wasn't getting enough milk or enough of the hindmilk but he goes back and forth easily.

Just gave him a bottle of formula. Fingers crossed!

[numbers]

Aug 24, 2020 21:07:15 GMT -5 kate1482 said:

I’m sure you have already tried this, but ds like bouncing on the yoga ball swaddled with white noise and lights off.

The yoga ball was magic for us, too. The only thing that stopped the screaming was wearing DD2 in a Solly Wrap while bouncing on the ball.

I hope things improve soon, OP. I had some dark days during the newborn phase.

[tacom]

I’m sorry. This sounds a lot like my son the first several months. It was really hard on our family unit, and we only had him to focus on.

I cut dairy and gluten as a bf mom and the only thing that definitively helped was time. He was eventually diagnosed with acute FPIES to peanut at 6 months so perhaps he was reacting to that via my milk?

My only advice is to ditch wipes if there is a rash. I do a little squeeze bottle with warm water or the pressurized saline sprays (usually used to clean your nasal cavity) to clean the diaper area. Air dry if possible or gently pat dry with a soft cotton cloth. The saline sprays can be used on the go - keep it in the car

[lynn07]

That is so hard. A lot of what you’re saying sounds like a food intolerance. I would ask the pedi to do a blood test on his stool. If they won’t do it, take him to a pediatric GI. DS2 had bad reflux and horrible poops, but when we took him to the GI to get some advice, they ran a hemoccult test on his stool and it came back positive for blood. He had a milk/soy protein intolerance. I stopped nursing and we switched to a hypoallergenic formula. It took a couple of weeks for the bad stuff to move out of his system, but then he got a lot better. He still had reflux, but he was much more comfortable. I hope you all get some relief.

[Patsy Baloney]

Damn, I’m so sorry.

My DS was hard like this. The yoga ball did really help us, especially through the 5:30-9pm cry, cry, cry, cry, crrrryyyy and scream and cry hours.

We did the gentlease formula and he needed a few weeks for his belly to get used to that, but he did finally get used to it. With switching to formula or switching formulas, be sure to give it a chance to work. It isn’t always a miracle, sometimes it can take a few weeks to really know if it’s making a difference.

In general it was just cry, fart and cry some more. We did start reflux meds after we noticed he had a strange, choke/spit up thing he would do. It helped almost immediately, though that’s another one that you have to give for a while to know if it’s truly helping.

I’m sorry. I wish I had more help to offer. I’d put a big pour of baking soda in his bath to help with the rashes. DS’s poor butt got so bad, we started letting him sit in a baking soda bath after every poop. He was basically aqua man. We found that switching up creams helped a lot - we never used one for too long, and always mixed with A&D to keep things oily. We switched between the purple desitin, butt paste, used cherry maalox, calmoseptine, and usually needed a little bit of nystatin for yeast.

[gastro]

If you want to keep nursing I would try a total elimination diet and add things in one at a time.

[jorja]

I’m so sorry. That is so hard.

Agree that it sounds very much like some sort of food intolerance. I hope you can find a formula that helps.

[sdlaura]

If I were you I’d buy some ready to feed similac alimentum formula at target and see if that helps. It should help almost immediately if this is a food intolerance thing - which I would guess it is.

I have four kids and they’ve all had weird intolerances. With my first kid I cut dairy and soy for weeks and she was still uncomfortable and started losing weight (even though I was pumping so I knew she was getting enough ounces) so we switched to formula. For my second I also cut wheat (in addition to dairy and soy) on the advice of a lactation consultant and that did the trick and I was able to BF as long as I wanted.

With my third he suddenly started having GI issues around 3 months and so I cut every possible thing I could think of - dairy, soy, wheat, egg, corn, coffee, chocolate, alcohol...I’m probably forgetting something. And his GI issues continued, so we switched to formula.

Now, with my fourth. I’ve been avoiding dairy, soy, and wheat and he’s a little over 3 months now and is comfortable and gaining fine. So fingers crossed I can keep breastfeeding him as long as I’d like.

Anyway, back to my original advice - alimentum ready to feed. They have it at target, Walmart, etc. It’s worth a shot.

ETA - I hope the nutramigen works - that’s what we used for DD. Very similar to alimentum.

[cleosprite]

I’m so sorry. That sounds really tough.

I don’t have advice for much, but my daughter had awful, awful diaper rashes that were blistery and made worse with wiping. It was so bad we were referred to a pediatric dermatologist who told us to use cotton balls soaked in mineral oil for wiping. I was pretty skeptical, but it actually worked amazingly well...and is a lot less work than trying to rinse everything off and air dry.

[tiki]

I'm so sorry. Your description sounds similar to my daughter at that age and it made it extremely hard to bond with our newborn. For us, formula worked better than breastfeeding. We added the Gerber Soothe drops, and while I don't know if they really helped, it at least gave me something to try when I thought I would lose my mind. Another fancier probiotic for newborns is Evivo, but it's fairly expensive: store.evivo.com/products/evivo-starter-kit

Other things we did: DD turned out to have reflux, so sleeping on a flat surface didn't work until about 3 months. For the diaper rash, I used my peri bottle from the hospital to rinse her bottom instead of wiping, and then let the skin dry before applying diaper cream or aquaphor. APNO (prescription nipple cream) or neosporin on the really bad spots also helped. We did as much naked time as we could to give her skin air in an empty baby bathtub with a towel both underneath & overtop in case of a poop.

Hugs. This part doesn't last forever.

[farfalla2011]

I don't have anything to add, and it sounds like you have a handful of things you're trying. Fingers are crossed that one of those things works and your little guy gets to be content for longer periods of time.

Mostly I wanted to send you thoughts and hugs and the reminder that things will eventually get better and you're doing great. Hang in there, you've got this!

[icedcoffee]

I’m so sorry. I’d either switch to formula for a bit or really clean up your diet (no dairy or gassy foods like beans, peppers etc). You can also pump and freeze for later while he gets formula for a bit.

Hire out help if you can.

And remember it’s ok to let him cry. It’s also ok to leave him with your H or mom and go take a quiet walk or bath. And just keep remembering that this is temporary and colic is usually mostly gone by 3-4 months. Huge hugs!