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I'm sorry. I felt the exact same way around that time. It's just really f-ing hard. It will get better, you will get longer breaks between nursing, and he will start actually looking at you and responding to you and smiling and t will be worth it. But it's just really hard in the beginning.

I live near a fire station and used to threaten to leave my baby there all the time.

Have you tried wearing him? When mine was at her fussiest I would put her in the moby and walk outside with her... And walk and walk and walk. I'd rather have napped myself but at least she fell asleep on me.

Also, have you tried Dr. Karp's 5 Ss for sleep? Magic!

Oh man, you are not the only one who wished to exchange their LO. Newborns are so damn hard; so damn hard. It gets better; sorry I don't have any magic solution. You just have to get through this rough, rough period.

You're definitely not alone! It IS hard. 5-7 weeks is peak fussiness for most so it will likely get better.
I will say that eating every 2 hours at that age, spacing slightly more at night, is typical at that age reflux or no.
Hang in there!

It does get better... Have you tried any meds for reflux? Made a world of difference for my son (he is on Omeprezole).

@Portboston: have you tried the legs out position in the moby? might help him feel less constricted.

I just want to chime in and say weeks 6-7 were the hardest...and then all the sudden it got better. Other moms told me that would happen, and I didn't believe them. But, they were right. I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life!

Also, Zantac + gas drops before each feeding was the magic combination for my baby with severe reflux.

Hang in there - this too shall pass. You're doing great!

Hang in there. Honestly, I really hated parenting until my son started to crawl at 7.5mo. And he was a pretty textbook baby who slept ok (though we had some nursing challenges). But omg the tedium and the exhaustion. Newborns are cute but that is about it on the positive side. They are also really demanding and to be honest a little boring because they don't do much. (I get that they are little sponges and it's important to engage with them and blah blah blah but I found it SO tedious.)

I still find toddler care tedious and wish someone else would keep him fed, bathed and clothed. But at least my toddler has a good sense of humor and is interactive and seeks me out for drive-by hugs on a regular basis. And he makes funny faces and likes to participate and can talk.

In other words, it gets better but in my personal experience it takes awhile.

They need an "It Gets Better" project for moms! I always say one of my acts of public service is to never say to a new mom, "Oh, isn't it wonderful?" What I usually say is something like, "Wow, cute baby. Doesn't it suck?"

Here are some random things that helped us -
-Baby swing! Sometimes it was the only way to get her to nap. My daughter wasn't huge on being worn so the swing and the bouncy seat got a workout.
-Happiest Baby on the Block - the DVD. We had the book too, but I found the DVD to be so much more helpful because you could actually see what the book was trying to explain and it's short.
-Getting out of the house every day. Just to get a cup of coffee, drive around, wander around the mall, whatever. It really helped me feel more human.

You can do this, mama! My daughter is almost 2 and the light of our lives. It gets great, I swear.

@Portboston: It's hard. Having a newborn is HARD! And, you don't realize how hard it is until the baby gets here. But, it'll get easier (or at least harder in different ways). I also recommend getting out of the house and creating a new normal. That will make things so much easier on you. It was the worst when I would sit in PJ's, watching tv all day (my oldest was the worst newborn, she cried, never slept, would only sleep on me, but she was a champ at nursing, but I was so overwhelmed). And, for what it is worth, it got better for us around 3-4 months.

I'm sorry you're going through this! 6 weeks is really the hardest. It gets easier. In another 6 weeks, your baby will probably feel like a whole new baby anyway! One thing that helped me around this time was that at 6 or 7 weeks, my LO started liking the swing (prior to that, she hated it). Even though she was a very fussy baby (MSPI issues), starting around this time, I was able to get her to take at least one decent nap in the swing on most days. Baby wearing was also super helpful at this age. Don't forget to try to get outside a little! Fresh air can really help too. The sound of a crying baby can feel a lot less loud if you are outside.

@Portboston: As everyone said, it really does get better! And, the good news in having a harder newborn/infant is that other stages will feel like a breeze! When my mom friends and I talk about which is harder--infants or toddlers--the ones with easy babies say toddlers are so hard, and the ones with hard babies (like me) think toddlerhood is a breeze!

Anyway, my LO was similar---hematoma from birth that left her with a tight jaw, so she couldn't open her mouth to nurse. Took her to cranial-sacral therapy. Still couldn't nurse...then found out she had a tongue and lip tie. Had those clipped--then she stopped drinking milk altogether, from either breast or bottle. She started losing weight. We tried reflux meds, which didn't help. Finally we figured out she was MSPI. So I had to cut all dairy and soy from my diet till she was 13 months. She would wakeup 6-8 times a NIGHT. Like, every hour on the hours some months.

She didn't sleep through the night even once until she was a year old, and now at two, she sttn maybe once or twice a week.

Needless to say, her first year was rough on me. I went back to work when she was 4.5 months old, and she got sick a lot in daycare and things just got worse.

But....we got through it. And now, honestly, at 2....she is an absolute joy. She is SO cute, and so bright, and rarely tantrums, and sleeps better now than she ever has (still not as good as some babies, but oh well). She's such an addition to our lives.

So, I can't tell you when the change will be, but eventually, it WILL get easier.

Just hang in there!

@Portboston: six weeks is a wonder week! it gets better, easier, FUN!

@Portboston: Hang in there! Newborns suck and reflux babies really suck, but it absolutely gets better! I was so sure we had made a huge mistake and had ruined our lives the first few months of DS's life, but eventually it does get so much better. Just make it a goal to get through each day and eventually it will calm down.

@Portboston: I once had a lady ask if C was a good baby. I almost cried on the street because I didn't want to say no but didn't want to lie... I settled on "well, we love her". She went on to tell me how wonderful her granddaughter was who slept through the night, blah blah blah, and I wanted to kill her.

But my 2 year old is so chill, so unlike the difficult newborn that she was!

I just wanted to add, don't underestimate the power of a good chunk of uninterrupted sleep. When I was about to lose my mind, DH took E for a 3 hour drive and I got to sleep in a quiet house without the possibility of interruption. It was just enough to regain my sanity. It is so hard to think positively or problem solve when you are so so sleep deprived. Can your mom or SO take full charge of baby for a few hours so you can get a good chunk of sleep?

@Portboston: You're in the thick of it. It's SO HARD! The newborn stage was awful for both of my girls. My first had colic and screamed for 3 hours straight every night for 3 weeks. My 2nd had colic and reflux and would scream for 4 hours every night, and would only fall asleep if there was LOTS of white noise and if I was wearing her. They both hated the card until 4 months old, so I was really limited on how much I could get out. Both of them had shallow latches and I had flat nipples. I was so sleep deprived and in so much pain! But it gets better!! I promise it does!

Zantac did nothing for my girl, but Prevacid was a miracle drug for us. She still woke every 2-3 hours, but she just likes to eat ... a lot!

I completely understand the desperation for sleep and for it to get easier. Can you have people come over and watch her so you can get some rest? Even a 30 min nap will make a world of difference.

Reflux is hard. We didn't even get our oldest diagnosed with it as early as you, so feeding was so so stressful. Give the Zantac time to work—it eventually helped us. Babywearing for sure. They now rec legs out from birth, so you'd be ok to do that. Also happiest baby on the block!!

It does get better. Mine is now 21 months old and I have an almost 4 week old, so obv we decided to have another!