Whyyyyyy? He thrashes around while eating and while sleeping. He doesn't nap and there are nights where he squirms and grunts the entire time!
Is this normal?
Eta: He's 8 weeks today.
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Is he swaddled? He doesn't nap at all? Poor baby (and poor mom!) There movements aren't very smooth or controlled for a while, so I think that can be pretty normal.
ETA: Does he seem uncomfortable? Is he gassy?
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We had a two week period (around 3.5 months) where dd was soooooo squirmy for meals, wouldn't eat, she fought her naps, it was awful!!! Luckily it was just a phase and now at 4.5 months she is back to herself.
Some things we tried were: gas drops, changing bottles, unswaddling her at night and a faster flow nipple. The faster flow really helped!!
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@Silva: Nope, we quit swaddling him around 2 weeks because he hated it so much. I've tried to swaddle him since then with no luck - I used a Halo sleep sack. Most days he's up from 8am until late in the evening. He may get an occasional 15 minute nap in there somewhere but he wakes up from it hoping I didn't see him.
@char54: oh gosh, I hope this is just a phase. It's been going on for a few weeks now... as in probably a month. The nipple he uses is a level 1 from Dr Brown's - I'd be afraid to go faster. We do gripe water and it helps but I think he needs an iv of the stuff!
What bottles did you change to? -
Newborns are noisy creatures in general, but if it's that constant, I would suspect gas. I would try gas drops or gripe water before and after each feeding.
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Umm do we have the same baby??? This was my baby exactly! This is the reason we moved him to his crib in the nursery around 8 weeks old. He would squirm and grunt all night long in his sleep and DH and I were zombies the next day! Haha! Does your baby drink formula or breast milk? We ended up switching to Enfamil Gentlease to help with the gas and his belly. I talked to the pediatrician about it and he said it's normal for babies that age to be gassy as their digestive systems are still maturing. He suggested bicycling his legs, freq burping, rocking, and warm baths/warm soaks to his belly.
All I can say is it does get better! I don't remember exactly when this all stopped, but he's almost 6 months old and it feels like that was forever ago! He's back on the regular Enfamil formula and all is well!As for not napping, DS would only nap in his swing or on car rides. Have you tried putting him down for naps in the swing? I know it's not "recommended", but it's the only thing that worked for us. Good luck and this too shall pass!
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I'd definitely think it was gas as well. That sounds miserable- for both of you!! DS was really gassy and we used the slowest flow nipple of Dr. Brown bottles. We also used gas drops and gripe water, one or the other, before and after every feeding. We did a lot of bouncing on the yoga ball and that seemed to help him sleep.
ETA: We also ended up switching him to formula because his gas was so severe. Once we switched to similac sensitive he was a different baby. -
@Ash: I didn't have a gassy baby so i I have no advice there, but do have a bad sleeper. The one thing that always worked for us when she was little was putting her in the front pack and bouncing on the yoga ball. She would nap for 2 hours if I did this, and it made her so much more pleasant because she wasn't over tired. I would just wTch tv while she napped. Or we'd go for a walk with either the stroller or the pack. She didn't nap by herself until like 7 or 8 months old.
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@Ash: this sounds so familiar! My DD is also a night owl (awake from 7 or 8 pm until 11 or midnight with only a little catnap here and there) and screams bloody murder if we try to swaddle her. It's hard because she gets really overtired at night but nothing we've tried can convince her to go to sleep earlier. She doesn't usually thrash while eating, but she is super squirmy and grunty when she sleeps. I've come to realize that she has some reflux that makes sleeping on her back really uncomfortable for her. It doesn't matter how long she stays upright after a meal, as soon as she goes onto her back she gets upset. I'm just trying to power through to her 2-month appointment so we can talk to her pediatrician about it and hopefully get some advice because I'm dying of sleep deprivation here.
Anyway, I know how hard it is when you've tried to do all the "right" things and they just don't work. The swaddle-hating is a killer, since I feel like it's everyone's go-to solution and people always seem skeptical when I tell them it doesn't work for us. I honestly don't think my DD is going to manage sleeping by herself in the crib at night until she's allowed to sleep on her tummy (we had an arms-to-crib transfer that went awry and ended up with her on her tummy, and I let her stay like that and watched her like a hawk...of course she slept BEAUTIFULLY!). Sigh.
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@skipper2010: breast milk and I went dairy free a week ago to help with gas - it's improved but we're still having a lot of issues. We have a container or two of sensitive formulas but I'm afraid to use them after seeing improvement not having dairy. We bicycle, give gripe water, massage his tummy, give warm baths etc. Gripe water helps but I can't see giving it that often throughout the day. Oh and he only likes the swing for 10 minutes. Ahh!
@Running Elley: Thanks! When did you see an improvement in his gas? The yoga ball helps (so I bounce him on my knee a LOT). After reading your responses I think we're gonna get some nutramigen this afternoon. I have to get to the bottom of this cuz the pedi isn't listening.
@PurplePeony: omg yes! He sleeps like a dream when he's laying on his belly on our chests. I agree with sitting upright too - it doesn't do any good. We've made calls and been into the doc a few times without any luck. I ended up getting advice from the pediatric hospitalist I work with. I'm just at a loss. I feel like he's so miserable when he eats and from lack of sleep.
I hope you get some answers too!
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@Running Elley: since I breastfeed, should I just pump and feed him the formula for all of his meals for a couple days to see if there's improvement or give formula every other feeding? Any idea?
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We went through a very gassy/fussy period when DS was a newborn. I tried everything mentioned on this thread, but the only thing that actually worked was angling his mattress with books and making a crib nest. He slept much more soundly once we did that. We also switched to similac sensitive, which we still use to this day, and it seemed to be a little more gentle on his tummy.
Another thing was that he hated to be swaddled. He would fuss and grunt and thrash aroudn until he got his arms free, then he'd finally fall asleep. We just stopped swaddling him and that seemed to make him less angry at bedtime.
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@Ash: We are going through this as well. DD thrashes around lots at night now and she's super noisy as well. We suspect reflux and just started her on meds last night. Hugs mama!!!
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@Cara M. 17: at 2 of his appts I brought this up. At the last one, the doc suspected reflux but didn't want to give meds. He keeps falling asleep while he eats because he's so tired!
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Could he possibly have MSPI? After eliminating dairy, my LO was much better but still a bit fussy. I cut out soy, and it helped even more. The downside is that soy is in everything.
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@yin: I eliminated soy too but it's only been 8 days. Oh and I'm starving!
I'm at a loss. I want to fix him but I want to keep giving him breast milk too.
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@Ash: mine hated swaddling after the First week. Then we hit about 8 or 9 weeks and she couldn't sleep because she moved around so much. We swaddled again and she doesn't like it at first, but oh my gosh.....now she can sleep.
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@Ash: That's what I did. We committed to feeding him formula only for 48 hours to see if it'd help. I really wanted BFing to work so I pumped and froze to keep up my supply. After the first day we had already seen a huge improvement. I know how hard this is- hugs !
I'm at a loss. I want to fix him but I want to keep giving him breast milk too.
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