My 4 week old baby is in pain! is it my feeding?

Question

i have a gorgeous baby boy Jack who is just 4 weeks old.

i am having a nightmare with him at the moment as he is in constant destress and what looks like pain. I was breast feeding to start with but have started introducing formula milk over last couple of weeks. i didnt want to do this but he was feeding constantly somtimes 15 minutes after last feed. i tried expressing but found it all so demanding and i was getting so tired and irritable. i had a few hours away from him one day with some friends and my b***s were aching and so big i had to go home (and i missed him). so i decided to introduce formula too (my health visitor okayed this) to take the strain off a little. he took to it really well. but has since had what doctors think is colic or wind and constapation.

last night we were both awake from 3am until now (10.30am) in which he cried and pushed and strained none stop. he couldnt even drink any milk cos of the discomfort.

i rang the nhs helpline and they have advised to choose one (breast or bottle) i know he prefers breast but i dont think i can do it anymore im so tired) if i switched to bottle how long would it take him to get threw this discomfort of getting used to it?

please help im so tired and confused over what to do and how to help him. i dont wanna take away the breast cos i know he likes it but i dont think i can cope.

Answer 1

It sounds like colic to me. Babies with colic do genuinely appear to be in horrible pain. He may be in pain. YOu dont have to chose one option either breast or bottle, there are many women who choose to do both successfully. You need to think (although it is hard) that breastfeeding takes about 6 weeks to get right. I really would keep breastfeeding, especially considering you and your baby both love it. There is nothing wrong with someone giving him the occassional bottle with formula if you are very exhausted so you can go and have a sleep. Remember to sleep when he sleeps, the housework and entertaining can wait. One other thought is to continue breastfeeding but cut out dairy and soy from your diet. Please try and continue breastfeeding if you can (after you have a rest) you will be thankful in a few weeks when you are feeling a bit better. It will get better I promise, even though it is hard to beleive. Hope I helped.  

Answer 2

Colic by the sound of it if he is pulling his legs up to his stomach it will be he will need some wind medicine and it doesn't matter if he tries it for a day to see if It works it won't hurt him if its not colic for now try to lay him flat on his back on your legs pulled up in bed and rub his tummy to see if that works but if he is not pooing at least once a day it could be constipation good luck poor thing  

Answer 3

my son is like that to. he is 4 1/2 months now and good because of the formula nutramigen. its a non milk based formula. it sounds to me like your baby has a milk allergy. trust me, nutramigen by enfamil works great! its so gental to babies tummy with milk allergies. and milk allergies are soooo common with babies. they say to use nutramigen until they're 6 months then try again with the milk based formula. GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 4

My little girl did the same thing. We once had a session of breast feeding from 6 at night til around 5 in the morning! She kept loosing weight and it turned out that I never produced enough milk, so she was starving. Is your little one's weight gain ok? Because my daughter was so hungry she would never settle and go to sleep. It was so surreal and scary.

Because I was exhausted and completely distressed my nurse gave me the advice of feeding for 20 minutes on each side so I was still getting enough nipple stimulation to produce milk and giving my daughter some breast milk, then following with a top up feed of formula. If I wasn't too tired she suggested that I pump for 10 mins on each side after so I could use that as the top up feed next time.   think it's c**p that a nurse told you to choose one or the other.

Putting the limit on the time you feed for even a week may give you the break you need. Sometimes exhaustion makes everything harder and can affect your milk supply, as well as your ability to settle a child to sleep.

Another thing I was told which helped me so much was that babies should only be up for an hour to hour and a half at a time. Any more than that and they start becoming really hard to settle, and get overtired and really grouchy. I found I had my baby up for at least a couple of hours in the attempt to fill her up and then she would be impossible to settle until the next feed.

Also remember that babies tummies are really delicate until at least six weeks. They are not used to being fed and it makes them feel yucky. I wouldn't think about medicating my baby until at least after that time as it could be unnecessary.

When he is really irritable try pedaling his legs, holding him upright, a bath, a baby massage and rocking. Tight swaddling and patting are also great when they are really distressed so they can't scratch you or themselves with their jerky arms. Also comfort sucking makes them feel good so a dummy can be great.

You will find the trick which works for you (mines a massage, a bath, then a feed and straight to bed) and all these stressful few weeks will fade away. Now when my daughter cracks it, it's only for a short while instead of 12 hours.

Go see the doctor if you need to, but unfortunately all baby stuff is guess work and just getting to know each other. Good luck with it all! Sorry about the essay!

Answer 5

You need to take Jack to his pediatrician. Why is he pushing and straining? Is he constipated? The constant changing back and forth from the bottle to the breast might have made his little system irritable. When was the last time he passed a stool. He should be soiling his diaper constantly if he's feeding every 15 minutes.

Make an appointment with the doctor ASAP!!

Answer 6

When I first started breastfeeding my son, I HATED it! I did not find it all that convenient, I was constantly tired and irritable. He wanted to nurse every hour, for hour sessions. I would cry and just feel like I wasn't able to do anything. Basically, I felt like my son was attached to my breast 22 hrs out of the day. Many times I was on the verge of just giving him formula because it was wearing me out!

Now, my son is 10 months old and I am still breastfeeding. Some women absolutely love it, I'm still not crazy about doing it, but I can see where it has been very beneficial for him - so I don't regret it. I know you sound like you are at your wits end right now. If you can, I would seriously try to continue breastfeeding him as much as possible. Unless you honestly feel like this becoming way too much for you, then go to formula. I think the switching back and forth though is what is causing him this discomfort. Just don't get discouraged, you aren't the only Mommy who has been through this!

Decide with your doctor what would be the best route for you to go and stick with it. I can tell you as a breastfeeding mother, that if you choose to go that way, it does get better. Over the months they won't want to nurse as much, they are healthier (in 10 months, my son has honestly NEVER been sick or had a diaper rash -no lie), and you get over the constant tiredness/irritability. I wouldn't beat yourself up over this, try to get some rest when you can. Your little guy will most likely be just fine. It could just be colic, he is 4 weeks so that's about right. My friend's daughter was 4 weeks old and she went through the same you described about your son.  When I got extremely tired I would keep my son in bed with me and nurse him while we both slept. I was actually told to do this by La Leche League and it worked great. I hope everything works out for you and Jack gets to feeling better soon.

Answer 7

Sounds like wind, my daughter had lots of wind lying her on her tummy (constantly supervised) for three to five minutes, it helped her lots, another thing might help is to hold him in your arm with his tummy against your forearm, a massage in his tummy clockwise might also help relieve the pain. I also used to sit on a Swiss Ball and put her tummy against my tummy and gently bounce, this helped her relax A LOT!

My daughter liked to breastfeed lots too, so I learned how to breastfeed her lying in bed, so she could have her milk while I relaxed beside her. Made my nights so much easier.

I hope this helped.Good Luck

Answer 8

I would get him checked by the doctor.  If this goes on too long, it's best to be sure he's still gaining weight.  Also, it's possible he's having a reaction to the milk proteins in the formula and they may recommend trying a more gentle formula.  With my son, none of this worked so we had further testing done.  What the doctors kept passing off as colic turned out to be acid reflux.  He didn't spit up alot but that was because he wasn't drinking enough to have anything to spit up.  He was in constant pain while trying to drink because it was burning is throat and tummy.  He's been perfectly fine since the very first dosage of his medication.  Lots are misdiagnosed with reflux however...so if your doc suggests it may be that, demand testing to be sure.