Infant Very Fussy

Have you tried more than one brand of formula? My son was biased to Enfamil Lipil, the other brands give him more gas/burps. Or you could check the hole in the nipple. My daughter gets frustrated too if the hole is too fine-she'll try to suck but won't get anything/enough out. Just be careful not to make it too large either, too much flow can make her gag.

I would agree with what most moms have said. It unfortunately will probably be trial and error to find out what the problem is, and you may not truly know before he just outgrows it! My baby, who is now 6 months was fussy, too, and we found out that it was a combination of things: gas (using gas drops or gripe water and burping a lot with up right feeding), needing to see a chiropractor for adjustments (he had torticollis but chiros say adjustments can really help a fussy baby, which it did for him!), and using 'Happiest Baby on the Block' methods. Good luck!

Try peppermint candy that you get from Sonic Drive-In. Break it up in piece's( 1/2) and put in room temp water in a bottle. Once it melts, let the baby drink it.

Help with feeding you can warm a bottle up with hot water and stick it in the bowl to get the chill off to room temp.she may think it is too cold ot to warm.Then try adjusting her head upward a lil more so for she doesn't choke to a more comfortable position.Make sure she is burping gently pat her back in the up right position several times during feeding this will help her get air out of her tummy,she may not be hungry when you try to feed her.Also some nipples have larger holes than other so it makes the milk come out faster causing baby to aspirate then will lead to hiccups check nipples there should only be one small hole for infant then they get larger if you buy other nipples for age apporiate replacement.If all else fail's call your DR. she may need another formula.

If your daughter is spitting up most of her bottle after every bottle, you definitely need to talk to her ped. It could be something called pyloric stenosis. This is a condition where the tube that lets food out of her tummy is not opened enough to get the food out, so they are forced to throw it up. If it is that, it is easily corrected with a very simple surgery, with three tiny openings in her belly, that will barely leave a scar. My daughter had this condition, and I continued to be told by doctors that it was just reflux. I knew they were wrong, so I finally took her back to the ER and refused to leave until they could tell me why my daughter kept losing weight. She was very near death, because by then she was four months old and had gone undiagnosed for that long. It was very scary and I would hate to see another mother go through something like that. You can research PYLORIC STENOSIS, and see if she has those symptoms.

My baby was fussy and spit up alot. Our ped finally put her on Zantac for reflux. We kept her on it for about two months. The fussiness went away, but spit up didn't. We ended up missing a couple of doses so we just stopped the meds. Not sure if she had reflux or if it was something she just outgrew, but the meds seemed to have help.

My son had reflux starting around 3 months as well. He would arch his back in pain. Mylanta Supreme(cherry) and Zantac helped some. Be careful to watch for severe constipation when he starts eating solid foods. Miralax helped with the constipation and is now available over the counter. Watch for the constipation in cycles that grow further and further apart. My son is now 4 1/2 and now has a bout with the constipation about every 6 months to a year. Vibration helps and we bounced our little guy a lot because we could hardly stand to see and hear him in such pain. Also, if you have an exercise ball, hold him on it securely, bounce him a little and stretch his body/back gently as you roll him starting feet down, then head down, back and forth ever so slowly. It won't be natural for him at first, but hold on to him and try to be calm with a soothing voice he'll learn to relax and so will you. It's a nice experience for both of you. Hang in there!

I am currently babysitting a little boy that had terrible problems from the get-go with his formula, weening from his mother, then double ear infections/croup, horrible first couple of months. The best formula they have found for him is Enfamil Gentlease Lipil. It's already broken down and saves the gassiness and fussiness for something else! I know how frustrating it can be to not know what is going on, but it get's better everyday, and a bit easier! Hang in there and I hope you find relief soon!

Hi K.,

My 1st thought check the flow of the nipple.
If she is having hick ups and spitting it up after she eats then the formula is coming out to fast for her. Try a slow nipple and/or a different bottle. It is also a possibility that she is getting to much air in her tummy.

A couple to try are the Playtex ventair ones and the Dr. Browns. I used the Ventair ones but the nipple flow was to fast for my daughter. So I found that the Dr. Browns nipples fit the Ventair ones. Also burp her more frequently like every 2 ounces. You should get atleast 1 to 2 burps every time.

One of my boys was doing the same thing at that age. We found out we were over feeding him. Babies see eating as a comfort, so look to a bottle or nipple even when not hungry, and therefore giving them a tummy ache.

K.,

I would talk to your doctor and see what they suggest. It could be that she is not tolerating the formula, you may have to try something else. I wouldn't change anything without talking to the doctor though. Good luck!

L.

First check in with your pediatritian as they may know something that is going on. Then do you have a rocker? It is great for you and baby to take some special time for relaxing be sure to cuddle with a comfy blanket as both of you will enjoy that too. When you give a bottle try gently rubbing her back rather than the bumping burp-see if that does some good.See if someone else will watch the other children as it will allow you to get some peace with your new one. EVEN IF FOR JUST A SHORT TIME. It really works. I do not recommend the peppermint as I myself spent 25 years with reflux and the worst thing to eat in any form is peppermint! Both of my children used some "soft" milks-one had soy base and the other had isomil another type of easier milk, but don't try this on your own the ped can work with you if this is the problem. good luck and most of all have fun-they grow up way too fast! With Love, A Mom waiting for grand-babies.

Hello! My son is five weeks old and he was having the same problem. We thought that we were over feeding him and then we thought we weren't burping him right. After a LOT of trial and error we decided to just try a different bottle and see if that was the issue and it was like a completely different child! I HIGHLY recommend trying Dr. Brown's bottles- they are a little expensive- like $8.00 a piece but if you buy the starter pack you get five bottles for $21.00 ! It is a really good deal and they are AMAZING you will never use any other bottle.

Good luck!

Getting that baby to burp as much as possible works wonders. It could be that she just has that gas build up and needs it to be released. Shoot for 3 or more burps after feedings and see if it helps with fussiness.
--S.

Is your little angel getting the RIGHT formula. My son was 2 months early so his little digestive track was not developed. They put him on preemie formula, but after weeks of him spewing everytime we fed him I had had enuf. I was to the point where I dreaded feeding time because I knew he would throw up. So, the Dr. finally gave us permission to switch his formula. Turned out he was lactose intolerant and the new formula worked. What a relief. He grew out of it and at 20 months now loves whole milk and can keep it down. I too felt so frustrated because I couldn't help him... So, my advice, try switching formuals, something isn't agreeing with her. God Bless
M. W

K. L. - I was just in your position. I have a 7wk old daughter and a 22month old son. My son was not a fussy baby to say the least so when my daughter was born and was NEVER content I didn't know what to do. The doctor said it could be colic and that if it was it could last up to month three and that we would have to wait it out. Well that was not acceptable to me that there was nothing that I could do to help her. She acted like she wanted to eat all the time but was not content after feedings. Evening and nights were worse and she was the gassiest baby I had ever been around. So this is what has worked for us...I bought the book The Happiest Baby on the Block and a Miracle Blanket. I followed the advice given in the book which seems like common sense but it worked wonders and even though the blanket reminds me of a straight jacket when she is fussy even now if I wrap her in it it calms her. She still sleeps in the blanket at night. I tried all the drops and they never worked for her. Also if you have a sling or any baby carrier that you can wear her during the day it helped us. Hope this helps. S. M.

I don't know about reflux or colic, but we were able to minimize spitting up (and help her get good control over holding her head up early) by feeding our daughter sitting up. It's a little tough to do when they're still so small & floppy, but it definitely helped not going back & forth between reclined & upright positions so much.

We also had CONTINUAL issues w/ the hiccups - almost every time she ate. Gripe water worked WONDERFULLY for us and would usually get rid of the hiccups almost instantly. HOWEVER, we found that the Baby's Bliss brand (see here:
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=72297&... - this is the best price we found & they ship free when you order a certain amount) was MUCH MUCH BETTER than the Little Tummys brand - and I think the Little Tummys is more $$. We had bottles upstairs, downstairs, and in the diaper bag. I'd bet we went through 10 bottles in her first 3 months (very little problem w/ hiccups now - she's 5 mo.). Seriously, the stuff was a lifesaver, because when she was hiccupping, she'd swallow tons of air, then her tummy hurt, so she'd cry and swallow more air - it was truly a vicious cycle!

Best wishes!!
S.

Hi K.
You need to first of all rule out any disorders with your doctor. I know with my youngest granddaughter it does matter what formula they take. The organic formula creates less gas, and spit up and fussiness. So try that and then if that doesn't change then try the soy milks. But you need to give the organic forumlas a week or so.

Take care and really enjoy those babies!

It sounds like refulx, or it could be an allergy to whatever formula you are giving her. I'd contact your doctor. I know a lady I used to watch her little girl once she ate she had to sit up for 30 minutes after eating.

Become insistent with the physician. She probably has acid reflux and they have prevacid for infants that is a miracle saver for mom and dad. Track her fussy times. Try switching her formula if she is on that to a soy-based formula.
Hick ups is a sign of acid reflux. Good luck. The medicine can tend to be a bit pricy but definitely worth the price.

C.

Hi K.!

You might want to talk with your pediatrician and see if your litle one has reflux. Here are some common signs and symptoms of reflux:

* constant or sudden crying or colic like symptoms
* irritability and pain
* poor sleep habits typically with frequent waking
* arching their necks and back during or after eating
* spitting-up or vomiting
* wet burp or frequent hiccups
* frequent ear infections or sinus congestion
Just and FYI: My son has reflux and they started him on Zantac and even at 1 month old, he HATED it. Zantac has a very strong peppermint taste and I could barely get him to take it. They now have Prevacid in a tablet that you dissolve in water and it is strawberry flavored. My son loves it and we have no problem getting him to take it.

Good luck!

In addition to allergies etc., please have your doctor check for pyloric stenosis if it happens everytime and changing formulas does not work. My child had these same symptoms and we tried goat milk, soy milk, etc with same results. I was told repeatedly that infants "spit up" and I kept pushing since this was my 2nd child and knew that this was much more than normal "spit up" - at 6wks of age they finally did a sonogram and noticed he had pyloric stenosis. The other thing to know is that normally the infant will experience weight loss due to the small amount of food actually passing into the stomach - however my son did NOT experience this symptom. This is easily corrected with surgery and I know have a very healthy and athletic 15 year old boy. No biggie but I had to push that something was wrong.

My son was the same way. He had acid reflux. The pediatrician gave him a liquid form of Zantac and it didn't work, but then switched him to Prevacid and he's "perfect". So if you are diagnosed with it, and the meds don't work at first, don't get frustrated. It just takes time to see what your baby needs. Hang in there. I know it's rough having a crying baby, but once she/he is on the right medication things will get so much better!

K. L-
Our little girl became very fussy around 3-4 weeks as well. We were at a loss as to what to do. I did all kinds of research on colick and such but she didn't have all the symptoms of that. My sis-n-law gave me the DVD Happiest Baby on the Block. It SAVED our lives. Using the tricks we learned from the DVD along with putting gas drops in her bottle, made a world of difference. Our little girl was 100% better and we never had the horrible fussyness again. I would HIGHLY recommend the DVD.

Hello,
My little girl when she was that old she would get very fussy around the same time every night, when she is fussy does she bring her legs up like she is trying to touch her chest? If so she probally has air bubbles that was what my daughter was doing she would have bad air bubbles. Not sure if that is the reason for your little one but if you watch her legs and see if she brings them up then you know it could be air bubbles. Good Luck I hope she gets better.

sounds like she has some acid reflux. you can get a zantac prescription that's safe for her. It's perfectly ok to give her a medicine if she needs it! then when she's a little older she'll outgrow it. they say by 6 or 7 months, but mine's 4 months and already getting better with that and I've lowered his zantac dosage. it could also be just extra air and gas that she can't get rid of which is making her feel full and spit up. both of those are causes for colic. for the gas, give her mylicon, but i'm sure you know that. listen to her...it's a guessing game for a little while, but if she's super upset if nothin else give her some tylenol and maybe she'll feel better and take a nap.

My first thought is that you may be feeding her when she isn't really hungry. Babies cry for lots of reasons other than hunger. She probably should be going 2-3 hours between feedings so if you are feeding her more often than that, that may be why she is spitting up. My son was very fussy as an infant and for him I figured out through lots of trial and error that he was tired before I thought he should be and was very easily over-stimulated. Just some things to think about. All the other Moms had great suggestions as well.

Good Luck! I know how you feel!

D.

Have you thought about the baby being lactose intolerant?
Also, try Gripe Water. You can find it at drug stores, not necessarily Walmart. It worked wonders for me!

Before you jump to collic or reflux (my son had both!) make sure it's not lactose intolernace. Cut all dairy out of your diet (if you're nursing) or change her formula. If in a weel or 10 days, she's not any better, take her to the doctor.

My granddaughter and grandson had this same problem. First, have you talked with your pediatrician about this? Maybe she's allergic to her formula or does have reflux. My daugher-in-law had to give my granddaughter drops for her stomach until things settled down. Good Luck. Grandma of 4 from Topeka, Kansas.

Try switching formula, they even have some to help colic if that is the case.

Well i don't know everything i just found out that if you hear our baby saw neh that means they are hungry so i hope this little bit of info was helpful i wish you luck!!!

Both of my boys are lactose intolerant. My youngest (Joel) threw up all the time and I found out he has to have soy milk, and he had pyloric stenosis. He had surgery for the pyloric stenosis at 8 months of age. My oldest (Wyatt) can have lactose free milk and not soy. Joel was fussy a lot and always seemed hungry, but wasn't keeping much down. He couldn't keep any type of formula down. I have him on Silk with Omega 3. Wyatt was a very gassy baby and had to have gas drops. Have you tried those? I would try changing to lactose free or soy milk, or try the gas drops first. If that doesn't work, I would take your baby to a doctor. I know how frustrating it can be when you want to take care of them, and nothing works. I hope these suggestions help!

Hi Kelly, when I would have a fussy baby I found out he had gas. I would sit him on my knee and bounce him up and down until all the gas was gone. This might help you, because it sounds like your baby might have gas. Good luck. Ms S.

My son did the hiccup thing too, I don't think that's a big deal. But it might be her formula? I would ask your doctor and see if switching formula would be an option especially if she's not keeping it down at all, and not gaining weight due to her not keeping it down. My daughter kept spitting up...and lost weight at first and I had to switch her formula. You might try it!

She could be lactose intolerant. I would go to the pediatrician and explain and they will more than likely change her onto another one. this is a critical age for checking into which one works keep plugging. Keep on the Dr.......

That happened with my little girl, too! It ended up that she wasn't able to stomach the formula we were giving her -- Similac (in the blue can). We switched to the Similac Sensitive (orange can) and it was like she was a completely different baby! It's worth a shot -- she could be sensitive to lactose. Good Luck!!

I would take her to her pediatrician. Both of my kids had reflux (my son worse than my daughter) and both started on medicine around the one month mark and took it until about 5-6 months. They both had ultrasounds done to rule out pyloric stenosis, and were referred to a GI specialist. The medicine made all the difference in the world!
Before we started the medicine, every time I nursed them, they would cry and spit up for 1/2 hour to an hour afterward. And I don't mean just a little crying, I mean howling and inconsolable. And of course, they both wanted to nurse again right away since they were not able to finish a full feeding each time.
Some things my pediatrician/GI doc told us to try were to hold the baby as upright as possible during the feeding (not really possible if you breastfeed) and for about a 1/2 hour after each feeding. Took a lot of time, but did seem to help. Also, we used Mylanta Supreme about 1/2 hour before each feeding (before the prescription meds were started); it helped a little, but not enough. With my son, we ended up giving him a bottle of breastmilk once per day with rice cereal in it (usually before bedtime), and he had to sleep on my chest, with me propped up on pillows because he refluxed so badly when he was put on his back to sleep! They sell some sort of sling that can be used on the baby crib, but he was only 6 weeks old and still in the bassinet in our room, so that wasn't an option for us. Hopefully, your situation won't be that bad! Good luck!

My daughter was the same way. We switched to the gentle formula, both enfamil and similac have one. We also started using the Dr. Browns bottles, and put gas drops in them, they were a life changer. The amount of gas and spit up went down drastically. Babies are just a little puzzle that take time to figure out.

I second the thought about burping her more. My little girl (she's one now)... I always thought she was hungry, so I would feed her and she would spit up. Then someone told me to try burping her more (even between feedings), and that did the trick.

There is a woman who claims to have decifered baby cries. The cries for "I'm hungry" and "I need to burp" are nearly identical.

Good luck-
Dr. Alyssa

My niece was really fussy for the first month or two. My sister-in-law was about to pull her hair out because every time Carmen went to eat she would scream during or shortly after eating. Rachel went to the doctor and after some test were ran they found that she had a reflux problem. They gave her 2 med. and since then she has been fine. Now that she is 5 mo. she does not need the medications, but once and a while. I would talk to your doctor, or you may have a long couple of months.
A.

My son had a serious case of reflux as an infant. Some tips are to feed her in as much of an upright position as possible. Feed a little bit, then burb, keep repeating and burping frequently. Then keep her upright for 20-30 minutes after eating. Mylecon gas drops helped. Sometimes for the gas and sometimes to cool/coat the fire feeling in his throat. We always did a few before each bottle. We also used Dr. Browns bottles. Does she use a pacifier? We always said we wouldn't however when he kept acting hungry when we knew he probably wasn't, Grandma suggested a pacifier for a few minutes to get the sucking reflex satisfied. It also helped. When the Dr. started him on prescription medication, we had the pharmacist flavor it. That helped a lot because all of the reflux meds taste bad. Sometimes a certain medicine may help for a week or 2 then you may see it not working. Then you may have to switch to a new med until you find one that works. Prilosec ended up being the one that worked for us. You can try propping the head of her crib up by putting pillows UNDER the mattress. That keeps anything from refluxing back into the espohagus and reduces the burning. I would try a few of the things mentioned and see if you notice any difference. Then go see the Dr. and by that time you will know if the postioning, burping thing has helped then you can decide if meds are needed. Keep track of the spitting up frequency and if it is getting more frequent. See if you can track a pattern. Is it sometimes just spitting up or does she vomit too? The Dr. can tell alot from this type of info. My ped said not to go around switching the formulas because it is so hard for their system to get used to a new formula. It can cause more problems than it may fix. (G.I issues etc.) if it is reflux, I would definately have it addressed. A lot of reflux is better by about 6 mths when they start to eat baby food--more solid. Almost all cases are healed by 1 year. Some continue--like my son's after 1 year. Reflux Hurts--it causes a raw, burning sensation in the esophagus and if it continues the baby can create a food aversion. If the food hurts when it goes down, then they get the idea in their head that food hurts and will start refusing to eat. My son is 3 and has no signs of reflux now but still has food aversions like meats and will not have anything to do with them because he thinks they will hurt. He will get over it someday. Good Luck.

Sorry K.. I was typing a response and hit a key accidentally and then all of it was gone, so I'm not sure if it was sent.

Anyway, I was saying that I'm very sorry that your infant is fussy and having trouble eating. When my youngest was 3-4 weeks old, she started having a lot of trouble eating and she contstantly cried. It sounds like your daughter may have reflux, and that is what my daughter ended up having. She seemed like she was hungry, but then had trouble eating and wouldn't necessarily always spit up.

She ended up having reflux and was put on a number of meds, none of which helped at first. I guess because I waited to long to get things started for her, the reflux ended up essentially tearing up her esophagus. They had to put her on meds to help repair that before in addition to controlling her reflux just for us to get her to be able to eat.

My advice would be if you suspect reflux, talk with your pediatrician right away. The reflux meds are pretty benign so it shouldn't hurt her in any way. We ended up having to see a GI since hers had progressed.

If you want to talk some more, let me know. I understand how frustrating it can be. Good luck.

Chris

Have you thought about lactose intolerance?? You might try a soy based formal if you are using that or cutting dairy out of your diet if you are breast feeding.

My daughter had colic for 5 months. It was very tough. Does your baby ball up her fists when she is fussy? Does she tend to be more fussy in the evenings? I breast-fed my daughter for 5 months and she was still colicky and she was put on soy formula until she was a year old. It started at about 2 weeks and she would cry for hours from about 3:00-8:30 every evening. We tried the gas drops and sometimes it helped but most of the time it didn't. We tried everything and nothing seemed to help. Even holding her didn't help. colic is usually a tummy ache and until that pain leaves nothing seems to help.

I was told Colic would last for 3 months and was counting down the days then 4 and 5 months went and finally at about 5 1/2 months she grew out of it and finally was a happy baby.

I think that was a trial to learn a lot of patience. My husband was in the Army and gone a lot and we lived 2000 miles away from family so I had no one to help give me a break. We made it through that stage and now she is a sweet and beautiful teenager.

Talk to your doctor about it and see what they suggest.

Also to help get the gas out. lean your baby over your forearm and pat their back to burp them that way. It puts some pressure on their tummy and sometimes helps get those burps out better. Sometimes that position helped keep my daughter from crying so much. I think the pressure helped her tummy not hurt so bad.

Some people have used those vibrating bouncy seats and say they help. I had the bouncy seat that didn't vibrate and she loved it when she wasn't fussy in the mornings. Others have said to sit them on the dryer but don't leave them alone as they may vibrate off but the dryer noise and vibration seems to calm them. I wasn't told any of these tricks when my baby had it so had to just endure it all. She hated the swing as it probably made her feel worse.

I hope some of these ideas help.

K.,
I feel your pain! My son (who is now 1 yrs old) had this until he was approximately 4 months. He spit-up a lot so his doctor started him on Zantac and it helped so much. He was spitting up and had painful gas. I had no idea the Zantac would help with the gas too. Therefore, he definitely was colicky! He cried so hard and would arch his back so we knew he was in pain. I also swaddled him (has to be a swaddling blanket-at least 42 inches-square)and he would soon feel better. We also "sushed" in his ear and he was in his swing a lot(only place he would fall asleep). We read the book Happiest Baby on the Block. Some people don't agree with this method, but it really helped our son and it made sense to us. There is also a DVD for my husband to watch since he hates to read! Good Luck!!

Try burping more often and try burping her with her sitting on your lap, and you lighting bouncing your legs while while patting her back.

After she eats keep her reclined, for about 30 minutes. Wearing her in a sling while walking around may help too, the motion of your walking can ease gas pain.

Best of luck.

Have you tried the infant gas drops? Sometimes they work. Also, how about Gripe Water. It's found at pharmacies and it's all herbal. Also lots of burping. Don't give up, sometimes babies don't want to burp but letting that air build up isn't good for their tummies. The fussiness is also just part of a new baby. Is it at the same time each day? How about other things to calm her, like a baby swing or swaddling instead of just feeding her? She may be going through a growth spurt too and really does want to eat more. Keep trying and know that eventually things will calm down.Good Luck!