My 10-week-old daughter, for the past five days, has been so unhappy. Though she's still sleeping pretty well at night (4-5 hour jaunts) she isn't napping for more than 1/2 hour at a time during the day, unless she's being held. She screams at the top of her lungs until she's picked up, and then finally calms down. Five minutes later, she'll start smiling. Sometimes she's already being held, and she just slowly starts crying, and it turns into a scream. She does calm down throughout the day, but she has at least five screaming fits a day - too much for all of us. At times, she gets in this zone where she just can't seem to calm down. She's on Zantac for some reflux issues, but is now developing diarehea as well. Not sure if the two are related, since she's been on Zantac for 5 weeks now and hasn't had any prior complications. She's not miserable all the time - it just seems to be such polar opposites on any given day - she's either smiling, eating, sleeping or screaming. No in-between.
There's nothing (that we can notice) consistent that would cause her so much distress - I've tried monitoring my own diet (breastfeeding), different sleep positions, white noise to keep her sleeping, etc. She won't even stay asleep in the car - she'll fall asleep, and after about 10-20 minutes, have a sudden outburst of crying. I'm going to talk to her pediatrician about it tomorrow, but thought I'd give it a shot and ask all of you, because there seems to be some very helpful advice out there. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Is it colic? Too early to teethe?
So many of you were right - she needed an adjustment to her medication, and she's a different baby now. I'm now much more aware of her weight gain, and dosage amounts. I'm also researching some of the homeopathic remedies and alternatives that may help her down the line. Thanks for your advice!
I had 2 kids with reflux, sounds like the med is not holding her and she is breaking through with acid reflux, which burns terribly and is very painful. Ask for something different than Zantac and request a GI Peds specialist. They manage the meds better.
My son is 8 and still on meds, but sleeping is no longer an issue. Be persistent, and good luck!
I don't think that it is too early for her to be getting teeth and I have been told that some infants get diarhea when they are teething. My daughter didn't have any changes to her bowel movements, but she did drool a lot while she was teething. She starting teething (that we noticed) around 10 weeks and got her first 2 teeth at 3 months. Try giving her a cold, wet washcloth and see if she will chew on it. This helped my daughter.
Good Luck,
D.
Hi L.,
I was going to actually suggest she had reflux and then you said she's on Zantac already.
I would call your doctor. I don't believe the Zantac is working for her... if there really seems to be no connection to anything for her screams than it is probably something on the inside. The diarrhea could be relative to digesting too much stomach acid, or it could be related to your breastmilk.
My son would get like this when his dosage needed to be adjusted due to weight gain. I can't speak from experience with colic, but I had a reflux baby and it sounds like that is flaring up and isn't controlled with the meds.
Technically, it's not too early to be teething, but it is pretty unlikely for the majority of babies. Did your 3 yr old get teeth this early? I've found all my kids got theirs early but they were each consistently early. By 1st birthday they all had 16 teeth in their mouths :)
Talk with your doctor about her medicine. See if there is another she can recommend. Some babies end up on two meds because they work differently ( some work by preventing acid from being created, reducing acid that's already present and some by reducing the acidity of the stomach contents so that if it does splash up it's not going to be as painful and damaging).
Good luck to you... reflux babies are challenging in ways different than typical babies :) just remember to keep your patience... she's only doing it because it hurts :(
My girl had colic and really bad reflux too. And was gassy as all get out which caused a lot of sudden screaming. In addition to the Zantac you might try some Mylicon. It didn't cure it completely but it help tremendously.
I found that what I ate didn't make much of a difference. But if the diarreah continues definitely call the ped.
Also we would put her in the mai tai carrier or bouncy chair and do a lot of bouncing for the colic.
Hi L., it sounds like she has some reflux issues or even colic issues. Have you considred taking her to see a chiropractor that specializes in children? It may be something to try. Chiropractic adjusments to her back can help take pressure off of nerves and increase the nerve output to the digestive system which has been shown to help significantly. If your interested I specialize in children as a chiropractor and I'm in Villa Park. You can get more info about me at www.breitensteinfamilychiropractic.com or you can call me anytime at ###-###-#### and I'd love to help you and your little girl.
Poor baby and poor you! I bet she needs her reflux meds adjusted. She probably needs a stronger dose or different combo of meds.
