Night Time Newborn Grunting.

M., the grunting is probably normal. My daughter grunted instead of crying when she was waking up or sometimes going to sleep. Grunting upon waking is better than crying in my book!! But he may just be doing it to soothe himself. It may not be intestinal at all. I would give it some time and see if he 'outgrows' it. It may be his form of soothing himself. as long as he is still eating and pooping, and not super fussy, then it should be normal. Just his little way of keeping you up longer. :<) Keep breastfeeding! and maybe go sleep on the couch with the monitor so he doesn't wake you too much.

Congratulations on your new baby girl! My LO grunted, too! I asked our ped and she assured me that some babies are noisy sleepers. I breastfed as well, and I would try to feed her but she wouldn't eat...just fall back asleep. I think it was her way of trying to get back to sleep. She wasn't uncomfortable. The grunting kept us up all night at first but we got used to it. Then, we didn't notice it at all. Not really sure when she stopped! You might not want to disturb her. She may be learning to soothe herself back to sleep. And that is a valuable lesson for newborns. Our LO was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. Of course, I woke her to breastfeed her 2x at night, but she drifted right back to sleep. Good luck!

WAY TO GO ON BREASTFEEDING!!!! YOU ARE DOING THE VERY BEST THING YOU COULD DO FOR YOUR BABY!! KEEP IT UP!!
Definately try the Gripe Water and some infant probiotic powder (both found at natural health food stores). Use only a small dose of the probiotic every other day or so to start. You can also take additional probiotic yourself. If the baby seems truly in pain, you are right in trying to start an elimination diet, usually with milk and milk proteins first (including whey and casein found in MANY items). Chocolate is a culprit often too. You need to give it 10-21 days to work completely out of your system before making any judgments as to whether your little one is improving. If no improvement, move to the next most common allergens/sensitivities which are usually soy, wheat, tree nuts and others....do them one by one to determine which ones seem to bother her or not.

I would strongly suggest consulting a lactation consultant such as Lucille at Morton Plant CLearwater. The service is FREE regardless of where you delivered and you can make an in-person appointment or get advice over the phone. She is absolutely wonderful and has seen everything! She has a food list that she can give you and evertything. Also - come to the Nursing Moms Care and Share Support group for infants held on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month at Morton Plant Sarah Walker Womens Ctr from 10-12. Please come!!!!

Also - as for napping...definately get a sling. It is the most natural for an infant and promotes a onderfully cozy sleeping position for them. Also, use the swing or bouncer chair if she'll accept it or sleep next to her :-) Every new mom needs that extra nap and this is the perfect solution!!! Don't consider it a 'bad habit'...it is as natural as can be for a baby and you are right to provide for these needs! Don't push her away and don't worry, she won't be sleeping with you in college...enjoy it while it lasts!

If she is 100% breastfed, it's doubtful that she's constipated. The grunting might just be her way of complaining at night. I know you want to minimize night feedings, but most breastfed babies need at least 1-2 feedings at night, and since you're not getting any sleep anyway, you might try feeding her. Once her belly's full of milk, she'll probably fall into a deeper sleep.

I nursed mine in bed and co-slept for the first 5 months. At about 5 months they started sleeping better in their cribs, so if you do end up nursing her lots at night, it won't last forever if you don't want it to.

good luck!

I had problems with my little girl being constipated when she was only breastfeed. When I started taking a prenatal without Iron it became less painful for her to poop and she was more regular. You can find that multi-vitiamin at GNC if you are intrested. Good Luck!

A year ago I went on here with the same EXACT question. The baby is fine. Give her the gas drops and if you have to, put her in another room so you can't hear it. I even took her to the dr for the grunting. He said that some babies just do that. It used to keep me up all night. And yes, it was worse towards the morning. It ended rather quickly but those nights were the worst.

Hi Marryanne,
Great job on breast feeding! :)

I have 11 month old twins that I am still bfing and I also am now a CLC.

Are her stools soft and runny? If so she is not constipated. I agree with what a pp said all these bodily functions are new to her and she as to get used to how to make it work and what it feels like. If she is sleeping through the grunting she is fine. If it is making her cry then she may have gas and I would say talk to your ped about it.

As for the napping. I would say try the swing but you cannot spoil her at this point and if you can wear her then its a win win.

Hi M.,
Have you talked to her doctor about the grunting? Is she awake when she is doing it? Is she turning red or purple from pushing? It might just be a noise that she likes. Does she seem like she is in pain is the main thing?
As far as someone holding her to sleep, I think every baby goes through that. She is so young that I really don't think you have a choice but to her hold for now. She will let you put her down eventually. Just hang in there. And good luck. Let us all know that outcome of the grunting.
E.

Hi M.- My son is 7 weeks old and he is doing the same exact thing, always after his 4:30 feeding and it lasts the rest of the morning. I've noticed that although he doesn't seem to be straining, he does have some gas and is always better after he has pooped. Although I was very reluctant to have him sleep in our bed, doing just that has been the only way to get some sleep. We always put him in his pack'n'play first, but after the 4:30 feeding he goes back to bed with us. He just seems to be able to sleep better, and when he does wake himself up with the grunting, he goes right back to sleep. Also, we have tried Gripe Water which you can find at natural food stores. It is a nice alternative to mylicon drops and it seems to help with the gas. I would try someone else's suggestion too about trying the swing on low during the day for naps. My guy fights sleep when I rock him, but is out like a light in the swing. I put it on a timer so it doesn't run the whole time and he can get some deeper sleep too. Good luck and let's hope both our little ones get past this stage soon!

Hi M.,
My son grunted too at that age. My ped said babies just make sounds and sometimes they like to hear the new sounds they make. He said if it was constipation, his poop would be hard and that constipation is not from not being able to poop. So he might just have gas or like to make those sounds :o) I am nursing too. My son is almost 5 months and he doesn't grunt anymore...he stopped between 2-3 months. Hope this helps a little.

My son (now 6 months) did the same thing! I gave him Mylicon sometimes during his night feeding, and that seemed to help. He also had reflux, so I'm not sure if the laying down over night seemed to create more discomfort and caused the grunting. I know exactly what you mean about it stopping in the morning and then not being a problem during the day. He eventually grew out of it (at 2-3 months old). We finally put him in his own room because we needed to sleep. That worked really well. I did ask my doctor about the grunting, and he wasn't concerned. Disney makes a Soothing Naturals Tummy Calmer that works, too. I like it because it has chamomile in it. Best of luck to you. It will get better!

My baby used to grunt during his sleep and also pushing his legs and tummy insanely. I tried babies magic tea after getting suggestion from a mom and found great results with calm baby.

She may have croup. I hear they kinda bark with that. You may want to check with your doctor. J.

Have you tried Mylicon? She may have gas--Also if it is pooping that is a problem try eating or drinking a prune product- It may help her to go as well

my nephew grunted all the time. I don't know what my sister did but maybe you can give her some mylcon drops?

The grunting is totally normal. If she's sleeping through it don't pick her up! My son did it too and it is a typical thing w/newborns. Remember their systems have to learn how to pee and poop and they have to figure out how to use the pelvic floor muscles to do these things. It will subside trust me. As for the sleep issue during the day, try the swing on low. It was the only way I could get my oldest to go from a 20 minute catnap to 2 hours. He needed the motion to soothe. And I didn't have to keep doing it for years either. He eventually within a couple months went to napping in his crib just fine. take care