Completely Unsettled Baby - Really Need Advice!!

[xxCarrieAnnxx]

Hi everyone, I have a 8 week old little girl and at the moment I am pulling my hair out and dont know what to do next, cant get hold of health visitor as its New Years Eve, so hoping some mums here can give me some tips and advice.

I know its too early to ask for my baby to be in a routine but since coming home from hospital there has been not even a slight pattern in her feeding and sleeping and no two days are the same. She has always been fussy and irritable since birth, and if anything is worse now, but when she was about 3 weeks old I put her onto hungry baby formula hoping that would help, to be honest I didnt really see any improvement but shes still on the same now, (SMA brand) From about 4 - 6 weeks she got into a little routine of settling for bed about 2am, late I know but she would sleep right through til at least 10.30 am, this was ok but I would have loved her to settle sooner, however its now worse, she wont settle til very early hours of the morning sometimes 5am sometimes 7am, and sometimes she does not sleep all day!! I've seen her awake for 16 hours some days and Ive tried everything to relax her. Shes just constantly irritable, rooting with her hands, sometimes grissling sometimes screaming theres just no times where she lays down contented and the only thing I can blame is the formula as I am trying everything ...

Today I am thinking of changing brands and trying cow and gate hungry baby, but dont even know if it will make a difference. If anyone can offer any advice or tips I would be very grateful as I am at the end of my tether

Thank you for listening to me rambling on ... im tired lol

 

[skunkpixie]

Heya.

Firstly I think that you should switch back to first milk, even if you do decide to change brands. Hungry baby milk is designed to be used for babies taking 8-9oz feeds and only going 2 hours or less between feeds (there is a thread in FF section at the mo where a lady's 5 month old is having 13oz feeds sometimes, this is where hungry baby could help him take less milk so he can reach the 6 month weaning age recomendation).
Are you feeding on demand (giving feeds whenever baby shows hunger signs)? This is what is recommended for BF and FF babies, and you will probably find that your baby may want to feed more frequently than what it says on the formula tin, and this is absolutly fine.
With the sleep thing, Im not sure what to recommend. Its not common for babies to sleep for longer than 4-6 hour periods until the are 6 months and over. xxx

 

[pinkladyangel]

Hi everyone, I have a 8 week old little girl and at the moment I am pulling my hair out and dont know what to do next, cant get hold of health visitor as its New Years Eve, so hoping some mums here can give me some tips and advice.

I know its too early to ask for my baby to be in a routine but since coming home from hospital there has been not even a slight pattern in her feeding and sleeping and no two days are the same. She has always been fussy and irritable since birth, and if anything is worse now, but when she was about 3 weeks old I put her onto hungry baby formula hoping that would help, to be honest I didnt really see any improvement but shes still on the same now, (SMA brand) From about 4 - 6 weeks she got into a little routine of settling for bed about 2am, late I know but she would sleep right through til at least 10.30 am, this was ok but I would have loved her to settle sooner, however its now worse, she wont settle til very early hours of the morning sometimes 5am sometimes 7am, and sometimes she does not sleep all day!! I've seen her awake for 16 hours some days and Ive tried everything to relax her. Shes just constantly irritable, rooting with her hands, sometimes grissling sometimes screaming theres just no times where she lays down contented and the only thing I can blame is the formula as I am trying everything ...

Today I am thinking of changing brands and trying cow and gate hungry baby, but dont even know if it will make a difference. If anyone can offer any advice or tips I would be very grateful as I am at the end of my tether

Thank you for listening to me rambling on ... im tired lol

Hiya hun
Firstly big hugs to you. I know its hard as been there myself.
Lots of things to consider. Do you think it could be colic or even silent reflux. If your thinking of changing milk I would highly recommend aptamil comfort. Its brilliant and worked a treat on my little boy. He went from a very distressed baby to a very happy little chap. It was almost as if someone had swapped him overnight. The only downside is it makes their poo smell like mushy peas lol. Also its a thicker milk as its supposed to help keep it down so I had to use the next size teat.
Hope this helps a little.
X

 

[lily24]

Have you gone down the lines of colic or constipation? My baby has a touch of both and until we started using colief in her bottles she wouldn't settle properly.
When babies have colic they root a lot and show signs of looking hungry aswell (its the suckling instinct is all they know how to do even when distressed apparently)

 

[kat2504]

Hungry baby is harder to digest so I agree with the suggestion to go back to first milk. Hungry baby is better for older babies to delay weaning onto solids. First milk is better for a newborn, or try comfort milk and see if that helps.
Of course it might not actually be food related at all, some babies are just harder to settle to sleep (mine is a sleep refuser too!) I have found a sling to be a lifesaver to get him to take a nap, and swaddling was also a lifesaver to settle him in the first 4 months. We gave him infacol before his feeds too for the first 3 months and that helped a bit. Look up baby massage too - you can learn some strokes which can help their little tummies and it is a soothing activity for them and for you. As well as a sling, a baby swing or vibrating bouncer may help settle your baby.

 

[Sparkle2]

I second colief- my baby was a nightmare and I was losing the plot rapidly. Then we were put on gaviscon by gp and colief too- she changed overnight. Reflux can really really unsettle them. Xxx