Baby Crying Advice Please....

[stoofur]

I have a daughter who will be seven weeks old in 1hr and 15 mins from now. We love her to bits. We are finding it really hard at the moment as she seems to cry so so much. We feed her when she is hungry. For the first couple of weeks she would then sleep until her next feed. Now she feeds and then continues to scream pretty much until her next feed. We try and wind her. Sometimes she burps sometimes not. But there seems to be no calming her. We recently changed our formula to lactose free formula on the advice of the doctor (two days ago) but I think this is making her worse. Any advice would be welcome.

[Sqad]

LJ.......I know you would...and i would reciprocate.

stoofur....sorry, I have just realised that you are the father (bloke) of this crying neonate..........which begs the question straight away, i the mother worried about the child or just you?

If the mother isn't worried, then you shouldn't be, but if she is, then fair enough.

[lady-janine]

mwah.

[lady-janine]

just for a short time would your OH consider carrying baby around in a baby sling? this may give baby the comfor she needs. this might help providing the root cauise is not colic or wind. most very young babies like to be very close to another person - aftr all they have been very near for nine months.

[viv38]

My son, just over six months, cried a LOT in his first few weeks and I had loads of advice, mainly saying it won't last. Well it didn't, he now hardly cries at all, but does sometimes obviously, and is a placid happy little soul. I have a friend who also had this problem and again baby calmed down at about three months. Hopefully, yours will be the same.

[anneasquith]

just a hunch, but maybe the baby is still hungry, at 7 weeks a baby should be fed winded and put into a cot/pram/moses basket, and sleep,

[pixie373]

Mine all had slight colic from 2-12 weeks, particularly in the evening. It stopped suddenly pretty much overnight. They were soothed by being put on their fronts and rubbing their backs.

[whiskeryron]

Hopefully this book will help with your problem, read the customer reviews.

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

WR.

[soapnumpty]

I have a copy of the First Time Parent book that Whiskey has recommended. It was helpful, but the one I found brilliant was Your Baby Week By Week by Simone Cave & Caroline Fertleman. Honestly it is brilliant. It makes you realise that you are not going mad and that what your baby is doing is perfectly normal. Even better, you can read ahead and see when a particular faze will stop! I remember those long nights when my daughter would only sleep on us, and not in her Moses basket. It doesn't last. I remember laying her Moses basket mattress on my lap, then putting her on the mattress. That way she felt close to me, and when she dozed off it was a bit easier to lift the mattress up and put her in her basket. She didn't seem to notice as much then. Just move slowly!

I was feeding my daughter every four hours initially as i was determined to stick to a routine and not feed on demand, and she cried and cried. What a mistake that was. Once I started feeding her more often she was much happier.

[meglet]

Have you tried baby massage?

[stoofur]

Wow. Thank you all for your support. I have just got both books from Amazon that both Whiskey and Soap have recommended. Just got to stay awake long enough to read them. Hi Squad. Yes I am the proud dad. The mother is probably more woried than I am. She has always been quite anxious anyway and I think it is rubbing off a bit on me. We had a good afternoon yesterday as I finish work early on a Friday and today I took my daughter out for a few hours so the mum could chill out a bit. We all feel a lot more relaxed about things at the moment which is great. The grandfather has agreed to stay with us for a few weeks from Monday so mum will not be alone while I am at work. Thanks again everyone for your kind and helpful comments. I won't mark a best answer as I think you have all been really helpful.

Thank you,
Stu

[anneasquith]

did you see the gp yesterday ?

[stoofur]

Yes we saw the GP. She said for us to continue with the new formula until Monday and see if things improve.

[anneasquith]

believe it or not you will all survive unscathed. enjoy your baby :)

[soapnumpty]

That all sounds good. Things never seem so bad when you've had a bit of sleep and have some support. Good luck. Let us know how you are getting on. I hope the books help.

[andy-hughes]

Glad you came here stoofur, where the is plenty of sound advice.

Too often, people like grandparents give you garbage like 'She's just exercising her lungs, leave her to cry ...' which is just cruel.

Babies always cry for a reason, we may not know what that reason is - but as advised, she may just feel like some comfort and closeness, and who would deny her that?

When winding, put her over your shoulder and make sure her body is stretched out, her legs are straight, so her system can burp properly. You can also laie her face down on your lap and rub and pat her back to wind her.

If you have ticked everything else, she may just feel like some company, and as dad, you should make the most of every second! I have three grown-up daughters, and that time when she wants her Daddy is all too short, so make the most of it!

Good luck.

[Sqad]

\\\\Too often, people like grandparents give you garbage like 'She's just exercising her lungs, leave her to cry ...' which is just cruel. \\\\

Absolutely......the modern generation know how to bring up a baby.....I don't know how the present parents survived.

[stoofur]

Thanks Andy. Things are improving a bit (or maybe I am just becoming deaf!). We have been taking her to a chiropractor who says there is an issue with her neck. She only looks right and only rarely left. I have marked the end of next week as this is her twelve week mark. Everyone says things should improve by then. I appreciate the dad time. We have friends who have a two year old. All she wants is mummy! I really love looking after her and every time I see her it reminds me how much I love her (and her mum).