Stomach pain in a 10week old

Hello all you wise women !

I'm just wondering if any of you have experienced what I'm going through with my Isabel at the moment. They are 10 weeks old now and are being fed breast milk with a bottle. Thankfully Natalie seems to have a stomach of steel and nothing really bothers her, but Isabel has started having these episodes, it's always during the same time of day, after dinner, sometimes she'll get a "day off" but it's pretty much every day though.

She'll start fussing during the feed, shaking her head back and forth and waving her arms, that is followed by crying that then escalates. She can go up to four hours of screaming, she's obviously very uncomfortable, she gets very warm and clammy and nothing seems to sooth her except bouncing her, but even that only works for a few minutes at a time. It breaks my heart, because she will doze off clearly exhausted in my arms and then wake up again screaming a few minutes later. When she then finally is able to go to sleep she will wake up again a few hours later fine, take her feed like usual and remain fine until the following evening.

I've spoken to a community nurse that comes to check on them about this and she doesn't think it's anything to worry about, says it's just normal stomach cramps and she will grow out of it. I spoke to a doctor at a checkup aswell and he said I could give her a painkiller when she seemed at her worst.

I'm still not that happy about it, maybe I'm being a neurotic new mom, but can it really be normal for her to be that uncomfortable ? She cries so hard it brings tears to my eyes, not normal "I'm hungry" crying, but just heartbreaking gutwrenching crying like she's in severe pain. Has anyone experienced this and if so, do you have any advise to make her feel a bit better or what I can do for her ?

Thank you,

Disa

 

I bet it's reflux, whether she spits up or not.
Mine always had the burning acid pain just after or during feeds.
Mylanta and prevacid have helped mine.....

 

Since it is only happening at night, I would have to say that it is the normal colicky behavior of infants. Our evening fussies were worst between about 6 and 12 weeks. If it was happening after most feedings, I would lean more towards it being reflux.

 

I would tend to agree with Becky. Luke was really bad around that same age. He would scream & cry for hours in the evening, you would think he was in so much pain. But then the rest of the day he was fine. He outgrew it around 3 months. I know it's awful to watch them go through something like that! :hug99:

 

Reflux definitely gets worse as the day progresses. Are you eating dairy? if so, how much? my kids had a dairy intolerance that presented as reflux at 12 weeks but really was an issue from the beginning. Wyatt had green mucousy poops and Cole spit up tons. may not be your issue -- but dairy protein intolerance (not lactose) is a common cause of reflux in babies and it is something that can be outgrown.

Only way to tell is for mom to remove all dairy from her diet for 3 weeks. You could limit your dairy intake as well, but if the intolerance is severe, that won't remove the issue. Our GI Dr suggested I go dairy free in January. once 3 weeks hit, wyatt, my fussy kid was a totally different kid. happy go lucky.

oh well, just a thought. I think lots of kids get reflux and it's probably caused by dairy intolerance -- just differing degrees of it.

Cheers,

Teri D

 

QUOTE
Since it is only happening at night, I would have to say that it is the normal colicky behavior of infants.


Ditto.

 

Do you have Oval or gripe water where you are? Our older DD was getting BM by bottle initally and had lots of problems with gas and tummy pain. The Oval helps relieve it and can be used safely with young babies. The pharmacist may be able to recommend the equivalent.