5 week old
My wife and I just had our first child, who is now 5 weeks old. She seems
to be extremely fussy during the day - she will cry unless she is being cuddled and walked, and she will usually fall asleep after about 20 to 30 minutes of walking, but then she only sleeps for about 1/2 hour, before she wakes up screaming again. She feeds roughly every 1.5 to 2 hours. At night, there is little problem - she sleeps for up to 3 or 4 hours at a time, and usually falls asleep within 20 minutes after a feeding at night. We have consulted a number of books, and determined the fussiness could be due to a number of things 1) Forceful let down from breastfeeding (and more upset stomachs, more gas, etc) 2) Side effects of the prozac my wife is taking 3) Just a fussy baby Any suggestions for trying toget some peace and quiet during the day? Chris |
5 week old
Hi - First of all, some babies just like to be held. Have you tried carrying her in a sling? Doing that will give your baby the comfort of being close to a parent, but leave that parent with two free hands. If you think the problem is a fussy tummy, some things to consider a -- not enough burping. (Believe me, it's *hard* to burp a baby all the way. My husband was always responsible for burping the baby in our family ...) -- Too much foremilk, not enough hindmilk. Conquer this by nursing on just one side for a full nursing session or two before switching to the other side. -- Cow's milk protein in mom's diet. If it's just a fussy tummy, you can test this by having mom ruthlessly eliminate all cow's milk products, including those found in processed foods, for 2-3 days. If your baby starts sleeping longer stretches during the day then you've got a likely suspect. Caffeine and iron supplements may also trigger fussy tummies in babies. Other things in mom's diet CAN, but are so rare that it's not worth listing them. BUt if you think mom's diet might be a problem, keep a comprehensive food diary (everything mom ingests, including vitamins and medicines) for a week, along with baby's fussy periods, and see what you can come up with. (By the way, even cow's milk protein affects less than a third of breastfed babies.) -- Hunger. Are you nursing on demand? At just 5 weeks, some babies seem to want to be latched on constantly. It should start to taper off in a week or two, though. And then there are the non-tummy issues that can keep a baby fussy during the day. Being too hot or too cold, not being swaddled, having a loose thread in the jammies ... all these can make a baby fussy. I hope these thoughts help, --Beth Kevles http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. |
5 week old
In article ,
"Christopher Vitek" wrote: Any suggestions for trying toget some peace and quiet during the day? Have your baby checked for reflux. -- Chookie -- Sydney, Australia (Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply) "...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990 |
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