Baby fussiness and crying--gas?

Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...
Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

It's common for babies to have 1 unsettled period between feeds in each 24
hrs....
all I can suggest is lots of burping if you think it's caused by wind, gripe
water did help my dd with tummy pains, a nice warm bath and lots of cuddles.
It stopped happening to us about 4 mths I think.
Personally I'd go see a baby clinic nurse/ or Dr and just make sure there is
no other problem, ie like reflux etc....
Alissa

One thing that i did when my dd had it was to put her tummy on my knee or
press on her tummy a bit which seemed to help let the gas release. I also
suggest instead of mylicon drops try the ones from little tummies they seem
to have worked better for us.

Jennifer
Ariana 8/17/03
Home.earthlink.net/~soalus

"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...
Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

DS screams through his baths most the time so that is out of the
question and cuddling only seems to help calm him sporadicaly. I'd like
to try a couple other things before I call the doctor but if I don't
find something to help him soon I'm thinking we might be making a trip
to the doctors office.


It's common for babies to have 1 unsettled period between feeds in each 24
hrs....
all I can suggest is lots of burping if you think it's caused by wind, gripe
water did help my dd with tummy pains, a nice warm bath and lots of cuddles.
It stopped happening to us about 4 mths I think.
Personally I'd go see a baby clinic nurse/ or Dr and just make sure there is
no other problem, ie like reflux etc....
Alissa

I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.


Poor little guy (and mom and dad)!! It's just gut-wrenching to feel unable
to help a crying babe! Angela, IIRC the most common irritant for breastfed
babes, by far, is dairy in mom's diet . . then chocolate, soy, and a host of
other things that I hope I don't have to learn about. It's the protein,
casein, not the lactose, so mom can get a pretty high exposure from things
one might not think about. Beth Kevles has a great page for casein allergy.
http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html
We are on week three of total dairy elimination (due to GI bleeding in my 5
mo) and it's become much easier than I expected. It can take 2-3 weeks for
all the casein to clear out of your system. We saw results in about 10
days.
Someone posted a study on mkb about garlic in mom's diet increasing baby's
suckling time and strength. I guess they like the different flavor. So -
maybe - treat yourself to some nice spicy foods and start reading the labels
on your bread, crackers, vitamins, deli meat, etc . .
Hope things improve soon,
Hannah

"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...
Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.


One more thing . . or two . . I remember reading that most gas is caused by
air gulped while crying (rinse, lather, repeat), so diet might not be your
problem. I'd still suggest trying dairy elimination, though.
Have you tried the standard colic cures of tight swaddling and white noise?
A fairly loud hairdryer was our best friend in those early months. I used
it the other day to lull the baby to sleep after a particularly fussy
morning. Static on the radio or tv, or even try turning your baby monitor
to the "wrong" channel?

Good luck,
Hannah

Angela Schepers wrote:

Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby

I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful.


Since it happens in the morning, are you eating anything for
breakfast that could be bothering him? Orange juice? Milk?
One mother in one of my newsgroups says her daughter was
fussy until the mom switched to soy or rice milk and the
little girl is still sensitive to cow's milk at age 3+.

I'd keep trying an elimination diet to see if anything works.

gloria p

If you are close to Columbia there is some gripe water at Clovers. Good
luck to you! The water seemed to help with my son alot when he was like
that. They say that around 6 weeks alot of babies start to mellow out a
bit.
Kat
Mama to Maggie 11/03/01
and Will 02/10/04


"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...
Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

I used to have good luck swaddling the baby in a blanket and holding them in
my arms and laying them across the dryer while I am leaning over it. Lots of
people just put the carseat on the dryer, but I just held them until they
were in a deep sleep and then moved them to the bassinet. Also putting baby
on your lap on his stomach and swaying gently back and forth. Bicylcing his
legs help as does laying baby on his stomach across your forearm (And my
babies loved when I would stand that way and sway back and forth). I hope
some of these tips help. I had a colicky baby for the first three months and
she would cry from 6 PM- 12 PM every night. It's hard to watch them be so
miserable, but as his digestive system matures, so will the crying and
fussing. Hang in there. )
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Angela Schepers wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...
Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

"Kat" wrote in message
...
If you are close to Columbia there is some gripe water at Clovers. Good
luck to you! The water seemed to help with my son alot when he was like
that. They say that around 6 weeks alot of babies start to mellow out a
bit.
Kat
Mama to Maggie 11/03/01
and Will 02/10/04

Any store that sells English products will have it too.