New Grandson Cries/screams and Doesn't Sleep over an Hour at a Time

She should continue breastfeeding and try gripe water. You can feed it at the drug store or walmart with the infant meeds. It is safe to us at this age it helps with gas and colic relif. I used on my new baby works great.

Could be normal but could also be a food intolorance. that what my baby had. Foods that can cause issues are: dairy,eggs, peanut butter. Crying all the time does not seem normal to me!

Some people swear by Colic Calm, an herbal supplement.

Baby probiotics will probably help the gas/burping, but make sure to get one without milk protein. Solaray BabyLife is the only brand I've found to not have any milk.

A lot of posters stated mom's diet may be the issue, and it may be, but mom would only need to eliminate all dairy and milk proteins from her diet if she wanted to continue breastfeeding, which all doctors agree is better for baby than switching to formula. Mom might need emotional and physical support to make this change, though, as you have to spend more time reading labels at the store, and get a little creative in the kitchen until you learn how to cook dairy free. Mom or you can contact me if you decide to go this route. I've been there, done that, and have two very healthy kids. Sometimes crying stops immediately and there is drastic improvement immediately. Sometimes it takes longer. It takes milk 3-4 weeks to leave mom's system, and then baby's digestive system will need some time to calm down.

Could be reflux. The dr. would be able to advise on that, and usually prescribes prevacid or an equivalent. (I'd try the drugs after you had exhausted the more natural and non-invasive methods first, ie raising the bed angle, probiotics, dairy free diet, etc.)

The big thing is to not make all the changes all at once - then you wouldn't know which was the answer.

I tried craniosachral therapy with my now 6 month old, and saw immediate improvement in the burping and crying after one session.

Reading about high needs babies might be helpful to you and your son's family. Dr. Sears has a phenomenol perspective on their personalities and needs and lots of ideas to meet their higher needs. His book, The Fussy Baby Book, is avail. at your local bookstore or online. He also has a chapter about high needs babies in The Baby Book, which is more comprehensive of all babies' lives 0-2. A great book to have as a resource. He recommends babywearing, and many moms with high needs babies find that they can all get rest by carrying baby. Local stores with great carriers are Sweet Beginnings, EcoPolitan, Bosom Buddies, and the Giggling Green Bean. This is usually a shortlived phase like people wrote.

They could also try raising the top of the bed a bit. If it's reflux, a 30 degree angle is often all that's needed.

Since mom is breastfeeding, she could try cosleeping. She can do some research on safe cosleeping on Dr. James McKenna's, Dr. Jay Gordon's, or Dr. Sear's websites. She can also call her local La Leche League leader (found at www.llli.org) for assistance with lying down nursing and/or safe cosleeping. Cosleeping, an aberration for parents before they have kids, becomes a lifesaver first, then a joy, when high needs kids demand more constant contact. My four year old still needs to have a foot or hand in contact with dad or me for a bit of the night (luckily not all night anymore! :) )because he's still high needs.

Feel free to email me off post if you have more questions. Good luck to you and your family!

My husband is a Family Physician and when our daughter was about 8 weeks old, she had colic. Three 1/2 weeks is a bit young for colic, but
there's always a possibility that this is what is ailing your grandchild.

We tried everything under the sun to help our daughter's colic and
nothing but nothing worked. So we turned to "folk remedies" -- something
most Board Certified, AMA docs disprove of. However, the folk remedy
did the trick for our daughter and it was like getting a NEW kid! With a new
personality. -- The remedy? Onion water! Sounded CRAZY to us!!!!!!
But we tried it. Here's the recipe. -- Place a quartered white onion in boiling water and turn off heat immediately. Place lid on pot and let the onion
stand for 15 or 20 minutes. Then remove the onion. When the onion water is luke warm, strain into a baby bottle. Add 1/4 teaspoon of dark Karo syrup and stir and feed this to baby. Think of it was French Onion soup for infants. -- This method worked for us after ALL the meds available failed!
Remember to only use dark Karo syrup and not light. Something about
the molasses is what makes this method work better.
Good luck! Please let me know if it workd for your grandchild if your son and his wife try it. At first they may shun the idea, but please let them know a truly skeptical Board Certified doc tried it and now recommends this to ALL his patients with colicky infants. ANYTHING to keep them off those medications and the chemicals therein!

M. in Houston, TX

____@____.com

Um this is not normal, and I think mom or dad should ask the pediatrician. If it is reflux there are some things that can help alleviate the discomfort that baby is in.

My son had reflux and our ped asdvised 1 teaspoon of mylanta. It helped quite a bit. Also if mom is breastfeeding, what she eats could effect baby's tummy.

Since you will be taking care of him, you need to ask. Or if mom or dad bring sup the fact of how tired they are you should suggest to talk to the ped!

My 1st daughter had reflux, which I believe led to her colic. We had to keep switching formulas until we found one that agreed with her (I was unable to nurse). As far as the crying, the only thing that worked for her was to be put in a Snugli and carried around on my stomach. I did a LOT of walking with her! As far as getting her to sleep for longer periods of time, I swore by swaddling! I also elevated the head of her crib a little and used a baby positioner to keep her from sliding down. You might also try having him sleep in a car seat, swing, or bouncy seat. Having the head elevated can relieve discomfort caused by reflux.

I don't have any answers for you, but I wish I had seen the Q/A when my daughter (almost 4) was a baby who slept no more than 20-30 minutes at a time during the night UNLESS she was in bed with me and close to the breast. Good luck!

This sounds exactly like my daughter! It is soooo incredibly difficult and takes its toll. Unfortunately, babies start to show signs of colic around this age as their digestive tract is maturing. Breastfeeding is the absolute best because it is the most gentle on the digestive system. The baby may do better by frequent smaller feedings rather than trying to space out feedings at this time. They need smaller meals to ease digestion. Don't switch to formula, because this will be alot harder on their systems. Try to support mom and dad and help out where ever. The one thing that helped was swaddling and holding my daughter more upright. We also raised the crib a little so she was sleeping at an angle. there are a lot of products to help colic, and i have to say that we used Colic Calm and it was a miracle!! it's all natural and organic. it uses a vegetable charcoal to help filter out gas and helps the intestines. it's a little messy to use since it is black, but i have to say we were so desperate and it gave my daughter unbelievable relief. Often you feel so helpless going through this and doctors just don't understand what it is like to have a baby crying all the time. It wears you down incredibly and it is hard to enjoy a new baby. The product's website is www.coliccalm.com . I hope this helps and good luck. It does get better and my daughter is now the sweetest happiest girl!!!

I would definitely take him to the doctor, he may have acid reflux or maybe mom is eating something that doesn't agree with him. A lot of times it seems dairy is an issue. She may want to keep a food diary so she can see if there is a pattern. My daughter was colicky and VERY gassy. My MIL showed me this fantastic move that really helped my daughter pass gas. I would sit in a chair and lay my daughter on my lap with her head face up near my knees. She would kind of be bent like an L so that her bum was resting on my stomach and her back in my crotch area (sorry, sounds weird but I don't know how else to explain). I would then very gently pump her legs towards her body and she would release SO MUCH gas. Most of the time she was fine, but sometimes she did not want to be bothered so I wouldn't do it because I didn't want to upset her. Also, warm baths worked wonders for both my son and daughter. My son, who just turned 1 at the end of Oct, was exactly like your grandson. I took him to specialists, altered my eating habits, anything the doctor and I could think of, but we couldn't find anything wrong (thank God). We just figured that he was a very high needs baby. It was very difficult and frustrating to me, my husband and my 2 yr old daughter. He literally cried and fussed every waking moment and hardly slept. It was very rare to have fun playtime or snuggle times with him. It wasn't until he was about 10 months old that we noticed any significant change. Once he started walking and only nursing once or twice a day he stopped being so high maintenance. He just started sleeping through the night about a month ago. Although I was relieved that he was healthy it was still a very difficult year, so much so, that I know that I won't have another baby. Two is just fine. He is the sweetest L. boy and so much fun. He is very smart and ahead of where he should be. I have heard that very difficult babies tend to be highly intelligent! Hopefully, if there is a problem, your son and DIL can find him some relief very soon.

I agree with the others----burp more frequently, and swaddle. Mom should check her diet---- nothing spicy or gassy(onions, garlic, broccoli, beans, cauliflower,chili, etc.)

Really sounds like infant reflux to me. I suppose it could be just gas but for it to be a constant thing I'm leaning towards reflux. Does he get any relief if he's in an upright position? I would try some baby gas med that you can get over the counter and see if that brings some relief. It's very safe to use. If it doesn't help I would pursue meds for reflux. We ended up using a liquid Zantac that was favored mint. It was strong but my son took to it quickly because it brought on some relief. Breast milk is the best and should be tolerated well by him if she's not eating anything spicy or bold.
Hope you can find him some relief soon. It's hard when you have a baby that is in pain and cries all the time. I feel her pain "-
Best Regards,
C.

Don't make her switch to formula if breastfeeding is going well. I would say burp more, swaddle, and try to get a rhythm down - feed, wake time, sleep. You don't say how old he is either, or how stressed they are. My son cried ALOT, and we spend a lot of time in the bathroom with the fan on (the white noise was a lifesaver), I even snoozed in there once. They may be a bit stressed and that can really affect the baby too. With my second, I am more laid back, and so is she. You can try certain holding positions and/or massaging to help with the gas or mylocon drops too. Let me know if you need me to "try" to explain the holds or massage.

Both my girls had silent reflux. I really hated doing it but when I put my first one on medication for it she improved immediately! At four weeks when my second child continued to have what I experienced as abnormal crying I started her on the meds and again noticed immediate improvement. We didn't do any of the testing - I didn't feel it was necessary. The side effects and discomfort of the testing wasn't worth just trying the medication to see if it worked. I breastfed both girls and was able to stop the medication at about 6 months when they may naturally grow out of it. I told another friend about my experience and her Dr didn't want to try the medication - he didn't feel it was the right diagnoses. He could have been right, in most cases would be, but she went back again after another few weeks of crying and insisted they try it. Worked for her as well. Good luck in finding out whatever is the cause.

GER (Gastro Esophageal Reflux, a.k.a.“reflux”) is simply defined as the backward flow of stomach contents into the esophagus (the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach). GER is a normal, common process that occurs time to time in almost everyone, of all ages, particularly after meals. It usually involves regurgitation. Almost all babies will regurgitate or “spit up” after some feedings, whether they are breast or bottle-fed. The prevalence of GER peaks between 1 to 4 months of age1, and usually resolves by 6 to 12 months.2 Regurgitation, or “spitting up” has been reported in up to two thirds (65%) of healthy infants,3 but decreases to 1% by one year of age. Babies with GER regurgitate without secondary signs or symptoms of inadequate weight gain, esophagitis, or respiratory disease. Infants with GER are thriving and represent the majority who present to the physician with this condition.

My first guess would be colic. My daughter had it and cried for several months. Nothing worked for us and it finally went away almost overnight. Reflux symptoms would be choking on spit-up while sleeping. Problems eating but is fine if sitting up or at an incline. Remember this is a 3 week old baby. The digestive track is probably still maturing and might need some time to get used to the BM or even formula. This baby has been inside a nice, warm and cozy place for nine months and is now in a crazy busy world that is cold and loud. That too can take some time to get used too. If the parents think it's ok then I would keep out of it. She's your daughter in law and it could cause some major problems in your relationship if you start telling/suggesting to her what to do.

how old is he? they say gas peeks at 6 weeks? he may have colic...

Sounds like colic + reflux to me. I have a friend with a newborn that matches your description exactly.
She had to stop breastfeeding, switch to formula and put cereal in the bottle. That helped a lot. But the crying is the killer part.

She should talk to the ped about changes she can make for diet. And you just may want to buckle down for the worst. It generally stops around 12 weeks or so.

I went through this with my youngest until she was 10 weeks old. It turned out to be an allergy to dairy. Once I eliminated all dairy from my diet (I was also breastfeeding), my daughter was like a new baby within 2 days. Unbelievable! At age 3 she was tested for allergies and sure enough she reacted to milk. She did however outgrow it by the time she was about 5. Other symptoms my daughter had besides constant crying was a red, slightly bumpy rash on her bottom and face that came and went, and green, mucousy stools. So if there are no other symptoms, dairy may not be your grandson's problem; but if all else fails it is worth a 2-day test to find out! Good luck!

How old is the baby? Perhaps they could try the happiest baby on the block method, What worked really well with my daughter was the swaddling, shushing, and sucking. She had a terrible time sleeping until we started swaddling at 1 week old, and after that, she slept great and still does! http://www.babyslumber.com/happiestbaby.html

They might need to contact there Dr about that. Also she might need to start keeping track of her diet since she is BF.

Almost every child I have ever known to have this same behavior had to switch to soy formula due to milk allergies. The constant gas and crying stopped drastically. I agree with her keeping a food diary of what she is eating.

It's okay to offer a caring suggestion, the parents may never ask. Just think of it as what's in the best interest of the baby. If you word it tactfully and carefully, I don't see why they would take offense.