Fussy, fretful baby

[Louiseshakey]

Hi there I'm new to this and I'm hoping that someone can help as I feel like I'm at my wits end....
My baby seems to be unhappy a lot of the time and it is really starting to get me down. I know babies cry and when she is happy it is amazing but I can't help thinking there is something wrong. I have been to the doctors and have had the following diagnosed over the last 5 months:

colic and she will grow out of it: this was diagnosed when she was around 2 months old. she is now nearly 7 months old and still cries.

Constipation: I think she was genuinely constipated for a few days when I started giving her formula at around 3 months old but she now goes daily. I was prescribed movicol which did help, however she still gets very upset and pushes/strains all the time. Her little face goes bright red and it seems to make her very upset.

reflux: I thought this was the problem but the renetidine prescribed doesn't seem to have made much of a difference.

Does anyone else have a very fretful baby that doesn't want to be put down, cries often and pushes and strains all the time? She also arches her back (as if in pain) pulls and scratches me and has had mucous in her nappy recently. She is a good weight and sleeps well although tends to fight her daytime naps.

Any help would much appreciated!

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

Has she been tested for cmpi?

[Louiseshakey]

No she hasn't been tested, how do you actually test for cmpi? I'm convinced it's something to do with her feeding.

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

I think it's a bit drawn out and involves an elimination diet and then reintroducing stuff gradually

I am absolutely not an expert btw, your description of your DS just reminded me of a friend's baby who was diagnosed at about 4/5 months old. Took a while to be diagnosed because he gained weight quite well but he was much happier on special formula.

I hope you get some answers soon.

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

Your DD, sorry

[Louiseshakey]

Thanks for the info I had actually looked into that but wasn't sure as she didn't have all the symptoms. I think it's worth speaking to the GP about though...

[nowmum]

Hi !you are not alone. My DS2 is the same. Ranitidine did nothing and he is now on neutramigen 2 for possible CMPI. So far only very minimal difference after 4 days so not sure if he really is CMPI. He grunts and arches especially around bottle time and I'm wondering if maybe he does have reflux and might respond better to Losec (omeprazole?). Ds1 was similar and we never got to the bottom of it but he slowly got better over time-the more independent he became the happier he got. Crawling was a big break for us and I started to get a lot more peace then but he was fussy and harder work than most babies until 16-18 months:( It upsets me that I am going through it a second time. You understand what it's like to see your friends with their quiet happy babies. It feels unfair on everyone. Your DD doesn't deserve to suffer and be upset and you deserve to have a good experience of motherhood! I love DS1 and DS2 but I wish it was easier sometimes. Mums like us work extra hard- you don't get a minute when you are spending all day keeping the crying at bay!!

[ShineSmile]

I would get her tested for allergies or intolerances. Ask your GP for a referral to an allergy pediatrician. Whereabouts in the country are you?

If rantidine isn't working, there is other medication you can try like lansoparazole.

It obviously isn't colic! Babies outgrow colic by 3-4 months.

Does your LO have any red rash on the body? Does he have a runny nose regularly? Sneezing? Any redness around the anus?

[ShineSmile]

Which formula is she on?

[Louiseshakey]

I hate to see her upset and yes it would obviously be a lot easier for me if she was happier! She does have good days but I do feel like am on a constant timer for a melt down :-( she is on aptimel at the moment. She has no rash on her body but does tend to get spots on her face, often has a runny nose and redness on her anus. I have recently chatted to a friend who has said she knew someone who used a formula called nutramigin for a while which helped?

[Louiseshakey]

Sorry I have just noticed that is the formula you had used (nowmum) Has it make any difference at all? Have you gone back to normal formula?

[ShineSmile]

OP, those are all signs of cows milk allergy. You urgently need to get her referred to an allergy pediatrician.

In the meanwhile ask GP for a prescription of nutramigen, and do not give her any dairy, soya or egg. Even traces of it are a no no.

If you do above, you will probably see a huge difference in your LO in about two weeks. Sounds your poor LOO has been suffering.

See the website 'isitcowsmilkallergy'.

[nowmum]

It's hard to know but I'm starting to think nutramigen might be helping him. It's pretty nasty tasting and my DS is now 6 months so refused it when we first offered it. I spent 7 days getting him used to it (gradually increasing the ratio of old formula to nutramigen until it was all nutramigen). He was finally on full bottles of nutramigen just over 1 week ago and on day 2 of full nutramigen DH accidentally gave him an Ella's kitchen brekkie pouch that contained yoghurt! The following 3 days were a nightmare and I was losing hope as thought nutramigen just wasn't working. However the last 2-3 days have been much better and I can say that yesterday was the happiest is seen him in about 2 months. I really hope he has CMPI and we now have the right formula but it seems to take a while for the allergens to leave their systems. I've come across a few sites linking red skin around anus to CMPI. DS1 (now 3) frequently has this (I used to think it was nappy rash) so wonder if he was CMPI too and not picked up.

[nowmum]

Hi again Louiseshakey. Just thought Id update you on my DS2 and his nutramigen trial. Its going really well and I am daring to think that we are finally sorting out what has been going wrong with him! I was thinking of you today and hope that things are going better but if not perhaps it is worth talking to your dr about CMPI and seeing if a nutramigen trial is possible for your DD. I also keep thinking of my DS1 and how I wish I had tried it with him instead of accepting all the crying as "part of his personality". I was losing hope as after 3-4 days of nutramigen I wasn't really seeing any difference but as it got closer to a week things started to change. Just thought Id share it with you as I have been where you are (with both DS1 and 2!). Good luck!

[Louiseshakey]

Hi nowmum and thanks for the update, so glad you have had a positive change. We had some nutramigen prescribed from the doctors and tried it for a couple of days but I found it made her even worse! I think I may have given up too quickly though from what you have said. It seemed to smell/taste so different to the usual formula that I'm sure she must have hated it. I am going to get her tested before I try again.

[nowmum]

There's no doubt the stuff is foul but persistence paid off for us and he finally doesn't seem to notice the difference. Our consultant told us that testing can be unreliable especially when it's intolerance not allergy. He also said that if DS2 refused nutramigen that we could try Aptamil Pepti (lactose free version) which tastes better but may not be quite as effective for dairy intolerance (still better than reg formula though) Be guided by your own dr of course but just thought you might be interested. All the best!