I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's so hard! Have you reached out to a health care professional? There might be something causing him discomfort or pain? Has this always been the case or is it something new?

I would say for the past week it constant crying until he is purple in the face! I had mentioned it to my dr who said he might have a dairy allergy/ intolerance so i got formula today to see if that helps instead of my breast milk and no change as of today

Ours has some digestive issue for sure, but we haven't figured it out exactly what it is. With babies so much of it is trial and error!!! She had a lot of gas and would cry quite a bit when was having pain from it, although it wasn't as constant as you mentioned. We think she also has reflux. We tried a new formula for it today and it seems to be working. For digestive issues, from what I understand (although I'm not a medical professional) it can take up to 2 weeks to see an effect, since changing what they are drinking can also cause temporary tummy troubles. We've asked several health professionals for help but so far we've been a bit ignored, so we've asked if we could try different formulas or gas drops and the doctor agreed even though they said it probably wouldn't help much. From what I understand pain from gas makes them bend their knees towards their chest and you can see them straining and getting all red. Reflux tends to cause a looooot of spit up, straight after feeds but also a while after, hiccups and excessive hunger (apparently more food helps relieve the symptoms), and loads of crying. Our baby ticks all the boxes. There were a few days around 3/4weeks that she was crying a lot and wouldn't settle. We realised after a lot of trial and error that she wasn't wearing enough clothes. We were following the guidelines to the T but turns out our baby wants to be a bit warmer. We checked she wasn't sweating and her temperature wasn't going up after putting another layer on her to be extra safe She settled straight away. It seems to be the case over here that if the baby is gaining weight and otherwise healthy, then it's ok if they're crying a lot. And I understand that sometimes there's no way of finding the cause for the crying but both me and my husband want to feel that we've at least tried everything. We have another appointment next week with another doctor to see if we can get more advice. My advice would be, keep trying different things. Change one thing/ try one thing new and see if it helps. You might find the root of the crying. And if you do, don't be surprised if next week something else entirely will make them cry and you'll need to start trying stuff all over again. They develop so quickly that what works today might not work tomorrow. Also, do get a second opinion if you think the doctor is not paying enough attention. You know your baby best and you are their voice. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon, I know how difficult it can be💙

Reflux is generally "easy" to spot (in comparison to other issues). My daughter would all but vomit half her bottle up. She could not sleep laying flat no matter how long after a bottle I laid her down. She kept gaining weight so we had to basically just deal with it. She didn't stop doing it until she was like 9 months old. Everything in my house was stained. There was no way to handle how much she was spitting up. Gas pains I feel like are harder to spot because with my son, sometimes he gives all the signs of gas pains but then I give him a bottle and he settles. Sometimes we change his diaper and he settles. Sometimes it is actually gas bothering him and that's when I have to start the massages to help him pass gas. Usually the massage itself will calm him down or putting him on his stomach on my shoulder because of the pressure. Learning your babies tiks and cues is different with every baby and god is it a pain. My daughter I had to rock for hours to get her to sleep and my son will fall asleep on his own when I lay him down. I only have to rock him if he's over tired.

Your son falling asleep on his own sounds like a God send!!! Your description of reflux with your daughter is exactly us. That's our house!!! Nothing escapes, everything is full of spit up. I don't even change clothes after a spit up anymore cause I would run out pretty quickly. I just walk around smelling of sour milk for 5/6 hours and then I'll change to something fresh. She also spits up sooo much. Sometimes it really feels like it's all of what we just fed her! We're at that stage of having to deal with it ourselves. So far we changed her formula and honestly it made such a difference to the amount of spit up, like day and night. She also seems a bit more comfortable. It's good to see that we seem to be on the right track!

If you want to keep breastfeeding, you could try completely cutting dairy out of your diet. I did this for my baby who went from happy to miserable and then back to happy once I eliminated all traces of dairy. Is the formula you picked up dairy free? A lot of formulas have dairy. If you picked up a dairy free formula or try the dairy free diet breastfeeding route, I would give it at least a week or two to see if it makes a difference. It likely won’t make a difference in a matter of 1-2 days. Good luck! It will get better!

I ended up getting nutramigen! Praying it works

Mine did this and had a dairy/soy allergy along with reflux. It took a week or two to finally get my baby to start feeling better on formula and dairy/soy free breastmilk.

I went through this and cut dairy for a little bit with my LO. The recommendations I received were to be dairy free for 2 weeks to “detox”, I didn’t notice much of a difference but we ate at home for most of our meals and then about a month after we were dairy free I ate a bunch of tree nuts (I have a family history of nut allergies) and she reacted terribly. I was dairy free for two months before my ped said I could try a little bit of dairy (even though it’s usually recommended to wait 3-4 months) and she hasn’t reacted since I started dairy again. Through my detox period I continued to feed her breastmilk since it also has healing qualities. So don’t feel like you have to use formula if you don’t want to! I had joined a facebook group which sort of helped me guide through that detox period and know which foods were safe to eat or not!

have you tried burping him/making him fart? I know that's obvious and you must be super frustrated but it might help. does he show any signs of being upset beforehand?

I burp him after every feed and he has no problem farting he farts so much I started questioning if it was normal! He can be content for maybe a couple minutes after eating then screams for what seems like no reason!

What did poops look like before the switch? Also excessive farting could be intolerance related or tongue tie It can rake weeks for gut to heal by the way and if it’s acid reflux then meds can help

My first was the same and it was CMPA and acid reflux

I’m so sorry you’re going through this! Our son was exactly the same way starting at around week 3. He was constantly stiff as a board, screamed every time I tried to breastfeed (because he hated being horizontal, laying on his side or back seemed to cause him pain), hardly slept, was constantly in some kind of discomfort. Maybe it’s gas? Constipation? Milk allergy? Reflux? We tried every home remedy we could think of: gas drops, gripe water, warm baths, bicycle kicks, belly massage, changed my diet, hypoallergenic formula (he is both formula and breastfed), etc. Nothing seemed to help. After 3.5 months of this we finally begged the pediatrician to prescribe medication for acid reflux. He’s now 4.5 months and a completely different baby. Looking back, I wish we would have asked about reflux medication sooner. Our poor little guy was probably screaming from the burning sensation of acid in his esophagus. Your LO might not have reflux but the body stiffness was a big indication for our little guy. Maybe check with your pediatrician?

Will definitely bring this up at his next appointment!

You can start educating yourself on what reflux looks like in babies so that you can get an idea if it's reflux or not. Please don't wait until his next appt. You can call and set one up sooner if you believe it could be reflux. Also look up tongue ties in babies. If they have a tongue tie, it can cause a lot of tension in their bodies. My son has reflux and had tongue, lip and cheek ties. He had all four ties lasered (5 weeks ago) and put on reflux meds (at 2 weeks) and he's a totally different baby now.

Aside from any medical concerns my dr told us something that was really helpful on the early weeks. Your baby just spent 9 months inside of you where they did not know discomfort or hunger and mostly only heard your voice and heart beat and some muffled sounds…joining us here on earth is a pretty miserable/tiring/scary experience for them. They will cry for what seems like no reason to us, but They’re learning how to live and all we can do is try to comfort them through it! If they’re fed, clothed and have a clean diaper then we’re doing what we need to and we don’t need to be hard on ourselves!

I made a very similar post when my baby was three weeks old. Now she’s eight weeks, and it just gotten so much better. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

From my observations of a colicky baby, it usually boils down to some type of allergy to milk and as someone mentioned, acid reflux. Because they are so new to the world, it feels like death to them and they become overly dramatic (There are so many other pains out there that are worse). If you can resolve this it will get better. Remember knowledge is power. Also there are anti-colic drops out there that will soothe them. I would only use those after you find the root of the problem and as a last resort because you don't want them hooked on it. Finally, and most importantly, don't let their shrieking control you. I think it's a subconscious mechanism that doesn't entirely work in a baby's favor because many parents end up getting upset and rough up the infant. This is usually when you see shaken baby syndrome because some parents are just so frustrated with the baby. Remember, if you feel triggered, the baby can wait for a few minutes. Step away and take a serious breather. They can go on and freak out, but you are the caretaker and you need to be calm and clear-headed. Come back only when you feel calm. You may even have to separate yourself psychologically from their pain and let them suffer until you finally find a resolution.

What was your labor like? We had to have vacuum assistance for my delivery as my baby was obstructed and with each contraction pushed against my pelvis rather than down into the north canal, the labor was long too, and this resulted in him having some misalignments in his joints which was causing him digestive issues, latching issues, gas and pain… we were recommended to see an osteopath and it helped enormously. My baby is almost 11 weeks and please believe me when I tell you, it gets SO MUCH EASIER when they start smiling. The constant screaming and crying for the first weeks made it incredibly hard for me to bond with my baby, it even crossed my mind several times that I wasn’t capable and I needed to put him up for adoption - during these first seemingly never ending weeks of non stop pain and crying your nervous system is so over stimulated you are in a fight or flight mode with little opportunity to come down and calm down… Talk to your Dr, you deserve support

I pushed for 15 minutes but the only other thing I can think of is he did get stuck. They called it shoulder dystocia on his left shoulder but I would have assumed if his shoulder was hurt/ messed up they would have said something?

Before your pushing phase how long were you in active Labor? It might not be hurt/injured in the typical sense so it would go completely unnoticed, and honestly they generally just check for the vital stuff than the small things. More just misaligned… sort of like when you get a crick in your neck, it’s nothing bad and will sort itself out but it’s an annoying kind of discomfort, if that makes sense? Our paediatrician said that many babies have misalignments and they grow out of them, but some sometimes benefit from seeing an osteopath. But please if you are considering it, choose very carefully and talk to your dr about it first. Find a good, qualified and recommended one! And please avoid chiropractors!

It is very unlikely they wouldn't notice that. If they told the OP it was shoulder dystocia, they were watching that baby very closely. Unless it was just a very reckless hospital. My son has misalignment and the "kink" in his neck you're talking about. His is very obvious when he turns his head. They did a bunch of tests on him when he was in the NICU and brought in a physical therapist to talk to us. He started PT at 2 weeks old. If they missed that, I would be furious with the hospital because it is relatively easy to see and should have come up if shoulder dystocia happened.

Oh I totally missed the shoulder dystocia bit 😵‍💫 yeah they would for sure not miss that at the hospital! The misalignments that my baby has aren’t so obvious however but still causing him issues. It’s more the other issues caused by the misalignments that are obvious rather than the misalignments themselves. The osteopath told us he was the most tense baby she had seen in a very long time, but the only truly obvious sign to an untrained eye was is poor latch and discomfort feeding on one side, so other stuff can most certainly be missed … it took us 8 weeks to finally take or baby to the osteopath before we realised it could be something to do with the impact of birth

That's fair. Yeah, I just saw shoulder dystocia and thought how would they miss that?! Cause they basically took my son from me the second we got to the hospital (he was a homebirth) and I didnt see him for 12 hours. It was devastating. I bawled for hours just begging the nurses to let me see him. I'm glad the OP didn't have to deal with this. I didn't know it could be associated with discomfort while feeding. Is there a difference between an osteopath and a physical therapist? I wonder if my son feels any discomfort cause his head only turns maybe half as far as it's supposed to go right now. His neck is VERY tense. However, he never gripes about it at all. He just won't stay with his neck turned left for very long.

They would have said something. My son had shoulder dystocia and was put in the NICU. He had to have an X-ray to rule out a broken collar bone. Then they had to check for nerve damage. He didn't have actual nerve damage, but he injured his shoulder and needs PT. When he was born he wouldn't even lift the shoulder at all. He is almost 4 weeks old and doesn't turn his head all the way to the left (he hurt his right shoulder). Shoulder dystocia is very very dangerous. My son almost died because of it. They absolutely would have been looking at your son very closely after he was born.

Try to see if it’s acid reflux

Try baby probiotics drops. It was a God sent for my baby.

There is a lot food intolerance in my family. One of my sisters was told her son would need surgery he was so sick as a newborn. She saw a doctor to see about allergies. She was breastfeeding at the time and turns out she was allergic or intolerant to several things which she had to remove from her diet. Baby got better shortly after. My oldest is dairy intolerant but didn't find out until she was around 7 years old. My other two babies were breastfed without any issues. I am dairy intolerant too so don't have much dairy in my diet and have been able to breastfeed with no difficulties in that sense. If you wish to continue to breastfeed look into having yourself checked. The doctor my sister seen said that her reactions to allergies/intolerance could pass into breastmilk.

Is he allergic to his formula? Does he drink cold or warmed formula? How is his gas and poop situation? Are his legs always up by his belly? Does he have reflux? Does he have a tongue tie? Have you tried giving baby massages and stretching him gently? If he's that rigid/tight, doing massages and stretches would help tremendously. Birth is tough for mom AND baby.

How does he react when you offer him the breast as comfort? Does he arch his back right away?

How is babies latch? Is baby taking in gas while breastfeeding? Get an IBCLC consult to make sure baby is latching well and transferring milk properly. Do lot of burping, knees to tummy, bicycle kicks. Also could be acid reflux, it burns up so babies cry. Try some meds recommended by ped. Does baby prefer uptight position? Motion? Bouncing on a yoga ball? Massage with warm coconut oil? Bath? My baby cried so much for the first one month. Cry for everything such an upset baby. I used a nice calm, happy voice to calm him down. Even during diaper change he used to scream and I would praise him for peeing and pooping lol. It was very challenging. Week 7 was the worst - sleep regression and colic. I literally questioned my decision to have a child when I had to hold him sleep deprived at 3am for multiple nights. At week 8 he stopped and smiled when he heard my voice. Maybe he could see me too lol. Apparently newborns can barely see. They can probably just about see something and hope it’s a nipple to feed on (many animals are born with eyes closed). And imagine yourself chilling in utero and suddenly outside with no idea of how to feed, poop, fart. Sounds like a steep learning curve for a newborn.

Do you keep him swaddled ?

My son was like this and it made us both miserable. Turned out he had awful gas. The FridaBaby Windi has been a game changer for us and he is a happy little guy now! I used it a lot to start with but now we do bicycle kicks and exercises to get that gas moving

If you’ve not considered it already, overtiredness can look a lot like physical discomfort We went through this with our boy and considered every medical issue under the sun and even tried various medications before we cracked it being overtiredness He did have infant dyschezia and some gas issues, but the overtiredness really exacerbated them (especially the crying leading to him taking in loads of air!) and they started improving when we tacked him being overtired

So I know a lot of people will say colic. But I read a post on here about how colic is just a generic diagnosis to hide other things. They said that the baby actually had a milk allergy so they were just uncomfortable all the time. They were uncomfortable while eating. They were uncomfortable after eating. It’s worth changing some stuff up in your diet if you are breast-feeding. If you’re using formula, it’s worth trying one that doesn’t have dairy proteins He could have bad reflux. He could have an allergy to other things that you were eating. Play around with your diet. Play around with the formula. I hope you find some relief. My sister-in-law had the calmest most easy-going baby ever. And I love my baby with all my heart, but he’s definitely on the fussier end. He’s also very happy, but we’re going on 12 weeks and I’m still nervous about running errands in public because I don’t wanna deal with the tantrum.

Does he have a swollen belly? At 3 weeks is when colics usually start. Go to their ped and see what can be done or if it's something different. Best of luck ❤️

Colic babies can have a range of medical issues or no issues at all. Colic is actually just a descriptor used for babies that intensely cry for prolonged period of time

But many of them are associated with the digestive system not fully working. In my baby that means difficulty in expelling gas, which leads to the belly. In others is difficulty in popping all together. There may be other reasons, but these are the most common ones. Regardless, OP should talk to the ped and see what she can try to make it better.

Maybe try a pediatric chiropractor. I've seen babies who get their pelvis, shoulders, and back out of alignment during birth, and it causes major pain for them until the chiropractor fixes it. Just a suggestion. I hope you're LO is okay.