Normal for a 4 month old?!?

Amanda - posted on 09/08/2012

Your baby sounds completely normal to me. I have seen these behaviours all in at leat one of my 3 kids:) Don't worry too much. Some babies teeth early other's late. He doesn't sound like he is doing anything strange.

Patricia - posted on 09/04/2012

My son is doing this right now and is almost 4 months old. He hasn't been screeching but instead complaining really loud like he's yelling curse words at us. It'd be really funny if I wasn't so worried that he might be in pain.



He's doing the same thing with his whole fist in his mouth, the jerking and kicking thing while nursing is driving me crazy. I'm feeding him what feels like is constant because he won't just nurse long enough for me to know he's gotten his fill because he's too busy pulling off, crying and arching his back. I don't know if it's teething or if it's his stomach. I did the same thing with cutting out dairy from my diet as you did. I also had him on Ranitidine for reflux but I didn't think it was helping or making any difference so I stopped that about a month ago.



He also has a slight diaper rash and is waking up from naps crying and waking more at night. I don't remember having all these issues with my first born who is now 5. These last two weeks have been so rough.

Staci - posted on 10/23/2010

for #1 and #3 my daugter is 5 months old and she is doing all of that too she has been pushing her feet on me trying 2 stand up on me since bout 3 months and she talks all the time and squeals really loud she has been doin that for a couple months

Sarh - posted on 10/22/2010

Thank you! He has stopped the screeching, but I believe that is because he has a sinus infection (which the doctor is assuming, and let his cough go for 3 weeks!), so every time he attempts to screech he goes into a coughing episode (not long, but sounds painful to me, however he never fusses or cries during or after) same thing happens when he tries to "talk". He also has an ear infection now which I believe is due to the sinus infection being left untreated for so long. So the ear infection is making feedings harder as well, he hasn't done much arching of the back recently, but now having trouble latching on, more so on the right side. Hopefully this course of antibiotics will clear them both up and we will be back to... well what is normal for us.
Thanks again! :)

Renae - posted on 10/22/2010

1. Arching of the back is a common sign of pain from reflux during feeding. Medication rarely takes the pain away completely, it just makes it bareable so that it does not interfere with feeding and therefore growth and nutrition. As long as your baby is still feeding that is what is most important. It sounds like you are doing everything you can. He will grow out of the reflux. You just have to wait it out.

2. It does sound like he is teething. Diaper rash is a very common symptom of teething. Over 3 months, sucking/chewing on hands can mean 3 things:
1 - look what I found! I have a hand! I wonder what it feels like in my mouth???
2 - I'm hungry
3 - my gums hurt.
Its up to you to figure out which one of the above it is! :) In this case, in conjunction with the rash and swelling, it sounds like teething.

3. All babies communicate slightly differently. The fussy behaviour when you dont feed him soon enough and he starts to cry and then cant latch on is very common with reflux. You need to remember that he is struggling with feeling hunger and wanting to eat but knowing that it will cause pain. This is a conflicting and confusing thing for a little baby who doesn't understand what is going on. So they quickly become worked up and stressed out when they get hungry. Just becareful with the frequent feeding, every half an hour, as a preventative to the screeching. The reason I say this is that reflux babies usually prefer to have very small and very frequent feeds, than big feeds every few hours. The problem is that you can end up feeding every half hour all day and all night, with a baby who will only take a few mouthfuls at a time. So just be aware of keeping some control over his feeds and not letting it get completely out of hand. 100% demand feeding is usually recommended these days, however when pain is a factor the parent needs to monitor it a little bit.

Aside from the whole reflux issue, many babies at about this age go through a screeching phase. It usually last a few months until they figure out that they can express themselves in different ways, not always with the same screech. There actually isn't a lot you can do. Ignoring it will probably just make him screech louder (just like ignoring crying in a young baby makes them cry more frequently). I would probably try to figure out what is wrong and if you cant then distract him as best as possible with whatever he finds interesting. I suspect he will grow out of this at around 6 months.

4. Again - more very typical reflux behaviour. A common symptom of reflux is waking up screaming 20-30 minutes after going to sleep. Again, not much you can do until he outgrows it.

Kim - posted on 10/21/2010

My lil girl has reflux and I have changed her to an anti reflux formula which has worked wonders. If you did still want to breast feed you can buy something called Quacol which is a powder which u mix with water and it thickens liquid in the stomach. This also worked wonders for my girl. She is also eating her fists all the time but she is teething, AND has the same "white" parts on her gums. She also cries in her sleep but does not wake up. He could be experiencing nightmares as suggested by the other mums. If your baby is screeching in an angry way or wriggling after feeding its relux, could he be tired if he has been fed???

Kirsty - posted on 10/20/2010

no.4 can b a dream my health visitor told me tht just watchin cartoons can scar them and give them a dream

Sarh - posted on 10/19/2010

Thanks you've been helpful! :)

Melissa - posted on 10/19/2010

good luck...hopefully your son will get over the reflux soon!

Sarh - posted on 10/19/2010

He is on Zantac for the reflux and I am going to start giving him the rice cereal again before bedtime.

Melissa - posted on 10/19/2010

I believe the eyes thing is a part of it....My son kicked and thrashed and smacked and punched me also! And Breastfeeding was over if I moved...it was rough it got to the point were he just would not breastfeed anymore! You are NOT being paranoid! It is all deff. due to reflux ....Trust yourself! Coughing is also a big sign of reflux! Its the waking terrified and the eye rolling and the arching and hitting that worries me...I went through the same thing you did wondering if I was right or not....

Sarh - posted on 10/19/2010

Oh, wikipedia made dystonia look like the body stiffening up... I seen a video of a little baby in her car seat kicking and waving her arms around, but she was like making spit bubbles too. I don't know! My son also coughs and still tries to continue to nurse... does that have anything to do w/it?? And his eyes often roll in the back of his head, but his head doesn't jerk back or anything. But this kicking and punching me is starting to worry me. I also can't move or talk while he is nursing or else he gets mad at me. I don't know, maybe he is fine and I'm just being paranoid?!?
Thanks! :)

Melissa - posted on 10/19/2010

Ya just wanted to make sure the shaking didnt have anything to do with it....Kalebs dystonia or what I thought was dystonia was a little more subtle similar to the videos...arching of the back and arms flailed...and constant nawing of his hands, but it was very hard to say for sure if that is actually what it was, it really didnt seem like harsh spasms so that why everyone ruled it out!. He was never diagnosed with it! I read more about your screeching...your instincts no best! Especially if you feel its more on the im in pain screech while eating! I personally maybe think the reason why you cant tell the difference is you might be becoming a lttle overwhelmed at what to look for I know i did....I video taped his episodes so I could go back with a clear mind and really look at it and go from there! I found this link to be helpful when I was researching it...it goes into a little more detail... if you would like to check it out! Hopefully it is all due to normal baby sounds and reflux though, which I hope clears up soon for your LO! It had been a while since I had looked the syndrom up so just wanted to inform you just in case!

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/93...

Sarh - posted on 10/19/2010

I figured the screeching was from him finding his voice, which a lot of other moms have told me their babies didn't do that till much older... all babies are different though.
I looked up Sandifer syndrome on wikipedia and I do not think that is it, but thank you. He doesn't do the dystonia, thank god because that would scare the crap out of me! And it didn't really list the other symptoms. Thank you though.

Melissa - posted on 10/19/2010

Just remembered the name of the fist thing...sandifer syndrome... my doc said no but I really believe that is what my son had! He doesnt show any signs of it anymore...but the fist eating, crying, the gasping for air which didnt happen often and the flailing...it wasnt as bad with my LO but he deff. did some of those things when he was having "episodes" I would call them!

Melissa - posted on 10/19/2010

Our son did all of the same things!!!
The kicking and arching is all reflux! I had to stop breastfeeding for that and other reasons...we went to a formula for colic!
The chewing on his fist thing I SWEAR is do to reflux ...I forgot the actual name but you can youtube babies with reflux and you should find it, I did one day...but everyone thought I was crazy but to this day I stand by it! He is teething now and doesnt naw on his fist the way he used to...AND he doesnt have reflux anymore!
The Screeching is him finding his voice...I used to say our son would sing and praise the lord!
As far as the naps go...our son would scream due to reflux but the shaking thin you have to talk to your doctor about...some say babies do have bad dreams but check into that more!

Sarh - posted on 10/16/2010

Thanks Cheryl!

Cheryl - posted on 10/16/2010

I could only help with no.2 im afraid. And that is to say it definately sounds like teething!! They could take weeks or even months to come through tho!!
Screechin sounds normal but you said it gets quite constant, so that, along with your other concerns I would personally take to the health visitor for your own peace of mind..... good luck x