Why does my month old baby cry so much?

Sarah - posted on 05/07/2012

That is hard and frustrating when they are so little. So many things go through your mind of maybe it is this or that. You are on the right path with your thinking of trying different things. Sometimes it just takes a lot of trial and error to figure it out. As others have said it might be the formula. I watch a little boy that has acid reflux and the doctors did a test on him (not sure how that all works) but that might be something you may want to try. When he would feed he would pretty much throw up the whole bottle right after. Right before he came to me they switched him to an acid reflux formula (it is thicker and made especially for A.R.) this helped some. He was not throwing up as much, but he still cried a lot after his bottle...you could tell he was uncomfortable and not feeling well. The docs. also put him on some A.R. meds. Another thing I do is to keep him sitting at an incline.....either on my lap or in the bouncy seat. I also have him nap in the bouncy seat.....seems to help.

Another thing you may want to try is a bottle with a slower nipple. I wish I could remember the name of the bottle.....it had a really slow nipple...hole was on the very top of the nipple. I had a friend that her baby was throwing up a lot after a bottle and not gaining weight. She figured out that he was drinking it too fast (even with the slow nipple on other bottles). She found this bottle....it would take him about 45 mins to eat.....but he no longer was throwing it up and was a much happier baby.

Just keep trying different things. Also try not to get too stressed. I know that is a hard one because you want to soothe your baby and calm them and it is frustrating when you can't figure out what will work....but they do sense that stress too. Just remember you are doing your best to try to figure it out and that he will have some good lungs :).

Monique - posted on 05/07/2012

if you are okay with using a wrap/carrier, I would highly suggest it. My daughter was lactose intolerant, and I found the only thing that helped calm her down was carrying her snugly in a wrap. Around 2 months old, I realized she was lactose intolerant so I removed dairy from my diet (I bf'd and supplemented with Baby's Only Lactose Free-Loved it by the way, no gas!).

I would second the above suggestions and change formula. i would not use soy but just a lactose free version if available. There are reasons soy is not good for our bodies, but I will let you do the research if you want lol.

April - posted on 05/06/2012

My daughter did that, she was 3 months old. She ended up having acid reflux. Take him to the dr. There is medicine that will help a tun. She is a different baby now, so happy all the time.

Kim - posted on 05/05/2012

My daughter was like that for 6 months. She cried when she woke up, when she was going to sleep but the worst was from either 5 or 7pm to midnight when she'd cry straight. Never found out what it was, they said she had colic, but after looking at the times she cried, I think it was from the DTap shots. She seemed to do better for a week or two then she'd get the next shot and start again. As it was she would cry for hours after getting the shot unless I gave her baby Tylenol. Try to see if anyone can watch him for a bit, you will need breaks from it.

Linsey - posted on 05/05/2012

Sounds just like my daughter! Turned out she was lactuose intol. And had reflux. We changed her formula to soy and thickened it with rice cereal to help with the reflux. She slept in the swing for a while because laying her down made the reflux worse. Between the soy formula, rice cereal, and sitting her up after feedings, she was a new baby. She never cried again. She use to cry for 6-8 hours straigjt and it just suddenly stopped. It took about a week for the formula to sart working but it was a miracle. Hope this helps.

Kelina - posted on 05/05/2012

have you heard of purple crying? it's not uncommon for babies to cry a lot, peaking at about 2 months. And yes, babies will do that, lol you take them to the doctor because they're crying so much or saying they're in pain and when you get there, they're fine or sleeping. Changing his formula mgiht help, also it might be gas so you could try ovol if you're desperate. If he calms down when you rub his tummy clockwise it'll probably help. Both my kids had gas issues, they were never constipated but the gas really got them. Beware the amount of ovol they get though, too much and it'll give him the runs.

Keisha - posted on 05/05/2012

My son was the same way. We ended up having to change his formula because he's lactose intolerant and he had allergies to milk and eggs which were in his formula.. We ended up switching to a very easily digested (expensive) formula and our problem went away. Talk to his doctor about allergy testing. They made us wait until three months but switching his formula helped.

Melody - posted on 05/05/2012

Took him to the doctors last night cause he was crying for ages and when we got there he fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up at all, made us look like idiots lol, anyway they checked him over and said he was fine, so I have no idea why he crys so much and hardly sleeps :s

Jennifer - posted on 05/04/2012

Talk to his doctor that's your best bet. Also, this may sound strange but what color is his poop? If it's green that could mean he is lactose intolerant. We had the same problem with my daughter and I had no clue until she was 6 weeks old and my mother in law changed her diaper and saw the color of her poop. My husband and his brother both had the same problem when they were babies. She we switched her formula to the soy formula and in a few weeks she was a different and much happier baby. Good luck!

Bell - posted on 05/04/2012

My son cried a lot in the beginning too. We found out he had silent acid reflux. I noticed him making strange, icky faces while he was sleeping, he'd arch his back and a couple times a week he would scream and cry and turn red in the face and he was also very gassy. Just like you described your baby crying is what our baby did. I called the pediatrician and she diagnosed him with silent reflux. Silent reflux because he never spit anything up. The doctor put him on zantac but that didn't do anything for him so she then put him on prevacid and that was the one medication that worked. I should also mention that we did put him on the formula with the added rice starch also. I hope this helps you. Good luck and hang in there!

Catalina - posted on 05/03/2012

Sounds like something is really upsetting little guys tummy, have you considered trying to breastfeed? If not there is a recipe for homemade formula in a book called "nourishing traditions". Formula has lots of non preferable ingredients and isn't great especially for babies with sensitive tummies like your little man.
Does he have acid reflux?