Colicky baby or Hungry baby?

24 years ago

Please help. Im getting so frustrated!! Im breastfeeding my 10 week old baby and after everytime I feed him he's all happy then 45 minutes later he starts getting fussy and eventually starts crying. If I hold him he starts looking for a nipple. I just can't believe he would still be hungry. He's done this ever since he was born. Doesn't matter how long I feed him for he does the same thing everytime unless he falls asleep. I've tried giving him mylicon drops but it doesn't help. I try to distract him but it only works for so long and Im worried he's gaining too much weight too fast. He's already 14 pounds! Is this normal breastfeeding behavior or is he just being colicky? Any advice would be appreciated.

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Comments (6)

Pam_from_the_PNW
24 years ago
Some babies need to suck more than others. Colicky babies cry a lot, but usually aren't soothed even by nursing, so if he quiets down after he latches on, it doesn't sound like colic to me. I wouldn't worry about weight gain at 10 weeks, but if you think he's just comfort sucking you could try a pacifier, or help him find his fist to suck on. Also, I didn't know this before I had DS but when they say it's a 2-3 hour interval between nursing sessions, they mean from the BEGINNING of one nursing session to another, not from when baby finished nursing so the 45 minute interval is probably within the normal range. DS was pretty much attached all the time until he hit 4 months or so or we were out and on the go.

Pam
Karla_NE
24 years ago
45 minutes does seem soon. Assuming you let him nurse as long as he wants the first time, I would try a pacifier at the 45 minute time when he gets fussy. Perhaps he just wants to comfort suck. Have you already tried a pacifier?
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Andrea_AZ
24 years ago
One thing that happened with my baby is that he was getting plenty to eat, but he just wasn't getting satisfied. At least, that's what we think. He was gaining plenty of weight, but everytime after he ate he would get real fussy and even screaming and seemed like he was in pain. We thought it was colic, too. Then I started incorporating formula once a day and he started to become a little more content after eating. We decided that he was either not getting enough with my milk (even though nutrition-wise he was, it might not have been rich enough for him) or we thought he was having a reaction to my milk. We thought maybe that the lactose or dairy in my milk was upseting him. We now have him 100% on soy formula and he absolutely loves it. I am not in any way condoning switching to formula but if the activity persists, you might want to ask your ped. what else it could be? Maybe he is just hungry all the time!!
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SunnyD
24 years ago
First don't worry about him gaining to much weight--my ped said he rarely sees obese breastfed babies.
Second--we had this problem in the very begining and started giving DS a pacifer. It worked great. He just needed to suck for comfort. If he doesn't want the pacifier and wants to eat he will spit out the pacifier. Good luck.
Tyra
24 years ago
I suggest your baby is tired/sleepy. My son, who is nursed, would get very cranky after 1-2 hrs of being awake (still does - at 4 1/2 months - if awake longer than 2 or so hours). He didn't care for a pacifier, but loved to hold onto a blanket and would suck on that (still does that, too). When mine was about 6 weeks, I started a routine of eat/play/sleep for a few reasons: his waketime was more pleasurable for us both (including changing his diaper) after he had eaten, keeping him active after eating kept his gassiness down a bit, and his activities became more predictable; therefore, I learned what cry meant what. Hope you find what works best for you and yours! Tyra
Karla_NE
24 years ago
Duh, I never thought about that until Tyra said it. We did the eat/play/sleep routine too and it helped immensely to know what DD really wanted/needed at any given time. Your DS could very well be trying to tell you he is tired.

Colicky baby or Hungry baby?

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