it hurts to eat and sleep

[kitty757]

I have a 5 week old baby girl (well she was born at 37 weeks so she is not really that old) she has VERY advanced motorskills (headraising and such) and also her urine has begun to crystalize already.  Ever since she was born she has had trouble with gas and recently the dr. says she has colic.  I had switched her 3 formulas until i got to the similac soy and that seemed to be ok but when she sleeps she grunts to the point of screaming and wakes herself up.  I got her sleeping til she only wakes up 2 times a nite but still the loud grunting and screaming continued in her sleep.  I have now moved to the similac alimentum which is made for colic... while drinking this formula she seems to act like its hurting her and she won;t take it smoothly at all... I know it smells really bad could it be she doesn't like the taste? Or maybe it;s just her gettig use to the switch? she never acted this way when i switched her to other formulas.  She is really fussy at the bottle now and crying in the middle of eating after every few gulps... I am unsure wether I should switch her back and just deal with the nite time mayhem but if this will eventually be a better choice i don;t want to ruin the transition.  It has been 9 hours now and she still won;t finish a 4 oz bottle which she could originally finish in 30 minutes. Please let me know what I should do in this situation or if you have had a similar situation my pediatrician just thinks i have a fussy baby and everything is normal... I am sorry my baby in pain while trying to sleep is NOT NORMAL to me...
Thank you so much for your time :)

[Diana1981]

P.S. I just noticed on another post. Since ur baby is only 4 weeks old I wouldn't try the tea. Her immune system is still low and I wouldn't give her anything with sugar any sort of that to her. The sugar could actually tear her stomache up also juices could too. Its too strong for a 1 month old. I gave juices to my baby at 4 months but not alot but not when he was a month old. Good Luck!

[Diana1981]

I have a 7 month old and he too was very fussy and gassy when he was around your baby's age. We switched his formula to LactoFree and now we have no problems with him. We hardly ever have to give him Mylicon Gas Drops. Maybe u could talk to your doctor to see if perhaps your baby cannot digest Lactose. My baby was in pain with his stomache tightening up and the doctor said it was possible that he couldn't digest Lactose. Perhaps you could try Enfamil LactoFree formula. Good Luck!

[kitty757]

BY THE WAY... in looking up this tea I am finding "ANISE" which is meant for gas problems is this what you are talking about or am I overlooking the tea in which you describe?
I just wanna make sure I get the right thing because I cant find ANESE anywhere when I google it I get japanese teas but notning regarding the tea the way you spelled it.
Just let me know maybe I am looking in the wrong place :)

[kitty757]

Thank you so much for your input... and I am NOT one of those mother's who won't take advice I am def. willing to try anything, especially wives tales and tips n tricks from other mother's because they KNOW first hand what we go through.
I will try the tea and will report how that works for my baby :)
I thought I had this all settled when I got to the soy formula (of course there were the fussy times due to colic which there really is no real cure for but I could at least calm her down a little.  Everyone I talk to says I need to let the alimentum takes it's 24 hour course and see if there is improvement because apparently it makes cahnges in their bodies to try and soothe the colic and this could cause the fussiness and bad eating habits.  I guess 24 hours is a reasonable trial period so I will do that but if there is no improvement I am switching her back to the soy.  
I just didn't know if the actual process of switching may cause any of these problems (tho she never had them before) and I was just unaware.
I have the gripe water and do all the little exercises and soothings with her, I really just need her to eat smoothly so I know she is getting what she needs.  She only poops once a day which makes me wonder about constipation as well because that is the type of grunting I am hearing followed by little toots here and there but no poop.
I guess every baby is different and in time I guess it will all come together.  I am a first time mother as well so I might just be worrying too much but I thought I would at least put my feelers out there and see what kind of opinions I got back in return.
I thank you again so much for answering to this and I will keep posting as to wether or not there is any improvement :)

[cpbphp]

I forgot to mention - I told my doctor and she said there's nothing wrong with giving her tea. Some people give their babies water and juices.

[cpbphp]

Hi,
I have a 4 month old whom I nurse and formula feed who had a similar problem. She would make noises and twist her body while sleeping and awake and cry alot . I took her to the doctor and I would call them on a regular basis because the problem would not go away.  One day a family member asked if I would consider trying something new - I said why not? She had me buy a tea called ANESE it's tiny little grains that you put to boil in water with a dab of sugar then drain. I fed to my baby nice and warm in between feedings. I tell you it worked wonders - as a relief to get some sleep :) My baby is 4 mos and no fussiness.  I still give it to her instead of baby juices.

Oh and by the way when a baby has gas they tend not to eat because they feel full of air. I hope this helps you.

[Renee Radenberg]

Since your daughter seemed to accept the Soy formula, try mixing the two formulas and see if she accepts the Alimentum. I suggest starting a mix of ¼ soy and ¾ Alimentum to help cut the taste of the Alimentum. She may accept the mixed formulas and not have gas/colic issues. If she is moving her bowels once a day, that is fine. She is not constipated unless her feces are very hard. Best of luck.