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Christopher Vitek
July 11th 03, 01:25 AM
My wife and I just had our first child, who is now 5 weeks old. She seems
to be extremely fussy during the day - she will cry unless she is being
cuddled and walked, and she will usually fall asleep after about 20 to 30
minutes of walking, but then she only sleeps for about 1/2 hour, before she
wakes up screaming again. She feeds roughly every 1.5 to 2 hours. At
night, there is little problem - she sleeps for up to 3 or 4 hours at a
time, and usually falls asleep within 20 minutes after a feeding at night.

We have consulted a number of books, and determined the fussiness could be
due to a number of things
1) Forceful let down from breastfeeding (and more upset stomachs, more gas,
etc)
2) Side effects of the prozac my wife is taking
3) Just a fussy baby

Any suggestions for trying toget some peace and quiet during the day?

Chris

Beth Kevles
July 11th 03, 02:27 AM
Hi -

First of all, some babies just like to be held. Have you tried carrying
her in a sling? Doing that will give your baby the comfort of being
close to a parent, but leave that parent with two free hands.

If you think the problem is a fussy tummy, some things to consider are:

-- not enough burping. (Believe me, it's *hard* to burp a baby all the
way. My husband was always responsible for burping the baby in our
family ...)
-- Too much foremilk, not enough hindmilk. Conquer this by nursing on
just one side for a full nursing session or two before switching to
the other side.
-- Cow's milk protein in mom's diet. If it's just a fussy tummy, you
can test this by having mom ruthlessly eliminate all cow's milk
products, including those found in processed foods, for 2-3 days. If
your baby starts sleeping longer stretches during the day then you've
got a likely suspect. Caffeine and iron supplements may also trigger
fussy tummies in babies. Other things in mom's diet CAN, but are so
rare that it's not worth listing them. BUt if you think mom's diet
might be a problem, keep a comprehensive food diary (everything mom
ingests, including vitamins and medicines) for a week, along with
baby's fussy periods, and see what you can come up with. (By the
way, even cow's milk protein affects less than a third of breastfed
babies.)
-- Hunger. Are you nursing on demand? At just 5 weeks, some babies
seem to want to be latched on constantly. It should start to taper
off in a week or two, though.

And then there are the non-tummy issues that can keep a baby fussy
during the day. Being too hot or too cold, not being swaddled, having a
loose thread in the jammies ... all these can make a baby fussy.

I hope these thoughts help,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

Chookie
July 11th 03, 12:20 PM
In article >,
"Christopher Vitek" > wrote:

> Any suggestions for trying toget some peace and quiet during the day?

Have your baby checked for reflux.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"...children should continue to be breastfed... for up to two years of age
or beyond." -- Innocenti Declaration, Florence, 1 August 1990