Hi everyone,

My friend's two week-old baby seems to be getting more and more unsettled. She sleeps pretty well at night (4-6 hour stretches often) but she spends most of her days awake, crying a lot, and squirming and pulling her knees up.

She takes a very long time to feed, and at her last midwife weigh-in she hadn't gained any weight (she was 8lb 11oz so had a good start). They can hear her tummy making a lot of noise. She seems to start the day happy enough but gets miserable after a feed, and this morning refused to feed.

We've had one with silent reflux, and to me it seems different to that....any ideas/suggestions would be gratefully receieved. It's their first baby and they're really struggling.

LLJB its not something mum is eating during the day (assuming shes breastfeeding) or if baby is getting a lot of foremilk. Is she feeding him, resting and restarting on the same side or swapping over? That would be my first thing since hes sleeping so well in the night, sounds like something "different' is happening in the day. Tea? Coffee? Dunno.

The other thing is mum has a fast let down is she could express a bit off and then feed her?

If she has the time could she re-create what it is shes doing at night with the feeding/settling. Is she lying down to feed, is she rushing in the day?

Hugs to your friend, unsettled first babies are so challenging.

Hi some reflux babies will sleep well at night,my frist refluxer did the same as your friends baby,was very very unsettled during the day and slept all night. I would be telling her to take bubs to doctor as no weight gain,or talk to midwife.Hugs to your friend and goodluck its hard whens its your frist you dont know what has hit you.

How is your friend's baby now. As she sleeps okay, and the symptoms get worse over the day, my first suggestion would be to explore a dairy intolerance. Up to 40% of babies with gut reactions have dairy intolerance. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/71/2/268.short

A dairy free diet for a breastfeeding mother needs to be trialled for at least two weeks before deciding it isn't cow's milk that is the problem.