Teething?

Hey y’all,

So, life is crazy. My baby has been crying off and on (mostly on) for the past 36 hours. I thought he was constipated for the longest, and I tried everything to make him poop (seriously, gas drops, tummy-soothing tea, tummy massages, a warm bath, bicycle kicks, an Epsom salt bath, Epsom salt and water drink, coffee, anal stimulation, etc.)

Now I’m thinking he may be teething super early (he’s only a month old). He’s drooling, eating less, chewing on things all day, and he gets very warm. I pulled out his teething toys and threw some extra milk in the fridge. Cold seems to help. It’s just so early! I have to say, he’s already surprised us several times by doing things sooner than he should have, but this is so crazy.

That being said, I’ve decided to decrease my breast pumping. Following a pumping schedule didn’t work, so I’ve just been pumping every time he eats. Since he can’t feed at the breast, I have to balance him, his bottle, and the pump. Also, since we’re doing elimination communication and he likes to poop when he eats, that means I have to stop pumping a few minutes in and take him to the bathroom. With him sleeping less at night, I don’t have the energy to do all this.

Pumping so much did increase my milk supply some, but even after 5 days of doing this, I was still only making 4-5 oz of milk a day (about 25% of his food). I still want to pump some so he can get at least a milk shot every morning, but I’d rather spend time loving on the baby than pumping. Especially since I’m not even producing much milk.

I’m still only about 85% sure that he’s teething. It’s super early, but he’s showing all the signs. I’ve heard that as soon as you figure one thing out with kids that they change the rules. Maybe he knew I was beginning to get the hang of this.

Anyway, I don’t feel great, so I hope your day is going better than mine.

Metta

*Update* Ok, I don’t think he’s teething. He’s showing more signs that his tummy hurts. I know he had issues digesting cow milk. My breastmilk quadrupled a week ago, and my son began having problems 4 days ago. Breastmilk is a whole lot gentler than cow milk, so I’m thinking it took a few days for it to bother him. He’s had almost totally soymilk today, and he seems more calm. I guess I’ll keep working on this idea until I learn that it’s wrong or it works.