Painful grunts and strains

[louisouis]

My 3 1/2 weeks old baby makes really painful sounding grunts and strains at night (only at night especially at 3am- 6am) He is usually fed once or twice during the night. Breastmilk followed by formula. Is my baby in terrible pain or do babies just make strange noices at night?

 

[mum2b]

This is such a relief that another baby is doing this! My 5 week old baby is still grunting and straining and it sounds so painful for her! The doctor said it is just an under developed digestive tract as all the other signs are good - regular wet nappies / not too loose etc

 

[Eva08]

My 8-week old baby does exactly the same thing. It started when he was around 2 weeks old. The first time I put him down at night, he sleeps quietly and peacefully. Then when I put him down after his first night-time feed, usually around 2.30am, he'll make grunting and straining noises which can easily last a couple of hours. The noises keep waking me up but whenever I check him, he appears to be still asleep - although he does sound like he must be in pain!
I asked my doctor about it also and he confirmed that it was definitely related to the under-developed digestive system.
The good news is that I've definitely noticed an improvement in the last couple of weeks and I'm hoping by 12 weeks that the night-time noises will be a thing of the past!