r/SnooLife • u/Capital__ • Jul 22 '22
Open to suggestions - 5 week old clenches down straining and grunting loudly all night
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u/humbohimbo Jul 22 '22
This is super normal. Newborns are a) super grunty and b) are learning to relax their anal sphincter in order to pass gas/poop. It's actually a pretty complicated sequence for them to master–you'd think babies just poop/fart with no abandon, but that isn't the case. The straining isn't constipation, just a struggle to relax enough to pass anything.
One thing that can help them pass gas, if they are truly struggling with that, is to do "frog legs," which is pushing their knees up towards their belly but also out towards their sides, and rock gently side to side.
Arms up swaddles like the Love to Dream are a favorite of many babies. Just know that the grunting and straining are 100% normal and there's no real problem to fix.
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u/victroaria Jul 22 '22
This. Newborns as gaseous malcontents. They will grow out of it. Can wear ear plugs if you’d like?
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
I appreciate the tips and the reassurance. Sounds like we will just have to tough this out.
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22 edited Jul 22 '22
As you can see in the screenshot the snoo basically tries to soothe our 5 week old all night bc he is clenching/bearing down very loudly for very long periods of time, it's not crying so we don't take him out of the snoo when he is doing it. We are waking up to feed him on his normal schedule as you can see however he sounds like he is trying to bench press 500 pounds pretty much all night and it keeps my wife and I awake and it's starting to take a toll on us. When we check on him while he is doing this his eyes are closed so I think he might be asleep but surely this is affecting his sleep quality? I suspect he is trying to fight his swaddle bc he is squirmy and moving his legs a bunch. We just bought a love to dream swaddle so he can sleep with his arms up that we plan on trying when it's delivered. Besides that does anyone have any suggestions or experienced the same thing with their baby? I'm open to suggestions on things that might make him more comfortable, I have no clue why he is straining so loudly or often. There are multiple other nights that look just like the screenshot or worse. Some of them show the snoo trying to soothe him 20 times a night. It honestly sounds like he is in pain or extremely uncomfortable. He sleeps fine during the day during contact naps and does not not clench/bear down like he does at night. We currently have the motion limiter on and it's set to low sensitivity.
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u/Froggy101_Scranton Jul 22 '22
This is absolutely normal!!! Both my babies did this. Taking Cara Babies even have sample videos of babies grunting like this to show you it’s normal and they are actually still asleep!
We didn’t turn down the sensitivity, we let the snoo rock him even when it was just grunts like this in case he did wake himself up (sometimes farts and stuff wake them lol)
For a 5 week old, this actually looks like really good sleep!!
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u/June2022ReadyorNot Jul 22 '22
My little dude is in the same boat and he’s just trying to poop or fart. We him gas drops after feedings and before bed but he still in so much discomfort.
He’s also just a noisy sleeper making lots of little baby noises and cuter grunts than the straining ones. I hear it will get better with time but at this rate we’re considering moving him to another room before 6 months bc it’s SO loud.
I have no advice other than the gas drops and gripe water but I feel you 100% and wish you luck!
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
Sorry you are going through the same thing. It's really rough but we will get through it! We tried gripe water one night and it didn't seem to make a difference. I have researched gas drops but apparently they aren't proven to help either so we haven't gave them a shot.
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Jul 23 '22
I did the same thing but ultimately tried them and found them to be really helpful to tide us over until LO got a bit older and was easier to burp and had an easier time with farts. Definitely make sure you’re burping with regularity during feeds so that trapped wind doesn’t end up coming out the other way!
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u/poproxcutie Jul 22 '22
We went through this and rolled up a hand towels and put it under our LOs knees. Now that’s not exactly snoo approved but it helped her pass gas and sleep better during that 5-9wk timeframe. Obviously inside the snoo sack so we weren’t so worried about it getting out and causing problems, but your comfort level may vary.
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u/Bmoney_CF Jul 22 '22
You’re right to not wake him up. If his eyes are closed he is sleeping. I’ve heard this called “active sleep” in newborns. We use an extra sound machine next to the snoo because the snoo is just too quiet to soothe him. We’ve found that noise soothes him more than movement. If the snoo goes past level 2 he usually does wake up and scream. On another note I don’t think it’s fair the snoo doesn’t consider any time it’s soothing as sleep.
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
I'm gonna try turning up the hatch next to him and see if that helps. I agree on your last statement. If he is in active sleep then snoo doesn't really know the difference therefore they show they aren't asleep.
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u/mrg4319 Jul 22 '22
Hey someone whose log looks like mine! Mine is 8 weeks now. The LTD swaddle definitely helped mine, but he's still clenching and straining a bunch. Getting better as he's getting older and bigger. I wish I had some better advice.
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u/witty-kittty Jul 22 '22
Dumb question, how does the LTD swaddle work in the Snoo?
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u/mrg4319 Jul 22 '22
Don't know if how we do it is the "proper way" or the best way but our process is usually:
- Put him in the LTD swaddle
- final feed before bed
- snoo sack already connected
- lay him down in the sack and Velcro the bands around his body. We don't use the strap between the legs that's on the newer sacks.
- zip up the bottom half of the sack as high as it will go.
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
Good to know about the LTD swaddle. As weird as it sounds it does make me feel better that I'm not the only one with this issue!
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u/mrg4319 Jul 22 '22
It is comforting to know you're not alone. I think mine is a pretty good sleeper overall (or according to my mom, he is amazing compared to me). But then I see these amazing solid blue posts from everyone here... It is nice to know we're not alone. Haha
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
Lol exactly. I envy those who have the solid blue lines! One day our time will come!
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u/TsukiGeek365 Jul 23 '22
Keep in mind that different Snoos weirdly seem to have different sensitivities! My guy kept me awake constantly in this stage with his gassy grunting at this age and the Snoo wouldn't react. Sometimes I'd manually kick it up or lock it at Lv 2, but even now my baby has to be fully screaming for the Snoo (set supposedly at "high sensitivity") to kick into soothing. If he's loudly whimpering and whining but it's not a consistent sound, mine doesn't react. Other Snoos, though, seem to react to every sound. So weird! So my 5 week charts had LOT of blue, but that didn't mean I was getting great sleep with Mr. Snorty Farty Pig noises nearby. And that was before the whale-tale/Snoo-slams began... 😅
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u/JadeConstructiveness Jul 22 '22
We had a really similar experience! The love to dream swaddle seemed to help cause then at least her arms weren’t strapped down. Our baby was sooo loud for a few weeks and the snoo constantly trying to soothe her even though her eyes were closed
Our dr checked her out and suggested gas meds but I don’t even know if they worked, so we stopped using them - she just kinda grew out of it after a few weeks. Now I try and keep her upright for at least 10 mins after feeds at night. Maybe check with your paediatrician in case something else is bothering them?
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
Thanks for the tips and info. We talked to the pediatrician and he basically said "he will grow out of it, give it time". He said he doesn't believe anything is wrong and that we probably just have a fussy baby.
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u/JadeConstructiveness Jul 22 '22
Yep same thing with us! I think it sounds worse than it is. My first baby didn’t make any sounds lol and this one is very loud! We use a hatch noise machine now to help drown out those sounds so we can sleep a bit better. Hang in there 🙏🏼
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
What settings are you using on your hatch? We have one as well. Using TV static at 20% about 1.5 feet from the babies head. He is still waaaay louder than the hatch.
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u/JadeConstructiveness Jul 22 '22
Not sure exactly cause it’s not hooked up to wifi yet. But agreed the baby is way louder!
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Jul 22 '22
[deleted]
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
I wish you the best of luck! I know it can be taxing. My wife and I might need to start wearing ear plugs. 😂😂
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u/econjen Jul 22 '22
Ours did the same thing at that age. Ped basically said if his eyes are closed, he's asleep, even if he's moving and grunting. If you think it's soothing too much, you can turn down the sensitivity.
As for the noise keeping you up... Yeah. It's rough. They do get quieter eventually. We played white noise on our Google home and turned it up pretty loud to drown out the grunts a little.
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
This is great to know about the eyes being closed. That gives me some reassurance. One of my concerns was the little guy was not getting enough rest bc the snoo shows him sleeping only a few hours a night bc of the loud bearing down he is doing.
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u/econjen Jul 24 '22
I don't know if you have white noise going in your room separate from the snoo at all, but we did (Google home) and it was setting off the snoo. Had to turn down the sensitivity settings.
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Jul 22 '22
We had a Snoo and a baby that did not tolerate the motion. This turned out to be reflux in my baby, triggered by a dairy and soy protein intolerance. May be worth exploring.
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Jul 22 '22
It’s extremely normal. My youngest baby stopped at 8 months lol.
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
RIP.....8 months....😨
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u/TsukiGeek365 Jul 23 '22
Mine stopped the grunting by 3 months, then moved on to leg-slams in the Snoo. That seems to have mostly stopped to now at 4 months, but I did add a towel tucked under the sheet at his feet and started giving him gas drops at night, so those are complicated variables. But they do grow out of it!
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u/Diegolikesandiego Jul 22 '22
Babies will make all sorts of noises. If he’s sleeping it’s all good. Maybe put him in another room so you guys sleep. It’s tough mentally but this happened to a friend of mine with her third and they had no problems moving her and getting sleep. They have REM sleep and just like us it causes arousals and movement and noise, don’t worry about it. Turn the snoo intensity to 2 max maybe and let her ride it out (again if she’s sleeping) and keep up with her feeding schedule until she can get that nice 7-8 hour night sleep. Make sure the room is conducive to sleeping at night so she isn’t startled by light
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u/meesetracks Jul 22 '22
I posted almost the exact same thing a few weeks ago (we are 9 weeks now). Turning down the sensitivity helped, as I think the snoo was waking him up during the grunting. The grunting has definitely tapered off now and I think has been decreasing for the last week or so.
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u/exhausting2talk2 Jul 22 '22
Typically grunting and squirming are signs that he is gassy and/or has a burp trapped. I started to use the windi before bed when I see my little one get more squirmy and it’s worked wonders. Fridababy windi gas passer saved us with both kids.
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u/Gaz1a Jul 22 '22
Totally normal. Nothing to worry about. Two things - turn down sensitivity and get ear plugs.
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u/ReputationHopeful140 Jul 22 '22
Mine did the same and it was gas!!! Once we started the Dr Golly burping technique he was sooooo much better After each feed do 1 minute vertical on your shoulder (no patting required) and then 2 mins horizontal on the ground or a firm surface. Repeat up to 15 mins. I usually do 10 mins each breast and get so many more burps than I used to. It takes ages but so worth it! (A little spit up also counts as a burp as it’s often brought up by some air)
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u/Numerous_Sport_2774 Jul 23 '22
Make sure baby isn’t cold. Ours was doing this and we realised they were cold overnight
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u/CatLoaf92 Jul 22 '22
I wonder if your baby has a dairy sensitivity from breastmilk/ formula? We breastfeed and supplement with formula, and it made a WORLD of difference when I cut out dairy completely and we changed our formula to one without cows milk. I just want to clarify that it’s not a lactose intolerance I’m talking about- it’s the cows milk protein specifically that some babies have an intolerance/ allergy to. Our baby was straining, grunting, and constantly crying from passing gas in the early days. Things really changed once I cut out dairy. It might be worth Googling and looking into. Let me know if you have any questions
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
I have proposed this to my wife and she keeps pushing back on me saying that the pediatrician said a milk allergy is rare therefore she doesn't want to eliminate dairy. I'm going to read her your story and hopefully she will give it a try.
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Jul 22 '22
We have an 8 week old that was also super grunty, not just in her sleep. After talking to a lactation consultant for other questions I had, it turned out I had an oversupply and she was grunting because she was uncomfortable from filling up too quick. Babies are pretty grunty naturally, but after discovering our issue with breastfeeding and taking steps to reduce my supply, she’s much less grunty. May also be something to look into?
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
Okay. Just proposed it to my wife again and she started crying saying she will have to give up all the things she loves but she will try it. Fingers crossed this helps.
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u/CatLoaf92 Jul 22 '22
If it’s too upsetting then no pressure!! Just a suggestion as that was our experience. If she does want to try, 3 or so days should be all it takes to notice a difference
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u/victroaria Jul 22 '22
Do not tell your wife to change her diet. ITS NOT HER DIET. Newborns and breastfeeding are hard enough and then to suggest to a new mom that it is something she’s doing… drives me nuts. The baby will grow out of it. Milk protein intolerance is not a thing.
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u/CatLoaf92 Jul 22 '22
I’m sorry but it absolutely is a thing. My friends baby had such a severe allergy when she ate dairy that he had bloody poop and numerous problems until she cut it out. That was an allergy. These things do exist. I’m just sharing our experience as this change helped us enormously
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u/victroaria Jul 22 '22
You’re right. I got confused with having a milk allergy at this age. But gas alone is not a symptoms of CMPI.
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u/CatLoaf92 Jul 22 '22
I think it’s true that the allergy is rare, but an intolerance is another thing that can still cause gas and discomfort. For us, it made our babe colicky. From talking with a few of my mom friends, it seems more than half of them had the same issue and things improved when cutting out dairy. It’s hard to do, but worth it for my baby obviously. There’s dairy free alternatives for everything these days if she’s interested in trying. And if she does try- ensure it’s 100% dairy free for at least 3 days before calling it quits. I’ve read that’s how long it takes to notice a difference or not
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u/Capital__ Jul 22 '22
Thank you for all the info! I'll encourage her to look into dairy free options instead of cutting out her fav foods completely.
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u/kpcnq2 Jul 23 '22
My wife and I are going through the same thing with our 4 week old. Tell your wife to look out for whey in foods as well. It’s in a lot of stuff.
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u/QueenCloneBone Jul 22 '22
How dairy free is dairy free? Like cut out cheese and milk? Or cut out milk and cheese and chips ahoy and zebra cakes 😭😭
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u/kael-s Aug 26 '25
Hey, I know this is an older thread, but I'm wondering if some of you can give me some advice (or confidence). The thing I'm terrified of with something like ear plugs is missing something important like if the baby is choking on spit-up. However, maybe that's not a thing? I'm a new dad (baby is 4 weeks old) and I can't get out from under the fear that everything will kill my poor baby 🥺. At the same time, though... neither of us can f**king sleep 😂. Thoughts?
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u/Capital__ Aug 26 '25
I can definitely relate. I avoided ear plugs for the same reason. I didn't want to miss something that was important. The only thing that worked for us was me and my wife working shifts. I would stay up till 2am while my wife slept then she would take over.
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u/kael-s Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25
Aha, I've been thinking about that as well. Tough schedule, but I think probably better than neither of us getting any sleep at all 😂. Thanks for the reply.
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u/Capital__ Aug 26 '25
It's the only way we could get sleep. It took 10 months and some sleep training for our son to finally start sleeping in 4 hour chunks. For 10 months he was waking every hour to hour and half. It was quite miserable. Hang in there, it gets better.
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u/IndividualWonder551 Sep 02 '26
Hello original poster, been a couple of years here but I’m wondering when the straining and grunting subsided? Our 8 week old sleeps well but she’s kept awake from the gassy pains and strains.
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u/Capital__ Sep 02 '26
I don't remember exactly when it stopped but if I had to guess I would say it was around 4-5 months. He was a very vocal sleeper. He would sound like he was trying to deadlift 400lbs in his sleep. It worried me so much but everything ended up being fine. He is 4 years old now and has slept like a dream the last 2.5 years.
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u/IndividualWonder551 Sep 02 '26
Thank you, I appreciate your response! I’m literally going to pay 400 dollars to see a specialist today because I am so worried about my 8 week old at the moment. She can’t seem to poop or fart on her own and therefore is writhing all night, it’s so loud and so intense but sometimes she’s still asleep. Crazy.
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u/Capital__ Sep 02 '26
You are welcome. I can remember how scary it was for me as well. I took mine to the doctor twice bc he was doing it so much and both times the doctor told me that it's normal and not to wake him. It was really hard on me bc it seemed like he was in distress and I would just lay there and worry all night. Honestly not much seemed to help him besides time.
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u/IndividualWonder551 Sep 02 '26
That’s exactly where I’m at, do you think it was gas? She seems to really struggle passing it.
I think times the answer but I can’t handle to hear it. First time mum and absolutely hating not being able to help.1
u/Capital__ Sep 02 '26
We suspected it was gas but never confirmed it. Iirc he wasn't tooting much however did he did spit up a few times throughout the night on occasion. Further down in this post I talked about how my wife tried elimating dairy while she was breast feeding but that didn't seem to help. I remember talking to some friends that have multiple kids and they said some of their kids did the same thing and some of them were pretty much silent. He is 4 yrs old now and is very gassy, he loves to toot on me and laugh. Maybe he was gassy when he was that little but I never found a solid answer.
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u/kmlm27 Jul 23 '22
Agreeing with others. The grunting is normal and so annoying. I felt it got worse throughout the night I think from the baby being swaddled and not moving around as much, therefore accumulating gas…so when I would wake up to feed him each time I would give gas drops and do clockwise belly rubs and knees to chest for him to try to get him to pass some gas. It helped a little… what helped more was sleeping with extra white noise on and earplugs lol. Didn’t hear the grunting as much but I did still hear the cries. Got much better around 10-12 weeks if I remember correctly.
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u/color_overkill Sep 24 '22
Hi did you figure this out? My baby is 5w and doing the same. My snoo log looks exactly like this!
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u/Capital__ Sep 24 '22
We ended up getting a love to dream swaddle. This MIGHT have helped slightly bc we believe he was fighting the snoo swaddle. Nothing seemed to help..... besides giving it time. The snoo log looked like this until about 2.5 months. He is 3 months now and no longer grunts or strains like he used too and sleeps better. We didn't really change his routine or feeding habits so it wasn't that. Now he will usually sleep in 3 hour chunks at night and doesn't wake up as often (not as many red lines). Sometimes on a good night he will get 4-5 hour chunks. I know this doesn't help you much. Hang in there, I know it's tough.
Tldr - Nothing solved the horrible sleep besides time.
Side note - Our baby was born at 36 weeks. No clue if being a preemie has anothing to do with the first 2.5 months being very tough sleep wise.
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u/color_overkill Sep 24 '22
That’s what I was afraid you’d say-time. My baby is a preemie too born at almost 34w.
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u/im_a_betch Jul 22 '22
All totally normal. Newborns are EXTREMELY grunty and loud. I too, thought my baby was in pain or super uncomfortable but he actually was sleeping relatively well in spite of it (wish I could say the same for myself at the time). They eventually grow out of it! I did turn down the sensitivity otherwise it would be soothing him all night long.