How can I make my extremely baby happy or find out the cause of his distress?

I don't even know where to begin. My son is about to be 9 months. From the day I brought him home he has done nothing but scream. Literally. Drs said he couldn't have colic yet but then when he was a little over a month they said colic. he has been on four different formulas. He is so unbelievably fussy, spits up alot, does not sleep well, whines and whimpers constantly. He has always been like this. Now everyone says its teething. Im sure that does cause some of the issues but nobody including the dr will get through their heads he's been like this since birth. he can do normal baby things. sit up, babble, walk in walker, just started crawling last week. he loves to me copied when he makes noises, loves patty cake and peek a boo. but when I sit him in the floor to play with his toys he instantly starts whining. ill pick him up it continues. he will crawl around for a few minutes then start getting mad. same with the walker and everything else I mentioned. he will not ever stay content. is it boredom with his toys? is it boredom with me? we don't go alot because of his behavior. before it got cold I did put him in the stroller and go on walks. he likes that. I just worry im doing something wrong or there is something wrong with him that im just not getting? is it normal for a baby to almost always be grouchy? I mean, he does have his happy moments everyday on and off but for the most part he is just fussy. no ear infections and his well child checkups always are good. he seems to do all the milestones for his age. I have noticed with babbling though, he will do it alot for a while then wont much at all. is that normal? he recently started sayin ma-ma and not trying to brag ;) but only says it to me. he also does this thing where he moves his hand and arms really weird when waiting on his food or not happy. kinda flapping circular motion? my parents say I did it too as a baby but is it normal? im asking a million questions I know. I just want to know what am I doing wrong? what can I do to make him happy? its hard to bond with him. I cant keep him entertained. I myself am going through things and I know that isn't helping. somedays im just so depressed maybe he senses it? in summary, he is beyond fussy when the drs said he would outgrow colic by now, still spits up, never content for long, doesn't sleep good, whines alot. I tried figuring out what his temperment is. All I know is he's very loud when mad or happy. responds to smiles and laughs or serious faces. doesn't have much interest in his toys all of a sudden, like I said maybe bored with them. all of this still doesn't describe him exactly. I honestly don't know how. I am alone with him all day every day so nobody really knows except me. help please. I want him to be happy and comfortable. I would just like to know how to make him happy or know if anyone has any suggestions to what it might be?

Concerning the spitting up, make sure you burp him good after his bottle and use the collapsible bottle liners instead of feeding him out of the bottle directly. The liners keep him from ingesting air which can cause stomach pains.

Until a child learns to talk, their entire communication system is smiling when they're happy, crying when they're unhappy and screaming when they're angry. Babies start learning what works and what doesn't at the very beginning. Your son's unable to explain what he wants yet but has learned that when he cries he gets your full attention and you pick him up.

There is a different sound to a baby crying when he's in distress than when he has an unfulfilled want. Learn to hear that difference. When he cries, check his diaper, make sure he isn't hungry, thirsty, has been burped and that there are no signs he's sick. If everything is OK, put him in a nearby room alone with his toys and let him cry. If you pick him up and play with him when he has his smiley face on and put him in another room when he cries, he'll catch on quickly.

Once he learns to talk, you will have a better means of communication than having to decipher the sounds he's making now but, as soon as you can, you want him to start having periods of time where he entertains himself. Those are his first steps to independence.

Every parent has the concerns you're asking about with their first child. You're always afraid you're missing something. Our first was like your description above. By the time we got to our fourth and fifth it became a breeze.

My first born was exactly like this. Remember to breath. Patience is going to get you through this more than anything. It does sound like your child does have colic. Some babies are 18 months old when they grow out of it, some can grow out of it in weeks. My son was about 11 months old. They say colic is caused when they are hungry all the time but no matter how much my son ate, he still seemed to be in pain. He probably is teething on top of whatever pain he is having from colic. But also, my grandmother told me a story of a student she had. He also lived down the street and she was friends with his parents. She aid when he was little all he did was cry and scream. A cry of pain. No one could seem to figure out what was wrong with him. This went on for years. He couldn't for some reason explain what was wrong or hurting. Finally when he was a junior in high school he went to a specialist that discovered he had a spine problem, and that whatever it was he had he was born with. He had surgery to have it corrected. My grandmother had him as a student when he had his surgery. Se said that she could tell such a difference. He went from a kid in pain, to a happy kid! Full of life. I hope your son was like mine and just has colic and will grow out of it soon! But you may want to have the doctor check his body for pain. Push on his belly and back and see if he becomes uncomfortable.