colic, crying and sleep

[phlossie]

Hi - I'm after a bit of advice, and can think of no better place to ask...

My dd is 14 weeks old. She's had what I can only describe as colic since she was about 2 weeks old. Basically, she cries inconsolably every evening - it can be other times of day, but mostly it starts around 4pm and continues until bedtime at 7.30pm. Just lately she's been crying less in the day, but waking between 3am and 4am for an hour and a half, sometimes more. The crying is textbook colic: red face, grimacing, knees up to chest, rigid tummy - and lately she's been arching her back too. She's also queen farter and, well, her poos are something else! She's a big baby (91st centile) and a greedy guts, and spits up after each feed.

What I really want advice on, is to do with sleep. I desperately want her to learn to settle herself, so we're trying the thing that worked with her big brother - bedtime routine, putting her down sleepy but awake, letting her whinge (not cry hysterically), and go to her for reassurance every 15 mins. But, two things are shaking my confidence:
1 - I don't want her to wake her brother.
2 - What if the reason she's crying is because she's uncomfortable/in pain?
Do I go to her more often? Do I get her to sleep any way possible and teach her bad sleep habits and make life difficult in the future? A couple of times she's settled herself really well so I know she's got in her... My head's just fuzzy with tiredness...

By the way - I didn't believe in colic before I had this baby!

[DaddyJ]

I'll bump this for you,
hope others who have colic experience can help.

With regard to sleep in general:

Sorry to sound like a typical Mumsnet hippie
but I wonder whether it would be better to fight one battle
at a time, i.e. leave the sleep association business for later
and focus on giving her 100% comfort during this difficult phase?

Even though I agree with you completely about the benefits
of getting her used to good sleep habits,
why don't you explore other ways of settling her
given your own doubts?
Ways that involve less whinging and more intervention
on your part: cuddling, rocking, sush/pat.

[MegBusset]

Sounds like she could have reflux, have you talked to your GP about it? You can get medication for it which should help the discomfort.

I would really get this checked out before you worry about sleep, 14 weeks is sooooo tiny and she really doesn't need to learn to go to sleep by herself yet. You will not get her into bad habits this young, just cuddle/rock/nurse and give her the comfort she needs.

[carmenelectra]

i TOO, would fight the colic battle first. If you havent already tried it then try Colief, its £10 but works a treat. Ive been using it for ds2 and he has been great until this wk, but thats a different story! You can buy it from Boots.

[phlossie]

Thanks - DaddyJ, I read your post on another thread about controlled crying at 10 weeks, and found myself responding and kind of answering my own question. Saw GP yesterday and she's happy it's just colic, and weirdly, had a brill night last night - one wake up, and breastfed back to sleep very calmly. Maybe it's because I was more chilled?
Thanks for your advice.

[DaddyJ]

Really pleased for you

Colic must be very taxing for all of you.
Fingers crossed that this phase passes soon!