Help for 2 month old crying in day in pain with 'gas'

[gigwig]

hello, I'm posting for my sister in law who doesnt have internet access - she's really upset about her (first child) 2 month old baby daughter who cries a lot in the day with trapped gas - seems like colic except it's in the day.

She massages the baby's tummy, keeps her upright, tries to get the gas out to relief her daughter, is really watching her diet (she is breastfeeding) . Sometimes she puts the baby in her chair and she will stop crying then.

In the evenings/nights the baby is fine - sleeps fine, does not have the pain. The crying with pain is not every day - can be ok for a day then it starts again.

Its stopping my sister in law from going out in the day cos she's so upset by the crying. She is getting really upset by it. I've told her it will pass but I know it feels like for ever while it is happening.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do? I assumed it was colic but I'm not sure.

[Iklboo]

Infacol - available from Boots, supermarkets etc and not dear. tell your SIL to give baby a dropper full before every feed and wind her mid feed as well as at the end. This might help

[Iklboo]

Infacol - available from Boots, supermarkets etc and not dear. tell your SIL to give baby a dropper full before every feed and wind her mid feed as well as at the end. This might help

[EmsTomot]

My baby has terrible wind. We use Infacol before every feed - it can be increased to two droppers if the wind is terrible - we wind him every two or so ounces, which upsets him but avoids a build up before the end of the feed.
Tell your sister to try and sit her baby up after the feed for a little while to allow the milk to settle - also having a kick about on the change/play mat can help move the wind down or up.
Tom cried for three hours the other day with wind, it was so difficult because I could not do anything for him except hold him and rubbing and patting his back. Tell your sister a distraction can often calm the baby down enough to relax and get the burb up - I take Tom outside in the garden and sometimes try to put his dummy in whilst I wind him.
Also, placing the baby on his/her front across your knees (supporting the head with one arm) and rubbing their back seems to help - but difficult if they are squealing with pain.
My mom also taught us to lift Tom high in the air and then bring him swiftly down again - this can help move the wind.
I really hope some of these tips work for her - colic can happen at any time in the day - its just more common in the evening and it can be exhaustinng for baby and mommy. It does ease as they get holder, Tom is nearly three months now and is a lot better.
If Infacol is ineffective - try gripe water and if the baby won't take it off a spoon, mix one tea spoon with an ounce or so of cooled boiled water - water itself can help wind.

[Toady]

Colic starts within the first week of life and is characterised by regular,
nightly crying bouts between about 5pm and 10pm and then again between 2-3am
and 4-5am. The baby draws up his legs and appears to be in pain. Suckling
and rocking appear to help for short burts but nothing gets the baby to
sleep for long, until the end of that particular colic bout when baby falls
soundly asleep.

Colic is caused by high blood levels of certain hormones that make smooth
muscle contract. These hormones are ciculating in all of us and peak daily
between 5pm and 10pm and 2 -5 am (bingo!) Gut is made of smooth muscle and
so you can see how the pattern emerges. Now... breastmilk contains
endorphins which RELAX smooth muscle and so the picture a mum typically sees
is... baby in pain with gut contractions; baby thinks "tummy hurts and so I
must need to suckle agian"; baby suckles and receives endorphin-rich milk;
baby's gut relaxes; baby stops suckling; endorphin level drops over about
10-20 minutes; gut contractions return; baby thinks "Oooh! Tummy hurts and
so I must need to suckle again", and so on and so forth. It is easy to see
how mums think that somehow their breastmilk is actually causing the problem
whereas, really, the baby is self-medicating on endorphins.

Now, how to deal with the problem. Firstly, it can help to know that there
is no cure; just coping strategies until baby learns to ignore and cope with
these routine churnings. Next, it is useful to remember that colic is
definitely not caused by wind or foods (with a couple of notable exceptions,
for which, see later) seeping into the milk. In fact, all the weird and
wonderful ideas put forward really don't bear scrutiny: air cannot enter the
milk (if this happened, mum would die quite quickly!); breastmilk cannot
become acidic due to overeating, for instance, oranges (if this happened,
the mum would die just as quickly!!). The trick is to keep endorphin levels
as high as possible. Now, human milk contains endorphins so, breastfeeding
will always be the most obvious solution, and you cannot put the baby to the
breast too often. Also, you can do things that will stimulate baby to
produce his own endorphins: massage; skin-to-skin; rocking and jiggling; car
rides; warmth (either with swaddling or a bath), and stimulating his senses
with certain white noises such as the hoover! Just remember that endorphins
have a very short half-life, so nothing works for more than 10 - 20 minutes.

Trying to cure baby of his colic is like trying to cure him of being a baby.
He will grow out of it at about 3 months no matter what you do (everything
or nothing). Of course, if you try different remedies, whichever one you are
trying when baby is 3 months old will be hailed as a miracle cure and you
will urge all your friends to try it!!

Some great news about colic is that it is protective against SIDS and tends
to badly affect the brighter, more sociable babies (Hurrah!). Also, it is
more obvious in the atopic baby. If you have eczema, asthma, hayfever or
migraines on either side of the family, then your baby will be more severely
affected and will almost certainly be sensitive to dairy. To this end, given
that tiny dairy protein molecules can enter the milk and upset sensitive,
atopic babies, cutting out all dairy in your diet can cut down the severity
of the colic bouts. Some people also find that cutting out caffeine and/or
alcohol can help as both of these cross the bloo/brain barrier and so,
obviously can reach the milk. Don't let this make you think that other food
stuffs can enter the milk (typical "bad foods" people blame are onions,
oranges, grapes, curry, garlic and most other foods that we really, really
love) There is solid and plentiful evidence to refute this. If anyone
suggests cutting out foods, ask them to explain the precise process by which
the food gets into the milk. I find that they usually gaze at the sky for a
while and then gradually realise that onions just aren't capable of this
marvellous feat!

Your colicky baby will almost certainly turn into an outgoing, physically
active baby (the more severe the colic, the more the baby is likely to fit
this personality type) who is an utter delight to mother (although you'll
need your wits around you as the little trouper raids every cupboard in
sight!) There is light at the end of the tunnel - best to batten down the
hatches for 3 months and emerge when the storm has passed and the sun is
shining!

Hope this helps and please feel free to copy this off for desperate mums and
dads.

[tigertum]

My DS had severe colic at times. One day, his colic was so bad that we took him to A & E. We were told that its very common and in most cases things sort themselves out by about three months. And they did. It was amazing, it disapeared as fast as it came. I've heard cranial osteopathy can help, although we found out about it too late to take DS. I've heard of it helping other babies too. A friend of mines DS was very much like this too. She also took him to A & E one day because she was so worried. She was advised to spread her feeds out a bit more (she FF), from every three hours to every 3.5 4 hrs. She said that made a difference. But breastfeeding is a different kettle of fish altogether and demand feeding is, IMO, very important to keep BF going. Alos, there is the comfort of the breast issue. She could always try and distract and cuddle a bit before offering the breast straight away, until her DD gets over the colicy stage at least.

I would advise your friend to take her baby to a GP for reassurance, then I would assure your friend that even though it doesn't seem like it at them moment, it will pass and soon too if her baby is already 2 months.

[ilovecaboose]

I cut all caffine out of my diet (even chocolate) and drank fennel tea. This eased ds's a bit.

[gigwig]

thank you all for your advice - really reassuring. Fascinating information Toady - thank you. i will pass this all onto her. i didnt realise colic could be anytime of the day. You've offered lots of different things for her to try. She sounded so down about it when I spoke with her yesterday, she had a bad labour/birth too so that hasn't helped either.

[nojopo]

cranial osteo can really help if you are near london or manchester then the osteo centre for children is great - a charity so you pay what you can afford. hope this advice not too late .they are on the web if you search for occ.

[cruisemum1]

Crikey Toady, how do you know all that? that has really put my mind at rest as my 5 week old son regularly has bouts of crying - mostly at night and I was worried sick I was doing something wrong. He always gets completely frantic looking for the breast only to pull away in pain two mins later. but since he will not be pacified by anything else the cycle continues. Please tell me this is normal !!

[soph28]

My 12wk old has had colic like that since she was a couple of weeks old, Now it is only in the daytime. I know there is no cure but she is DEFINITELY much, much better when given Infacol before every feed. I know this has already been mentioned but really just to affirm what has been said. She is now almost 3 months so am hoping that she won't need it for too much longer. A good routine is also very good for colicky babies, and making sure they don't snack feed because it is the foremilk (if bf) that can make the colic worse.

[USAUKMum]

Both my DD & DS had colic -- DS had severe colic (12 hrs a day for about 4 mths, though it lessened to probably 6 hrs a day by then) Things that helped them:

• going outside (have no idea why, but they calmed)
• white noise (vaccum, fans, etc)
• being held by mommy (used a sling)
• tummy massage
• cranio.
• infacol
• for winding, place hand or leg or shoulder far down on tummy (below belly button) to get the wind up -- this seemed to help release more.

Just reading Toady's eplaination and the description of
"Your colicky baby will almost certainly turn into an outgoing, physically active baby who is an utter delight to mother (although you'll need your wits around you as the little trouper raids every cupboard in sight!) " fit both children (now 5 & 2) to a T. In fact, everyone is shocked when I say DS doesn't cry now, as I think he used it all up in the first 6 mths

[yorkshirelass79]

Message withdrawn

[alvinareagan]

My son was very colicky since his first month and nothing was working to soothe him. I started babies magic tea after getting suggestion from an old friend and it started soothing him from colic for the first time. I continued this tea and no more colic remained.