Blowing the cobwebs off this one!
Mainly because if you google "easiest way to use colief when breastfeeding" , this thread appears at the top of the list.
If any of the original posters are reading (your babies are probably at uni by now!) thanks - I am going to take your advice and express a few oz into a bottle and keep in fridge.
My best friend is a doctor who gave Colief to her ff baby, and she was with me last night when I was googling this, and said the following, which was useful: ( I hope I can remember it properly!)
Colic is a term doctors use for these symptoms (crying 3hrs+ for 3days+, usually from 3-12 weeks, drawing knees to chest, arching back, etc etc) but they think that colic can be caused by different things.
ONE of these possible causes is temporary lactose sensitivity (not intolerance) in young babies, where the digestive system hasn't matured enough to have the lactase enzyme which breaks down the sugary lactose (milk protein) properly.
Colief is not a medicine, it is the lactase enzyme in a bottle.
Colief will only work on some babies, where the colic is likely caused by this lactase deficiency. (Most babies are able to produce enough lactase by themselves at 12 weeks, so colief should no longer be necessary.) If you have a colicky baby, it is worth trying Colief even just as a diagnostic tool, as if it is used properly it should help a baby with this condition.
In breastfeeding babies, 4drops of Colief should be put into a tablespoon'ish of body temperature milk and should be used within half an hour). If the milk is too hot, or too cold, then the enzyme isn't as effective. If the milk is straight from the fridge, the Colief will work eventually, but it takes much longer, so that is why they tell you that the milk must be warm.
You can't administer the Colief directly into the mouth, because the enzyme needs the protection of the milk, otherwise the stomach acids destroy it (although there are posters on here who say it works, so maybe that is wrong...) and it won't work.
My friend isn't sure why, but in her experience Colief works better for formula fed babies. She thinks this could be because it is the foremilk in breast milk which has most lactose in it, but that is just her speculation. It could also be because it is easier to administer colief to ff babies.
Which brings us neatly back to why I was googling "easiest way to use Colief" and not just asking my friend.
I have had four extremely colicky babies (ds3 screamed every night from 3-9 weeks, from 11pm to 5am!!). Most doctors just tell you to 'live through it' which makes me furious - if they had agony for 9 weeks in a row, would they just 'live through it'?!?
We 'lived through it' with dds1&2, but were at the end of our ropes with ds3, and finally tried Colief, which sorted him out almost overnight. I thought it was coincidence, so stopped using it - only to go straight back into screaming hell. Started again and all peace! After two weeks we tried stopping again (couldn't afford it and didn't realise it could be prescribed), and he was okay.
My very sceptical best doctor friend tried it on our recommendation and it worked for her immediately too. It hasn't worked for another friend - so obviously isn't a cure-all.
When ds4 got colic at 5 weeks, I couldn't bear the faff/expense of colief, so didn't try it till I got so upset by his pain and screaming two weeks later. He has now been on it for a week and is soooo much better. However, it is still the most ginormous PITA, so that is why I was looking for easier ways to use it (having recently spent the day on a train, hand expressing into a cup to put the colief into, every time he fed!!).
I am now going to try:
Expressing an ounce or two of foremilk before feeding every morning and putting it into the fridge... while he yells with hunger, sorry baby :(
When he wants a feed, taking the milk out of the fridge, pouring a tablespoon into a cup, bringing it to room temperature and adding the colief, then using syringe/cup to administer.
It is still So Annoying that it is so difficult to use... But at least he isn't screaming as much - and he has been sleeping six hours every night since we started Colief, so not giving that up!!
Doctor friend says that you can use Infacol with colief if you want, it might help if you had a baby who is both windy and lactose sensitive, but usually people find that they are ok with just one or the other. (Infacol works by helping the gas bubbles come up, so is totally different from colief).
Whoah, definitely wasn't meaning to write such a huge post on such a zombie thread, but hope my friends knowledge helps if anyone else looks up same thing. If anyone does have easier way to give colief, pleeeease let me know?!