Colic or CMPA how do I carry on?

[Ma2024]

Looking for some advice here because I don't know how much longer I can do this....

My baby is 8.5 weeks old and has the most horrendous crying fits, it seems like it's digestion related because she will lift up her legs and I can literally hear the grumbling in her lower abdomen

We have tried everything, gripe water, infacol, pace feeding, regular burping and tummy massage bicycle legs... I've now ended up on colief since Saturday and I'm not seeing any improvement

My mum said my sister had a cows milk protein intolerance and when I was born she only used wysoy with me out of fear I had it too, so it's possible I had the same. Could that be it?

She doesn't have a rash and doesn't vomit excessively although we have had a couple of projectiles... she had a bought of reflux so we use gaviscon when that flairs up

What's happening here and how do I resolve this for a baby that is constantly upset we get about 20 minutes collective happy time a day and I just cannot anymore

I am exclusively breastfeeding if that changes anything

Is this colic or Is this CMPA? What were your experiences with either and when did it stop?!

Have you gone dairy free in your diet? My niece is properly lactose intolerant and my sister had to cut it out of her diet when breastfeeding.

If your breastfeeding go dairy free takes a few weeks to see an improvement though

DS had CMPA, and was very, very miserable for the first few weeks, he would scream constantly. After we saw the GP as he was failing to gain weight, she told us that it would take too long to get all the dairy out of my system, and DS would likely end up in hospital. So we switched straight away to a dairy free formula.
We saw a massive improvement with the first formula we tried, but DS was still suffering with reflux and keeping feeds down so he was switched to a fully hydrolysed dairy free formula and he became almost instantly the happiest, smiliest baby in the world.
So in your case I would see the GP and ask about trialling a dairy free formula. I know it’s tough when you want to breast feed but the difference it made to DS was honestly more than worth it.

There were IG and non IG allergies so not even a blood test can be definitive. The only real test is to exclude all different of dairy and preferably soy based products ( the protein chains are very similar and a milk protein allergy is also likely to elicit a reaction from soy based products).
Breast feeding is harder from an elimination point of view as you have to remove even traces which means reading all packets and then waiting a couple of weeks on a non diary diet to see if a change occurs. Giving a baby an amino formula, which is the most hypoallergenic type, instead of breast milk will demonstrate if there is still a problem. Would you consider either going totally dairy and soy free or switching to formula to see it if helps. Often within one or two feeds on formula there is an obvious difference so it might be something you want to consider depending on the severity of your baby's symptoms and the overall desperation Level.

Yup, it's worth you going dairy free to see if it makes a difference and then maybe thinking about dairy free formula.

The other thing that might help a little is to lay her face down across your forearm and support her chin so her head is higher than her tummy whilst rubbing her back.

It's so, so hard when they're in pain - take any help that's offered and be kind to yourself.

DS had colic when he was tiny but I think the difference here is that he had it predictably at the same time every evening, from about 6 to 9 pm - for a couple of months nothing worked, and then when he was about 3 months old it miraculously went away, which is the classic pattern with colic.
I would say if your baby is uncomfortable all day long, there’s something else going on.
If you want to breastfeed, maybe you could combination feed with a special formula whilst you go dairy free, if that’s what you want to do?

How long did it take to see a difference after the switch?

We saw a change within the first 24 hours of him starting the first formula. Like I say, he still had issues, hence the change to the next formula, but after 24 hours he was screaming significantly less, was far more settled, slept better and his appetite improved.
The main reason we went straight to the formula rather than me going dairy free was because I was advised it could take up to 6 weeks for all traces of dairy to be out of my system, and given that not only was DS not gaining weight, but he was so miserable I felt like the six weeks wait would have been torturous for us all. And to look at home now you’d never know there had been any issue.

If you do choose to go down the formula route though just one word of warning- it smells absolutely disgusting. But DS didn’t seem to mind and couldn’t get enough of it 😀

Slightly different as my DS was in NICU when they diagnosed CMPA, but they also advised me to go soy free as they said most kids who struggle to digest dairy also struggle with soy. They had me pump and dump for a fortnight to clear both from my system before I could feed him again but he was much happier after the swap.

UPDATE

We are now two weeks dairy and soy free and it's like having a different baby.

We struggled with reflux but we've got that under control with some omeprazole and now we have a baby who is actually chill sometimes, she's taking in the world and showing an interest in things around her for the first time

I'm so thankful for you all sharing your experiences and thoughts it helped me see what we needed to do

Life seems more manageable again and whilst she will never be a chill baby she is at least not suffering anymore

We've got a long road ahead starting with a home challenge to confirm it and then trying to find a formula to supplement feeding and make weaning easier but at least we're on the right path

Glad to hear things are improving OP - you can start your enjoy your relationship now. Best of luck!