new mum of 6 days.....

[steph01]

whats the best way to help a colic baby sleep better at night?

ah, firstly congratulations.

secondly i sympathise with the colic, and i'm afraid i didn't find much of a solution except try and go with the flow, and sleep whenever baby does. one of my dd's cried day and night for the first 4mths and it was hard going, but thankfully they do grow out of it eventually. So just be kind to yourself, don't stress about 'spoiling them' (i did and that just causes more stress!).

dd slept well in the carrier with my dp pacing the house of an evening whilst i dosed, knowing i'd be up most of the night. OR she slept on my chest in an upright chair whilst i dosed.

Take care and be good to yourself.

Hello steph, first of all congratulations. :) Is this your first baby?

Are you sure it is colic? (I don't know much about colic but I thought this usually happened a bit later?)

Anyway, at 6 days old, most babies won't sleep "better" at day or night. They sleep when then need to which is absolutely fab for them but knackering for you. :)

Do you have any practical help/support, like a dp/dh or your mum? Try and rest when you can, look after yourself. These first few days are hard ime.

With dd1 (she is nearly 8 now) she was very unsettled for the first weeks. We had it in our heads that she should go to bed at 7pm ish. Of course she didn't want that, I found it hard to get my head round the fact that she would be downstairs with us during the evening, feeding and cuddling mainly.

I was bf her and she enjoyed really long feeds, that seemed to soothe her. Dd2 only wanted short feeds so we ended up giving her a dummy to soothe her.

thank you to (hattie 11) and (onepieceofcremeegg)
The midwife at the hospital said it was colic and nothing i can do till hes a bit older, but i thought id ask anyway. He is brillliant during the day but tends to play up at night time.

I have a colicy 3 week old, and she is better with a drop of Colief (recommended by HV). He will still probably play up at night time though, he doesn't know about night and day yet. He'll get there though.

It's definitely not him 'playing up' at night it's him being a normal 6 day odl baby. They have day and night all arse about face and only time is going to help him work it out. At 6 days it might not even be colic (although colic is really a catch-all term for a baby who just cries incessantly in the evenings for the first few weeks/months)

He might just be a normal baby who is rather aggrieved at having to do all this eating lark for himself, dealing with lights and unmuffled noises for the first time, feeling the sensation of air (all dry and sometimes cold instead of that lovely warm water he's used to)

Really all you can do with colic is wait it out. With DD I used to take her upstairs into a darkened room and sit in my rocking chair and just cuddle or feed her. By about 11 weeks the screaming stopped.

thank you

I didn't think colic could start so early?

steph I also recommend plenty of cake (for you not the baby )

Cake, telly, sitting/lying down and feeding. Don't try and do too much else just yet.

Infacol, could not do without it with DS1.

Congratulations! My DS had colic.... nightmare. We swaddled DS as it was recommended to us by HV & in a boom we were reading. It seemed to help. We also used infacol...later had to use gaviscon infant prescribed by doctor.
I really hope you find some solutions.

-book-.....stupid phone!

Congratulations! It is hard work with a new born when they won't settle and are unhappy.
As said before swaddling is very good.
Find an osteopath that deals with babies and get an appiontment as soon as possible.
If you are breastfeeding watch what you are eating: nothing too spicy...
Infacol drops.
Ds2 had colic after 2 weeks and it went on for a while. It got better after the osteopath saw him. My dh strung up the car seat and used to swing ds back and forth!
I spent many an evening feeding, cuddling, walking ds.....
Good luck, I hope your baby feels better soon.

My LO is just under six weeks old now and from what I remember (sleep deprivation makes it hazy) she slept on my chest then and TBH, still does most nights.

Have you tried it? It is the only way my DD will sleep long and deeply and it does mean having to sleep in an awkward half upright position, but with the right pillows to prop you up, it can mean a lovely few hours of sleep for both of you. Only now (the last few days) is she starting to co sleep and not need to actually be on me to sleep.

Honestly I am a new mum too but if I could give any advice to another new mum, it would be to do this for a while if it helps you to sleep. It is so warm and comforting for the baby that it really helps calm them to rest.

Six weeks on I am still learning every day and I struggle sometimes too, so another piece of advice I would give is to not put pressure on yourself and to just go with the flow. And yes, lots of cake and other snacky foods you can munch on during late nights and days in bed is a brilliant idea.

Congratulations!!

Colic doesn't start so early (it's a standard MW/HV answer to crying they don't know the reason for...). He might be hungry - are you breastfeeding? If so, stick a nipple in his mouth every time he so much as squeaks! It will help your supply and at this stage LOTS of practice for both of you is the best thing.
These are the things no one tells you before you have a baby:

1. All new babies like to be held constantly, fed almost constantly and rocked nearly as much. This is a Good Thing - all these things are VITAL for their best development. The human baby has evolved to know what it needs.
2. There will be days when you are alternately pinned to the sofa and on your feet swaying to and fro. In fact it becomes so much of a habit you may find yourself swaying automatically whenever you are standing up.
3. Babies are TERRIBLE sleepers. They sleep very lightly (again this is a survival thing) and for short periods. It is not a reflection on your parenting skills, there is no magic bullet/easy answer. For your sanity, go with the flow.

Finally - good luck!!

what colicky behaviour is he exhibiting?
i'd agree that it's very early for colic.
is he breastfed? it's quite normal for little babies to need feeding a lot, perhaps it's just that?

It's not colic this early (colic just means "cries a lot" anyway, it isn't a proper diagnosis!).

Newborn babies want to be held and fed a lot at night - so if you are trying to put them down/get them to go a couple of hours between feeds/sleep in a basket at 7pm etc they will cry. Just feed, hold and cuddle your baby as much as possible - this time really passes so fast.

Is he cluster feeding? My DD2 is almost 4 weeks old and has been doing this for a couple of weeks.

Feeding all evening, crying, fussing, not be able to latch on. It's normal.

Here:

kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

I try to feed her lots in the afternoon. She still fusses/cries/cluster feeds but she does it earlier. If she's not settling but doesn't want milk I get DH to cuddle her and walk her around while I sleep. I can get an hour like this and it definitely makes a difference. She often comes back to me calmer and he'll pop her into bed with me (I wake up for that bit).

She sleeps on my chest or with her head on my arm. Once she's stopped fussing I get plenty of sleep this way.

It's hard but it passes. I keep having to remind myself too.

Congrats!! Our DS now 15 months. I generally remember the first about 2 months (he was also 6.5 weeks early, so small) of seemingly everytime he was awake he was upset and being fed every 3 hours or so, including through the night. And that was 3 hours going from beginning of feed to start of the next, and breastfeeds took aaaages to sometimes it felt like one feed rolled into the next. It was waaay tougher than I ever imagined it to be! But looking back now it was all so worth it :) Agree with comment that baby may just be hungry... they have little tummies so need to be fed frequently. Hang in there, the sleep will get better.

Would be interested to know more about how often you're feeding baby, if breastfeeding or bottle, and what colicy signs you're seeing?

With regards to helping baby sleep at night, I was breastfeeding and giving a topup bottle at night most of the time, which we found helped him sleep for a longer period at night, about 3 or 4 hours of sleep at first, which gradually got longer, but for us, he was only fully sleeping through (7pm - 6pm) at about 8 months - varies very widely from baby to baby of course!! I'd also highly recommend SMA Staydown formula which we started only at 10 months after getting tired of all the throwing up -wish we'd started this earlier. He also had lots of wind so we made sure we rubbed his back until he burped after every feed, especially bottle.