The dreaded word 'colic'....

[beckymcfc]

Desperatley in need of some advice please. I have a 12 week old son who is the most chilled out and laid back baby I have ever known of. He has reflux and is having baby gaviscon with 4 of his daily feeds which seems to be working. For about the past week he has had random outbursts of screaming, and I mean in pain screaming, for no apparent reason. Sometimes when you start to feed him his bottle, others randomly in the evening and he has been sleeping more in the day, more than normal.

Family are using the dreaded C word and i'm looking to you experienced mums for advice.

I've tried giving him cooled boiled water which seems to help bring up a big burp or two and holding him facing outwards in the crook of my arm and swinging him, again which seems to help a little.

I'm slightly concerned though as he missed a bottle yesterday and on Sunday as he was too fussy to take it and would rather have his dummy and cuddles.

Any advice gladly welcomed...

DS1 had what I can only describe as 'spasms' of pain. Tended to be after he was fed and went on for about an hour. He cried an awful lot though all the time for about 4 months and wasn't a chilled-out baby. I put it down to wind/gripe/immature digestion - all those things that go on in the first few months. He eventually 'unravelled' and calmed down so I'm sure your son will too within the next 2 months. Seems like ages I know, but you'll look back and think it was nothing!
Colic is usually characterised by screaming crying but for hours on end at least 3 days a week and the baby is very hard to soothe. It doesn't sound like your baby has that.

I hope its not colic as I know that can last for months. He's definately in pain when he cries out but its not for hours on end. I think it's trapped wind as he's strugelling taking his bottle sometimes.

I guess if you're giving your ds infant Gaviscon then you've been to the GP and they have diagnosed reflux... My ds had reflux, and there were no easy answers. I found this book: Colic Solved: The Essential Guide to Infant Reflux and the Care of Your Crying, Difficult-To- Soothe Baby by Bryan Vartabedian quite interesting, although it didn't exactly 'solve' reflux for my ds, just helped me to understand it better. I suppose I thought he would grow out of it quickly, but I'm sorry to say in my ds's case it took quite a while. Have you tried things like cot blocks to tilt the head of his cot/basket, wedges to position under his mattress etc? We had all of this, and basically couldn't lie him flat at all. Plenty of holding him upright and carrying in the sling, and found that when we bought a stroller the tilted backwards position rather than flat on his back helped. There are other things that can be prescribed if you don't think the Gaviscon is working. We saw a consultant but basically because ds was so big (despite being sick constantly) they were never concerned, so nothing else was prescribed. Is your ds's weight ok? If you are concerned press your GP for an appointment with a specialist. Then I suppose there are things like cranial oesteopathy etc to try. I haven't tried them myself - but people say they can be fantastic for little ones with reflux. I know its not easy... hope things get easier for you.

Mmm, sounds like reflux still. Take your ds back to GP, especially if he's missing feeds. Gaviscon is the least effective treatment for reflux and if you read MN boards, doesn't hit the spot for a lot. Your ds may need an acid suppressant or it cld be that he has out-grown his dose.