sorry to those who have read before but here is an interesting read on colic in babies up to 3 months.
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!