Colic - OMG how am I going to survive the next 2 months???

[Mellin]

DS is 7 weeks old and in the last week has been extremely colicky during the day, especially the afternoon. He often has long screaming sessions, he won't bear lying flat for any period of time and is having short interrupted naps during the day.

DD (almost 3) never had colic and I am at a bit of a loss of how to deal with it. I'm feeling like a bit of a failure today as I can't comfort my gorgeous baby boy.

So I'm looking for some coping strategies from those who have been through it.... so far I am trying the following;

• wearing him in a sling (bjorn) but he doesn't seem to like it much. Squirms a lot and cries
• colic hold (relief for short periods)

Any advice??

Gripe water and cranial osteopathy both helped a little for my DS. Nothing cured it, but they do grow out of it so its just a case to living through it for the time being.

It's a nightmare but it does end. Usually by 12 weeks or so. Good luck and stay strong.

Sling helped most for us with DS2 - he got used to it pretty quickly. Also letting him lie flat on his tummy on me in the early evening (when it was worst). Cranial osteo didn't seem to make much difference, tbh. Ditto infacol. Hated the bath, so warm bath out.
It ended like a switch being thrown at 11 weeks, though, so maybe not too long to go? It's hell, though - you have my heartfelt sympathy!

I took dd to a chiropractor who specialised in this in sheer desperation and it seemed to help although may have been just the passage of time.

colief good too though expensive.

Maybe try a different sling from the bjorn, my karime wrap sling was a miracle worker.

Get some colief.

Also consider trying lactose free formula - think cow and gate do it.

Lactose intolerance has been linked to colic.

could you try a different sling - a wraparound one perhaps? Then the baby might be in a more comfortable position than in a baby bjorn - with legs up.

I know how you feel
the noise of a hair dryer sometimes stops my DS from crying. gripe water helps. infacol or dentinox didn't work for us.
carrying in an upright position, facing me.
I sometimes iron a muslin square to make it warm and put it on his tummy.
we have been to a cranial osteopath twice, but I am not sure if it's helped.
also trying out some tommee tippee anti colic bottles. we do get nights with just an hour of screaming, as opposed to 5.
it is very heart breaking and exhausting

Thanks for the responses, feels strangely comforting that I am not alone in this.

creditcrunched - can you tell me more about cranial osteo? Have heard it mentioned on here before but don't know what it involves really.

He is bf, but has one bottle of formula during the night (aptimil) so might investigate the lactose free option.

re slings, I was wondering if another sling might be better. He is heavy (5.5kg) and I am small. Maybe I will post on the slings topic for recommendations.

Really, I know I might be clutching at straws thinking there is a miracle cure out there for us. But it makes me feel better knowing I am trying to find something that helps...

thanks for all the comments so far.

We had colief prescribed by the GP so maybe worth asking?

We also tried:

• Infacol
• baby chiropractor
• baby acupuncture
• sling (Karime)
• sleeping him on a slope (yellow pages under moses basket)
• out in the buggy or car if really bad
• baby massage

Not sure which of these worked but with DS it went before 12 weeks, at about 9 I think. It was about the time he 'straightened out' (i.e. wasn't such a curled up new born).

Good luck.

oooh Melin I certainly know how you feel, my dd 2.6 years had bad colic as a baby and I used to wish the time come when it would all go. She would cry from 9am-9pm nonstop and inconsolable. I used to used infacol, i also had a baby rocker which vibrated that used to relax her and help her off to sleep. Gripe water i also found was good. I felt so down about it and it triggered the postnatal depression which thank goodness has gone now. We are a bit tight on money and could not afford alternative treatments, just had to ride it out.

Oh Mellin I feel your pain I really do. It's awful I know, i had the same with my DD now 6 months. Sometimes I found feeding her again helped - she was bf too. Have you tried that? Knees up and down to chest sometimes made a difference. We also raised head of Moses basket. When all else failed it was out in the pram and round the park. But mostly we just had to ride it out. It got better at about 12 weeks I think. Hang on in there.

We used infacol with dd2, but it made minimal difference. What did help was my wonderful dp would just take dd2 from me when he got home, and put on the headphones, shut the living room door and cuddle her and walk her about while I put dd1 to bed, then sorted myself out a bit - bliss to have a bit of time out. Normally it would be all over by around 8.30. So it was coping strategy rather than cure. But it did finish about 2 1/2 to 3 months, at which point she started sleeping through at night to a greater extent, and I was a new person!

It is awful hearing them cry and cry tho - I feel very for you, but it will end...

Mellin - trying cutting out dairy from your diet and see if that makes a difference.

I've had it with both my DC. There is nothing like it. Unless you've been through it you can have no idea just how wretched it makes you feel.

We tried:

• Gripe Water
• Cranial Osteopath
• baby sling
• long walks in the pram with DH until midnight
• massaging tummy
• white noise CD this one was good
• lots of walking around, patting and shushing
• swaddling

It went by 12 weeks with both mine, but it is HELL ON EARTH. Try and get a break if you can.

Hope you see an end to it soon x

mellin, i can't offer any help unfortunately but my 5wk DD seems to be similar. she will not be put down and barely sleeps unless we are in the car or pram and moving.it is becoming really stressful and i also have a 3yo DD to see to. infacol and cranial didnt work for us, have just embarked on gripe water and fennel tea so fingers crossed...

have got a bit of respite today with her lying on her side propped up.

A Tummy tub worked really well for our DD (until it was time to take her out )
Also got a bit of respite with a dummy but wish we hadn't used it now as I think it played a part in buggering up breastfeeding for us.
Hoovering whilst she was in her Moby wrap (at least I had clean carpets)
Holding her on her side, swaying and jigging.
We also saw a cranial osteopath - I'm not sure if it worked or not but the bad evenings were mostly out of the way by the time she was 10 weeks.
It's awful at the time & I felt like I'd failed & just wanted to go back and start again but it DOES get better (I didn't believe anyone when they said that but it does.

DS1 was a nightmare, cranial did make a difference as did baby massage. We also had a hideous fisher price swing that he loved and kept him quiet for at least 20 minutes. He liked a dummy too. But to be prefectly honest, if you've fed, changed and tried to comfort him, just put him down and shut a few doors between you both. I really wish I'd done that.
Just remembering I also found the creche at the gym good as he would cry at someone else for a hour or so.
DS1 was a nightmare for 11 months then started walking and has been fairly lovely ever since!!
Carole

im so sorry your going through this. my ds almost caused me a mental breakdown, seriously. I also started smokin again. bad i know. the best things i found was

sling
white noise
raising your babys cot at the head end even with books or something
a bucket bath
change your bottle to MAM ones they are great and also try different milks.
swaddle and cuddle upright.
holding him/her with your arm accross the front

hope this helps.
i went to my hv every week askin for help.

get as much help as you can

re the osteopath - he /she basically does some very small manipulation of the baby's head. You can't actually see them doing very much, other than them gently holding the baby's head.
I was so sleep deprived at the time that I don't remember the theory properly, but it was something about the birthing process putting pressure on the babies bones and getting them out of alignment.
My ds was quite quiet for a few days after each session, it cost about £30 a time I think. But as I said before,the colic always came back....until he grew out of it.
HTH

My DS was horribly colicky and hated being held. He would scream inconsolably if he got overtired. The only things that worked were very long walks with the pushchair or the noise from a hairdryer/hoover. I couldn't take him anywhere because I knew if he started crying it just would not stop. I was bloody miserable and (as he was my first) felt as though it was all my fault.

With DD, I avoided the baby gym, baby toys, baby yoga and anything 'stimulating' (and uneccessary) until she got to 12 weeks. I also made sure she got plenty of rest/opportunity to rest during the day. I swaddled her for every nap too. She cried far less than DS but whether it was due to what I did or just her temperament I don't know. Swaddling never worked for my DS.

I will probably be flamed for this but if you are really losing the plot, put them outside their pushchair if you can do so safely and leave them to it for 10 mins while you do something else. Obviously not a regular solution but it won't kill them!

It will pass and before you know it, your 3 year old will be making him laugh.

1 word COLIEF!!!! expensive but available on prescription. It was an utter godsend!!!

My baby didn't have bad colic but what helped her enormously was an automatic swinging rocker with white noise. It calmed her no end so much so that she napped in it all the time and it helped her to sleep well at night (in her cot). It created no long term sleep dependency as by 6 months she was doing all her napping in the cot and without white noise.

We used a Graco swing.

What also helped her was infacol and, more importantly, infant Gaviscon (as her reflux was making her cry endlessly).

what helped with my ds was for me to sit on my gym ball with him in my arms, usually cuddled so that his tummy was against my chest, and bounce gently. Even if he was screaming fit to bust when I started bouncing within at most 10 mins he had usually gone to sleep.

you're at the worst point for colic, and it should get slightly better soon.

Harvey karp's book, 'The Happiest baby on the Block' was a godsend for DS1, who was colicky.

The techniques are based on swaddling and white noise (the 5 Ss) - you could cheat and google them?

Swaddle Sssss (white noise, must be louder than baby's crying)
Side/stomach - crying babies freak out if they are on their back
Swing (support neck and jiggle/vibrating baby chair)
Suck - dummy or boob

colicky crying comes in 3-4 phases over 15 mins so you're looking, initially, at 15 mins of the 5 5Ss to calm the baby.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. There are lots of new ideas for me to try to stop these screaming bursts.

Kwanker5 is definitely right, it seems to be worse if he is overtired/hasn't napped properly (which is bloody hard to get him to do!)

For those of you for which walks in the pram worked - were they lying on their back or did you prop them up in the pram? DS hates lying flat on his back, thus hates the pram. I was wondering about propping him up but guidelines say they should lie flat until 6 months.

I agree with Orissiah, the best for calming ds's Colic, after Cranial Oseopath (as mentioned lasted for only a few days) was definately a Baby Swing, on quite a fast setting. As previously mentioned the strong "s" worked, quite fast strong swinging accross your tummy side to side whilst firm bottom smacking on the nappy and loud shhhh'ing. Was quite shocked when I first saw it but it really worked. Good luck, only a few more weeks to go, we notice a massive improvement once started weaning.