Not coping with ds2's all-day colic

[nickytwotimes]

Had a lot of support of bf thread already but I am not coping.
AM continuing to bf, he continues to gain weight well. I cuddle him all day and co-sleep and let him nurse whenever he wants.
He is 4 wks today.
HV just told me worst colic she's seen in ages.
It is awful. I am struggling to stand it. Today I yelled at him and I hit my head off the wall a dozen times in frustration.
Have tried loads of suggestions except the cranial osteopathy (none here) and dairy-free as this is not an option as I am barely managing to get food as it is.
Wtf can I do? I am scared for my mental health and I can't stand seeing him in this much discomfort.
I hear people moaning about colicky evenings lasting 3 or 4 hours and think HA, you lucky sod, only a few hours! Or people moaning about cluster feeding - I;d hppily cluster feed all night if he was happy, but he isn;t and is constanly fighting and pulling and screamiong.

Do you think he could have reflux? Doesn't always have to mean they vomit a lot. Could be in a lot of pain.

I do really think you need time away from the baby though, banging your head off a wall

really is not good for you- I know- I've been there!

My ds was terrible, cried non stop, very grumpy and irritable as a baby.

I really would try leaving him with family for an hour or 2 and just getting some perspective on it.

It really won't last forever. That's all I can say really, it won't last forever.

are you sure it's colic? My DS screamed all the day every day for the first few months of this life. Everyone in RL told me he had colic. Mumsnet told me he might have reflux. Guess who was right...?
I really think it's worth investigating. As is cow milk protein intolerance. My DS had both.

I was about to write this post about my 3 week old. He turns purple with rage and almost never sleeps at all in the day, maybe the odd 20min. I can't get anything done. I have no life, I just feel trapped with a screaming monster. All the advice is about picking him up and soothing and rocking, with makes no difference. I just want to go out and escape.

Colic tends to be crying in the evening. All day crying sounds more like reflux as others have said. Does he arch his back? Frequent feeding is also quite common with reflux.
I'd go to the GP if I were you and also mention your mental health. Too, too much for you to cope with my yourself.
Good luck.

Have you tried bottle feeding yet? You can keep pumping too so your supply won't dwindle.
We had a horrible musical swing for DS1 which kept him quite for a few minutes.

Could he be over tired? They need loads of sleep in the first few weeks - he may just need leaving (upstairs? - with a few doors shut) to go to sleep.

I really feel for you, we had a really colicky first.

Forgot to mention - try a dummy too x

Oh, OP and strawberrycake - you must find a way to get some time out, even if only for an hour. I'm at 12 weeks and things have settled down somewhat, but there were days when nothing seemed to work, and altho it sounds ten times worse at your end I sympathise so much. Some people say swaddling although it never helped us. You will get through it. You will.

thank you guys
after another bad night and morning i have gone dairy and soya free and going to gp tomorrow. hope something helps.

nickytwotimes, maybe you could have a look at this website crying over spilt milk before your appointment. There is a list of symptoms of reflux on there, if your DS seems to show a few of them, I would write them down. I went to see my GP armed with a list like this to make sure I wouldn't forget anything and leave with nothing.
Good luck for tomorrow and keep us posted.

I've come back with an idea for you, I know all babies are different but I took my mother's advice and gave him carraway seed tea (very common remedy in eastern europe). It's like my baby has been swapped, he dozed most the day on me, calmly took the bottle and filled a number of nappies. Was sick, but not the constant dribbling up of milk. I hope and pray it has the same effect for you. I gave him a small amount 2/3 times over the course of the last few days. Half a litre of water in a pan with half a teaspoon of carraway seeds. Boil and simmer until it looks like tea, strain and give warm from the bottle. Awful, but I actually felt I liked him today...

my DS1 was awful too and i gave him camomille (brew a handful of camomille flowers in boiled water) and it worked rather well!
good luck
ps: can your DP/DH take a day off next week to relieve you?

guys, it is reflux.
got diagnosed at hospital.
he has classic symptoms - seems obvious now!
thanks forthe help!

Oh thank goodness, I just saw this and was inwardly screaming "reflux! reflux!" So glad you have a diagnosis. If they give you Gaviscon and it doesn't help don't panic, look on here, loads of threads with other suggestions.

That's great that you've found out what was wrong with him poor mite. Hope things get better for you both from here.

If it is reflux then please please PLEASE don't fill your little man with medication as the doctors will probably advise. PLEASE try dietary changes first - go on a bland diet free of fruit, veg, dairy, egg and spicy stuff - basically stop eating anything tasty (!) and stick to that for a week. You should see a BIG improvement. I know you say you haven't got time but it doesn't take two minutes to make a ham sarny or put some rice on to boil or put a potato in the microwave. I hope this doesn't sound unfriendly but whenever I read things like this I feel an overwhelming sense of panic because I know what's coming next... we've been prescribed such and such - most reflux will totally resolve if you follow a bland dairy and soya free diet and elevate the mattress a little at night. I have been through this twice myself (DD2 screamed ALL day and ALL night) and run a reflux website so I do know what I'm talking about!

nickytwotimes, I'm pleased you have a diagnosis. It's a shame he has reflux, but I imagine it must be a great relief to know what is wrong. What have they advised/ prescribed?

SuperAmoo what's your site please? I have a reflux DD and trying to avoid stuffing her with medicines - tried Gaviscon and it helped but made her constipated and was v worried about what it might do to her delicate insides. Do you recommend probiotic drops? Hope you don't mind me asking!

DS1 had a very bad silent reflux,
somethings which helped for us were

put him on his tummy across your knees and stick your index finger in his mouth to suck on, holding the fleshy pad of the finger against the roof of his mouth, this was the only thing that really calmed my DS, sometimes i would sit like this for hours.

putting him to sleep on his front, some people panic about this but this was suggested to me by the HV who said as long as he is in the same room/bed as you it was fine.

get a baby carrier which keeps him upright e.g. Babybjorn. this was like a sleep machine, I ended up wearing it nearly all day.

you have my sympathy, it is awful and I hate to say it but it may well last till you wean (my doctor advised weaning at 20 weeks because of the reflux and it disappeared within 24hrs)

Zoonose - I am kind of between sites at the moment - I am in the middle of transferring from one to the other and neither of them are 100% up to date at the moment. If you take a look at refluxbabies.co.uk/diagnosis-of-gastroesophageal-reflux.php?cat=2

There's lots of info categories on the left hand side and at the bottom of the list there are product categories. If you see something you're interested in or have any questions please do email me at [email protected]