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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Please Help - Colic??

14 replies

FlaminSnowball · 02/11/2007 15:31

Please can you help. I have one unhappy little boy. He is 5 weeks on Sunday and for the past 2 days he has been miserable. I can hear loads of air bubbles trapped in his tummy. He has been on Infacol sinceweek 1 as he has been "windy" since birth. but he cried pretty much all day yesterday,and would not sleep. Last night he stayed in his moses baskett for an hour and then woke up uncomfortable kicking his legs etc. i managed to get him settled on me and let him sleep there as he was so tired. Today i have not been able to get him in themoses baskett, he has not cried much today but again he will only seem to settle on me. He will go in the moses baskett for about 4 minutes then wake up and start kicking his legs again. He has been farting alot over the 2 days too i keeo thinking that the farts will make him better but then it just starts up again. I have had no sleep since the only way i could keep him happy was to let him setlle on me. The HV has just said it's colic, but can colic go on like this or i it just trapped wind that i have to wait to pass?. What can i do and what am i doing wrong? Any help is much appreciated. On another note,he never normally will sleep downstairs during the day but today he's nodding on and off on my knees.

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RubySlippers · 02/11/2007 15:35

colic tends to be a concentrated period of crying in the late afternoon/early evening

do you give the infacol before every feed? I was told this made it more effective

is he sick at all during or after feeds?

Original poster
FlaminSnowball · 02/11/2007 15:48

He is sometimes sick after feeds. He is also sick a while after and it looks like saliva withwhite bits in where im guessing it was being digested. I forgot to mention he is exclusivly breastfed. Yes he has the infacol before every feed. I just feel so bad for him. He seems to strain too and grunts.

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tiktok · 02/11/2007 15:54

Flamin - is he mostly happy when he is settled on you? And only unhappy when he is in his Moses basket?

If that's the case, then it's not colic, or anything at all, in fact.

Hearing his wind is not really an issue, as anyone can all hear rumblings and gurglings if they put their ear to a baby's tum. Farting is not really significant, either - again, all natural!

What do you think?

jabuti · 02/11/2007 16:13

hi flamin, is it possible that you ate something different in these last 2 days? i gave my DD a hell of a time when i ate blue cheese one day, and the same happened with chillies.

Original poster
FlaminSnowball · 02/11/2007 16:42

He is normally fine in his basket. he wad crying on me too until i managed to get him comfy. I thought the grumbling in his belly was significant as he was quiet and then i would hear grumbles and he would start crying. I jusy put him diwn again as was very settled and looking around he went to sleep fine in his basket so i fell asleep too and he has just woken up again 30 minutes later kickinh his legs throwing his head back.

Jabuti - i cant think of anything different i've eaten.

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tiktok · 02/11/2007 16:45

Flamin - I am still unconvinced, sorry, that this is anything more than a baby who has discovered his favourite comfy place is close to mum.....

RubySlippers · 02/11/2007 16:48

being sicky can be a sign of reflux
however, could also be he enjoys being close to you
if you want to get him to sleep in his basket, then i would highly recommend swaddling him

Original poster
FlaminSnowball · 02/11/2007 16:49

yesterday the only way i seemed to be able to settle him was walking around bouncing him. DH managed to settle him last night on his knee slightly sat up. I even resorted to taking him for a drive for an hour yesterday morning just to get him to quieten down and sleep fpr a while.

It's driving me crazy, I feel like a useless mum

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RubySlippers · 02/11/2007 16:51

he could also be very over-tired
babies need a lot less awake time than you may think
a feed, burp and nappy change will knacker most babies out
over-tried babies are very hard to settle

don't feel useless - you aren't

jabuti · 02/11/2007 17:05

i agree with ruby, i was overtiring my DD in the beginning too. but it could be something else, just so hard to tell with babies! have you tried slanting a bit his mattress so if there is any milk coming back up it doesnt upset him?

Original poster
FlaminSnowball · 02/11/2007 17:26

I've just re-read my post and just to clarify he screamed on me all day yesterday. when hehas settled on me today he kind of just dosed off then if hehad a pain or something he starts kicking his legs out on me too. I agree he is overtired now but he will only sleep for 10-30 minutes before screaming again

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moocowme · 02/11/2007 18:25

my DS is 5 weeks and was just like this. he was only comfortable when sitting up or on my shoulder. i got him some infant gaviscon and he calmed down imediately on taking it. went to GP and she said its natural and will pass in about 6-8 weeks. haha i think thats torture so we are continuing with the gaviscon and sitting up after feeding. elevated his crib as well.its like having an entirely different baby now.

monkeybird · 02/11/2007 20:34

Sorry you're having a rough time - you're not doing anything wrong... babies don't come with a set of rules - mine (3 now including the latest 10 week old) all were like this and it is pretty much normal for such a young baby. You might want to think about giving up the idea of a baby sleeping quietly in the corner for a while and just hold him, bounce him in a sling or give him to dad or grandma... But if he doesn't settle on someone's chest then there's lots of things you can try. By all means try the reflux options but lots of babies that don't have reflux behave like this too...

...we found the following helpful - try them and see if they work for you but there's no guarantees!:

  • vacuum cleaner, washing machine or long loud humming - no idea why it works but the white noise soothes some babies
  • swaddling so their arms waving around aren't overstimulating them and so they feel secure
-feeding at every opportunity: babies often cluster feed for 1-3 days when they're having a growth spurt or needing to build up the supply. Gradually you'll become better at recognising these periods but at first it's difficult. Some people say it's every three weeks but IME it was whenever... My 10 weeks old is fussy and demanding and windy in the evenings and wants to feed more regularly/frequently so it is often just normal behaviour
  • and also, in general, you could try spacing out feeds if baby is feeding well but more than every 2-3 hours (we used a dummy but not everyone wants to do this - can cause nipple confusion if you introduce it too early). I know overfeeding is not seen as an issue by many BF counsellors and for many women they need to build up the supply/feeds so be cautious on this one... But - if baby is feeding well, you have lots of milk, feeds are very frequent and/or baby always seems to want to suck but then pulls off when the milk flows, if they perhaps have explosive green poo sometimes (can be from too much foremilk) then it might be an issue.
  • or if you don't need to space out feeds, then you could try feeding from one side only - some people do it for a 3 hour block so that should increase the amount of hindmilk he gets and might decrease the wind. Or if you have lots and lots of milk, feed from one side only for more than one feed?

Hope some of these suggestions work but be aware none of them might: get yourself a big hug from your supporters, take him out for a walk when the screaming gets too much and remember this phase won't last...

Original poster
FlaminSnowball · 03/11/2007 14:57

Thanks alot everyone for your help. He settled really well in the end last night. He even gave mummy a gift and slept from midnight till 5am then went down again till 8 and then again till 10!! he is also sleeping now YAY.

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