Is this really colic?

[Freshairhelps]

Hi all,

Apologies if this post is in the wrong area - I haven’t posted on MN in a few years but over the last 12 weeks have certainly read plenty!

I have a 12 week old baby girl who after an uneventful pregnancy had a very straight forward birth 13 days overdue, home after a few hours etc. We have a 3 year old son already, up until around 10 days I thought she was pretty straight forward baby (as was her brother except for a bout of classic colic which corrected itself by around 8 weeks) but from around 10 days - 7 weeks she was been extremely unsettled, screaming the majority of her waking moments.

7 weeks until now - she has longer moments of contentment and will sleep in carrier after 10 minutes crying, buggy as long as we are moving with a dummy in also, she sleeps reasonably well with aprox 2-3 feeds between 8pm-6am, although can be fussy to settle back down in her bed.

I am a very practical person and have been chugging along rallied by everyone telling me that it must just be colic and it will improve or disappear by 12 weeks however even today she has had some extreme inconsolable screaming outbursts, arching back at the breast, real tears running down her little red face and it’s making me (my toddler and husband also) utterly miserable.

Ill list below other things I have tried and background info that is relevant, this is a poorly structured post but I’m tired and at my wits end for this poor girl who was so badly wanted but just so difficult to enjoy!

• No family history of allergies, chronic conditions etc
• No rashes or dry skin
• Exclusively breastfed
• EBF plenty wet and dirty nappies
• Enjoys a warm bath
• Tilted head of her next to me cot
• Dislikes being held face on our chests, will not sleep like this, cuddles are little comfort to her when she is worked up
• Held upright for at least 20 mins after feeding
• Despises being in the car will fall asleep after a little while but screams again once the car is stationary
• 5 HCPs have assessed and no tongue tie
• Latch discussed with IBCLC and 2 HVs all say it is good
• cranial osteopathy sessions x 2 - no difference in her contentment
• Nappies seem different to sons, more slimy but right colour etc, they did start as the usual seedy type but occasionally can be very watery and smelly like it just soaks into nappy immediately which I never had with son
• Growing well, following centile from birth
• Tried Gaviscon and omeprazole on GP advice, made no difference except distress to administer and constipation so have stopped all that weeks ago
• Not teething
• infacol made no difference
• gripe water occasionally gets a wet burp up if struggling but nothing miraculous
• have tried colief for first time today but such a faff to express milk for and I find it really difficult to express also
• Trialled dairy free diet for 2 weeks, I know it would take longer for it to be completely gone but I didn’t see ANY change in her and it was making me feel so I’ll not having my usual diet which is balanced and healthy

Congratulations if you made it to the end of my garbled post but any help/suggestsions/reassurance that this is normal 12 week old behaviour and tell me to stop being such a wet blanket greatly appreciated!

If its not dairy, it might be a different allergen. DS1 was similar and it was egg.

@dragonmummy17 that's interesting. Did he grow out of it from weaning onto solids?

No, he's 6 and a half now and we've only just managed the first rung of the egg ladder. However he hasn't had a serious reaction since he was a baby. He seems unusual though, most babies outgrow it by age 2

It can take 3-6 weeks for dairy to completely leave your system and some don’t see any improvement until the last few days.

Id say there’s another allergen causing issues , start with eliminating egg or soya and see if her symptoms improve.

My son is allergic to milk wheat/gluten egg and soya x

Good luck with the egg ladder . We keep failing lightly cooked egg !

Thanks. We're on the new 6 step ladder and he can do well cooked egg in small amounts like 1 jaffa cake. Then we tried a quarter of an angel cake bar and he failed that. His doctor says he may never tolerate more than well cooked egg now.
Hope your DC makes it to the top of the ladder eventually

Had GP yest and HV today. Both also at a loss as to what is causing these diarrhoea smelly nappies. Being referrred to a paediatrician so that is positive though I've no idea how long that may take. My last ditch attempt at a fix is probiotic drops for her as I had a course of ABX around the time she was born and again 10 days ago for a sinus issue, which turned out to be a tooth issue as of this morning having it extracted.. eugh! Give me a toddler anyday x

Hello.
Your baby sounds similar to my son. He cried inconsolably day and night for months. I tried absolutely everything to no avail. We even ended up staying in for observations at the children's ward because the pediatrician agreed that my son was extremely distressed. Never found anything to be wrong. Perfectly healthy. We use to spend all day walking round with the baby carried and a lot of the night driving round in the car. The only two ways that allowed some relief from the crying. I counted down until 12 weeks and there was still no change. For us the crying evolved into moaning at around 6 months. We're nearly at 8 months and there's still a lot more fussing and crying than normal, but nothing like it was. I hope you pass through it soon. For some babies, 'purple crying' really is a thing!