Newborn with Colic

[HopeTF]

Hi all,

First time Mum here to a 5 week old baby boy. He’s been struggling with his colic. We were using Infacol drops but noticed they were causing constipation so we have stopped them. We use Tommee Tippee anti colic bottle and the Tommee Tippee vacuum gadget to suck the the air bubbles out the milk.

He was feeding around 2oz every 2/3 hours for the first weeks and now we are trying him with 3oz and sometimes 3.5oz. His times between feeding vary from 2 hours to 4hours depending on how well he has burped and how soon he settles. I find it really difficult when it’s only 2 hours between feeds as he can be so unsettled after a feed that I feel like I only just get him to sleep again then he wakes for food. He hates his moses basket and Next to me so night times are a real struggle as he only likes to sleep on me.

Im just so anxious I’m going something wrong or not feeding him enough if it’s still every 2 hours? Full of anxiety as first time mum! Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Thanks for reading such a long post x

Hi OP! My baby was exactly like that and I felt exactly like you, she’s 4 months old now and much better! First of all- you’re not doing anything wrong! Some babies just are fussy, and some don’t like 1 big feed every 4 hours and prefer a smaller one every 2 hours! At 5 weeks we were literally feeding every 90 mins roughly because that’s just what she wanted! It is so exhausting, I was the same it felt like literally cry feed cry sleep and repeat was my whole life!

The one tip I would say is maybe switch from Infacol to Gripe Water. It does a similar job with helping wind but it doesn’t cause constipation like Infacol does.

Hang in there, it does get easier! X

DS was 'colicky' and it was exhausting. Tiger in Tree hold was the thing that used to settle him, he spent a lot of his early months in that position!

OP I have every sympathy with you. Truly.

There is a thread on here you can search for which is something like ‘ask the MN expert midwife all about colic’ and there was lots of good advice on there.

I will repeat what I wrote on there. Colic is not a thing. It’s not a Co diction. It’s not an illness. It’s a word used to describe an unsettled baby and I I would argue that the spectrum of ‘normal’ for babies is so vast as to be almost unhelpful. All the gadgets and tonics are just that. There is no medication for colic because it isn’t an illness. It’s an unsettled baby causing merry hell and yes, I know how awful they sound when they are screaming for hours and yes, I know you can set your watch by some babies.

it will get better, I promise. But have a look at that thread.

I was going to suggest The Tiger in the Tree as well 

How are you both getting on today @HopeTF?

Could it be reflux/silent reflux? Agree with what Agatha said, colic is a made up term because doctors don’t know why babies are unsettled. Sleeping on me was a huge sign of my DD1 having reflux, I thought for ages she was just a ‘Velcro baby’ but terms out she was just very uncomfortable laid that, hence hating the next to me