just need some reassurance

[luckyloo]

This is my first baby, he's 6 wks old and has terrible colic that has him thrashing about ALL night in his sleep, constantly pulling off my breast straining when feeding and waking up crying in pain during the day :-( its very upsetting. My well meaning mum has just suggested that perhaps I'm feeding him too often and not allowing him to digest properly, and I should also count time between feeds AFTER he finishes like 'she used to.' I count from the time he begins and he feeds around every 2 to 3 hours in the day and 3 to 4 at night, sometimes for less than 10 mins, but there's plenty of milk and he seems very efficient.

Just want to make sure I'm doing things right. Thankyou!

Hey luckyloo. Sorry to here things are a wee bit hard at the mo. Every baby is different. What your mum did for you probably worked for you. Your baby will have different needs. Colic is a sod, but they get through it. I recall DS cried and cried at about 6 weeks and fed constantly, ( I BF too) I thought it was colic, but it turns out they go through one of their first growth spurts at about 6 weeks. It settled down after about 5 days. Just do what you think is right, speak to your HV if you think it will help. Try to chill (yes I know easier said than done!), rest, sleep when he sleeps, look after yourself. BTW my DS fed every 3 hours - in the same way you are counting it! - as long as he is happy and thriving and you are happy that is all that matters.

Don't know about colic, but the timings you mention seem textbook to me (my LO had same timings at 6weeks )

Thankyou both for posting! So comforting to know we're doing things normally at a stressful time x

well done for getting this far!

Feed on demand-when he cries feed him as a first line of defence, whenever it is, even if you just fed him! Your HV should be able to help with things to do for colic-massages, colic hold (kind of lying on your arm, with their tunny against your arm, iyswim?

Mums do try to help but most are not well versed in "on demand" as a generation ago and even more recently (grr) women were told to feed on schedule.

Stop counting altogether and have you tried offering just the one boob at each feed and just popping him back on a couple of times when he pulls off? Then waiting till the next feed to offer the other? I have heard this works a treat with colic.

If you can, don't wait for him to actually be crying to feed him, at the first whimper/sign offer the boob and see how you go.

Just an idea here...baby might have indigestion! It not that uncommon for babies not to be able to cope with mothers milk. I know a friend of mine that had to use gaviscon (baby one from doctor) on her 12 weeks old baby. They thought it was colic for a long time, but the child would cry during the feed as well as at the end of it. Do look after yourself and well done for working so hard!!

you sound like you are doing fine just have a colicky baby like my dd was......my ds was not colicky but quite sicky.....i found it helped if i fed little and often to be honest....not such a great load of milk to digest....worth a try. i also tried cutting a few things out of my diet like tomatoes and dairy..... not sure how much it helped but it gave me something to try and focus on and it helped my mind at least!!!! stay positive you are doing fab!!!!!

Thankyou all so much for taking the time to post I do tend to freed him when he cries, but sometimes I think he's just looking to suck for comfort, and then I feel bad that I've given him more milk to try and digest and hurt his little tummy. He's not keen on a dummy, but should I not try harder with that? Will demand feeding when he just wants to suck not give him more pain? It's so hard to know what to do!

I don't eat much dairy anyway but have changed to soya milk, though I understand now that's an allergen too. Re-visited the Dr yesterday as infacol and colief don't seem to be doing anything and he gave me gaviscon in case I want to try it, although he doesn't think its reflux. I can feel all the air rumbling round in him. He thinks its just a matter of waiting it out. It's just so hard to see him upset. Poor sweetheart gets no peace to sleep or feed without thrashing about in pain

Oh, forgot to say. I do only offer one boob at a time as I read that too much foremilk can cause wind...?....

mw27pink, I would think it IS quite uncommon for babies not to be able to cope with mothers milk!

luckyloo, try keeping him on the same breast for 2-3 hours. i.e. every time he looks to be fed, put him to that breast. He will be able to comfort suck without getting quite so much milk. It may be that you have a copious milk supply and he is having to 'gulp' to cope with the volume.

I think the times between feeds sound fine - how long did you try infacol for? I only ask, as we used it for our little one and I was told it has a build up effect, ie it needs time to work as opposed to being instant.

Sorry to have no more advice, but keep going!! one thing I have learnt over the past few months (our boy is now 4 months old) is that most things are phases that they pass through, even though it can seem like a lifetime when you are going through it!!

You are doing all you can and your baby will pick up on this....lots of cuddles and love count for a lot more than we think!

best of luck x

Nothing wrong with comfort sucking and if he does get a sore tummy then it makes more sense for him to want more little feeds rather than big ones.