Can I start a colicky baby support thread ...

[PiperG]

I'm sitting here typing with one hand as I bounce up and down vigorously on my birthing ball with six week old DS in a sling. This seems to be where I spend a lot of my time these days, with either static radio or hairdryer blasting in the background (or me sshhing VERY loudly). A combination of these things usually settles him, but it feels relentless, with him kicking off again throughout the day. I find myself, perversely, longing for a textbook colicky baby who screams all evening but at least is peaceful during the day. This one needs serious high maintenance from the moment we wake up in the morning till we go to bed (and then all night too). How have other people coped with this? I feel like I'm going mad sometimes and can only think ahead to the next hour or so, or I will weep at the prospect of doing this for the next 6 weeks or more! Plus trying to cope with DD aged 21 months on top of this. Eek! Please share your stories/advice...

when i had my ds i was told he was 'just a colicky baby' but he turned out very ill with severe gastro reflux and dairy and soyt allergy.

Is he being sick? Perhaps he could have silent reflux? If he has you can get infant gaviscon from doc to help.

Trying to make this short but tell me, what is he like during/straight after a feed?

He's not a sicky baby at all - doesn't bring up much milk ever. Sometimes he is fine during feeds and feeds peacefully, others he is obviously uncomfortable and pulls away and wails. A lot of the time, even after peaceful feed, 5 or 10 mins later he will start wailing in distress - i guess when milk starting to go down? He starts kicking his legs wildly and screaming. In the night he doesn't sleep for more than an hour at a stretch without waking up crying, kicking legs, arching back etc ...

me too mad4mybaby. my dd was very colicky from 6 weeks ish. doctors said she might have som reflux (she was being sick aftr almost every feed and arching back, screaming etc duriing feeds) but didnt prescribe anything as they were "reluctant" to do anything as most babies grow out of it!

i tried cranial osteopathy, homeopathy and then changed her to soy formula. results were almost instant. after 3 weeks i swapped her back to normal formula and colic screaming etc returned ten fold plus eczema.

went to doctors and they prescribed nurtamigen which is apparently better for babies development than soya. she still has terrible reflux but otherwise happy and clear-skinned.

doctor yesterday eventually prescribed baby gaviscon for reflux due to fact she's not putting on weight as fast as she should. grrr!

why not try a different formula so you can present the evidence to the doctor if uiy works? although as mad4mybaby says, watch out for soya allergy too. let us know how you get on

My DS is breastfed so I'd have to think about changes to my diet rather than changing formula. I did think about cutting out eg dairy in case he has an intolerance to that, but there is no history of anything like that in either my or DP's family, so is it likely?? It's so hard to know what to try cutting out when there are so many options - caffeine/spicy foods/dairy/brassicas etc etc

If he had reflux wouldn't he be failing to thrive? He's very well and putting on lots of weight.

We tried cranial osteopathy too but seems to have had no effect!

I feel like this is just a time to get through and endure as best as we can, though I also think I need to get to the docs for some opinions from them.

reflux comes in all strengths from what i understand - mention it to docs tho, esp about back arching during feed, it could be silent reflux where he's not losing any of the milk he's just taken IFKWIM

i'd try cutting out dairy for a few days and see if any effect, then try reintroducing dairy, and cutting out wheat etc.... if not results and doctors cant help, then i guess he's just a screamy baby (sorry )
but it does stop, mine went in fits and starts even though she was clearly in pain most of the time, so get a nice glass of (diluted ) wine, some earplugs and a good book/tv programme!

Note to ANYONE reading with baby who doc say nothing wrong as they are thriving : When my ds was born he was above average weight etc and v healthy on paper. I wont bore you with all details of how poorly he was but it took me about 4 times in A&E for doc to listen that there WAS something wrong with my ds. I was told i was 'being a nurotic first time mum' basically that was all in my head hence i ended up with pnd (just come off pills actually and ds is 18 mnth). If i didnt keep on at them i and ds wouldve kept on suffering.

He had severe reflux. Every milk feed came up. Constante crying, pain, etc etc. Reflux is made worse by any soya/dairy intolerance/allergy. My ds is proof. It took about 6 months for doc to sort his medication properly as he ended up on alot up till 1 yr old. I put him on nanny goat milk (against doc say so) and say an instant improvement.

With regards to cranial, i took ds at 1 week old but she said she couldnt do a great deal until the doc sort out the sickness etc as there was just too much happening in his body. Medication started at 8 weeks and took him back to cranial and that also saw a huge change in him. Dont give up on it just yet esp as the muscles at base of neck join to the stomach. Sounds to me like your ds may have silent reflux (the burning of the osephagus) without the actual sickness. You should go back to health vis/gp. PLEASE dont let them fob you off as if i was stronger my ds wouldve been so much better so much quicker. If you need any other help/advice let me know as not being big headed but know quite alot about it now!

hi piper
you poor thing i hope you are surviving
madd4my baby is right -it does sound like reflux - no you don't have to vomit - silent reflux and also you can thrive in fact some babies overeat as the milk temporarily eases the pain. back arching/ coming on and off during feeds /unsettled after is classic (if he is well winded and isn't hungry)
most good gps know this. go and see another one if yours doesn't help. especially as you've already got a child you are not a paranoid first time mum! keep going till you get an answer you (and your baby) don't have to put up with this!
things you could try - eliminate all the things you said and then if better introduce one by one to see which it is. if not better then keep eating everything!
put some books under the cot legs to raise head, carry upright as much as poss (is this better - if so another symptom of reflux)
also you can get baby gaviscon over the counter so you could try it for one feed and see if it makes a difference. beware it makes babes constipated. you may need ranitdine from gp.
good luck and keep us posted

heres a few good links
colichelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=797

www.reflux.org/reflux/webdoc01.nsf /(vwWebPage)/AboutGERD.htm?OpenDocument

infantrefluxdisease.com/infant-reflux-symptoms.php

any news piperg - how is your baby?

Thanks all for your support and advice! It hadn't really occurred to me that he might have reflux until you mentioned it, mad4mybaby. It does seem that he has a lot of the symptoms of silent reflux, and I went to the GP about it, who gave me some Gaviscon. I've given it to him twice now, in the evening, and it seems to have improved his nighttime sleep a lot - going for much longer stretches without waking - though no idea if it is the Gaviscon or just coincidence. How often can I give it to him? Doc said once a day I think, but that doesn't seem enough. Though am worried he'll get all constipated from it. Kerri28, how are you getting on with Gaviscon?

its sarahanna here under a different name...
thats great news
yep suppose he could have just settled by himself but does seem like a coincidence
you could stop the gaviscon for a gew days as a test maybe
you can give gaviscon up to 6 times a day and yes, it can make them horribly constipated - but not all babies so seee how it goes.
great am reaaly glad things are better, sounded like you were at the end of your tether!

Now I'm thinking that the Gaviscon is not doing a lot. We've upped it to 2/3 times a day and he's pretty bad at times - last night was awful, awake every hour, really screaming a lot. I need to go back to see the GP, but not sure what to say/ask for. It feels like a really big jump from Gaviscon to other medication, and I just don't think they'll prescribe it when he's thriving (even though he's obviously suffering). Any advice on how to approach this with the GP?? I really feel like we need to try something else, cos at the moment nothing seems to be working.

tell me all the symptoms
does it happen with every feed? can you describe what happens
back arching and screaming?
any vomit at all?
is weight following centile line?
does feeding settle him?
do you think the gavsicon helps at all - has he got constipated with it or are poos normal frequency and texture? do you think he screams more after hes got a poo out?
what did the gp say last time
sorry all these questions will try and help as much as poss
you can give gavsicon up to 6 times a day but watch for the constipation

He reacts badly in some way to each feed, though in different ways. Sometimes he pulls on and off and wails during feeding, sometimes screams straight afterwards, sometimes 20 mins later the screaming begins. He does and lot of back arching and his arms and legs go crazy kicking and waving around all over the place (is this more of a colicky thing, the arms and legs kicking??).

He doesn't vomit, only occassionally, and then not that much. His weight is good - above average - he's a guzzler, and I expect it's comfort feeding to ease the pain. This makes it even harder though to convince doc that something is wrong! I don't really thing the Gaviscon is helping much (though who knows, he may be worse without it). It hasn't made him constipated at least - still poos reguarly and they are normal.

GP last time said to see how Gaviscon went and then come back, which is what I'm going to do tomorrow. He's 12 weeks now, so I feel that surely he should be getting better if it's just colic, which it surely isn't!

it really does sound like reflux, it all fits. did you look at websites?

to be honest you know your baby, you're not a first time mum, something is def up.

you don't need to vomit to have reflux and can thrive.

ask for a referral to see a paed it may be that you need ranitidine. see another GP if they won't refer.

(FWIW I'm a gp and thats what i'd do if you came to see me)

good luck
x

hi, i had a similar thing as OP with DS except he would throw up what looked like all his feed every time and it woulkd be quite projectile. he couldnt lie on his back at all without screaming and he was feeding every 2 hours day and night which prob explains why he was still putting on loads of weight. we tried gaviscon but it seemed to stop working and doc wouldnt prescribe anything else. it later turned out he was dairy allergic.

now we have DD (10w)who i thought was colicky but now i realise its reflux sytmptoms again, she is sick after every feed and between feeds, cries alot, on and off boob and arching back, not happy on her back. i carry her in a sling most of the day but sometimes she still manages to bring up lots of sick even when shes upright. to top it all the stress of it and dealing with the crying has made my PND worse and ive now had to start meds. i did go to GP but was told that all the symptoms were normal for a new born and that she was putting on weight so didnt need any gaviscon or anytrhing so i feel like im now going it alone like we had to with DS. ive just started slimming world and have been eating alot more yogs and the sickness seems to be worse so im thinking its dairy related like DS, so im going to cut out dairy and see if she improves after a few weeks. This is a good website that sells wedges etc

how are you piperg???

still watching this thread and hoping you've got some answers...

PiperG- How are you and babe getting on?

As a GP and mum to a 10 weeker with severe reflux, your baby sounds to have classical silent reflux. Don't be reluctant to go back to your GP if the gaviscon isn't working and ask about other treatments or a referral to a paediatrician.

It doesn't matter that your child is thriving, if they are struggling and uncomfortable during and after feeding (especially arching the back)- this isn't normal or fair to you or your baby. It certainly isn't colic.

Let us know how you are doing.