has anyone any top tips or remedies for colic?

[vnmum]

hi, DD is now 7 weeks old and the colic started around 3 weeks old. it always seems to be at the same time every day, sometimes in the afternoons but mainly after 6pm ish and peaks around 10 till midnight or 1am.

DH and i have been pacing around with her for hours to get her to sleep and then she is only comfortable on her front on one of us. i have a DS 2y too and the attention my DD needs is hard for him to understand as he of course wants time with mum and dad. also we are not getting any time to opurselves or even to cuddle on the sofa as a couple which is getting quite draining.

we have just bought a swing but she will only settle in it if already asleep, then it keeps her asleep.

we have been using infacol but it worked brill for the first 3 days and now it seems to make no difference and shes sick more.

So has anyone any tips or other remedies we could try?

i know colic passes with time but the stress of a colicky baby is not helping my PND at the moment and i dont like her being in so much pain

My heart goes out to you, my DD had colic at the same age and it is very heard to cope. Found a few coping strategies that worked with us. Put in her pram and roll back and forth over the edge of a rug or a power cord. Something about the bumpy ride that helps. You or DH have a deep bath and take her in with you. Baby massage can sometimes help. Have you a friend or family close by who could take her a walk to give you some time with your DS? Also try your Dr as they may be able to help. Would love to come and help out.

Would really recommend baby massage as both a way of relieving the colic and a way for both of you to relax. It worked well for me on both counts! Good luck x

Hi

We had the same thing with DS - but the being comfortable on one of you or on her front/sat in swing makes me wonder if it could be reflux? Does she arch back at all and/or have explosive poos? If so, maybe ask the Dr for baby Gaviscon - you can use it with breast milk and formula so no worries on that score

Also, if you are bottle feeding, try switching to Dr Browns as they reduce the amount of air that they swallow. When winding her, don't pat, just move your hand up and down gently on each side - patting can aggravate reflux apparently...

Hope this helps and let me know how you are getting on!

thanks sdr i will try that, unfortunately i am in germany and away from family but i do have friends who have had babies with colic and have offered to help.

pussin - i did wonder about reflux as she doesnt settle well on her back but DS had very bad reflux and ahe isnt showing as many symptoms as him, although i suppose it could be silent reflux. she is sick but it is more like possets where as with DS it was projectile and seemed like the whole feed came up. she does have explosive poos sometimes and does arch her back and come off the boob crying sometimes too which know im listing them i know are signs of reflux. DS`ended up being dairy allergic which can show as reflux so i may try omitting dairy from my diet and see if theres any improvement

i will let you all know how we go over t5he next few dauys

Oh btw - babies with reflux don't necessarily have to projectile vomit - DS harldy ever even posseted but he did have silent reflux - was a different baby once he had Gaviscon!

thanks pussin, the more i think about it the more i see similarities in them except the amount of vomit. she's also snuffly all the time. im goin to see about an appointment with Dr tomorrow

Get a good sling, preferably wraparound. It was the only thing that calmed DS. It doesn't give you any more time with DH unfortunately but it means you can do a bit more with the older child.

Not much help right now, but it DOES get better after 12wks! Both of mine were very colicky and I've had PND so I sympathise

Vnmum - how did you get on at the doctors?

hi pussin, well basically it was a waste of time, im pissed off to be honest. we had the same thing with DS. i took in a printed list of symptoms off the internet and had ticked all the ones DD had which turned out to be most of them. The doctor then said that all these symptoms could be classed as normal in a baby and because she seemed to be putting on weight she was obviously getting enough milk so it wasnt a problem. Dr didnt even offer any Gaviscon or anything just said to speak to HV for advise. fat lot of good she'll be, so we're back to managing it ourselves like we did with DS. it didnt seem to bother the GP that DD was obviously in pain etc.

with DS the gaviscon didnt really work but he was a forceful projectile vomiter. i tried to get Zantac (i think thats what it was) to neutralise the acid so it wouldnt hurt him when he was sick but no one seemed to want to give it to him and now it seems where fighting the same battle again.

when will GPs etc take the pain of infant reflux seriously? its so stressful to see your baby in pain all the time but that doesnt seem to matter to them

Oh sorry to hear that. I know what its like -the endless hours of screaming and walking the floor and DS used to scream if he burped as I think it caused a little bit of the acid to come up and burn his throat, was horrible to see.

Can you make another appointment with a different doctor who maybe more helpful? My HV didn't even suggest reflux to me - she was a waste of time. It was only when I was reading the Baby Whisperer book that the reflux symptoms jumped right out at me...its madness how they let parents/babies suffer just through ignorance isn't it!

Really hope you get somewhere soon!

Hugs

Puss

Dear VNMUM I feel for you and would like to help. I am a Bowen Practitioner and have used Bowen therapy on colicky infants with success. I'm in the process of setting myself up with my own practice based in Eltham and have just advertised a weekly 'colic clinic' available to local mums experiencing what you and your family are experiencing at the moment. I don't claim to solve every problem but the children I've looked at certainly seem to respond well and I've taught some parents to use the moves themselves when needed. Have a look at my website www.thecoachhousebowenpractice.com if you're interested. I charge £10 per session with considerations for those on benefits. If you think you might struggle coming to me I can come to you if you are local.

...sorry I'm a bit tired -my 2 yr old dd likes to get up at 4am and come sleep in with me!! Having read the thread thru properly I see you're in Germany! I was just in therapist mode when I posted my message and my sleep deprived brain for some reason just thought that everyone lived in the Greenwich borough of London! Doh! Well I can still advise you if you are interested in seeking out a Bowen therapist near you. If you look up 'BTER' (Bowen therapists European register) you may find someone near you who can help should you wish to try Bowen. Good luck!

Ds had bad colic from 3 weeks (well, actually started on day 3 but we didn't recognise then) - on a bad night he started screaming unconsoleably at 7pm and continued until 4 or 5am - we took it in shifts to hold him and sleep.

We found colief helped quite a bit (and we got this on prescription) - to the extent that he was only whingy from 7pm until about 1am - but the thing that cured him was going to a cranial osteopath - he normally slept through the treatment apart from the first time when he cried just like his colic cry for about 2mins then went to sleep. After his third treatment his colic just vanished - no easing off or anything as you would expect if it was going to go of its own accord.

(BTW, we used colief even though it made bf complicated - needed to express a small amount of milk to mix the colief with and get it into him before bf, but it was do-able and didn't stop bf)

thanks for the offer bimble, but as you say im abit far away.lol. i will check out your website though.

mistle - i have enquired about cranial osteopathy but my gp doesnt know where i could get it done over here. its going to be something else for me to look into myself i think.

pussin - it was the symptoms on the baby whisperer site that made me realise it was reflux with DS

We found Infacol was our saviour! DD colic went within 1 week of taking this.

Ah Poo just re-read your op and you have already tried this.... sorry