Colic advice- 1 month old. Kinda long

[JaclynLouise]

Hey all, here goes!!
My little one developed colic around 2 weeks, and she fits the description to a tee. 2-3 hour outbursts, tensing her body, kicking legs, clenching fists, scratching and flailing around and crying beyond control. Although it did begin in only evening and night, it has slowly filtered into the day too.

I would like to point out though, it is not every feed. On a good day, we may be lucky enough to have a very brief outburst, but in a bad day we're having 3, and we sadly have a few more bad days than good
Almost 2 weeks ago I took her to see a cranial osteopath, and that has sorted out the trace of reflux she had (she would NOT wind at all, but now she does one big burp which is way better than before)

Infacol doesn't work for her, and the osteopath was concerned she could also be having heartburn, he did also say to try colief which I got today, but haven't tried yet as I wasn't prepared for the hassle of mixing certain amounts to feed her! So I need to pump some milk to do that ready. What I'm wondering is, I know there are formulas out there for colic, have any of them worked for people? I want to breastfeed, but if it would help then I would use it because I want what is best for her. Could mix feeding even help? Does anyone have any experience or things they helped with their baby? All answers very welcome!! Thank you for reading

Cutting out dairy does not reduce the lactose in your milk as it is already present in breastmilk. It does reduce cows milk protein that can be passed on through your milk and it is cows milk protein that is more likely to cause a problem

Re: Dumny

It sounds like your breastfeeding isn't as established as it needs to be yet. So I'm going to take my dummy recommendation back for the moment.

More than dummy sucking, feed ad much and as often as you possibly can. Every time your baby wants to suck, give your breast.

If you start mix feeding or top ups and baby is still screaming a lot, a dummy could give you and baby a lot of respite from the distress.

I'm in Northampton, she sleeps in a short vest, sleep suit and a blanket, but we cosleep so she gets a lot of my warmth and sometimes wakes a bit sweaty! I have a very hot house too and usually have the window open a crack for fresh air as it's so stuffy! Hadn't thought of using a sheet though, that's a great idea!
Okay, I'm going to give the dairy thing a go and cut it all out tomorrow to see what happens, although earlier someone mention soy, should instead clear if soy products also?
As for bf, I feed on demand, so when're she wakes, seems upset and even just randomly while she's laying awake taking in the world I offer breast. She's vainly weight very healthily and I have a great supply, so that's good I think.
My other one was fed in hungry baby milk though so I do wonder if topping up with formula is a good idea

Great link

babyhintsandtips.com/doctor-tips-colic-bore-your-baby-to-sleep/

My son was exactly the same and the dairy thing helped massively. He was like a different child.
But you have to remove everything with dairy and give it a few days to work. I found after a while I could have a tiny bit, like the odd brownie or a bit of sour cream in a fajita. But only occasionally, and never cheese because he always reacted to that

I think in your case formula is unlikely to achieve much - if she's gaining well, a top up is only going to interfere with you getting her latching well etc, without adding any value.

It's so hard when they cry that way, being unable to soothe them, and every parent has clutched at any straw (I remember googling reflux, tongue tie, lactose intolerance, CMPA, cranial ostepathy, convinced any and all were the problematic) to try to stop their little one being so distressed. But it's really normal behaviour - they're mking this huge adjustment from womb to world, feeding rather than umbilical cord. I'd reiterate about PURPLE crying, and reassure you that it eases of as babe grows.

You sound like you're giving her all the love and comfort possible, which is the best thing.

Re how much does your diet affect your milk:

I found it to be a lot! If I had wind then my wee one suffered too. I cut out caffeine completely, no fizzy drinks and of course dairy. Once the 'colic' calmed down I had some cheese now and again. They say chocolate can also give your baby wind so I stayed away from this too. It might seem excessive but I would try anything when I was at my lowest point of sleep deprivation and worry. It definitely helped and again I have given this advice to friends when have recently gone through the same struggle and it seems to help.

Another thing I forgot to mention was fennel tea. I'm not sure how accessible this is in the uk, I drank a lot of breastfeeding teas which contained fennel as this is passed on through your milk but if you can find 100% fennel tea with nothing else added you can give your wee one 2 luke warm teaspoons of this before or after the feed. It also really helped. It eases the wind out of them and I really noticed a difference in the squirming. Again belly massages in the night helped too, there are lots of YouTube videos dedicated to this

Anyway fingers crossed for you.... a few months without chocolate feels like a life time but if you notice a difference it'll be worth it. Keep up the breastfeeding as long as you can, I stopped 2 weeks ago at 7 months and I miss it so much.

Swaddling like the other ladies said is great advice but I didn't manage to get a swaddle on til around 6 weeks when the colic was calming down and like you I co slept till then so swaddling not an option. Perhaps you could do a light swaddle so after your wee one has fallen asleep they can ease out of it. I used stretchy t shirt cotton bought from a textile market in the size I wanted so it was thin, stretchy and cheap!! Everything really calmed down with my wee one around the 3 month mark and by four months she was sleeping through the night. Keep your chin up all the stress and worry and lack of sleep will be worth it.

I'm starting the dairy free today, not going to have anything that contains dairy at all so I'm basically going to eat like I'm lactose intolerant, those who it worked for though, did you find that when baby got bigger hey could handle dairy? It were they themselves actually intolerant.

I agree about clutching at straws! Trying various medicines, took her to osteopath, considering the formula (which I don't want to do) so the dairy is next on my list ha!

Going to google that purple thing now and take a look at the link posted below too, I hope she doesn't have this for too long! She seems so helpless when she's not right!

Going to reboot this thread as things have changed! For the past 3 days almost, her crying has gone from just being at night to filtering into the day too! It's also more intense, 9/10 times she cries inconsolably and at night the only way I can settle her is with a swaddle and bouncing in her chair, which is now the only place/way she sleeps! Trouble is it's so bad it completely interrupts her feeding, she starts off okay but very quickly gets worked up and it soon going crazy trying to guzzle down as much as she can in between cries and screams!
Could something else be going on? I feel like I've tried literally everything and all I eat to do is help her!

You could always visit your paediatrician for some advice. I did this but they just said it's normal in lots of babies. It did put my mind at rest though. A friends baby had the same symptoms and it turned out the babe had an ear infection.

Do you use a baby sling? I found that having my wee one strapped to me or my OH all day really helped calm her. Even when I watched TV at night I just had her close to me. Lots of skin on skin. Colic is just the word for crying, nothing medical or proven. Some babies just aren't ready to be out of the womb! It's mainly trapped wind, simple as it sounds you need to get the wind out.

Again good luck I know it's tough x

www.livestrong.com/article/462980-how-much-fennel-tea-can-you-give-an-infant-with-colic/