Coping with Colic

[PeachBellini123]

This is going to be a plea for advice and a rant!

4 week old DS is suffering from Colic and I'm struggling to cope with the crying. At 2.00am this morning I had a fantasy of putting him next to DH in bed, getting in the car and driving off somewhere.

We've started him on infacol and I also keep him upright after feeds but he still seems uncomfortable. Health visitor is useless and said most babies get this and it won't last forever. I know it won't but mentally I'm finding it very tough.

How did others get through this? I want to start going out more with him but am so shattered during the day I don't know how I'll find the energy.

How are you feeding?

Generally, 'colic' boils down to trapped wind and overtiredness.

In my experience, babies generally need winding more frequently and much shorter awake periods than people think.

This is one of the most useful links I have come across. Googling purple crying and fourth trimester may be useful. I don't think there is a magic wand unfortunately but these links do provide a useful insight.

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

I agree that a lot of my babys 'colic' was due to overtiredness. Limit awake time to even just a half hour at this age. I'm not sure if that's the same for everyone. You do have my utter sympathy, it is horrific but it will NOT last forever- I know it feels like it but you have a maximum of probably 8 weeks before it will be so so much better

It's awful, isn't it?
My seven week old scream/feeds/winds/screams from about 5pm -midnight every night.
He's on Infacol & we've also tried Nelson's colic granules & gripe water. Both have worked really well a couple of times (big burps afterwards) but it doesn't seem to last more than a couple of days.
I tried swaddling him last night, which seemed to help cos he's absolutely shattered from all the crying.
I feel like we're gjuat going through the motions now until it gets to midnight & he settles, but it's such a shame cos he's obviously in pain! Good luck!

Cuddle, and repeat after me : It is not an emergency. It is not an emergency. Channel inner calm and breathe.

My son stopped practically on the day he was 6 weeks.

Dr Brown bottles worked for us it was like flipping a switch, suddenly no crying, screaming and fretting every evening.

He's ebf now (had problems with this at the start) but does take bottles.

The overtiredness makes a lot of sense. He was awful the other night after we'd been over to visit a friend. There was lots of people there so he may have been overstimulated.

Much appreciated advice will try everything suggested.

Colic is awful. I completely empathise with how you are feeling, dd1 had colic. She would start at 4pm and would just scream and scream. The list of what we tried was: cranial osteopath, baby massage, infacol, gripe water, feeding upright, lots of burping, minimal stimulation, classical music, swimming.
Honestly, I would have bought magic beans. With dd2 we did all of the above but kept her in a sling most of the day. No colic just bad wind but not sure if that worked.

Squeezed - he loves being in the sling thank goodness.

Thanks for the sympathy, it is so draining

At night, will he BF lying down? It's always calmed both of my two.

ah I haven't done that as HV said to feed him sitting up but will try .Thank you

It's worth a try. Did she say why to feed sitting up? (Reflux?) BF lying down is an absolute sanity saver, especially in the middle of the night and in the early days. My DS is 5 weeks and we even change his nappy whilst he's BF in bed, partly so he doesn't get worked up but also so he doesn't wake my toddler DD.

My baby is four weeks tomorrow and she has just started with colic over the last 3 days or so. We bought infacol last night and now reading all these tips will try less stimulation. Difficult as she has 3 big sisters! So draining and I have no idea how we will cope, sorry you are suffering too but it's nice to not feel we are alone!

I'd try seeing a cranial osteopath and perhaps cut out dairy? Having followed this advice myself, my six week old is like a different baby now..

My two "colicky" DD's had CMPI, reflux and silent reflux (all goes hand in hand really). I'm sorry but babies shouldn't be crying constantly and GP's/health visitors are too quick to write it all off as colic. It's harmful to babies and to parents. I really feel for you OP as I had this nightmare with both my DD's. DD1 was sorted really quickly although only because my HV went over GP's head and emailed a paediatric dietician. DD2 was a longer journey, even though GP was better, as her reflux and intolerances were far worse and referrals took too long. She was admitted to hospital at 16 weeks old weighing just 9lb. Before her hospital admittance she never slept for more than an hour and cried constantly. First thing I would be doing as a trial is cutting dairy out of my diet for a month if bf and see if it makes a difference. If your baby is bottle fed I'd go to your gp, explain your concerns and ask to be prescribed a dairy free formula. To some people this might seem a bit extreme but CMPI and reflux are so common in babies and so often misdiagnosed by GP's. Most parents don't even know about it and I think they should be raising awareness. They won't though as dairy free formula is so expensive to prescribe!

I had a very colicky baby, wits end, tried everything. And I would say try everything! Cranial osteopath, massage, special bottles. My baby liked being upright and being 'dangled' in the sling, I fed her as upright as I could do. I'm afraid I abandoned breastfeeding and went to cartons of ready made Aptimil all from the same batch. Something to do with consistency of content? It also meant I got some sleep. It stopped at 4 months and she was then a brilliant sleeper - poor thing, just had a sore tummy. Good luck, hang in there - it goes away but it's all consuming isn't it.

I agree with trying to cut out dairy. DS seems to be intolerant to cows milk and my midwife (also lactation consultant) suggested it at 5 days. I totally forgot about cheese sauce in a lasagne last weekend and he had a much more fussy evening so it's worth a try as well.

Funnily enough I'm lactose intolerant but still eat dairy (i.e goats cheese) so wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility that he's allergic to dairy.

Solidarity to the mums going through this.

MrsStinkey I agree. The HV made me feel that colic is just something that happens..felt silly for mentioning it to her

It can be a heriditory thing it runs in both mine and DH's family with children and thats the only reason we were aware of what to look out for with our DD's. They're rubbish at diagnosing it though. I think a lot is to do with the price of the formula and just sheer ignorance.
Lactose is a milk sugar (as you'll know) but it's more common in children for them to be intolerant to the proteins in cows milk. Their digestive system struggles to break the proteins down. If you eat or drink any of the lacto-free products they still contain the proteins they just have the lactose taken out. Goats milk has similar proteins to cows but not identical so some people with CMPI can tolerate it fine. My DD1 is fine with goats cheese.
I'd definitely cut all dairy out and go with soya, oat and coconut based alternatives to see if it makes a difference. If you need any help or advice please feel free to pm me, it can be a really tough journey.

MrsStinkey thank you.