“Colic” how did you get through?

[GlenQuagmire]

So the past couple of days we have had hours of incosolable, devastated, floods of tears baby. The world and his wife says this is colic - I don’t really get what colic is to be honest, but how did you soothe yourself? He’s breastfed and on colief but he will refuse to feed so no soothing there. We’ve tried white noise, laying him down, picking him up, bouncing, going in his buggy, singing to him, vibration machine, having a dummy, swaddling...nothing seems to work then he tries himself out and eventually goes to sleep whilst being cuddled.

Anything you found helps? The more they scream the more air they take in and the more gassy they will get! How long did your babies colicky period last? It’s heartbreaking and hard work!

Infacol helped, but the only thing that really calmed DD down was being put in the fabric sling and taken out for a walk. At 3am. DH did this for 8 weeks. He's my hero.

Infacol for us too. Tummy massages and being held upright helped. And then when I switched to formula instead of breastfeeding I used anti comic bottles

1. Raise the cot slightly so he's sleeping at bit of an angle not completely flat
2. I read a good burping session can last 20 minutes and don't just stop when you hear one burp there may be more. Imagine the trapped gas is one of those mazes you get in a kid's party bag and you're trying to get the balls out. In order to do it you'll have to rub in different angles and positions. (I.e place him on his tummy whilst on your lap and rub his back. Then twist him slightly to his left and rub, repeat on the left side)
3. When you're going through colic it is horrendous for everybody and it feels like it's last forever. It should improve about 6 weeks and then again at 12 weeks.

When you say he refuses to feed- has he been checked for tongue tie or anything that might be stopping him from getting enough milk?

Mine stopped screaming at 8 weeks. It was like a switch had been turned off.

Before then, there was nothing that could help the crying. Sometimes bouncing on the yoga ball for hours helped. Sometimes the sling helped. Sometimes the yoga ball in the sling. A bath stopped him crying for 15 minutes. His granny would come round and hold him while he cried for a few hours. He would usually alternate between feeding and crying till 2 or 3am and then pass out. I coped by sleeping between 7 and 11 while DH had him and going for lots of walks during the day. Going for a coffee and cake (even on my own).

Hold in there mumma. It is just awful. Do anything you can to take care of yourself, and eventually it will pass.

DP used to hold DD very high on his shoulder and literally RUN up and down the corridor with her. She’d just be a little screaming flash as they went by, then gradually no screaming, just cross face, then eventually asleep.

His other trick was holding her next to the shower on full blast.

She stopped screaming at 16 weeks. Just one night decided she didn’t fancy it any more. Remained a pain in the bum in other ways, though!

Grip water sort of helped, but don't think they can have that until 3 months. Honestly nothing really. Especially with my second. I was quite depressed by the time he got over ut about 10 months or so. He screamed all night and day and nothing seemed to help. Absolutely dreading this third one being the same.

Sorry, gripe water

It didn’t fully pass for us until about 11 weeks but was better than it had been from 7 weeks. We found a cranial osteopath helped (did his first 5 hour stint asleep at night after it anyway). The ‘tiger in the tree’ hold helped as well, where they sort of lie on your arm. Also cycling his legs.
The osteopath also advised cutting various things out of my diet including brassicas and chocolate (I didn’t manage the latter!)

Time - it was the longest couple of months of my life.

Yoga ball, sling, constant motion, holding up high on shoulder, cranial osteopathy, the neighbour coming round in the evening to hold her (crying) while I had a cup of tea, more sling....

Do anything you can to survive and know it will pass. Oh and 'colic' just means lots of crying for no reason. Reflux is something else (she had that too).

Gripe water and infacol didn't help much for us. She cried for 6 weeks and it was very hard on all of us. DD was breastfed and she'd sometimes be happy clusterfeeding or would fall asleep in the baby carrier/pram/car, so utilise any tools at your disposal. Make sure you do get some rest when he finally sleeps.

When DD first started her nightly wailing sessions we were constantly passing her to and fro, trying multiple things to settle her. I think that actually made things worse - what she needed was zero stimulation. In the end the best thing was to stand in front of a plain white wall, white noise on, cuddling and rocking her. No talking or other interaction.

Honestly it was so hard. The crying got less and less as the weeks went by, and when she turned 3 months it stopped. It was like a switch had been flicked. Now at 7 months she rarely cries, and if she does its for an obvious reason - teething, hunger etc.

I am so sorry, it's what they do
There will be plenty of tips to try to soothe your DS, for example, we had many late night walks in the sling and a giant burp at the end of the road.
But do also understand that some things in life can't be solved so you will also want to work out how you get through. Tag team with your partner, reaching out to friends, cake, walks, wearing headphones or earplugs to dampen the noise, moaning on Mumsnet etc
Oh, and the MN mantra- this too will pass.

Baby can have gripe water from 1 month old. We had that and Colief, but the first 6 weeks were hell! The screaming was so bad at one point we ended up in a&e as we thought there was something horribly wrong with him.
Our DS turned a corner around 6 weeks, but before then it was torture. A lot of pram time and long walks (I'm talking hours!) and car rides if it was chucking it down with rain really badly.
The hair dryer (or hair dryer noise on you tube) also helped loads! It wouldn't put him to sleep every time but it did calm him down which meant I could just put him down for 10 minutes and give my arms a break.
Unfortunately OP you're just going to have to ride the storm! It does get better eventually I promise! Fingers crossed your little one starts to feel better soon! 🤞🤞

Time. Nothing else - sorry. Peaked for me at 8/9 weeks, finished by 13 weeks. Longest weeks of my life. Check out PURPLE crying though, and the '4th trimester'. It might reassure you that it's definitely not you (or a problem with the baby).
You can try playing white noise at the same volume as the baby's screams (mine seemed to respond best to the Hoover noise) and in theory as they reduce the volume through surprise at the noise, you reduce the white noise level. Take care- colic is hideous but it does stop eventually x

How old is baby and is the colic happening at the same time each day?

Both mine had terrible witching hours. They'd cry every evening between 7-10pm. It was like clockwork.

This lasted from about 3 weeks to 16 weeks.

My eldest had to be bounced / dummy abs youngest just cluster fed through it.

No need to really do anything to baby, it's developmental and they grow out of it.

For you though, make sure you eat before it starts. Have water and snacks within reach.

I found it much easier to deal with if you just accept it abs don't try to treat it

I’m afraid, after trying everything, time was the main thing here too. Although sling while bouncing on a yoga ball helped

Colfief drops. Expensive but made a massive difference with ours, went from crying non stop 7-1030pm ish to an unsettled 30 mins before nodding off at 730.

My dd had trouble with wind right from birth, once the evening screaming turned to all day and night screaming we started using dentinox colic drops in each feed and also used anti colic bottles and she improved instantly, I think within a week she had pretty much stopped crying after every feed. One particularly bad day I ended up putting headphones in and listening to music to drown out the crying (suggested by my hv), nothing I did soothed her anyway so at least it saved my sanity for those few hours

The moment I switched to comfort milk the screaming stopped

Mine stopped the day we stopped trying to ‘fix’ it. Maybe it was a coincidence, but as her screaming started at about 6.30pm we gave her a bath and a bottle in a dark room at 6pm, which seemed to knock her out before she really got going. Even if she then woke up in the night at least she wasn’t overtired and screamy!

Cranial Osteopath. If you can find a decent one, they are worth their weight in gold.

Has your baby been assessed for tongue tie? Not just a brief glance by a Midwife or GP, but a proper TT assessment by a infant feeding nurse or a IBCLC? If not, I would definitely arrange that. So common, causes so many issues, yet most Midwives, GP’s and HV’s are bloody clueless about them.

It will pass, I promise. It will get so much easier. Hang on in there.