Tips for Colic?

[CoffeeMonkey]

Hi All,

Very general question but does anyone have any tips for an almost 4 week old with colic? We have been bottle feeding Cow & Gate since birth but symptoms seem to have worsened over the last week.

We have tried the following so far with varying degrees of success…

Feeding/ winding upright - does help but he can still spit up / get wind pains again even up to an hour later
Dummy to soothe & get him over to sleep - works fairly well until he keeps spitting out
Optibac drops - just started two days ago
Warm baths at night before bed
Massage of legs & tummy
Planning to try gripe water once he is 4 weeks

Any advice or tips gratefully accepted as we hate seeing little man so upset & obviously struggling with pains, & also a lack of sleep is taking a toll on Mummy & Daddy!

Oh, it's horrible isn't it?! Both of mine had colic (and reflux) so I know what it's like.
Have you tried a different bottle? We found Doctor brown's anti colic good. Might need to up the teat size/flow if the milk you're using is thicker than standard.
You might find a different milk might help?

You've mentioned all the other things we did initially, dummy, cycling legs, massage, warm baths.
Hope it gets better soon, and you can all get a bit of rest. For what it's worth, I spent a lot of time with baby on my chest trying to stay awake - I know it's not what you're supposed to do!
X

We switched to cow and gate comfort milk for colic and it's worked wonders, along with cycling of legs and a lot of winding. Also used infacol and dr brown bottles. X

Colief drops with hipp organic milk worked for us

Colic just means unexplained crying. Colic isn't actually a medical condition in itself. It's a fob off used by HCPs to get you to go away and stop being so neurotic until it passes.

I don't think you're neurotic btw. I took had a baby who cried and cried and cried. It is horrible, big handhold to you. There is always a a reason. My DDs was silent reflux which is painful.

Your baby might have reflux or silent reflux. They might have digestive issues or wind causing tummy ache. They might have an allergy causing discomfort (CMPA etc) . They might be persistently tired. They might be teething (yes, right from very early). They might need comfort.

Trying to get to the bottom of it is really a process of elimination. But be assured 'colic' isn't actually a condition.

Infacol and constantly reminding yourselves it will pass.

Thats it there is no cure just get through it.

Dummy to soothe & get him over to sleep - works fairly well until he keeps spitting out

FYI - dummy is meant to come out once baby is asleep and muscles in the jaw relax.

Colic just means unexplained crying

As PP said - colic just means "baby is crying". It could be that as a FTM you have not realised your baby is tired and needs to sleep more, so this is the reason for crying. It could be simple hunger or the need for comfort. Colic doesn't mean anything medical, just that baby us crying and you haven't (yet) figured our why.

Essentials for a 4 week old:

• dummy
• swaddle
• feed more frequently than you think
• Hardly any awake time. Just:

FEED>WIND>NAPPY CHECK & INTO SWADDLE >TOP UP FEED>WIND AGAIN>BACK TO SLEEP

I’ll add to the list fennel tea - we gave one teaspoon of tea in the same way you’d give gripe water. (We also bought every colic medicine under the sun, but didn’t give these much of a go.)
Agree with pps re colic - good tips.

You have good advice above about colic and how, if their poos are normal, there isn't anything wrong with their gastric systems. Have you heard of the 4th trimester? Easy to google and explains much of newborn behavior. This article is fab too. I think all new mums should read it.

www.babydoc.com.au/faq/colic-bore-your-baby-to-sleep/

Mine was the same. She cried for hours! Have you tried using the hairdryer to get him to stop crying/go to sleep? I had to do that with mine and she stopped crying for a bit.

There are some absolutely appalling responses here OP. Colic is most definitely a condition. I couldn’t care less if it isn’t technically - but the folks who say it is just unexplained crying are wrong.
Both of mine had colic. This is not Unexplained crying. It is clearly caused by stomach discomfort - you can see this in the way they pull their legs up and quite frankly almost scream. You need to reduce their wind as much as possible. Dr Browns bottles seemed to work for us with DS2 - he was much better once we moved on to them. Colief drops also worked.
DH had a way of holding DC that seemed to give relief. Back of his legs against DH chest, heel upwards, and DH supported his head and back with his arms and slowly raised him up and down so his stomach was being slowly and gently ‘crunched’ which seemed to give him some relief - but its hard on your arms. I couldn’t do it for long. Ours stopped at about 11-12 weeks both times so it will go in time.
Do it must be something to do with the stomach which eases in time. In the meantime you need to ease and comfort as much as possible. It’s hard but you get through it.

Appalling responses, my foot!

Even the NHS says "Colic is when a baby cries a lot but there's no obvious cause. It's a common problem that should get better on its own".

It's not to say the OP isn't suffering, or her baby isn't in discomfort. What I was saying is, there is a cause (even if it isn't 'obvious') and you need to get to the bottom of it to solve the problem, not just simply accept 'baby has colic' and live with it!! So, so many people I know who've been told by HCPs that their baby 'has colic' have later found that their baby actually has reflux or CMPA but they've been brushed off with colic for weeks with no help.

Colic means unexplained crying. It is not a medical issue in itself

@Maray1967

www.nhs.uk/conditions/colic/

@redheadonatractor

Colic just means unexplained crying. Colic isn't actually a medical condition in itself. It's a fob off used by HCPs to get you to go away and stop being so neurotic until it passes.

I don't think you're neurotic btw. I took had a baby who cried and cried and cried. It is horrible, big handhold to you. There is always a a reason. My DDs was silent reflux which is painful.

Your baby might have reflux or silent reflux. They might have digestive issues or wind causing tummy ache. They might have an allergy causing discomfort (CMPA etc) . They might be persistently tired. They might be teething (yes, right from very early). They might need comfort.

Trying to get to the bottom of it is really a process of elimination. But be assured 'colic' isn't actually a condition.

I completely agree with this. Colic is a symptom not a cause.

Thanks everyone for all your responses, I appreciate them all even if they are so varied, it’s interesting to hear different opinions & read different info. Our little man seems to have been doing better over the last few days, still a fair bit of wind & some pain when passing it but not distressed or struggling to the same degree so we will just keep doing what we are doing for now 😊