Colic - when does it get easier?

[kaonyx]

I’m a FTM and my DS is just over 7 weeks old. The first 4 weeks were a dream. He slept easily, even being put down into a cot both during the day and the night, and generally seemed content.

However over the past few weeks things have gradually got really difficult. I think he must have colic, because he now cries/screams/wails constantly and I can’t figure out why.

He still feeds well, putting on loads of weight at each weigh-in. He normally falls asleep on the breast after feeding (during which I burp him multiple times), sometimes he will sleep for quite a long time, but I’m now unable to put him down into his cot during the day as he’ll wake up instantly crying. So I’m having to opt for baby wearing or just sitting down with a book while he gets some sleep.

But guaranteed when he wakes up, he’ll be crying. I change his nappy, peddle his legs, I’ve tried singing, playing music, rocking, walking around, we started giving him flatulence drops as I thought it might be tummy pains, but literally nothing calms him down ... apart from giving him the breast again. And sometimes I know he can’t be hungry as he’ll only just have eaten, so he’s basically using me as a pacifier, and I’m now in the bad habit of constantly giving him boob just to calm him down and get him to sleep, which is also killing my nipples!

The night sleeps are now also gradually going down from 4hr blocks d to anything between 1-2.5hrs, and I’m just getting more and more stressed by the situation.

My DH also can’t help as much as he hasn’t got boobs to give him! My DS doesn’t even like feeding from the bottle when I express and continues crying after feeding, which worries me that I am not going to have any time to myself ever! And then I end up feeling really horrible. We tried for a baby for a really long time, and I love him to bits and really want to be enjoying him while he’s this small, but I find myself just wanting to get away from it all for a bit.

So I assume this is colic? It would be nice to hear from others who have experienced similar and can tell me when it started getting better for them? I’ve read it can take up to 4 months??? Is this really the case??

TIA!

Both if mine had colic, both bottle fed. Both had stopped by 12 weeks.
Does he appear to be in stomach pain? Is he pulling his legs up? Both of mine had a colicky part of the day, they weren’t like at every time they woke up so I’m not sure whether it could be colic .
Both of mine were obviously in some discomfort on the stomach area.
You might not like this but if I were you I would try a dummy and give your nipples a rest.
We used dr browns bottles and colief drops with DS2 - could you try those added to expressed milk? DS2 had it much less so than DS1.

@Maray1967, thanks for your reply. It does sometimes look like he has stomach pain. A lot of the time he wakes himself up crying after looking like he's straining to make a bowel movement, or to pass wind. We were hoping the flatulence drops would help, but they don't much. I'll have a look into Dr Browns, thanks for the suggestion :)

We're also trying baby probiotics as he was a c-section baby, so maybe hasn't got all the good bacteria he needs yet.

I really hope this gets better soon. Its both upsetting and exhausting seeing him constantly so distressed and not being able to do anything about it.

I am breastfeeding and had weeks of crying in the evening, think it was a mix of tiredness and wind. Offering the breast is great, this is food and comfort. Babies have so many growth spurts too and some just feed more often than others, I know mine does! Take each day is it comes and it will slowly get better, I remember one night when I bathed baby and he fed peacefully to sleep, it gave me hope! Didn't happen every night but the fussiness became less. I turned 30 when baby was 3 months (exactly) and kept saying I would cancel my meal but he was so good that night, and has been almost every evening since. Even teething at 4 months he wasn't bad. It won't be forever 💐

With your nipples being sore, perhaps you need your latch and positioning checking? I suffered badly at the start but all has been well since making change.

Oh OP I could have written this a few weeks ago. It's absolutely exhausting isn't it, I really feel for you.

I'm also BFing and tried everything under the sun to help DD - infacol, gripe water, cycling legs, small amount of cooled boiled water (HV recommended this) and absolutely nothing helped except time. She's now nearly 11 weeks old and this week we've seen a real turning point.

Up to 9 weeks old all she did was breastfeed, nap on me, or cry. We got 10 mins of smiles in the morning, then crying. Nothing else.

At 10 weeks though she's much more content, back to going 3ish hours between feeds and is actually going to bed at night in her cot instead of in our bed on me. She's having periods where she is happier to be put down for around 10-20 mins at a time now.

Promise it gets better, it's just time. For now I would just make DP do everything around the house and take the pressure off you, and you just focus on hydrating yourself and resting for those long feeding and cuddle sessions. It won't last long

Hey OP. I remember so clearly this with my first dc.
Colic is basically what they call unexplained crying. I videoed my DC to show the doctor in desperation because to me it seemed like he was in agony, every evening (but ok during the day).
Tried infacol, everything. Doctor didn't really do anything.
Nothing helped except riding it out, and I hated when people told me it just gets better on its own, but that's what happened - peaked around 7 weeks ish, then a couple of weeks later noticed that we'd had a few less screamy nights. I'd say about 12 weeks was better.

DC now sleeps amazingly (as of about 9 months on, apart from a blip around 1 year old) and has done for years, is super healthy, eats well etc - so I no long-term effects. I just remember it was so, so hard and no-one with a 'normal' baby seemed to understand!
The first 3 months of his life was the longest of my life, honestly....

I’ve just read the latest posts, OP - hope you are feeling a bit reassured that usually this passes by about 12 weeks. We spent a bank holiday weekend with relatives when DS1 was exactly 3 months old and it had stopped by then - we wouldn’t have gone if it hadn’t! I think around 11-12 weeks was when it eased. You’ve got to dig deep and get through it. I had a happy baby as soon as it had passed.

10 weeks it got a better, 12 weeks it was as if a switch flipped.

Have you tried a dummy.

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

This is a really interesting insight into colic. I hope it explains things.

The constantly wanting to be on your boob is very normal and it’s helpful for increasing your supply as the baby grows and does bring them comfort.

However, two things stick out for me-

1. if you’re sore, it’s possible his latch isn't great which could mean he’s swallowing too much air and getting uncomfortable. This could also result in him wanting to feed often.
2. have you looked in to silent reflux? Two of my three had it and would scream but not be sick.

I hope you’re ok as it’s really exhausting

Thanks for all your replies (and sorry for the delay in replying, life gets away from me a lot atm!)

Its just nice to hear that other people have gone through this and it will soon get better. We're approaching 9 weeks now, and in the last week we've had a few glimpses of things calming down, which gives me hope :)

@Funauntienowmummytobe .. I'm also in a similar situation, have a big day/evening event to go to in April, and I'm really hoping by then we'll be completely through this stage, as there's no way I could go with the situation as it is.

@Maray1967 ... I've taken your suggestion and have decided to try to introduce a dummy. Naively, I just assumed you could pop one in babies mouth and problem would be solved ... turns out this baby won't take the dummy, so doing some training with that. Nothing is ever easy!

Glad to hear you've had an improvement! Small steps and you'll be in the clear of this problem 🙂

Sounds like things might be improving for him - and you!
Not all will go for a dummy - both of mine loved them at first but DS1 found his thumb at about 11 weeks and lost interest in dummies.
DS2 - very different, had to stop them at night when he’d started school (long stopped in the day) …
Hopefully things will be much better by 11-12 weeks.