COLIC, can you help?

[Rhiannon]

A friend of mine is struggling with a new baby that is constantly crying and won't be comforted by anything that I've or she's tried. Can anyone give me the classic symptoms of colic and also what can be done to help relieve them.
ALL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE!

[Lizzer]

My baby was extremely colicky from about 4 weeks to 12 weeks and I have total sympathy with your friend because it's heart-breaking watching them scream, whilst being unable to comfort them in anyway. Well, if it is colic the classic symptoms are - bringing the knees in towards the chest whilst crying and tending to have a 'worse' time at one point of the day, usually - but not always- the evening, which can last several hours. Although experts don't know the actually cause, seeing as it can occur in both breast and bottle fed babies it's unlikely to be the milk itself, that said the HV did advise me not to drink caffeine or eat lots of dairy as I was breast feeding but I'm not convinced that helped. I was also advised to wind the baby after every feed, but the main thing I think helped her (and I think your friend will like this seeing as you can buy it from Boots! ) was Dentinox colic drops, don't know why but I tried all the rest, Infacol, gripe water etc. but that was the only thing that seemed to work for her...
However, in the last few months I have heard of a new product on the market that's meant to be fantastic - you're gonna hate me but I don't know it's name!! Sorry, but if you ask her to ask her HV - I know it can't have been out more than 16 months, because it wasn't around when WE needed it!! Maybe there's someone else out there who knows....
Good Luck

[Midge]

I found masssage helped a lot, Infacol on its own wasn't a cure. Your HV should be able to advise.
Its a miserable time but it will end. Good luck.

[Bloss]

Message withdrawn

[Joanne]

A lot of people I know have found that colic eases a bit after 6 weeks and should be gone completely by 12 weeks. My daughter used to scream until 5am for weeks - we couldn't believe it when it stopped.
2 things helped - one was meeting other mums (at baby groups & on websites) who'd come through it - helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Also swaddling baby (wrapping a blanket/sheet fairly closely round) then holding her against my shoulder & patting her back slowly. Apparently if you do this once a second it reminds them of the heartbeat in the womb, and the swaddling makes them feel secure. This calmed her down at times when nothing else worked.
Hope this helps.

[Mooma]

My first daughter suffered from colic from the age of 3 weeks until 12-14 weeks. The worst part of it was that we were living 600 miles away from family, I hadn't any close friends as I'd been working in a different town, and so I was coping alone with the screaming for the eight hours or so that my husband was at work. I thought I was going to go mad, and didn't think of seeking help because I had a big thing about being my daughter's mother and being there for her. Luckily my HV was on the ball and helped and encouraged me a great deal. So please try to support your friend, and make sure that those around her do too. Try to arrange a break for her sometimes, and assure her that it will pass. I used to get so upset, because I wanted to delight in my new baby, but in fact I was just hanging on until the first months were over. I echo Joanne's comments about swaddling and rhythmic back patting. Good luck - this still upsets me 15 years later and now we're coping with the adolescent blues!

[Ems]

I had colic once as an adult and it was SOOOOO painful, I was in the house on my own, crawled to the phone and got the doctor. No idea what it was, I said to the Dr it's like labour but I'm not pregnant. I really feel for little babies, because it's not just a 'tummy ache' it is agonising pain. Only one of mine had it, midly and I dealt with it by using infacol. I hope you find the solution.

[Emmagee]

There's a formula made by Cow & Gate called Omneo Comfort, whcih is meant to help babies with colic and other digestive problems if they're not solely breastfeeding it might be worth a try?

[Rhiannon]

Lizzer, I think the new product is Colief. My friend has found her baby is better already with it. She says you put it into the made up feed and leave for 4 hours.

[Qd]

I took my very colicky son to the Children's centre of Osteopathy when he was 9 weeks old. I only wish I'd taken him when he was 2 weeks, it would have saved us both from a lot of pain and anguish. I recommend cranial osteopathy to everyone in fact I think all babies should be given this MOT after what they go through during birth. My cousin lives in Crewkerne in Somerset and her local Osteopath sees babies under 6 weeks for free, I think that's fantastic.
If you want to find a registered Osteopath in your area I hope I'm right in telling you that the number is 02073576655.

[Roz]

My daughter had colic for four months and the only things I found to work were cranial osteopathy (at the Osteopathic Centre for Children) and a homeopathic remedy called something like "Colosynthis". I got this from my GP who also practices as a Homeopath. I also found that a swinging motion soothed her and since swinging her in her car seat was killing my back I went out and spent £80 on a swinging seat from Mothercare. It was the best money I ever spent. It calmed her right down within minutes every time (as well as giving me a break from walking around holding her 24 hours a day)

[Duck]

Colocynthis works well for colic where the baby draws up their legs while our homeopath also suggested camomile for colic associated with leg stretching.

An article in the medical press suggests that reducing dairy intake helps- I found it to be true but said that it doesn't work in all cases. If you're interested it can be found through bmj.com and searching under colic.

[Bugsy]

Our little boy had colic for 3 months and my husband and I nearly died of exhaustion while he had it. We took him to a cranial osteopath and it made virtually no difference. I used Dentinox and Infacol. I diffused dill seed oil and massaged his tummy with a specially prepared aromatherapy massage oil. I made huge efforts to feed him 3 hourly, even when he was hungry sooner and it made no difference.
He was getting a mix of breast-milk and bottles and we did notice an improvement when we switched to Aptimil by Milupa.
However, the only really soothing thing was for him to be swaddled and then put up over our shoulders and walked around the house. My husband and I took it in half hourly turns for 5 hours every evening for 3 months.
Since then Colief has been brought on the market, so that could be worth a try and one of my friends swears by the mechanical swinging chairs.
I wish your friend every success trying to combat her babies colic. It is a trully miserable experience for any parent.

[Jpl]

When my son was born 18 months ago he developed really bad colic and at the time Infacol had experienced a "blip" in their manufacturing so it was completely out of stock everywhere. A friend mentioned Colief. I ordered this through my local chemist and I can't tell you how great it was. Although it didn't take the colic away completely, the drastic change it made to my son was unbelieveable. I would say if you do use Colief, once you decide to stop using it, you should wean the baby from it as opposed to just stopping, as I found that when I stopped using it when my son was about 12/13 weeks old, he initially became quite constipated. Colief has its own help line, so they were able to tell me exactly why this had happened and how to relieve the constitipation. I would recommend Colief to anyone whose child is suffering from colic. Bit pricey, but worth its weight in gold.

[Lizzer]

Rhiannon,
Yes it was colief I was thinking of, glad it's working for her... I know I'll be stocking up on it as soon as the test's turned blue NEXT time, ha ha!!!

[Keziah]

A bit late for your friend Rhiannon but I found a dummy really helped my son. With my first son I was very against dummies - thought they looked horrible etc! He had colic for three months and it was so awful I can hardly bear to remember it! My daughter wasn't affected but my last baby who is now 6 months old started being colicky at about 3 weeks. I would breast feed him to try and comfort him because he seemed to like suckling. Unfortunately he would then be sick (projectile!) from over feeding. I reluctantly and discreetly(!) bought some dummies and used them every evening. We still had to carry him about sometimes and rock him - we also had to sort of hold the dummy in a bit if he cried a lot (wasn't as cruel as it sounds). It really worked - and the best bit was that he only used them for about two months and then stopped of his own accord. It saved us and I would recommend trying one to any parent who is in the middle of colic hell! (I am no longer such a dummy snob!)

[ScummyMummy]

Go away Colief. If I ever get a colicky baby I will not buy your product on principle. This is a discussion board not an advertising hoarding. Be gone.

[Lizzer]

Well said Scummy - That is completely out of order.

[tiktok]

What a cheek - I will never buy your product ever, and I have alerted mumsnet to this abuse of the boards and I hope you will be removed....do you not know how boards work, then? Stupid, money-grubbing people, trying to get a free ad. Pah!

[aloha]

Mind you, it does explain why lots of little feeds can give a baby colic (all that lactose!). I had heard that frequent feeds might be contributing to my baby's colic but found it very hard to space out feeds. Had I understood why lots of little feeds caused colic I would have tried harder to space them out to at least a couple of hours apart - still, next time, eh? I also found a dummy helped. Colic is sheer hell so despite bad and naughty company would still probably buy Colief on recommendation from mumsnetters - I'd buy eye of newt if it would stop the crying! Total sympathy to your friend, Rhiannon.

[Rhiannon]

Thanks aloha, it was so long ago I can't even remember whose baby it was!

Both of my children slept peacefully on their tummies. I know it isn't advised but it worked for us. R

[Marina]

Tiktok, Scummy, Lizzer, I shopped them too. How blatant can you get, and then to post it twice as well.