life after colic - can you give me hope?

[Cassidycat]

hello, i'm new to mumsnet but fingers crossed this works.
My lttle boy Dylan has terrible colic. He's 8 weeks now and often wakes screaming, he finds it difficult to sleep unless he is being held and even when he's asleep often wimpers and cries.I fell so helpless and seeing his tears makes me want to cry too. We've tried various remedies which haven't make any noticible difference and have resigned ourselves to waiting until it goes on its own. I don't expect miricles but I guess I just want some rassurance that things will get better as I'm feeling so fed up!
Nia

Aww im so sorry to hear that you're so down, but there is hope. 2 words GRIPE WATER xxxx

i word from me INFOCOIL...

Fanbloodytastic...

If you have already tried this sorry, but I am pretty sure most (some) babies get rid of it automatically by 3 months....

yeah thats true. their digestive system matures and the trapped wind just goes away, of course they still need winding but it will come up alot easier, and as long as they have been winded, no more colic!!! Good luck hun

oh yeh, i tried Infacol, i found it did nothing. Gripe water has been around for decades and its what my mum used on me and i used it on my dd, it was an absolute GOD SEND!!!

Just wanted to say that you've done 8 weeks, they say it oly lasts about 12 so hang in there

Thanks - I have tried infacol, massage, winding ++, slings etc. Had the worse 3 days ever on gripe water and his poos went all green and slimy! Have been given colief from my GP but he's BF so haven't acquired the energy to sterilize bottles, express and all that so that I can add the colief to his feeds. I'm quite reluctant to give expressed milk as he seems to get more wind with a bottle....

I am trying to look on the bright side and think only another few weeks left!!

Any tips on coping?? My emotions are all over the place and I'm driving my partner up the wall as I'm finding it all so stressful and upsetting. I am finding it difficult to enjoy being a mum at the moment and feel that I'm letting Dylan down as when he cries I can't comfort him. I know it will get better but it's really getting me down xx

poor you cassidycat it really is dreadful, ds had frightful colic, screaming from about 4pm onwards every night and it often made me feel so useless and futile. we found the best thing was for dp to take over for a couple of hours as soon as he came home so that i could cook and eat, then try to stick ds on the breast until bedtime. you can tell when the end is in sight, the yelling starts later every night and eventually dwindles to nothing much. i am now a far more patient person so there is some good in it too

i had no luck with any of the various medications, but others have had great success so do try them all.

You're not alone cassidycat - mine was an angel till 3 weeks then suddenly as miserable as you can imagine. Now (10 wks) he is gradually having more periods of being cheerful, but we found out he has acid reflux, which explained the crying ALL day and bouts of sudden screaming when he had been fast asleep. At least now we can do a few things about it, though we also have to wait for him to grow out of it. It might be an idea to rule that out in your case. We too tried infacol, gripe water, colief etc, with no apparent effects. I can at least say that for us it's got a bit better lately - good and bad days!

Hi Cassidycat
You poor thing . Both mine had very bad colic so I can sympathise. I did find colief really effective for my DD. I also BF but found this a way of getting the drops into her without expressing loads of bottles. I bought a load of Avent Sterile Teat Travel Packs here and sterilised them. Then before each BF I would express just a tiny bit of milk by hand into the lid, add the colief drops then DD would drink the small amount of milk and drops straight from the lid. Then BF as normal. Had it down to a fine art and managed to do it when out as well unless in a very public place when I felt a bit uneasy expressing. It was really quick and easy after a few goes.

My DD's colic had gone by 15 weeks and she was sleeping well by then which was a real bonus. As for coping, well I also felt that I didn't cope well. I had joined a mother & baby group when DD was 6 weeks old and that pretty much got me through. 9 of us met weekly and were all going thru the same thing and could moan about everything including our DH's even tho they probably didn't deserve it, but it didn't half feel good. If you haven't got a close support network come on here, you will find loads of people in the same boat. Good luck with Dylan.

Hi

Have you tried a Cranial Osteopath, or Cranial Sacral Therapist? My ds now 21 weeks had quite bad trapped wind, but no where near the horrible problems that your little one is having . However, did take him to both the above and they both told me he had not completed his 'birth twist' as he was born very quickly so pelvis and muscles connected to stomach twisted. Cranial Sacral Therapist was fantastic and I started to notice a difference in days. After a couple of weeks took him back for a second time and Therapist told me he was a differnt child and we haven't looked back since. I know quite a few others that have tried this also with some success.

Hope this helps a little bit - good luck!

Is he miserable during the day too? If so there's a chance it could be dairy intolerance. Suggest giving up dairy totally for a week and see if he improves (try not to substitute with soy as this is common allergen too).

hey Cassidycat, I'm really late on this thread but used colief with my breastfed ds who sounded just like yours, including the crying in his sleep with the pain . I never did the bottles thing, just hand expressed a few drips to a clean teaspoon and mixed in the colief and fed it to ds, then bf as usual. It did help, and the colic did end. There is hope.

Have a look at this website kellymom which gives advice for breastfeeding babies with colic. I tried the feeding from one breast for two feeds then swapping as the part of the problem with my DS was an overactive letdown and my DD before that but I didn't know this info when she had colic. I also read possibly again on this site that it can take more than two weeks for dairy to be completely eliminated from your diet if you are going down that route, just check this site which will give you the info you need. Good luck I know what you are going through having gone through the same twice

why don't you post this as a feeding thread - you may get some advice from breastfeeding experts.

I sympathise very much. dd is 8 weeks and colicky though i think she may be improving. Are you strict about putting Dylan back on the same boob if he wants to feed twice (or more) within 2 hours? As getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk can make them uncomfotable I believe.

Hugs. Colic is just so rubbish. Had read about it before it hit us but it's difficult to conceive how intense it is from a book.

My ds was exactly like this, and I remember how helpless I felt when he was screaming with pain, so I really sympathise. I tried EVERYTHING, none of the over the counter stuff helped and in the end the GP said we'd tried the best of a bad lot anyway and to sit it out (brilliant). It did indeed magically disappear when he was 11 and a half weeks. (It reappeared briefly when we started weaning at 5 months, so wish I'd waited until six months and not listened to bad advice, but that's another story!)
The only thing that helped even slightly seemed to be when I fed him sitting up - me and him sitting upright I mean. Seemed to stop wind getting trapped somehow. Hope this helps and that it goes away soon.

sympathy for you - my ds had terrible colic and it was horrible.

If you're breastfeeding have you tried excluding all caffine from your diet (including chocolate) and drinking fennel tea? These helped my ds a bit (and you do get used to the fennel tea).

Also keep a food diary yourself and see if there is any link between what you are eating and whether the colic gets better/worse.

I know its hard, but it will pass almost as quickly as it started. There is an end (though I remember it doesn't feel like it at the time).

We did try cranial osteopathy and it did work a bit - but not brilliantly. It does for some though.

I used to find a cycle of different winding positions and then walking up and down helped me (not sure how much it helped ds) to cope with it.

oh and also (sorry keep remembering bits) if he has colic try to keep him off solids till at least 6 months as I (and others from reading things on here) have found that earlier weaning can bring it back on - their digestive systems seem to take a bit longer to be able to cope with things.

he will get better...you only have anothe 4 weeks to go.........
infacol before each feed....helps

sleep in his tummy....

Hi new to this
My second little boy is now 6 weeks and has had the most terrible colic for 4 weeks now. It's been a shock as my first didn't have it, and my second had been so mellow and placid and perfect until it started. It seems to be getting worse too, at least it used to be just a day time thing and we all slept well at night, and now it is just 24 hours all the time. He is exhausted cause everytime he gets to sleep he wakes himself up screaming, his development must be suffering due to lack of sleep and lack of restful time to communicate and absorb life. My Doctor has been utterly dismissive and just told me it will go at 12 weeks. My health visitor is more helpful but I'm still stuck.
Colief worked brilliantly for about 3 weeks and really reduced crying and then it just stopped working/having any affect and the Colic has got worse.
I hate dummies, but he needs to suck for consolation and he was born 10.4 and is already more than 13 pounds so I have concerns about his weight, so they help a little.
He likes the vibrating chair and being carried, infact I'd get nothing done if he didn't wander around with him in the sling....ouch on the back in the end though given his size.
Warm baths give temporary relief and he is very happy there.
He is about 60/40 Breast fed to bottle, I have tried cutting out formula completely, which appeared to help at first and then not, plus he was then crying with hunger. I have tried aptamil, easy digestion and hungrier babies made him worse I think, and now I stick to the 1st stage milk.
I don't know about changing my diet as I read there is no evidence things pass over to your milk, and I'm not a big believer in food intolerances and there is no history of this genetically for him.
Today I tried a little chamomile tea since a BBC site suggested some herbal remedies were proven.
The advice is so conflicting I don't know what else to try, but we are all EXHAUSTED, I can't bear to see him so upset, and I've no time for my eldest son or the other things that need doing, it's really getting me down.
Anyone got any additional advice?