Colic Hell

[Gimli]

DS is a week and a half old and has consistently howled from Midnight, sometimes until 4am, sometimes 5am. Nothing will calm him. We have been told it is Colic, and listening to him you can hear the wind bubbling through him, even though it is young for this to start. My and my wife's nerves are getting badly frayed. We have tried Infacol (three days and counting) but it appears to be having no effect. Please help.
We thought about two but after this I'm not sure either myself or my DW could cope with a second round of this.

I'm feeling for you. DD was that way for 5 months. If DH hadn't gotten up with her at night too, I don't know what I would have done, because I couldn't survive on 1 hour sleep a night every night. We tried everything, and it never helped. Didn't have CO in the middle of nowhere where we lived, but hear lots of good things about it.

Califraunkincense
Bless you. DW's brother is an osteopath and is due to visit soon. Thank you. Five and a half months. Don't know how you survived. Tougher than me!

My baby started with colic at 3-4 weeks. after 2 hard weeks and loosing confidence in my ability to comfort our little one I stopped breast feeding(was only doing 3 feeds a day on the breast) and change from SMA to cowangate comfort. At the same time I used colief drops too.Within 2-3 days he was great. Still gets a little bit colicky but evenings are bliss now.
Are you breast/bottle feeding?

Oh Gimli, I can SO sympathise. I have been there (and some nights still am!) with the inconsolable, screaming baby, and it is totally and utterly soul destroying.

Quick condensed list of things that might help:

A wrap sling (we used a Kari Me)
Infacol
Colief drops
Bouncy chair
Car ride
Singing
White noise
Rocking
Dummy
Passing baby to someone calm!

I was BFing and just fed him and fed him - it offered a degree of comfort, we would just take to bed while he howled and sucked intermittently.

If you search for colic on Mumsnet you will find countless threads which have tips and suggestions. You will get through it - only last night DP and I were saying how we remembered the worst of it was unbearably bad but the actual feelings of despair have largely faded (and DS is only 4.5 months - we've just got new stuff to worry about now I guess!).

yes,my husbands deep voice/hoover often helped settle him

Keep going with the infacol as the effect is accumulative. It can take up to two weeks to get the full benefit but the benefit can be enormous.

Definitely go to see a cranial osteopath. You will be amazed by how much it can help.

Keeping DC upright as much as possible, especially in a sling (a second vote for kari-me!) will help.

A bouncy chair with vibrations can be surprisingly effective.

Consider how you are winding DC. Over the first few months you will find that different positions work better at different stages. Keep DC as upright and uncurled as possible. Apply gentle pressure to DC's tummy during winding either with a hand or by holding DC over your shoulder for example. Try not patting or rubbing DC on the back but just keep DC upright. This may sound strange and feels like you aren't doing anything but it works better for a lot of babies. The theory behind it is that when you pat a baby on the back you can disperse wind that has gathered together and then it passes through the gut causing pain. It may take a short while for the wind to come up but if you are holding the baby in a good position it will come up.

Finally, take heart in the fact that it won't last forever. You are doing a good job and obviously care a lot about your baby otherwise you wouldn't be asking for advice on here. Oh, and it is quite normal to get frayed nerves and even frayed tempers it's just that not everyone admits to it.

Thank you all. We have kept going with the Infacol and he has managed a few nights sleeping recently. Tonight it was back, but the cries did not last as long as they have done. Will definitely try the sling, tho. Have bought one, just not used it yet. He goes for osteopathy tomorrow, and our fingers are crossed.

Harvey Karp's book: Happiest Baby on the Block.

5 S's:

1. Swaddle - need to lock down arms - Miracle blankie excellent for this

1. Stomach/Side - never hold/lay a screaming ababy on thier back, stimulates moru reflex

1. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSh (white noise, louder than baby)

1. Swing - (jiggle really fast to imitate movement in womb - hold head snug)

1. Suck - boob or dummy

First session with the osteopath completed, here's hoping. In the meantime after a brief chink of light, he's worse than ever. Still, hey ho, the cloudy bay has arrived from Sainsbury and I intend to polish off most of the bottle, although hoping DW might join me with at least one glass.

Bless you. Second one's up on Monday so fingers are crossed. He's currently in one of his all too rare happy and cute phases. Seemed to enjoy the treatment.