Can't get my colicky baby to stay asleep

[longforasnooze]

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?

he sounds a lot like my second child who turned out to be intolerant to dairy and egg.
dairy seems to be quite a common cause of unsettledness in babies tbh

the thing is, if you wanted to cut dairy out you would hae to stop the formula too. or buy some neocate/nutramigen which are very expensive without a prescription.

if you have a decent sling you ought to be able to carry him more easily.
ds2 pretty much lived in the moby wrap i had, when he was at his worst

oof it is vile. mine screamed for several hours every night for a very long time. bouncy chair is brilliant but really the only thing which worked was just to settle down on sofa and bf for the evening.

i don't think there is anything else physical which can be done, medicines/remedies didn't make any consistent difference. it is just a stage to be got through with as little trauma on all sides as possible.

also a bit of screaming is inevitable while you eat, have your life etc, but better to go with passing him to dh and back again. or send them out for a walk while you spend time with ds1.

Thanks....the best relief is to know the end is in sight with 12 weeks not far away.
However, since I've been slipping him a herbal tea concoction he has been brilliant...may just be coincidence, and it may return, but he has been peaceful, sleeping loads, cooing and at last smiling last night in the bath, such a relief. Relishing the days in case it comes back.
It seems incredible but we also think he is teething, two little buds are visible and he is eating less and sometimes not liking to suck at all and the powder settles him! Whatever it is or was, it seems to have calmed down dramatically just as we were at our wits end, and my partner and I just looked at each other gratefully over dinner last night while we ate together with him sitting happily in a chair!! 3 days of loveliness so far.

longforasnooze, we are going through exactly the same...can you tell me what herbal tea you are giving your LO and how much, how often, etc? I'm keeping my fingers crossed the improvement in your case is not just temporary!

Ah, poor you, my DD had colic and it was one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with. Evenings were just hard slog.

I had a variety of things that would work for about 10 minutes, and just did them on rotation: lying her on her tummy across my arm, rhythmic "shushing" and rocking, dummy time (like you I always swore I never would but DD was so relieved when we caved in and gave her one at 6 weeks), going out for a walk - movement calmed her.

Noises helped, too - a rainmaker from ELC could buy a few precious minutes of no screaming. The hoover calmed her, too, as I discovered after about a month when I had to clean up the ankle-deep fluff bunnies, colic or no colic!

We also tried gripe water, colic drops and anything we could lay our hands on - they all distracted her for a few minutes, but can't say they worked.

Towards the end of her first 3 months, and having tried everything and consulted everybody, I just accepted living with a soundtrack of screaming and tried not to take it personally. It was so hard not to feel like I had let her down as a parent. I often put her safely in the cot for a minute, left the room and gave a sofa cushion a piece of my mind. I also tried to get some time every day away from the noise, ideally DH would take her for a walk around the block in the evenings while I had a bath or something.

One day around 13-14 weeks, she just stopped doing it. She still had a bad couple of hours here and there until she was 6 months.

Hang in there, all things must pass, you're doing really well!