NOW CLOSED Let's talk colic. Share your stories and comforting tips with Infacol. You could win £100 Love2Shop voucher

[KatieBMumsnet]

We've been asked by Infacol, the UK's leading infant colic remedy, to find out what Mumsnetters know about infant colic. Here's what they say: "Infant colic is a common condition affecting around 1 in 5 infants in the first month of life. It is often associated with crying fits, which can last up to three hours at a time and be distressing to both child and parents."

Do you or have you ever had a baby who has suffered from infant colic? How did you know what the condition was? What symptoms did your little one have and how old were they?
Please share anything in particular that helped to comfort your baby. What could have helped you during this period? What effect, if any, did colic have on you or your partner?

If your child doesn't or didn't suffer from colic, what do you know about the condition? Do you know what the symptoms are and would you know what to do if you thought your DC did have colic?

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Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

[AmandinePoulain]

Both of my babies had colic. Dd1 got diagnosed by the HV who happened to be there when she was having one of her crying episodes, she got some infacol prescribed which really helped her bring up her wind but didn't completely stop the episodes, which tended to happen in the early afternoon and early evening. We carried on using it until she was around 4mo.

Dd2 started off with a similar pattern, I saw the GP who told me that I was feeding her too often , I didn't follow her advice to put her in the car if she cried too soon after her last feed! We tried infacol but I think her issues with wind were further down, she never had a problem bringing it up but she was very windy at the other end so we didn't really find that it helped. What really helped her, and pretty much stopped the crying episodes, was abdominal massage.

[noseynoonoo]

It was through a BabyCalm course that I was able to understand what colic is - and what it isn't. I thought that it was a specific ailment, affecting a specific part of the body but the actual definition is that a baby has colic when a baby cries for at least 3 hours, 3 days a week, for 3 weeks. It's really just a catch-all term for unexplained crying - i.e. crying that we don't understand.

We did try infacol but that had no affect - daughter hated it despite it tasting quite nice (in my opinion). What did work was picking up our baby, using a wrap or sling to keep her close and generally having the time to be with her. This would generally stop the unexplained crying, so perhaps the explanation was that she needed more of us.

[RabbitsMakeGOLDBaubles]

Laying my DS across my knees and rubbing his back used to help. As did baby massage after a warm bath with me. With DD I used a sling so we were in constant contact, seemed to help with her constant fussing.

[PeazlyPops]

My son didn't have colic, but was very unsettled after a feed when he was 1-3 months old, and I found it hard to wind him.

My mum and MIL both suggested gripe water, and my mum went to fetch us some, but came back with infacol was gripe water wasn't available. I was skeptical, and we didn't want to give DS the infacol was we felt it was unnecessary.

We came round to the idea and did give it before a feed. I'm not sure if it worked or if he would have got better anyway.

[down2earthwithabump]

Do you or have you ever had a baby who has suffered from infant colic? How did you know what the condition was? What symptoms did your little one have and how old were they?
Yes, I think DD had colic. At approx or was it precisely 4pm every day from approx 4 weeks through til 12 weeks old . I could tell by what appeared to be uncontrollable discomfort, knees up to the tummy and constant crying which none of the checklist would help i.e. feeding, less stimulation, more stimulation, checking for illness, sleeping etc. I guessed it was colic by the lack of other illness symptoms and the regularity of the crying.

Please share anything in particular that helped to comfort your baby. What could have helped you during this period? What effect, if any, did colic have on you or your partner?
I tried to help DD bring up wind after BF, and not lie DD on her back too soon after a feed. I also watched my diet and tried not to eat foods that could encourage wind in DD. I was discouraged from using any bottled remedies as a lot of what I read and discussed suggested that nobody truly knew what colic was, what caused it and were dubious on the effectiveness of the bottled remedies . I now regret trying a remedy as the crying did have a big impact on me and DH creating tension on how we dealt with it and whether we needed to try to resolve it or let it resolve itself.
Clearer information about colic and a recognition of its impact on the family would have been more helpful, rather than a disregard of it like it didn't exist which lead to little constructive advice on how to deal with it.

[mistlethrush]

Do you or have you ever had a baby who has suffered from infant colic? How did you know what the condition was? What symptoms did your little one have and how old were they?

Yes - my son got this - the first time the classic (for him) crying and rooting / head shaking appeared was on night 3 - the MW on duty (in hosp as emcs) said I must be feeding him 'wrong' and tried all sorts including clamping him to me, all to no avail. On a bad night, when he was about 3 weeks old, he would start crying (a very distinctive cry) at 7pmish and carry on until 4 or 5 am, with the odd 5 mins off if you were really lucky.

Please share anything in particular that helped to comfort your baby. What could have helped you during this period? What effect, if any, did colic have on you or your partner?

When we worked out later on that it was colic we first tried infacol - that helped a tiny bit. We then tried Colief which helped quite a bit, but cranial osteopathy seemed to make it just disappear overnight - there was no lessening of symptoms - he had it then it was gone.

When he was bad, keeping him fairly upright and rocking was the best option - a swing seat helped. Sometimes lying him over your forearm, head in hand, arms and legs hanging down either side and again rocking helped.

[prettybird]

Ds never suffered from colic but my best friend's first child did. He was the only one of the 4 to do so.

If I called them at about 7pm he would invariably be crying; she (and her dh) just let him cry it out and got used to the noise. Iirc, it was about an hour long period. They were/are both GPs, so I presumed that was an OK approach. They knew he was otherwise fine, so ignored the crying.

Said child is now in his mid 20s and seems none the worse for it! :)

[LittleLolly]

My 8 week old DS is suffering from terrible colic at present. I have tried infacol, colief, cow and gate comfort, dr brown's bottles, a special mattress wedge, keep him upright after feeds. My GP has now started him on infant gaviscon which seems to have made him a little more settled. He as screaming from 9pm until 1am, and 8 am until 11 am every day. Now he just cries at night, and not every night. His dummy seems to help him, and I never lie him flat after a feed. During the day I carry him in the sling if he is crying, this seems to sooth him. I'm just hoping he grows out of it soon!

[LittleLolly]

Oh, we've also been to a cranial osteopath. This made no difference to him.

[flamingtoaster]

My DS had awful colic for a few months - he would scream (very obviously a pain cry rather than just tired or annoyed) for a couple of hours every evening, drawing his legs up. We tried various remedies (Infacol wasn't around then). We just carried him around, talking quietly or singing to reassure him, during the attacks.

[Griselda]

Every nappy change I would massage both my dd's tummies (2yrs 8mth age gap) with a routine I had learnt at a class. It might have done the trick but mostly made me feel useful.

[MulledTurkey]

All of my babies had 'colic' according to various HV and some doctors, turns out they all actually had reflux which is treatable and when you find the right paediatrician they can stop your baby suffering.

My babies had a milk intolerance which the reflux was a symptom of and they grew out of it eventually, the latest baby very early at 6 months which was fantastic.

My tip is get reflux and intolerance ruled out before you allow people to dismiss your baby's distress as colic it could literally change your first few months together.

I still breastfed (still am much to my amazement, dd is 8 months!!) I had to stop with first baby because of the colic symptoms and general exhaustion but wish I had known about reflux. I ate a dairy free diet this time for 6 months it was fine and baby is the happiest one I have had yet! When bottle feeding there is special milk which is prescribed and takes away symptoms.

If reflux is not a symptom of an intolerance there is advice and medication if needed which can help SO much. Of course not all babies who scream will have reflux and there is no need to medicate always but trust me it IS worth getting a good doctor and at the very least ruling it out. So many people I have met have thought their babies had colic but it wasn't.

[Thatsinteresting]

My ds had terrible colic from just a few days old. He would start crying at 4pm and keep crying until he feel asleep with exhaustion. He would sleep for 10-20 minutes and then start crying again sometimes until 6am with just 5 or 6 of these very short breaks. Nothing really works except waiting for them to get older. Boots own gripe water seems to help a little. My only real advice is to pick your child up and tell them you love them (even if you don't). It doesn't fix anything but it's hard to feel anger towards someone while telling them you love them. And you do feel cross with your child even though you know it's not their fault, you're just exhausted and desperate for some rest.

[abiw92]

My DD suffered with it from around 3-8 weeks bless her although i had tommee tippee anti colic bottles she still got it. i did try infacol on the adice of a friend sorry to say it didnt work just made her scream loader as her cries was more like screams i would settle her then it would start again it was difficult being a single mum and still recoving from a water infection from the hospital and a load of stiches. So i decided to try gtipe water which helped a bit then when I was visiting my brother as he had not long had a baby after me and his fiancee showed me a mam anti collic self sterillising bottle she had been given for her little girl and it looked great and innotive so although i had a very tight budget with waiting for child benefit and tax credits ect to come through. it was starting to get me down even more so i decided too look round for the mam bottles they wasnt cheap as they were just over £30 for 6 bottles but they worked amazing and a few days after changing her bottles she was much better and is now 12weeks and hasnt had any since thankfully.

[Merida]

DS suffered horrendously with colic teamed with reflux. Oh my days, we went through everything. We used (at various times, and occasionally combinations of one or more of...

Infacol, Gripe Water, Colosynth granules - all worked for a couple of days then seemed to stop working so we used them on rotation!
Umpteen burping positions and 'pass the baby' as we each took turns
Jogging up and down on the spot
Dummies
Dancing round the room
Swinging him in our arms, and when most desperate extreme, the carseat (successful but knackering)
The most successful? We went on youtube and searched for baby white noise. We found a short track called 'baby got colic'. It is horrendous, it's like unleashing the hounds of hell upon yourself. However, the instant DS heard it he stopped screaming.
Cue us playing it on repeat over, and over, and over, practically every night for over a month.

What do I wish I'd known? We fed him on demand when we thought he was hungry, which was when he cried. I wish we'd realised that just because he was crying didn't meant he was hungry. He was quite a sucky baby and I'm sure now that we could've settled him with a dummy and let his last feed settle for a while before feeding him again.

They do say that hindsight is 20/20...

[gemma4d]

I don't know if DD1 had "proper" colic or just always cried a lot at the same time of the day. With DD2 I discovered Tummy Tubs. All the relaxation of a bath but without the time (and cost!) of filling a big bath. It would definitely be on my "must have" list for DC3!

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

DS had colic from around 3 weeks old to around 17 weeks old. It was hell. He cried for at least an hour every night for each of those weeks (usually around 3 hours). It felt like we tried everything - osteopath, 'tiger in the tree' hold, over the counter medicine, crying over the GP, begging HV for help, shhhhhhhh, white noise, the five Ss, a light show... I can't even remember most of the things we did!

To be honest, nothing really worked to cure it. He just gradually got better until we realised that he hadn't screamed for a while!

Even now, at 16mo, he doesn't sleep very well (waking at least every three hours overnight) and I wonder if those unsettled first few months have led to this.

I wish more was known about colic and I wish there was a cure.

[OscarPistoriusBitontheside]

Both of my boys had appalling trapped wind. I was repeatedly told that breastfed babies didn't get wind.

I used infacol with both of them along with generous doses of baby massage. I honestly recommended infacol to all of my friends now if their babies are windy.

Another thing I used to do was put them cross ways over my knees and rub and pat their little backs, seemed
To help move stuck wind.

[DMAGANTI]

My 1st child had severe colic till about 40 days. i remember clearly as I did not sleep more that 3 to 4 hours each day and then suddenly she was out of it.
We did give her colic medicine which would help for some time but it was the same after a few hours.
The colic pain would invariably happen during the nights and she would continuously cry. No amount of rubbing the back or carrying her would soothe her.
I had a feeling that it had something to do with the food I was taking, I am not sure what! Also I later found that it could also occur due to incorrect feeding posture, where the children gulp in air along with the milk!

Iam just lucky that I did not face the same with my second born...

[MulledTurkey]

Oscar- I was told the same thing about breastfed babies and wind! What rot, they do get it!!! Sometimes I wonder about the information we are given by professionals, not all obviously but some of them

[supergreenuk]

Both mine had colic but with my first I was totally uneducated and had no idea what it was. To be fair she didn't suffer terribly but she was so unsettled and made lots of noises. With my second we were much more clued up. I gave infacol alongside massage and lots of burping. It felt pretty helpless really although doing something was better than doing nothing.

[supergreenuk]

Both mine were breast fed and both had it. More so with my second as he had tongue tie.

[Oopla]

Colic's awful, nothing worked but like a desperate fool I tried everything. Best advice for new parent facing it is Grit your teeth and wait it out

[EnjoyResponsibly]

I didn't wait to see if DS actually got colic, having seen how awful it was for DN I gave it to DS from day 1. He didn't get colic.