Any advise on this subject. Little one keeps crying. Have tried new formula,
gas drops etc.
nothing will help but time. our little one gave up the crying at about 4 months - and is now the happiest baby in the word. it sucks - but you just have to hang in there - and it is okay to put the baby down in the crib - and let them cry - it breaks your heart to do so - but once you realize nothing you do will help - it is liberating. good luck.
Completely agree with MR. My daughter was the same way, we tried everything but unless she was sleeping or eating, she was fussy and crying. Best advise is to hang in there. I woke up one morning with my little princess, fed her, and then waited for the wailing to begin...and it just didn't. It was over like that and she is the BEST baby now at almost 7 months.
Go to the doc, make sure nothing serious is wrong, then just love your little one and try to enjoy him/her. It'll get better.
My third baby was colicky. Unfortunately there's nothing you can do. Gas drops are really not even effective for gas (they work in the digestive tract and take so long to work that it would be a couple hours before there was any relief- sorry one of my pet peeves). Formula is rarely the cause of fussiness unless it is an allergy issue. Colic is just colic- the name given to a baby that cries a lot for no apparent reason. The best advice I have is to accept it.
The things that would sometimes calm my baby were carrying her in a Moby Wrap sling and taking a bath with her. The good news is at about 4 months old her screaming just turned off like a switch and she was a new baby- all smiles.
I am a grad student in nursing and actually took part in a study on crying babies when my little one was at her worst. They found that many people consider babies colicky who are not, and that for true colic there is no help other than waiting it out.
I do think my little one's issues were compounded by tiredness. I started being very consistent about putting her down to bed at 7 pm every night and consistent naps and she showed much improvement.
Sorry you (they? are you the aunt?) are going through this. It is tough but it gets better. If you have to put the baby down for a bit and let him/her cry and walk away a bit to maintain your sanity that is okay too. Babies like to be held but they also need healthy, happy caregivers. There's a great book by Dr Sears called something like Parenting the Fussy Baby that I highly recommend. Best of luck.
Check out the book 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.' It may help if the fussiness has anything to do with sleep issues. Mine wasn't colicy, but would cry 45min-1 1/2 each night. I think this book could have helped prevent some of this.
You have my deepest sympathy. Having a baby with colic was probably the hardest time of my life so far. Exhausting, and hard on my marriage, too.
It turns out that my son with colic has sensory integration issues and sensitivities to sound and overstimulation. So if I were doing it all over again, I would try harder to get him to go for swaddling (I gave up early on that; should have kept trying). I would try to put him to sleep in a sleep hammock (Amby) like the one I had with baby #2. And I'd try holding/rocking in a dark, quiet room instead of while watching TV. (maybe wear an iPod or something to distract from the crying.)
I also think his colic had to do with exhaustion. He slept well at night but had a really hard time napping more than 20 minutes from a pretty early age. So by 4:00 he was meltdown city and too tired to sleep. I don't know how to fix that, but if I was doing it again I'd see if I could come up with any more sleep tricks.
Good luck!
How old is the baby?
Our son was colicky for 14 weeks, and just like everyone said, the colic abruptly ended right around 3 months.
We tried everything (and not just once...we gave it a fair shot) from swaddling to shushing to swinging to side-laying to the drops to the car rides to eliminating everything 'bad' from my diet. Nothing mattered. Nothing really worked. He just liked to scream - from dawn til dusk. Lucky for us, he did sleep well at night.
The most annoying part was the people who would say "he has reflux, he's in pain, he's hurting, he's crying for a reason, you're an awful mother for not doing anything". Um, hi, don't you think I took my kid to the pediatrician and get everything thoroughly checked out? Of course I did - no one enjoys a baby that screams every waking minute. Some kids are just colicky.
On the bright side...the terrible 2s tantrums have been a cinch. At least I now know why my son is throwing a fit! Because I listened to nearly 3 months of constant screaming, the tantrums are a piece of cake to listen to.
I tried all the 'tricks and techniques' and unfortunately for us they didn't work. I started counting down the weeks and sure enough at 14 weeks, it stopped. He was a completely different baby. Hang in there; I know it is really tough but realize that colicky babies are not unhappy babies for life (I know this for a fact; my son is an absolute joy). Make sure to take some time for yourself and give yourself a break because the constant crying can really wreak havoc on your sanity.
I had a colicky baby, and honestly along with the drops, after feeding I noticed that holding baby and rubbing back while walking a little while seemed to do the trick. Of course, this is after the actual burping. It helped digestion I think. I don't know WHY it worked, but it did.
Burp Frequently! Don't let them finish a bottle or without burping at least 2-3 times before they get to the end. My first Child was the Colic Devil! LOL I nursed him also. We found out he was lactose. I had to stop drinking milk and eating dairy. The soy forumlas was just as bad,since it stopped up his digestion so much. His stomach would gripe. Had to use Lactose free formulas. Glucose (sugar) water helped, but not recommended to much do to the Electolites. Apple juice also. However, no dairy and burping between sips seemed to work well.
Get The Happiest Baby on the Block dvd from the library!
my sister in law gave me this website to check out when thought my last son had it. All three of her kids had colic and reflux, and she said this website was helpful to her.
you might want to try to take the baby to a chiropractor that also specializes in cranial sacral therapy.
also there was some research in probiotic's being helpful in babies with colic
Abigail Lynn LMT
Birth and Post Partum Doula
Certified Pre and Peri-natal Massage therapist
Go to a lactose free/non-dairy diet first. If your baby is taking a bottle, keep trying new formulas and use the bottles with the liners so you can push out the air. the milk enzyme is cut more times as you move up levels in formula making it easier for the baby to digest.
My daughter was colicy for 8 months. We tried everything. Early on the doctors disgnosed her with acid reflux, put her on Prevacid to reduce the damage so that her digestive system could develop quicker. It helped.
In the beginning, she slept in her bouncy chair at night. that really helped too. I also kept reminding myself that they say, "Your colicly baby always ends up to be your sweetest." Three years later...she is! Good luck!
I have been through a difficult phase with crying baby all night. After trying lots of remedial actions babies magic tea gave me the final relief.
Ive read before that colic is sometimes caused by allowing children to sleep right after eating; instead try to keep them awake for a while before naptime. Hope that helps!
There is no such thing as colic anymore. IT is most likely duee to athin lining of the stomach and the baby cannot digest the formula properly. There could be a milk or wheat protein allergy. You should have her on Alimentum for two weeo or nutramagin for at least 14 days for both and take her into the peds office and have them sab her bottom to make sure there is no blood. If there is no blood then stay on the hypoallergienic formula if there is you need to get on neocate or elecate. they will prescribe that for you. Also if there is no blood in teh stool after being on teh hypoallergenci formula and she is still crying and in pain and gassy etc then you need to tell the drs that and still get her on the neocate or elecare.
they might try reflux meds on you but I would try the formula route first and never let them talk you into taking prevacid solutabs they are full of lactose and milk proteins that would hurt her tummy worse. Take prevacid suspension would be best. Zantac and that other stuff really doesnt work. please feel free to e-mail if you need help. Do not let any dr tell you it is just colic, get a second and third opinion. Some of the drs out there are finally getting with the times!
Good luck
J.
My daughter had colic for 5 months. What worked for her was swaddling (and this was something I had to force upon her because she really didn't like it but it was the only thing that would make her sleep), the pacifier in her mouth, put her on a boppy, and have the back massager right next to the boppy so she would feel the vibration. I actually have pictures of this and though I can look back upon it now and laugh...it wasn't a lot of fun at the time. The swing would sometimes help her, and holding her while swaddled and patting her bottom would help as well.
This will pass, it's tough to go through. I saw someone mentioned bathing, and that can also be very soothing. I also found my daughter enjoyed music...still does. Keep trying things and you'll find what works best. As someone else said, there's only so much you can do for colic. Switch off with someone if you can so you can get some rest.
Take care and I hope things get better soon!
K.
Time is the only sure cure, but here are a few things that have helped a little.
1.) With my son he had gas soooo bad by the end of each day. My MIL discovered that if she held his had tight to her chest so it didn't jostle around...then she hopped up and down from foot to foot (like an Indian Rain Dance) then he would burp and fart until he stopped crying. I got lots of exercise doing this at night.
2.) Gripe water helps a little too. You can get it at Walgreens.
3.) Talk to your doctor about acid reflux and make sure it isn't that.
There's not alot you can do, both my children had colic. Take the child to the docter there's prescription drops they sometimes give. Make sure that it's colic and not a milk allergy - maybe try soy milk!
Good luck!
peppermint water dissolve 4 red and white "star" peppermint candies in 8 oz boiling water. Put a little bit in a bottle and add cold water (about 1/4 peppermint to 3/4 water) have the baby drink it, peppermint is a natural tummy soother and it really does work. My oldest had colic for almost 6 mo and this is the only thing that helped (advice from my dad who is the oldest of 17 kids) hope this helps.
Just like another poster, it turned out our colicy baby actually had sensory integration disorder - but we didn't find out until he was nearly 5. We changed formula and tried gas drops, too. Does little one also startle SUPER easily over sudden noises; does he/she hate toenail clippings; is he easily hot (what you think are the right amount of layers are actually about 2 too many)? SID presents itself in a number of ways; these were some of my son's symptoms - when baby #2 came along, we realized these things aren't typical behaviors.
Just check it out and see if integrating some sensory modification techniques help soothe baby. They DEFINITELY will not harm him and might work even if he doesn't have SID. Good luck!
I feel your pain! My now 12 month old daughter was very colicky the first few months of life (crying non-stop unless nursing for up to 10 hours straight a night!). One thing that I found did work was to put her in her swing and turn up a CD we had of a vacuum cleaner. It was a very grating sound to our adult ears, but it lulled her to sleep for at least a half hour. It reminds them of sounds they heard in the womb. When it was really bad, I'd run the actual vacuum cleaner in the room where her swing was (needless to say, I had very clean carpets in that room!)Keep in mind, they WILL outgrow it. As soon as my little girl outgrew it (by around 2.5 months), she was sleeping 8 hours straight a night. Now, at a year, she sleeps 12 hours straight. Hang in there... it will get better!!
It took my son 6 mos. to get over it, but he's been a piece of cake since (he's almost 3). The only thing that worked for us was during the day I constantly had him swaddled with the velcro swaddler until he was 5 mos. And I held him in one arm while I used the other... He also slept in his swing for 5 mos. We had a 2 yr. old and I think the constant noise did bother him. Now that he can talk, he tells me sometimes his ears hurt when a dog barks, or something loud is happening. So maybe colic babys are more sensitive?!?!?!?!?! Best of luck, get some time for yourself so you can refresh yourself.
I thought my daughter had colic until I found small amounts of blood in stool. Turned out she had GERD and had to be on special formula. I also put a couple of packs of diapers or a couple of pillows under the the top portion of her mattress to give it a little elevation. At 10, she still has GERD, but we stay away from milk and it seems to help.
Interestingly, some doctors believe colic is an indication of food allergies.
Wouldn't hurt to check out, if you haven't already.
Elise (my now 6 1/2 yr old) had colic REALLY BAD from 3 wks till 8 mos old. What made it liveable was my baby sleep plan below, what made it go away was a visit to the chiropractor.
SLEEP METHOD
try using the Baby Whisperer's EASY method for a schedule, and the Happiest Baby on the Block 5 s's method. Those two combined will make cio not be a needed thing (at that age)
EASY - when the baby wakes up it Eats. After you feed it, then it has Activity - bouncy seat, tummy time, sitting up and playing with toys, swing, exersaucer, etc. When the baby gets fussy check the B's - boredom, butt or burp. If it's none of those then off to Sleep. Don't wait for the baby to do more than get the tiniest bit fussy, then see what is causing the fusses - if it's just that they needed their diaper change do that, but if it's not the activity is boring, the butt is dirty or they have to burp, then put them down. This may happen after as short as 45 minutes, don't freak, it really means they are tired.
Now, to get them to sleep use the 5 s's. Swaddle the baby, hold the baby on their side and sway as they suck on something (paci, your knuckle or their finger/thumb) and make a shush noise. This will calm your baby. When the baby is calm, but not asleep yet, keeping them swaddled lay them in the bed. I like to pat them instead of sway after a minute or two cause you can still pat after they are put down but you can't sway, so pat the baby and continue patting gradually decreasing it as you put them in the bed. Also continue the shushing as you put them down, again gradually getting quieter.
If you do these two you will find a well rested, easily managed baby in no time.
My first daughter had colic and so does my current 5 month old daughter. It is so exhausting! Try everything in the Happiest baby on the block book. And then also make sure he/she does not have acid reflux. Both my daughters had it (and currently they both still have it). Medication doesn't work too well before 8 weeks of age, but after that it helps tremendously, assuming that is what the baby has. Make sure you check it out at least. My first daughter screamed all day and night for 5 months before an ER doc figured it out. The peds just said it was colic and she woudl outgrow it. Ugh. Good luck and hang in there.......
