Help with Colicky Baby

I would go with the book Happiest Baby on the Block. It worked wonders for my colicky first and my refluxy second and third. I also used the cd For Crying Out Loud for all of them if they needed calming down. The crazy loud vacuum cleaner and blow dryer sounds really helped. Good luck. We all know that this too shall pass, but it's really hard until it does!

I sympathize - my firstborn had terrible colic when he was a baby - people don't understand who haven't been through it! We had luck with the Dr. Brown bottles...the white noise worked well, too.

Hi K.. Colic is not always caused by something. My daughter was colicky and it had nothing to do with any medical/formula/breastmilk/feeding issues. Some babies are just colicky for no reason whatsoever. And, unfortunately, we could not get rid of the colic -- she just simply had to outgrow it. I know this is not the news you want to hear...and I hope some of the other Moms' advice is helpful to you. But if the other advice doesn't help, please know that there is nothing "wrong" with your baby!

It was a very trying, disruptive and relatively unhappy time...but it does end. We did find some help to temporarily stop the constant crying by using the 5 S's approach from "Happiest Baby on the Block," and by letting her sleep in her swing.

Our Pediatrician told us, "When you bring her in for her 4 month check-up, she will be a completely different baby." And she was! It was as if one day around 3 1/2 months old, she woke up happy and the colic was gone -- never to return again!

Best wishes!

Been there done that. When my son was very young we went through the same thing. I watched everything i ate, we took him to a chiropractor, tried message, warm packs, you name it we tried it. He was such a good baby other wise. But when we took him to our doctor I got an eye opener. There was nothing wrong with our son, there was nothing wrong with what I ate, it was my nerves causing the colic. I said what?? I am not nervous, this mom thing is great. My son was such a good baby. As we talked he asked me a number of questions and it turned out I suffer anxiety. I did not believe him but I could not see it or understand what he was talking about. So at 4 months I decided to stop breast feeding instead of addressing what the doctor had said. My son is now 19 years old but back about 4 years ago I started have server panic and anxiety attacks. My Dr. (not the same dr.) said you have probably been suffering from anxiety since you were a teenager and it just has started to really surface. I could not believe what she was say. I now think about the fact that if i would have listen to the doctor 15 years earlier I could have continued to nurse my son for a lot longer. I now take medication and the problem is solved.
So discuss with your doctor about your stress level because now I know that we as mothers can pass our stress to our babies through breast feeding.

Just a thought.
S.

Hi K.!
I feel your pain!! My daughter (who is now 18 months) sounds exactly like your daughter. On her worst nights, she'd be up screaming non-stop from 6 pm - 4 am, unless she was constantly nursing, and even that didn't always work. I wish I had a magic cure for you, but I don't. What we did find helped the most was using her swing in combination with white noise. We'd put her in her swing and than play a CD we purchased that was simply a recording of a vacuum cleaner being run. We'd crank the volume up and put it on repeat. This did seem to help some; she'd even fall a sleep for half-hour stretches at a time. Other times, I had to run the actual vacuum cleaner (plus side to that: very clean carpets!!). Hang in there. Colicky babies are so tough (I'm due in 2 months with my 2nd, and I'm just praying he's not colicky, too!!). Just to give you hope ... my daughter outgrew her colick by around 2 months, and from that point on, she has been a happy, contented little girl and a WONDERFUL sleeper (12 hours a night, straight through, since she was only a few months old). So, colikcy newborns don't equal difficult babies or bad sleepers. Just try to hang in there and wait it out. This, too, shall pass! :-)

My 1st son had colic, caused in part from acid reflux. We had him on Zantac and, eventually, he grew out of the reflux and the colic.

My 2nd son is now 3.5 months old and is also colicky, although he does not have any digestive/medical cause for it. He simply craves the feeling of the womb. Like a few others recommended, I HIGHLY endorse the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. I was pretty skeptical about it, but his techniques REALLY work.

Assuming that the baby is not hungry, wet, bored, or has a burp, the techniques in the book I am very confident, will soothe any baby to sleep. Basically what we do for my son is as follows... When we notice that he is becoming tired I immediately swaddle him VERY tightly, with both arms straight down by his sides so that he can't wiggle free. Most of the time the simple act of swaddling him calms him 90% of the way down. I pick him up in my arms and cradle him, holding him tightly against my body. Then I go into the bathroom and turn on the exhaust fan (his preferred source of white noise) -- our bathrooms all have separate switches for the fans and lights, so the bathroom is nice and dark. While holding him I rapidly twist my torso from side to side. Most of the time this is the motion that soothes him and lulls him to sleep. If not, I also have found success with doing variations of bouncing. I do 3 gentle bounces with my knees, and then a deep knee plunge...and repeat until he's quiet. I usually do not need to have him suck on a pacifier or bottle for him to go to sleep, but some babies do need to suck as well.

Once he is calm, I continue the calming motions for a few minutes to help him get into a deeper sleep. If I am putting him down for the night, I then go into his room and turn on a fan (aimed at the wall -- not at the baby), and lie him down in his crib. If I am just putting him down for a nap, I put him in his Fisher Price cradle swing and turn the sound feature to the crashing waves sound.

I was SOOOO stressed out by his colic before I read the book and implemented the techniques, especially since my husband does not get home from work until late every night and I am usually the one to put both our kids to sleep.

I'm sure the techniques in the book will work! GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

Hi K.,
Both of my boys were colicky and both had different solutions. Dr Marc Weissbluth is an excellent doctor/author. We used his methods for our boys - putting the boys to bed every two hours and having a routine so they knew what to expect. My oldest liked the "elevator drop" to fall asleep. I would swaddle him, hold him and bounce up and down doing deep knee bends. We also did the cry it out method at 4 months. With my youngest, he loved the Swaddle Me blanket and liked to sleep with a noise machine.
Good luck. The crying is so difficult but it will pass.

Read, re-read, and then read again Mom LK's post!

We took our son to the doctor and had him all checked out for reflux, disease, you name it. We fed breastmilk. I changed my diet. I stopped eating this and started eating that. We swaddled, we swung, we shushed, we side-laid. We used Mylicon drops. We burped til we heard the thunderous belch. We had him sleep on an elevated wedge. We started chanting special ritual rhythms (I'm just kidding...)

I think you get my point that we tried everything under the sun - and not just once of twice, we gave several shots at each technique - and nothing really seemed to quell the colic except for TIME.

Everyone said that around 12-14 weeks the colic would just stop like turning off a switch. I started counting down. And, what do you know? Just like that it stopped. No rhyme or reason.

We lived 14 weeks with ALL DAY crying so my heart totally goes out to you. Keep doing the best you can to try to soothe your baby but also make sure that you are taking time our for yourself (without the baby) so you don't go insane.

The people who scold you and make you feel badly saying things like "You're doing something wrong! Babies don't cry for no reason at all!" well, don't listen to them! Just know that although you may feel trapped in your own nightmare, it will end and things WILL get better.

Hopefully something will work for you and I HOPE and PRAY it does. But if not, know that in time it will eventually cease.

Good luck - colic is plain cruel for a new baby and parent.

K., I feel your pain!! My 2nd daughter, Marianne, was colicky for 6 months!!! I thought I was going to pull my hair out and go screaming into the night. It was AWFUL! She only responded to me singing "You are my Sunshine" over and over and over in her ear. I tried everything but nothing helped. If there is a lucky side to colic, she was colicky during the day so I at least got to sleep. I was conviced people ran and locked their doors when they saw us coming. She HATED the carseat and we finally hit what worked with her swing, BUT only going side to side, she hated the front to back motion. Have you tried that? I also developed something I call the "Marianne bounce", Standing up, I faced her outward with one had under her bottom like a seat and the other blocking her chest area from falling. And we walked, and walked and walked.

If it helps at all, she is an AWESOME little girl and by the way....she loves to sing.

Let me know if any of that works or if you need to vent I've been there, the guilt I felt for wanting to run was incredible.....but we love out kids screaming or laughing. BEST OF LUCK!

K.-Put her on probiotics and a good one for baby is florababy (florajen products). This is natural and her system is probably low on good bacteria.

T.

K.,

you poor thing! I feel so bad for you! I guess she'll out grow it. poor momma, and baby. i always give fussy baby a nice warm bath.. and swaddle em good after that. maybe a calming cd... car ride? god bless you guys... If people are willing to take a night shift for you to get some rest take them up on it! it usually is over by 3 months.

D.

My son was colicky also, so I feel for you. We found that he liked to be bounced in a bouncy chair with the vibration. Some nights he would sleep in it with us bouncy it off and on during the night. He also liked the vacuum cleaner noise.
We found these colic pills that are all natural made by Hyland. They are sold often at Walgreens or you can find them online.
We were formula feeding him and switched to soy, which seemed to help some. The thing that I think helped him the most was the dr. put him on an antacid medication.
As far as the air, we never really found a good solution. We would use anti-gas med. for that.

Good luck and it will pass, I promise:)

Two things that really help us with our colicky baby:
1. keeping her swaddled as much as possible at night--as tightly as possible with both arms in.

2. while nursing, after letdown, I would unlatch her and spray into a burp rag for a minute or 2 until I stopped involuntarily spraying. Then, I would relatch her back on. I had a very forceful letdown that was causing her to gasp for air and choke on the extra milk. The extra foremilk also made her gassy and tummy upset. The oversupply gets better as your milk supply gets better established based on her true demands around 2-4 months of age.

I feel your pain. You are describing my life 2 years ago with my son. I tried all that you tried. I did put my son on zantac for reflux though, and that seemed to help a little bit. I also took Primadophulis, a probiotic at Wild Oats, since I was exclusively breastfeeding too. It will get better, and you will soon forget about this. I will be honest though, my little boy at age 2 is still a grouchy child. Very tempermental. Good luck.

Hey, K.:

Have you tried a sling? I have a Kangaroo Korner and this seems to help with my colicy 6week old.

good luck..I feel you pain. Oh, and I too have a husband with selective hearing...it's in there genes! Our son was screaming a mere 4 ft away and my husband was snoring away...

J.

Hey K.,
First of all, I know what you're going through! Its just awful and so difficult on all of you. This may sound far fetched, but my daughter had bad colic until she was 6 months old and finally got on a nap schedule (meaning she didn't scream for 20 minutes to fall asleep) around 7 months old. In hinesight, that's when we started to supplement with formula. Now we have realized that she has a lot of food sensitivities. So looking back, it seems clear that she was getting things through my milk that she was sensitive to. Most traditional GIs probably wouldn't tell you to do this but I think its worth trying because that colic is just a nightmare. I'd start with removing gluten from your diet and see if you notice a difference in the baby. If you can't tell, then reintroduce and see if you notice any differences then. If not, try removing dairy (i.e., go to a rice milk, not just a lactose free milk) and do the same. IF you'd like more ideas, let me know - I have some resources available you might be interested in.

Good luck!
K.

I admit that I haven't read all 33 responses, so my apologies if I repeat. She should not be taking in air when she feeds so you may want to see a lactation consultant about the latch. Even if the latch was great the first couple of weeks, it can gradually change and you may just need a little help getting reset. (this has happened to me before)

Did she already go through the growth spurt that happens around 3 weeks? My kids just needed to eat ALL the time in the evenings during growth spurts. My guy is just about 4 weeks, and we just went through the 7-11 pm grouchy, eat nonstop phase. Good Luck!

I agree about the reflux. Our daughter had similar problems, though all day long, not just in the evening. We tried zantac which worked for about a day, and then Prevacid worked miracles. We almost couldn't believe it was the same baby. These meds take about 2 weeks to be effective because the esophagus needs to heal, but it's such a difference. I should mention that I was nursing exclusively, and prior to trying meds I drastically changed my diet and pretty much eliminated anything that could be irritating her stomach (dairy, wheat, nuts, etc..). She was 5 or 6 months old before we had her on the Prevacid. Your doctor can test for reflux if you suspect it. Do some research and see if the symptoms match.

Everyone told us it was colic, but I've read that babies don't just cry for no reason- something's wrong, and it's usually reflux or a food intolerance. I had a hard time believing that her cry was just something she felt like doing. She sounded so miserable! It's hard. Good luck!

I sympathize with you, we dealt with colic for 5 months! The only thing that seemed to help was Prevacid. We got it from the pediatrician after trying another prescription and everything else you also tried. I am a very organic person so it pained me to have to medicate my son so early in life but it was worth it for his comfort and our piece of mind. Good luck to you!

I had a very colicky baby with my firstborn. With my second son, I went off all milk products immediately as soon as he was born. He had no colic at all. There's no way to know whether the second son did better because of my change or because of just different genetics, but it might be worth a try. I have heard, though, that it may take a month of being off all milk products before you see a difference.

Here's some resources that you might find helpful...

http://www.mothering.com/green-living/natural-parenting-t...

http://www.mothering.com/health/backpack-homeopathy-allis...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/t051300.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t083301.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/fb4.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t106000.asp

http://www.llli.org/search?cx=012805113672795732671%3A72a...

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBfussy.html

http://www.kellymom.com/pantley/pantley22.html

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/02colic_in_bf_baby.html

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussybaby.html

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/gassybaby.html

I hope you find something that helps soon.

Best wishes,
J.

Our Son was the same way. My mother thought I was exaggerating how difficult my evenings were (my husband works evenings so it was just me and the colicy baby, most nights I couldn't even eat). I found a couple things that helped. 1: I put him in a baby carrier and strapped him on all evening. It helped, as a matter of fact that was the only way I could get any grocery shopping done. 2: Chiropractor. We had him adjusted at about 12 weeks and there was gradual improvement. 3: at about 16 weeks our Ped observed a feeding and put him on Zantac. By around week 24 he was a much happier child. I would also recommend a sleep positioner we had multiple reasons for it acid reflux and breathing trouble. I don't know which worked better or most but at this stage you try anything and everything. Gripe water was a waste of money for us.

GOOD LUCK! I hope you find something that works

I'm sure by now you know you are not alone. My daughter had the same problem. We tried everything. The only gripe water that gave us a little relief was colic calm. Sometimes the Indian onion tea worked. Try to keep your baby in the upright position for at least 30 minutes after every feeding. Another tip is burping your baby after every 2 ounces of milk. Also soy can be gassy. We finally did stool testing for my daughter & she is allergic to gluten & dairy. Remember this too shall pass. God bless.

Hello! My son was colicky for about 4 months (he's now 3 yo) and I was going crazy trying to figure out ways to calm him. I have a few ideas that might help, but it really sounds like you've already done your research and are trying everything you can. First, it's wonderful you're breastfeeding and don't let anyone tell you to switch to formula to alleviate the crying. Cow milk in my diet was largely responsible for my son's colic and it got somewhat better after I cut out ALL dairy. Read labels and don't eat foods that have casein or whey in them. Babies will suck in more air with a bottle so stick with breastfeeding even if your little one has a sensitivity to dairy in your diet. I tried burping my baby a few minutes into the feed and this helped a little. Burping earlier and often during a feeding gets the air bubbles out before they have a chance to travel further into the digestive tract. (oh, and like you, mylicon did very little...although I think my son was distracted from crying because of the sweet flavor!)

Have you tried white noise? The swish-swish of the dishwasher calmed my son. I have the silliest picture of him swaddled up and laying on the floor in front of the dishwasher sound asleep. Radio static, washing machine, bath water going. Conair sells a sound machine with white noise as an option on it for about $20. Putting my son on top of the dryer while it was running worked a few times.

Getting in the bath tub with my son worked a few times. Getting the warm water over his belly calmed the crying. Go ahead and nurse him right in there. A bit of a warning though, I was pooped on several times, but hey, my son wasn't crying anymore!

There is an online colic support group at colicsupport.com. Some folks at this group swear by probiotics. I hadn't heard of using probiotics until after the colic days were over. It may be something to look into.

Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block is a great book about calming fussy, colicky babies.

My second child, now almost 1, had bouts of inconsolable crying in his first 2-3 weeks of life. A sling was useful in calming him. I'd put him in the Baby K'tan (www.babyktan.com), turn up some white noise on the radio, and bounce him around or pace and he could go to sleep.

Having one calming method work for a little while and then not again is typical of colicky babies. Fortunately they just grow out of it when they're ready and all you can do in the mean time is keep trying new things. It sucks. It really does. But hang in there...it will get better.

All the best to you and congratulations on your new little girl!

J.

I have had three colic babies and can't wait to try this advice myself with baby due in December....I rad a study that gave two groups of colic babies 2 things, one group got probiotics and the other got gas drops, at the end of one month all the probiotic babies were no longer experiencing colic and the gas drop group was...I nurse so can't give my powdered probiotics in a bottle but have scoped out that whole foods carries a liquid form, hope it helps!

I completely sympathize and know what you are going through. Our second daughter was colicky also (we are done having children because of that). The only suggestion I have is maybe try pumping the breastmilk into a bottle and let her try taking it from a bottle, maybe she won't get so much air in. Other than that, it looks like you have tried everything that we tried. Have you talked to you pediatrician? Maybe there is something else that is bothering her. Just hang in there... I know it seems like it will never end, but it does. The colic stopped at 6 months for my daughter. She is now 2 and very enjoyable and fun. It will end eventually even though it doesn't seem like it now. Good luck!

My daughter had colic and after hearing your story I do remember my doctor telling me to completly cut all dairy from my diet and there was a vitamin too, but I don't remember what it was called! He said it won't cure the colic, but greatly reduce it! I never took the vitamin because I couldn't find it anywhere! It something about the way the dairy is processed through their digestive sysytem! And the doctor also said that doesn't mean she will need soy formula or milk when she gets older and he was right! She is almost 14 months and she is fine with regular milk and dairy! Actually by 4 months I was able to eat dairy again! Hope this helps!

Elise was like this from 3 weeks old until almost 9 mos old. What made it livable was the following but what solved it was a visit to the chiropractor.
So, try this -
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.

Well, I'm a grandmother now, so my input may be out-dated. The bad news is that the earlier colic starts, the longer it lasts. Beginning at 3 weeks is the norm and ending at 3 mos. It is a developmental issue and until her little system is fully developed she will have it. The good news is that it comes to an end, so with my third colicy baby, I told myself, "This will end" and tried to think of all the hours holding the baby as time together. Right now I am suffering from a muscle spasm which lasts up to two weeks and so I can really identify with your little one and the discomfort of a pain that does not go away completely. Heat pads are good, but ask your Dr. first since a baby cannot tell you when it is too hot, probably just holding your warm hand on her midsection would help a little. If things work one day then not, try not discarding them completely, but think of them as an arsenal of helps, that you can use, i.e. continue drinking the lactose free milk, one night use the swing, one the glider,one the happi tummy, keep using the Milacon and gripe water and the drops for bubbles in the tummy. (Those have worked best for me over the years"). Carry her around the house, face out so that she is distracted from the pain by what she sees, try putting her in front of the TV with a brightly colored program pm, take her for a ride (we drove up Sheridan Rd and back a couple times because #1 would sleep in the moving car), try swaddling her tightly. You need to get your sleep, so I hope everyone in the family is helping with carrying her around, your husband and step-daughter. Are you off work for 3mos now? Work on getting her to sleep as much as possible so that her system can heal itself, I know you are probably doing that, but it might include not going anywhere with her and exposing her to more stress. Try to keep the house as quiet and peaceful as possible. Keep your eye on little mr. 4 yrs old, so that he does not disturb her sleep. Carrying seems to be a given for me, so using those body slings works well, esp. with her tummy against you. In fact, bare skin to bare skin is the most soothing. Hope you get a lot of other ideas and she outgrows it before you can try them all.

you can also try chiropractic, it has helped a lot of my clients!

check out Birthlink.com to find a provider in your area.

A.

Not sure what kind of bottle you use when you feed her witha bottle but have you tried the Evenflo ones. The ones that are at an angle. Those worked miracles with my two boys. What also worked for me is I would lay my baby on his belly and burp him that way. Well, hope it works and good luck.

If you are exclusively breast feeding avoid eating ANY dairy...This might help...My son had an issue with the dairy I was eating as it was obviously in my breast milk..After 5 days of not eating ANY dairy at all, I had a happy baby!
Good luck!

K.,

I am so sorry to hear that your daughter is having a very rough time. I have heard that if you are breastfeeding and the baby is taking in air, try feeding them a little sooner, that way your baby is not so hungry and may eat a little slower. You may want to talk with the doctor about her crying and acid reflux. I know it is scary just to jump in and give medicine. You can change your diet and see if that helps. Unfortunatley kids outgrow colic, when they outgrow it. Have you tried running the vaccum, or white noise? The happiest baby on the block is a great book. I would keep trying to hold your baby in every position, some of them can be strange. Being a professional nanny and having several babies that had colic, you try anything to see what works. I had one baby that if I held him like a football hold, except up by my chest he would stop crying the second I moved him he would cry. Hopefully things will be better. I would however, again talk with your doctor about acid reflux, it seems more like colic since it is at specific times, instead of all day or random, that would be more acid reflux. Good luck.

K.

My son had colic also. What worked for us was to turn on the vacuum cleaner. He would go from being as stiff as a board to relaxed. We would sometimes run it for an hour at a time or longer. Often in the evenings then sometimes in the middle of the night. After a while, we recorded the sound so we could control the volume but at first I believe it helped that it was so loud. The make toys and cds now with that white noise sound but before you buy anything, try the vacuum and see if your baby responds or not.
It's so funny that I got used to falling asleep with a vacuum running!

your baby is most likely allergic to any milk product and wheat is a culprit so if you are going ot breast feed you need to ake milk and wheat out and have your daughter checked for blood in her stool. Colic is not Colic anymore. Colic is an old term doctors used when they didnt know what was wrong with your baby, now they know it is obviously what they are ingesting so the number one culprits are milk and then wheat so do not go to soy milk either, 80% of babies/children that are allergic or intolerant to milk also are to soy. For two weeks cut this out and let her stomach heal. You are causing little ulcers in her tummy and that is why she is in pain, soon the ulcers after time wil lbleed and that is how the dr will find blood in the stool and then you know she will have to be on nutramagin or even neocate formula. Please take the milk entirely out fo yoiur diet and I would try wheat ofr at LEAST two weeks, it takes a month for your baby's stomach to heal so give her at least two weeks to feel a bit better.
Good luck, I know am asking the moon but you would do anything for your child to be healthy.
J.

Your baby might actually have acid reflux. I thought my daughter was also colicky and it really was acid reflux. Take her to her doctor and he can prescribe a medication to help with this. Good luck:)

Have you had her checked for reflux disorder? I also recommend the probiotic as someone else mentioned. You may also need to exclude many other things from your diet right now. Keep it very basic for 4 or 5 days and see if that changes anything. Things that we think are good for the baby may be causing some kind of a reacion, like fruit for instance. Sounds like you've tried everything else I can think of. Sorry! I wish I had the magic answer but every baby's different and sometimes even with doing everything you can imagine, you just have to wait for it go away on its own. >: (

GRIPE WATER!!! I wish I had known about it when my daughter had colic!!! Walgreens carries it. It's herbs like dill and ginger, all natural. My friend told me about it a couple years ago and my daughter used it with my grandaughter. She was crying because of gas and my daughter gave her a few drops and she stopped crying within a few minutes. You can also just put it in their bottles. It's with the gas products in the baby section, run to Walgreens now!!

Good luck, I feel your pain my daughter cried and cried and you feel so bad for them and you are so tired you just want to get some sleep!!!!

We used a hot water bottle on the babes belly on our knees and pat, pat, pat!

There are so many responses I didn't read all but I recommend the book "The Happiest Baby on The Block" by Dr Harvey Karp. You can find it at amazon http://www.amazon.com/Happiest-Baby-Block-Crying-Newborn/...

It is a life saver for many many families. Dr. Karp outlines a step by step program to help reduce colic in babies. It even works for babies w/o colic, our daughter went from fitfully sleeping for a max of 4 hours a night to 6 hours and then a full 8 hours! It was amazing!!!

PS somehow this post didn't get sent to you before-it went to the post about an eye care exam, sorry-I know you have a lot of advice now, I hope this helps.

You can also try to massage your baby's stomach and chest area, which helps with digestion, constipation, gas and calms her down. Make sure to use an oil such as olive or vegetable but I prefer to use 100% grape seed oil (they sell at Trader Joe's) which has no odor and gets absorbed better and contains Vitamin E.

Visit my website if you're interested in having me come to your house to teach you about infant massage and the colic routine. weeplayandrelax dot com. Or just borrow a video from a local library or purchase one on infant massage. It really works!

Good luck,
S.