I Need Help with My Colic Baby

There is a group called The Fussy Baby Network. They have a hotline that you can call and they will give you tips to reduce the fussiness. They also do home visits. The service is free. Google them since I don't have the number on me. You may also want to try Dr. Brown bottles. They worked for me. Good luck.

Hi L.,

I feel for you. These are the hard days. They will get better. My son had colic for 6 months. We had to swaddle him until he was 5 mos. old. He also slept in a swing. I held him a lot. We switched to Dr. Brown's bottles. Looking back, I wonder if it was too much household commotion. We had a 2 yr. old and it was always noisy?! He became the easiest baby after 6 mos. and is going on 4, still easy! Get a break, family, friend, even if it's 10 min. at a time. The silence will do you good, and the baby's crying won't bother them. Best wishes.

Around that time my Dr. told me to put cereal in his bottle and you need to make the hole in the nipple bigger. He slept a lot longer. My breasts did not produce much milk. I would breast feed one time and next time the bottle with the cereal. See what works best for her. Trust me she'll let you know.
A.D.

L.,
Welcome to colic (6-12 weeks)! :) She is sleeping as much as she can right now. I totally recommend "The Happiest Baby on the Block" for techniques that work, including swaddling! Please don't feed your daughter solids. She is too young for any food, including rice cereal. You may want to visit the Dr. as it could be GERD or an allergy.

I also had a colicky baby. I think with him it was overstimulation that made him crazy, not his stomach, although we also had some success with gas drops. Try swaddling, keep things dark and quiet. I think I made the mistake of overstimulating - trying too many different distractions, music, etc., that made him happy for a few minutes but then ultimately just made him more overstimulated and exhausted. I wore him a lot - and spent a lot of time at the park and also at Home Depot during the day (he would stare at those high lights and then fall asleep in the baby bjorn while I walked around.)

I think I still have a bit of PTSD about it 9 years later! So I'm really just posting to say that it really is as awful as you think, that people who don't have colicky babies really don't get it. But it does not last forever, and my little guy was a cheerful toddler! If you have any family or friends who can help, try to get some help so you can rest at night - even one long stretch a week can keep your sanity together. Wishing you the best!

It seems to me that she doesn't need rice cereal added to the bottles, she's just colicy. Crying after being fed, burbed, and changed means that she isn't crying because something is wrong.
Try using different types of "white" noises to see if that distracts her. Maybe just turning on the vacuum cleaner, or putting her next to the washing machine or dryer when it's running in her car or bouncy seat may work. Standing next to the sink with the water running is another suggestion.
Believe me, I know how hard it is to have a screaming baby, and not being able to soothe her, but just remember that she isn't crying because you aren't taking care of her. You are doing great! Hang in there--it will stop one day!

Hello L.,
I have gone through colic with both of my kids. Here's my advice (offered a few months ago to another mom.)
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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!

My first son was a colicky mess for 14 weeks, and just like everyone said right around 3 months the crying would just stop.

I would advise against trying to fill up her belly with rice cereal, formula, breastmilk, etc. That will most likely make the problem even worse, since her digestive system is likely too immature to handle all of that. You could wind up causing her even more discomfort, resulting in more crying and less sleeping.

At 8 weeks it is normal for your baby to sleep 3 hours at a time ESPECIALLY if you are breastfeeding. If, after she wakes and you feed/burp/change her then try your best to soothe her using:

-a swing
-a pacifier
-a vibrating bouncy chair
-white noise
-swaddling

Unfortunately, it might just take time for the colic to go away. We tried EVERY trick in the book and gave each method a fair shot (one week). Some things worked - for a few nights - but then it was right back to the nonstop screaming from sunup to sundown. We had him evaluated by his pediatrician and he had a clean bill of health. We crossed our fingers and waited...and just like a switch, the crying stopped and we had a totally different kid.

You may wish to read Dr. Marc Weissbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book. He is a Chicago pediatrician with over 30 years of research on infant and child sleep issues.

Good luck to you - I wouldn't wish colic on anyone! But, just know that even though it may be difficult now it will end and your baby will not be unhappy forever.

Oh and PLEASE ignore the ill-informed people who basically say formula is poison. Those people are not interested in helping you by making you feel badly about your parenting decision; those people are only interested in pushing their own personal agenda about how everyone mother on this planet should feed their child.

hi L.,
have you read or watched 'the happiest baby on the block?' most libraries carry the book and the video. dr. karp goes over the 5 s's - swaddling (mine starting sleeping better immediately), shooshing, swinging/rocking/bouncing, side or stomach laying, sucking - it worked for me! also, i have heard from several sources that cereal and formula do not help babies sleep better. i had to put my son on formula for 2 weeks a while ago and he slept better on breastmilk.
good luck:)

It's not a lack of food that is causing the colic. DO NOT GIVE RICE CEREAL!!! They should not have that until 6 months. I would also not mix formula with breat milk. Try just giving the baby the breast & not put the breast milk in a bottle if possible (there is less chance of gas when they drink directly from the breast). I would try & alter your diet & see if that makes a difference (it may take a week or two before you notice a difference). I had to give up cow dairy products. I replaced it with soy, goat & sheep products. My kids did not sleep more then 2 hours at a time for the first 6 months. We also found that giving them a soothing bath helped with the colic crying. Good luck, this phase is hard but it will pass.

Hi L. - My newborn daughter (now 10 mths old) was so fussy too.... very colicky. She literally had to be held 24 hours/day... even while sleeping. The minute we would lay her down, she would start crying again. And she cried and cried all day and night even when being held. I feel your pain! Your baby may have acid reflux, which is what our daughter had and the medicine did help some. Maybe you can speak with your pediatrician about that - especially if she is fussy after meals. Our daughter didn't spit up a lot, but our pediatrician said that is not always the case with acid reflux. A lot of the other stuff - like Mylecon gas drops and Gripe Water provided brief temporary help, but nothing "cured" the colic. I also breastfed and tried cutting things out of my diet and we tried multiple formulas and nothing seemed to work. Most pediatricians think that colic is a temperament - all newborn babies get gas, it's just the colicky ones cry about it more. Try "The Happiest Baby on the Block" -it's a book and you can also buy it on DVD since most new parents don't have time to read! There are many good ideas/techniques to help/reduce the amount of crying. I think rice cereal can be introduced around 3 or 4 months, but that won't cure the colic. I hate to tell you that it is probably just something she will grow out of. It was sort of like someone flipped a switch when our daughter was about 3 months and she suddenly wasn't nearly as fussy - and we could finally put her down to sleep at night! Get lots of help if you can - you really need your sleep and a break from the crying. Hang in there.

I have no solid advice for you, I just want to let you know that you WILL get through it. I was in the same boat with my first, and it is frustrating and exhausting.
Check with your ped. just to be sure that nothing is going on and get as much help as you can. This can be a really tough time for parents who have 'high needs' babies.
e-mail if you need a shoulder....
p.s. the hairdryer worked wonders for my son for a while during that phase of his life. The sound of it soothed him like no other?

Not sure if you are doing both breast milk and formula? If you are using formula it could be that the cow milk formula is upsetting her stomach. My daughter was screaming every night and occasionally was gassy. We switched her to soy formula and it was like a light switch was turned off. My friend recently had the same problem with her 3 month old and for months couldn't figure out what the problem was. She switched to Dr. Brown's bottles and used soy formula. Within a day or two her baby was much happier. Hope this helps!

I ditto Jackie B on the recommendation for 'The Happiest Baby on the Block'. You can buy it on DVD which is probably easiest for you. Dr. Karp offers different ways to try and soothe, the 5 S's do work most of the time. If it is truly colick your baby is suffering from, no more food or medicine is going to help. It is something they have to grow out of. As long as you checked with your Ped and there is nothing physically wrong, you're doing what you can and keep it up. Just try to soothe the little one as much as possible and get as much sleep and help from others as possible. Remember "This too shall pass".

I totally agree with the previous poster who said to read "The Happiest Baby on the Block". The 5 S's are a life-saver! Also, have your pediatrician check for silent reflux or GERD. There doesn't always have to be tons of spitting up to indicate reflux. My pediatrician tells me they are now thinking that most cases of colic are silent reflux.

Try wearing your LO, especially after meals. First, she will love being close to you and you will have your hands free. Second, if she does have GERD, it will help to keep her upright so that gravity can fight the acid (do at least 30 minutes after meals).

Hi L.,
We thought our new baby had colic too, but it turned out he was just hungry! DO NOT GIVE RICE CEREAL YET. I was breast feeding and though I didn't know it, not enough was coming out for my son. He was eating so often and always crying. Well, my pediatrician did a test. She had me breast feed him for as long as he wanted. Then we offered him formula. He drank 2 ounces more!! He was just hungry from not getting enough milk from me. Another clue for me was that when I would pump I'd only get about an ounce out.
There are many things you can do to increase your milk supply if that is what you'd wish. We ended up supplementing with formula and breast feeding. Now he's a very happy easy baby! :)

My 1st was the same way, then we were introduced to Mylicon drops, they are gas relief drops. The Walmart Brand is more affordable, as so is there brand of tylenol and motrin.

My daughter used to cry everyday from 4pm until 6pm non stop which was a trying time, since my husband wasn't home from work. We took her to the walk in care many times thinking there was something wrong, such as an ear infection or something else.

I learned that what I ate grately affected the gas that was upsetting my baby. Broccoli, onions, caffeine were some of the culprits in my diet. As soon as I started eliminating these items, the gas lessened and I was able to soothe her with the mylicon drops.

Good luck, and when you decide to feed solids at 4-6 months, I found that Rice cereal was too binding for my kids and started them right off on single grain oatmeal. And make a consistant feeding schedule to help her tummy get used to it.

Feel free to contact me anytime, I know being a first time mom leaves you feeling unsure a lot of the times. Best advice is go with your gut. If you think somthing is wrong chances are there is, if you think everything is alright, then it will be.

Hi L.,
It's been a while for me, but my son was very colicky also, then a perfect stranger told me to change my bottle. If you are feed him with a bottle and it sounds like you are, go back to a simple straight glass bottle. He might be getting too much air or sucking too hard and that may be causing it. It worked for our son. Life was bliss after that for both of us. He even slept more.
Hope that helps.
D.

I don't think it's that unusual for an 8 week old, but then again, I have no experience that is "normal" as I am learning.

8 weeks is definitely too early for cereal. Solids should be introduced at 6 months. Have you tried eliminating dairy from your diet and stopping the formula? Going to a chiro for cranial sacral work may also help.

When this happened with my second baby, I was at my wit's end, because I could not do anything to comfort her. Then I broke out my dr. Sear's "baby book" and he recommended "wearing your baby" as much as you can throughout the day. I put my girl in the bjorn and wore her all day. She napped, "helped" vacuum, etc., and after three days of wearing her all crying ceased.

Hi L.,
I started all of my children on cereal when they turned one month old. Yes, Doctors say you should wait but they do get hungry. I have 5 children and all have no allergies or anything and they are healthy. You may want to start with it really running at first but as you go along you will be able to tell how she is handling it and when it is time to thicken it up. As for colic, it can be tough but it doesn't last forever. I believe mine only went about 2weeks tops. It depends on the child. Alot of walking and rubbing the lower back seemed to help for me.
Good luck,
J. J.

I don't know that cereal helps them sleep, and I haven't seen anything that says it's ok to feed them before 4 months... too early increases risk of allergies.

Take a good look at how long she's actually been like this. I know that it can seem like it's been forever, when actually it's only been a week or so. I only point it out because my daughter would go through these "phases" every couple of weeks with breastfeeding... eventually I learned it was a growth spurt and my body needed some time to produce milk. It was a long wait, but eventually it all worked out.

I also realized she had a dairy sensitivity at first, so I cut all dairy out of my diet and that helped a lot. That went away at around 4 months. She also seemed to have some reflux, so I propped one end of her crib up and that helped too for a while.

Hi!

I have researched introducing cereal earlier than 6 months and it is not a good idea. It can actually damage the babies digestive system.

I highly recommend chiropractic, the sooner the better as it may take a little while for the baby to respond.

Also, I highly recommend eliminating wheat and dairy from your diet. 2 of my 3 kids were HORRIBLE until I did this and then they were angels!

Good Luck!

Colic is rough, my second baby had it. We would use Mylicon gas drops, that might help. We would put them into every bottle. I have heard of gripe water but never did try it because colic was done by the time I saw it so you might try that also. Otherwise, I'm not sure what else. Most docs don't want you to introduce cereal this early because of possible allergies but if you do, go with the rice cereal. I also tried that myself when she was about 2 months old but she was also a big baby 9lbs. 2oz. at birth! Just hang in there which I know is hard to do but it will end eventually. Hopefully the gas drops or gripe water will help!

L.,

You have gotten a lot of advice and I am not able to read all of it, so I apologize, I am probably doubling up some advice. I would not recommend adding rice cereal now, it is really early. Have you tried changing your diet at all? My daughter would scream her head off after eating if I had eaten tomatoes. Once I cut out tomato sauces, soups, etc. it helped incredibly. My son on the other hand is allergic to dairy. So I have had to cut dairy out of my diet while I am nursing. Also, my son is now eating solids (he is 8 months) and when I tried to give him squash he was up all night fussing. I hadn't heard about squash causing problems before.

Also, has she always been this fussy or is it new? It is a bit early, but perhaps she has started teething. Is she drooling or chewing on things, or any other new behaviors? You may want to try Tylenol if you think that it may be teething.

Have you taken her to the pediatrician to make sure it isn't an ear infection or anything like that? The doctor may also be able to suggest other foods in your diet that may upset her.

Finally, have you tried gas drops to see if they may help? I tried them with my daughter and they didn't seem to help much, but I have heard other mothers say that they help a lot.

My niece was very fussy as a baby and it helped if we held her in the "colic" hold, where she was laying across our arm on her stomach. Her head was in our hand and her belly had pressure on it from our arm. She also liked to lay on her belly on our legs when we were sitting down.

Good Luck,
D.

Colic means they do no know the food that is causing hte baby pain. You need to figure out what food you are eatin gor what is in the breast milk that is causing your baby pain. You also should take him or her to the pedatrician and make sure there is not too much damage done by seeing if there is blood in the stool. After you do that then I would switch to nutramagin or aliementum formula, they take all that guessing work of what food it is out so your baby can grow healthy and not in pain. After 14 days on one of those formulas take your baby back to the pedatrician to make sure there is still no blood, if it is clear then stay on that formula if it is not get to a GI dr fast have your pedatrician make the call to get you in faster becasue if you do it it will take three months. Your child might need an even more allergenic formula called Neocate or Elecare and that is prescription only. THis will change your child and you will see him or her smile and sleep and oh what a difference not on the breast milk. I was one of those that tried to take out the foods and still breast feed and wa sonly eating chicken and rice and my son i s allergic to rice!!!!!!!!!!! yes rice! so sad so I am glad my drs told me to switch and when he had blood even after the nutramagin well thats when we learend about the others. good luck and yes your child is in pain and his gi trac will get damaged if you keep giving them the formul aor breast milk it is not that they grow out of it at thtree months. the drs know more well most do. Do not let anyone tell you it is colic and they will outgow it in a few months. KIeep standing yoru ground and find someone that will listen to you until your baby is not in pain or crying and can sleep. Good luck
J.

My 3 month old had colic. He would scream with a stiff body & hard belly from about 11 pm to 5 am every night. Everyone has their advice & unless you've gone rhrogh it no one understands! Use a swing, a white noise maker & talk to your doctor about switching to Nutramigen. We tried everything all of the advice you received & the nutramigen completely stopped the colic. It's very expensive but worth it. I had my heart set on breastfeeding but who cares if it will improve your babys quality of life. Good luck & hang in there!

Hello! I have 3 children, 5 1/2, almost 4, and 3 month old. My oldest had the same trouble as your little one when he was born. I had to change my diet. Your diet plays a big role in what your baby is getting. In my case I had to go off dairy products because he would spit up a lot more and be very fussy. Also, you may want to try gripe water. They sell it at CVS and other places like it. It has worked miracles with our newest addition. I feel for you! I spent 4-5 hours getting my oldest to sleep at night, bouncing and doing everything I could to get him to sleep. Hang in there! You are not alone.

Your baby is WAY too young for cereal - it will just upset her tummy! I would not bother w/ formula either - just the breastmilk is the best thing for her. 8 weeks is the worst for fussing - it is partly a developmental thing at this age and she will outgrow much of this over the next month. If she is fussy during the day and you're nursing her I would try 2 things: (1) "block" feeding - feed her off one side two feedings in a row, then the other side for the next two feedings. This ensures that she gets the good fatty hindmilk and not just the foremilk in your breast. (2) consider what you're eating. are there days when she's better or worse? cheap chinese food always upset my son, so I didn't eat it when I was nursing him. lots of time caffiene or dairy seem to upset babies - try eliminating them (or any other likely culprit) for 3-4 days in a row and see how her mood is.

As for what to do when she's screaming, that's up to you. If holding her works, you can do that. Putting her into a baby carrier (a sling or a bjorn - whatever) and walking around often helps. As does singing, rocking, etc. If *YOU* need a break, put her in her crib and walk away for 5 minutes to get yourself back together. She won't die. You'll feel better. Hang in there - it will get better, I promise! Learning to nurse her laying down will help you with sleep, too. I always found that my babies slept a lot longer/better in bed with me, though I know that's not for everyone. We used a "co-sleeper" (side-carred to the bed) and that helped my kids to know that I was right there if they needed me.

It is definitely too early to introduce rice cereal, she has not developed the digestive enzymes to process this yet. Actually, one study also said that formula fed babies sleep better is false and that breastfed babies are the ones that sleep better. The issue with colic (per Dr. Sears) is a food intolerance to dairy and/or wheat. If you are willing to try a food elimination diet starting with dairy first, you may have your answer (exclusively b-feeding since formula is made with dairy). You can also try nutragimen which is finely broken down for babies to digest, that is what I used when I needed to supplement since mine was sensitive to dairy. He explains it very nicely here: https://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T051300.asp

Also try adding some probioitcs to your diet and your baby's milk. I began giving some at 4wks old to my infant and my doctor said it was a great idea. (she is very forward thinking than most peditricians I find).

I hope some of this helps, the article will! I've attached my probiotics articles for you to read as well, all backed up by the most published research! http://www.examiner.com/x-7158-Chicago-Family-Health-Exam...

Good luck,
J. W. MPH
Maternal and Child Health educataor
Chicago Examiner Family Health expert
National Pregnancy Health expert

L. - I feel your pain. My little one was the same way. To get him to sleep we would let him sleep in his swing. It will pass. We had to put him on the hypo-allergenic formula, that helped a little but not totally. One day you will wake up and no more colic.

Good luck.

There is no evidence that giving your baby cereal will help them sleep better ... It's an old wives tale. Giving your baby solids too early could make things worse for our baby because she won't be able to digest the food as well. Also, breast milk is always the best for your little one so try to stick with that as much as possible. Have you tried swaddling her and bouncing or rocking her? My son was always calmed when we swaddled him tight and held him close while bouncy on the edge of the bed and hummed Jingle Bells ... Festive baby :) You can also try mylicon drops ... They always seemed to help with a gassy baby. I hope this helps you out a little and the little princess sleeps for you. And don't worry ... You are doing a great job!

Hi there. First of all, it is so hard what you are going through. I had 2 colicky babies. Both ended up having acid reflux. I would look into getting your baby on medicine for reflux, although at this age it doesn't always work too well. But by 3 months it will. It won't hurt to give it a try. They may try Zantac at first which really didn't help my girls much. Prevacid did wonders for both of them. But please just check into reflux and give medicine a try, if it works then you both can sleep and she won't be in pain. Also, you could try to let her sleep in her carseat. Being upright and snuggled in there could help her, it did with both of mine. Hang in there. Someday you will get sleep again I promise.

Hi L..
I can't imagine what you are going through, but please DO NOT give her rice cereal this early. Any good pediatrician that up to date on the most recent research, will tell you to wait. Ours, affiliated with childrens, and rated one of the top in the city, told us to wait until 6 months and skip rice cereal altogether and go straight to single grain oatmeal. Please don't listen to people like Janet, who gave it at a month. Our parents all did things, like drive with us on lamps and put us to sleep on our tummies, but we have more research now and know better.

I have friends who have had colicky babies. I don't think formula or breastmilk make it better or worse. In fact, the formula could be upsetting her little tummy.

Hang in there mom. You are doing a great job!

My first thought is to eliminate all milk from your diet. It sounds like lactose intolerance or milk allergy - which my almost 3 yr old dd still has. She went through the same symptoms, plus constant reflux, gas, mucous in the stools, etc. I eliminated all dairy and began twice weekly chiropractic adjustments, which really helped. Many babies are lactose intolerant for their first year. Also, contact your local La Leche League group for wonderful, personalized help. (Go to www.lll.org) to find a group in your area. Good luck! J.

Hi L.. I have a 5 week old and am in the same boat as you!

My daughter cries after every feeding...and can cry for hours at a time. I am lucky to get 3 hours of sleep a night...on Sunday night I finally got to go to bed at 4am! I don't know if you have discussed GER (reflux) with your dr. My dr. said my daughter has all the signs of it (cries for 30 minutes after eating, arching the back, flailing arms, constant hiccups after eating, spitting up constantly, not able to sooth no matter what we have tried). We have tried everything (cut dairy out of my diet, swings, white noise, Little Tummy gas medicine, etc) and finally started her on Reflux medicine yesterday. It's only been a day, but I'm beginning to see a difference. She is sleeping a little more soundly and seems to not be as uncomfortable after she eats. As much as I would like to sleep, I'm just hoping this medicine helps because it's so hard to watch my little girl in pain and there is nothing I can do.

Good luck...I know these weeks are really tough!!!!

Ask your pediatrician about Acid Reflux. My son was very fussy for the first two months. And I finally went into the doctor and told her that he screams all the time. She asked me questions to find out when he screamed most along with a few others and she tried him on medicine for acid reflux. After a few days on it, he turned into a completely different baby. He just turned 3 months and is a smiley, happy baby.
Just an idea. Good luck!

Well I used to take them for car rides. I know that might not be possible, so I also strolled them back and forth in a buggy right in the house. Even in small rooms this often worked. Other than that, well, they get over it eventually.

I like the idea of meeting with a lactation consultant or perhaps calling a LLL leader. This link: http://www.llli.org/Web/Illinois.html will help you find a leader in your area. It really is hard for any other moms to "diagnose" the issues with your baby. My son was colicky for about 4 months (he's now 3 yo) due to a sensitivity in the dairy in my diet. It took 10-14 days of no dairy in my diet to see him get through a feeding without pain. He outgrew this by 4 months and I was able to eat dairy once again. Curiously he had no problem eating at night so I did a lot of night nursing.
My son also had bouts of inconsolable crying not associated with nursing. He just had a fussy temperment. Every day it was a challenge finding ways to keep him calm. Something that worked one day sometimes didn't work the next day so I had to constantly change up what I was doing. So here's my list of things you might use to try calming an inconsolable baby:

1. WHITE NOISE. The swish-swish of the dishwasher calmed my son. Radio static, washing machine, bath water going, vacuum, etc. Conair sells a sound machine with a white noise option for about $20. Even the hum of the fridge worked at times. There are also CDs of white noise you can find online. Do a search and see what you can find.

2. VERY GENTLE VIBRATION. Putting my son on his back on the dryer or washing machine helped. I'd keep his head off so he couldn't be jiggled too much. Walgreens sells a vibrating pad that's supposed to fit on a chair. My mother-in-law got us one and we put my son on his back on the pad on the lowest setting. Again, we kept his head away from the vibration.

3. BATH. Just jump right in the tub with your baby and snuggle. Warm water on the belly worked nicely. You could try nursing in there to see if that helps. (Bit of a warning though..I was pooped on several times, but hey, my son wasn't crying anymore!)

4. "HAPPIEST BABY ON THE BLOCK." Good book with info about swaddling and shushing. There are videos on YouTube demonstrating the swaddling technique and more. A pacifer also might help.

5. PROBIOTICS. There's an online colic support group at colicsupport.com. Some folks at this group swear by probiotics that you can find health food stores.

6. MOTION. I used a fleece pouch from kangarookorner.com. I'd bounce in front of the dishwasher or walk outside. There are lots of babywearing options out there. Try a swing, car rides, stroller rides, etc.

7. GRIPE WATER and MYLICON DROPS. We used this product: http://www.coliccalm.com/. Worked for a few days then it just seemed to stop working. You can also find gripe water at health food stores. Mylicon didn't really work for us, but other moms say it's great.

8. CHANGE OF SCENERY. Sometimes just getting out of the house with your baby can help. A few times I just walked in the stairwell of our apt. building and that seemed to distract him from crying.

If you do need someone to talk to feel free to private message me. My son's colic was the most difficult time in my life. If there's any good to come from those very bleak months it's that I can pass on any information that might help another parent. Good luck to you and congrats on your new little girl.

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!!!!

Hi. I am a Doula and Certified Lactation Specialist. Without knowing that much about you or your history I can let you know some basic stuff. First off, colic is often "diagnosed" by moms because of "crying" babies but many underlying problems could cause similar results. Have you seen a Lactation Consultant or talked to a "well-informed and good listener" pediatrician? Your pediatrician should be the one helping you with when to mix foods. Breast milk is amazing stuff and actually formula causes terrible side effects in many babies. Soy or Rice formula have been recommended in the past, however...there are still many side effects. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends exclusive breast milk till six months. At six months your baby will either spit her tongue out signaling she isn’t ready yet or swallow the small spoonfuls. I always show my mom's a simple helpful experiment. Take a bottle and place that formula or rice cereal with Breast milk. Leave it out at room temp and watch. The breast milk will dissolve the formula or rice cereal completely in a max of a couple hours. SO mixing it and feeding the baby will not give her a "full tummy". In fact formula interferes with the "good bacteria" in breast milk so instead of helping your baby fight those bacteria that cause gas in the GI tract, the breast milk it is fighting formula (usually not sterile). A Lactation Consultant would be able to get your history and help you with a plan. I don’t know why you use formula but this is a sign of many other problems-only 1-2% of moms don’t produce enough milk but maybe the baby isn’t sucking correctly or could be latched better. There are hundreds of other possibilities. Formula can’t be reused either-never put it back in the fridge after you mix it and use distilled water in the formula and boil bottles to maintain hygienic standards. A Lactation Consultant can help you with bottle basics too. At 8 weeks MANY babies don’t sleep though the night. Just because a few friends or a “Best selling book” says they do, your baby is not all babies. I can’t recommend anything because I don’t know your history or the baby. I hope that helps. Feel free to contact me if you have further questions.

L. Talley
DONA Doula
Certified Lactation Specialist
###-###-####
www.dotingdoula.webs.com
____@____.com

My cousin had a colicy baby and even though most doctors say to give the baby rice cereal/oatmeal around 4-6 months, my cousin gave her son rice cereal watered down in a bottle at about 2-3 months. This worked for her and her son is perfectly fine now at the age of 3.5. Good luck.