Colic...

My 1st DD did not have colic at all.. So i am at a loss.
DS has already changed his formula and it has helped a little bit, but DD is now getting colicy too! I just dont know how too sooth when they are crying for no reason. i give them gas drops.. which helps, but it takes a lil while to kick in... I feel like a bad Mommy because my babies will cry and there is nothing i can do...
Last nite DS was up for an hour (12-1am) and then DD from 230-4am. i am so darn tired. it only comes on like once during the day and once during the nite.

any advise? or do i just have to ride it out?

 

Do you think they are colicky because of gas? What kind of water do you mix their formula with?

 

I am so sorry I know how hard it is when your kids are crying and it seems like there is nothing you can do to help.
You said you gave them gas drops - but do you think they may have acid reflux? My Dr told me that most colic is actually misdiagnosed acid reflux. Do they like the swing? My kids slept in the swing for like the first 2 months. Is there anything that you do that seems to at least help alittle?
I hope it gets better!!!

:hug99:

Tiffaney

 

i just use tap water.. do you think thats the problem?

the swing is the only thing that works sometimes.. i think its about time to put together the 2nd swing...

i think their tummies hurt.. they do the "birdy" telling me that they still want to eat but wont take bottle or paci. The only thing that seems to help.. other than the swing is to be put on the belly..

how do you know when its acid reflux? my babies dont spit up a lot unless they over stuffed theselves..

 

Hi there. Colic was thought to be caused by digestive issues such as gas for many years, but the recent school of thought is that colic can be caused by many different things - one idea is that babies just don't feel secure in their new environment and would rather have had an extra trimester in utero. Our Evan was very colicky. Here's my survival guide:

-If you haven't already ready The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp. If you don't have time, get the DVD. It'll be the best hour you'll spend.

-Swaddle tightly, even for naps.

-Use a swing to keep babies calm after you have managed to soothe them.

-My favourite: wear your baby tightly against your chest in a moby wrap (www.mobywrap.com) so he feels like he's cozy, warm, close to a beating heart - almost like he's back in the womb.

 

You could try switching to distilled water for a short while to see if that brings relief. Otherwise I'm thinking it might be the beginnings of reflux. Usually a truly colicky baby will suddenly begin crying for no reason and cry for 3-5 hours straight, normally in the evening.

Try letting them sleep in swing and see if that helps.

And yeah, you'll have to ride it out to a certain extent until you find what can help.

 

My dd#2 and ds didnt spit up much either. Their nose became stuffed and they gurgled when they were breathing. (They both had pretty bad cases) dd#1 projectile vomitted with her reflux (that was fun! LOL)
Do they get worse after eatting? If you lay them down right after eating do they get more upset than if you keep them upright for a while? Do they seem to always want to eat but then soon after they start they seem to not want it? These are a few ways you can tell. I will try to think of more.
Hope some of this helps.

Tiffaney

 

QUOTE(Tif3 @ Sep 16 2007, 10:24 AM) [snapback]410161[/snapback]
Do they get worse after eatting? sometimes...
If you lay them down right after eating do they get more upset than if you keep them upright for a while? i dont lasy them down unless they r asleep
Do they seem to always want to eat but then soon after they start they seem to not want it? yes all the time



thabks ladies!!

 

warm, not hot, compresses on their tummies can sometimes help....i would nuke cloth diapers in the microwave at 15 second intervals (inside a microwave safe container, like corningware) until warm and place it on their tummies while patting their backs...

hang in there!

sandra

 

QUOTE(spinhermie @ Sep 16 2007, 09:24 PM) [snapback]410334[/snapback]
warm, not hot, compresses on their tummies can sometimes help....i would nuke cloth diapers in the microwave at 15 second intervals (inside a microwave safe container, like corningware) until warm and place it on their tummies while patting their backs...

hang in there!

sandra



Or, you can put a blanket in the dryer for a few minutes to warm it up and do the same thing. We were also told to rub their bellies in a clock-wise motion. Colic is soooo tough. Emily had it bad for about 4-6wks. The only benefit that came of it was that she started sleeping through the night. Nothing soothed her, but she did start sleeping in her carseat and did til 3months.

The girls do have acid reflux. Claire does projectial her bottles, but is decreasing now. Carlie gets restless after feedings and does not like to be layed flat. She also has an acidy smell to her breath. She does not spit her bottles up though. She is just tougher to get to sleep. Oddly enough, Claire has no issue with sleeping flat in the PnP with this though.

We did switch to bottled water. Labor Day weekend, the girls had to have bottled water since it is well water at the lake. They were great all weekend (though I know the fresh air helped). When we got home, we went back to tap. That is when things started to get a little rough. After 3 days of bottled water, it seemed that the princesses now needed this. So we went back and things have been a little better with. The girls do take Axid though.

Some other tips that were given for fussy babies was running the vaccum to get them to sleep or being near the washer/dryer do to noise. Play lullabye music (or anything really). Different positions to hold them...hold them like a football. Put them in the bouncer, swing, or carseat so the are more upright.

I hope things get better....this colic/AR is enough for me not to want anymore babies since all 3 of mine have had it. It is sooo hard and difficult even though it is temporary.

April

 

I didn't get a chance to read all the responses, so I don't know if anyone has mentioned....

GRIPE WATER. One of my daughters suffered with colic too. Awful, awful, awful. Anyway, we tried everything. The gas drops made her worse. The football hold helped, but as soon as I would stop holding her that way (no matter how long I held her), she would scream again.

Then someone mentioned gripe water and I was at my wits end. I drove to all different pharmacies to find it and I couldn't. I got it on drugstore.com. Anyway, it was the only thing that worked. I remember that I wouldn't tell anyone for the first couple of weeks that it worked because I was afraid I would jinx myself. OMG I was so sleep deprived and anxious. Once 7 p.m. rolled around, I could feel my tension building in preparation for the next couple of hours. Colic is not fun.

You may want to give the grip water a try. The best of luck....I'm so sorry your baby is experiencing it....and that you're suffering along with your baby too. Hang in there. It does pass no matter what you try.

 

Probiotics worked great for us. Within a day or so the quality of DS cry changed (was really high pitched and sounded like he was miserable to a more mellow -just a bit upset now and again sound, with drastically reduced crying overall). He became much less gassy from both ends.

Hope this helps, we couldn't find the L reuteri so I found Baby's Jarro-dophilus at Wegman's.
This link talks about the research showing this was really effective for colicky babies.
Good luck

http://www.parenthacks.com/2007/05/probiotic_cure_.html

We also swaddle and use white noice machine.

 

Up until 8 weeks I could not believe I had 2 colicky babies! I did everything I could to try to sooth them. It was around 6 weeks when I realized something was wrong. They would be hungry and try to suck their bottles but just cried. That is when they were diagnosed with relux.

 

mine were colicky and would cry all day long - at night we would swaddle and put them in their swings and that worked! Also we switched them to soy formula - I thought DS had reflux but it was formula intolerance....