It's colick - I am now convinced

Our babies just turned 2 weeks old and I am pretty sure that my dd is "colicky". It is obvious that she has some pretty upsetting gas pains all day; however, she cannot handle them at night. It starts right after DH gets home and lasts for about an hour until she tires herself out. I can see her pushing and straining through her gas pains all day but she seems to regroup fairly quickly with just 5-10 minutes of fits. It is a totally different story once evening approaches. Once she gets started she cannot stop. Tonight I tried turning the shower on, warm wash clothes on her belly, going outside, setting her on the dryer, bouncy, swing, you name it. Nothing worked. Luckiy, the crying does not bother me too much yet besides making me cry a bit. I am just waiting for the day when it makes me feel that "yikes I need to set my baby down and walk away for a minute" type of thing everyone talks about.
She really only does go on for about an hour but I am expecting it will get worse as she is only 2 weeks old and I believe it peeks in about a month or so.

We did try switching formulas and even made the very $$$ jump to Nutramagen. We just switched yesterday so I am hoping it helps soon. I think I am going to try Doc. Browns bottles as we are using the Playtex with the inserts now and maybe the new bottle will help. The Mycolin drops don't seem to do much. I give her a couple drops prior to and a couple drops shortly after each feeding. I am afraid to go over the .3 does for infants. I have been checking my charts of their eating/pooping/etc... and unfortunately it really seems like her fits coincide with her nursing or breast milk bottles. I am trying to nurse, pump for bottle feeding, and supplement with the formula. I don't have tons of milk so each baby ends up with about 3 breast milk feedings and 4 formula feedings a day. Tomorrow I am going to try only giving her formula and see if that helps. My DH does not really understand but it makes me sad to think about not being able to give her breast milk anymore. I really do enjoy nursing and pumping for the babies and I hope that I can still feed her this way.

What kind of foods could I be eating that may upset her? I pretty much have an english muffin with peanut butter for breakfast every day. I snack on cashews and pretzels. I may have chicken salad or a turkey sandwich for lunch. Occasionally I have yogurt or an apple but I have been cutting back on these in case they are hurting her belly. Dinner is usually whatever...pork stir fry and rice tonight, salad last night, steak and baked potatoe the night before...nothing too harsh or weird.

My parents have been in town for the week and I have finally been letting them help me out; however, they are leaving on Saturday and after that it is just DH and I. Starting Monday it will be just me and the babies and I am a bit frightened.

Thanks for letting me ramble.
Too tired to proof-read so sorry for any mistakes.
Amy

 

There was recently a study done about probiotics helping colic significantly - up to 95% improvement when they were given probiotic drops. I suggest talking to your pedi about it.

Here is one link that outlines the study. http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news-b...c-Reuteri-colic

 

It really doesn't sound like its anything ur eating.

My girls had colic they used to cry/scream everynight from about 6-10pm it woz awful (for a few months), nothing helped. Switching foods, different gas meds. We used to walk them outside in their strollers or rock them until they gradually went to sleep, nothing seemed to comfort them. Massaging seemed to irritate them.

Doctor didn't help just said some babies are like that (he didn't see their faces when they were screaming every night). One thing that did help sometimes woz Chiropractic adjustments (very gentle of course), that would help for about 2-3 nights then it would start up again.

Hope u figure it out. Good luck, sorry I"m not much help.


amanda

 

Amy,

Honestly, I would stick with the breastmilk. It is the easiest thing for them to digest, and best thing for them. She is going to scream every night regardless...I know, not what you want to hear, but most likely true.

I have had 3 colicky babies and here is what worked sometimes with one or all of them!

walking and bouncing them
bathing them during the fussy time
the swing during the fussy time

Good luck momma, I know it's hard. :hug99:

 

I agree with Becky re: the breast-milk. It is very easy to digest and great for them. Our dd was very similar. She even cried the whole way home from the hospital (I should have known what we were in for ) She pretty much cried until around 4 months of age. Your dd may get potentially worse at night. Mine would cry for at least 2-4 hours at a time. I really couldn't go anywhere (i.e. store, mall, etc...) she would just cry. My only solution was nursing her. She was on the breast almost the entire day, if she wasn't sleeping. I didn't care because I knew it would pass eventually, I mean they are just babies. I thought that her crying would eventually get to me where I would need to place her in the crib and walk out, but I never did. I just nursed her and tried to stay calm. I just felt bad for her crying so much. If you could get her on the breast and nurse more often that would offer her great comfort and obviously milk! It really sounds like you are doing great!

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ Jun 14 2007, 07:40 AM) [snapback]291759[/snapback]
Amy, Honestly, I would stick with the breastmilk. It is the easiest thing for them to digest, and best thing for them. She is going to scream every night regardless...I know, not what you want to hear, but most likely true.

I agree. Breastmilk is so easy on their stomachs. ALL this switching of formulas can be causing the discomfort. There is what is known as the 'witching' hours.. evening hours are the worst... crying, fussiness etc... rubbing their tummies around the belly button clockwise helps gas. If you try to nurse as much as possible your supply should increase. Fenugreek can help increase supply. Make sure you are eating and drinking enough water. It is the law of supply and demand. YOu might not be eating anything to cause the crying and the gas. Breastfed babies tend to be very gassy. It's just a fact. The first three months of breastfeeding IS very difficult. But, you will go by that proverbial corner and the lightbulb will go on and you realize that lifting the shirt has so many rewards.. for you and the babies. I would suggest trying to breastfeed more and eventually get rid of the formula if possible. :hug99: PLease visit us in the breastfeeding forum for some support & advice!

 

Both of mine were colicky. They would start at 7pm and go until 3am+. It was awful!!! We finally made the switch to Nestle Good Start (I was giving ebm as well but I didnt have enough for both) which seemed to help and then we switched to Dr Brown bottles and colic was gone in 24 hours! IMO, these bottles are amazing and work wonderfully....

I hope you are able to find something that works. Colic is so hard to go through...