Does anyone have any tips on colicky babies?HELP
Get the book The Happiest Baby on the Block, and do what it says. Also get Dr. Brown's bottles. Good luck.
My daughter had raging colic from 5pm -midnight every night.
I found that Kangarooing helped (that's when the baby is only in a diaper and their bare stomach is touching your bare stomach) Something about the cuddling and warm heat is supposed to settle the cramping in the tummy.
I also found white noise helped. Static on the TV, vacuuming, or sitting them on top of the drier in the car seat as clothes dried. (just stand or sit close by, the drier tends to gently move the car seat toward the edge.)
After the diaper change, the feeding, and sometimes nothing works only crying it out with them gives you and relief. My husband spent many a night just rocking her and crying with her. This to shall pass. It stopped for our daughter at about 3 months.
If you have a parent or in-law who can help, by all means use them. If they are telling you all that you are doing is wrong STAY AWAY FROM THEM until after the baby gets through the colic. From experience a family fight will happen!
Happiest Baby on the Block book by Dr. Karp. It works, plain and simple. You can by the book used on Amazon.com
Hi~
I'm also a grandmother, but our own 2 boys (now 23 and 29) had colic but not the 2 girls. I think it's more prevalent with boys. Anyway, pacifiers helped a lot, but there is no 'sure fire cure' (for either baby or disrupted family! LOL) Just try to comfort them all you can; try the tips previously given by others, and just love him, 'cuz the only way around it is through it.
I had the same problem with my daughter but it was years ago. I brewed catnip tea and put it in her bottle of formula. In the dictionary it says for infantile colic. There may be some other methods but I wanted something that was natural. You can probably find it in a health food store. If you google colic remedies there are several websites. Here is one I found http://www.colichomeremedies.com
Good luck.
Hi R.
Im so sorry you are going through this, it is very difficult and hope you have some good support around you. My son had colic and it was very hard for me to watch him in pain, as it is for any of us.
For my son the problem turned out to be a dairy, soy and egg food sensitivity. These are the 3 hardest molecules for babies to digest. Through much trial and effort I found that he did amazingly well on the similac alimentum hypoallegenic formula. There is also 2 other formula (elecare and another I cantthink of right now) that are for babies with even more sensitive stomach but require a doctor to order it for you.
It took awhile but once I figured out the allergies I was able to clean them out of my diet and am back to successfully breastfeeding. You would be amazed at the foods that have dairy and soy laced through them.
He also had acid reflux as well. His doctor put him on Prevacid. With the prevacid and the hypoallergenic formula he was a very happy baby.
I saw you received alot of great advice. I hope this helps.
Kind Regards
T.
I have seen in magazines and even in the nearby Babies R Us Store where they have little vibrator things (not sure the exact name for it) that goes on there stomach and soothes the colicky for the baby. Not sure exactly if this works. Good luck!
Not sure exactly how taking a baby to a chiropractor would be anything other than an unneeded expense. Any chance it could be a reaction to the formula he's on? Some babies are just naturally very fussy and it would be a good idea to rule out medicals causes first..getting his back adjusted.. don't seem like it would do anything for a week old baby. You say he's your grandson.. does the mom take care of him at all?
I don't have any tips, but I have a link to a person who does...
http://www.figtreechildbirth.com/colicsupport.html
Way out of your area, of course, but maybe she could point you in the write direction.
My Mom always told me to put baby stomach side down across my knees and rock from side to side and pat or rub our baby's back. I think the pressure on the stomach helps.
I have been there!!
The best tip I can give for the crying is "white noise". I know we have all heard about taking the baby for a ride in the car or putting them in their carseat and putting the carseat on the washing machine while it is on the spin cycle.
My personal favorites to short circuit the crying was the hang a hairdryer around the doorknob and turn it on low heat. My son may have cried for hours and with this, he would stop in seconds and be asleep. The vaccuum cleamer set in the middle of the room worked, too.
I know to some, this may sound, odd, but think of it as an auditory swaddle. The noise short circuits their system and they shut down. A doctor recommended this to me and I don't think I would have made it through those first few months without it.
I have always used a chriopractor for my children. I would take them and within a few hours they were less colicky and in a much better mood.
Get the book or video, Happiest Baby on the Block. It gives different methods to help soothe. It helped my colicky twins. I think the main help though is just time unfortunately. Usually it gets better around 3-4 months.
"My Mom always told me to put baby stomach side down across my knees and rock from side to side and pat or rub our baby's back. I think the pressure on the stomach helps." This advise from Caryn G is TOTALLY right. It will seem awkward for both of you at first, but this advise really helped with my daughter...she ended up falling asleep like this.
Massage therapy has been shown to help collicky babies. There are books available, or go on UTube and they have videos showing how to do it. You can also find a licensed therapist to do it for you. Didn't know about this when my babies were little, but it sounds like it would be worth a try.
K.
Simethicone drops were a life saver for us! Mylicon is simethicone, but I always bought the cheaper store brand. I would just put a few drops in her bottle and if I missed a bottle she would have trapped gas and cry.
I have a 1 yr old and he went through that. I got something called Gripe Water at the drugstore and it seemed to help. It's good for colic, upset stomach and gas in children. I also was told if you boil a slice of onion in about a 1/2 cup water then let it cool then give it to them that helps also. Good luck
I agree with the Gripe Water. It is made by Baby's Bliss or something like that. The lactation nurse at my pediatricians office suggested it so you know it must be pretty safe. Still, ask the kids pediatrician.
We also used a vacuum to make LOUD white noise. My son screamed so loud that a really loud vacuum was all that would quiet him down. When he was quieter, we could hum, or even stand in the bathroom. He liked it pitch black and snuggled on me with the bathroom fan on. I eventually bought one of those exercise balls so we could at least sit in there. It worked.
It's all about finding the right thing for your kid... Good luck.
We use to put my son's carrier on the dryer and let it run for some reason it seemed to calm him down. I also had a friend that put her vaccum cleaner under her baby's bed and that worked. Have you tried malacon drops?
B. Miller
a little about me I am a single mom with two great kids
a son 22 and a daughter 17. I work as a paralegal
We rigged up a special swing for our infant. We would buckle him into his infant/cradle car seat/carrier that had a handle then we would tie the handle to a rope, attach the rope to the ceiling (we had a convenient rafter type thing) and suspend him a couple of inches off the floor. Then we would tie a string to the front of the carrier. Then we could VERY GENTLY pull the string to get him doing slow low arcs, really not swinging a lot, but some and never getting more than about 6" from the floor (in case of malfunction). I realize some might not think this is safe, but of course you are right there the whole time. I finally got to where I could sit in a chair or even lay on the couch and gently flick the string every so often and we could both get a little rest.
For breast fed babies , the MOTHER can take Fennel Tincture in a glass of water several times a day. Works like magic!!
Hi-I read a couple of the responses. I tried them all with my colicky twins. To make a long story short, this probably happens at night, right?? Try to keep the nighttime atmosphere as close as you can to daytime. With my twins we are up every 30 min. with them. The next night I put them in their carseats, on the couch with the t.v. on and they slept through the night only getting up once to eat. Needless to say, they slept in their carseat for about 4 mos. The carseats saved my life.
Good luck!
R.,
I'm a mother of 3 month old boy and I use Gripe Water, You can get it @ Organic store or some RX have it. You can give it to him 6 tims in 24 hrs. It is really god I love it.If you have any question let me know.
Good luck!!
Gripe Water - all natural!
My son was not colicky, but had really bad gas, this soothed him instantly.
Good luck!
gas drops.... also when my youngest was little she had a touch of colic and i would take her in the bathroom and run the shower just on warm and it would put her right to sleep
Let me start by saying that I am not a doctor. I am a mother of 3, and all 3 of my children had colick symptoms. And this is what I learned from our gastro doctor who is VERY GOOD. If your baby is "fussy" for a couple of hours or less each day, and is fussy at the same time every day, then your baby probably has colick. There are lots of things to try: Mylicon drops (or a generic brand) and my doctor said there's really nothing dangerous about the drops so you can give as much and as often as you need; warm bath (with lavender if your baby's skin isn't sensitive) and gentle tummy massage while in the tub (gently rub baby's tummy in a circular direction from his left to his right starting downward); hold baby on one of your arms with the palm of your hand putting pressure on his tummy, and his head resting near the fold of your elbow, use your other hand to keep him secure (the tummy pressure is supposed to help him); gently bounce him near a running clothes dryer (the vibration noise is supposed to help); taking him for a car ride on a bumby road (again, the vibration is supposed to help); plus there are lots of other things, too.
However, if your baby is "fussy" for most of the day, then your baby probably has another issue. Have you tried all the things above and it isn't enough? Does your baby pull his legs towards his tummy when he's upset? Does he have runny poopy diapers? Does he act like he's starving to death, takes a couple of sips, then cries and won't eat, just to tackle the nipple a few minutes later like he's starving to death again? All three of my babies had underdeveloped digestive systems which evidentally is extrememly common. Most of these children get mis-diagnosed as "colicky babies" by pediatricians, nurses, and the ladies who help first-time moms with breastfeeding. It can be extrememly frustrating to say the least for the care-giver because the baby just isn't happy, and there is no relief. The problem is long-chain proteins (milk, soy, soy lecithin, hydrogenated soybean oil, eggs, nuts). If Mom is eating these things and breast feeding, then baby is getting them. If these are in formula, baby is getting them, of course. These proteins are actually tearing the inner lining of the baby's intestines, and causing them to bleed. That's why baby is so upset. The diet Mom has to go on to avoid these proteins is extremely difficult (basically fresh fruit and veggies). The best formula for babies who are slightly like this is Nutramigen (not sure of spelling). You can get this in most grocery, drug, and super stores. If your baby has this severely like mine did, the best formula is Pregestimil. This one is a little more difficult to find, and is more expensive ($30/can the last time I checked). However, you can find it on eBay MUCH cheaper. I was able to get most of mine for $15/can and sometimes $8/can over eBay.
A Pediatric Gastro specialist can easily determine if your baby has this severe problem. He tests a sample of baby's stool for blood, and asks you about the symptoms above. I highly recommend going to a specialist for the 'blood-in-stool' test because my pediatrician as well as a pediatric emergency room doctor both tested my son and said he had no blood in his stool. The specialist tested and said he did. The specialist told me that most of the time, the other doctors just don't know the right amount of time to wait for proper results, etc.
I hope this helps. My life dramatically changed for the better when we switched to Pregestimil! Good Luck!
I agree with the suggestion about chiropractic. A good chiropractor can do wonders with their discomfort. Please avoid the over the counter and the prescription antacid meds. They only create rebound effects and cause it to be worse later...tummies are suppose to be able to digest food and without acid they can't. Acid refluxing is not good, but acid in the stomach is exactly where it's supposed to be.
Regards,
Is he crying the same time everyday? Or does he cry all day/night? When my daughter was about 2 weeks old she started crying alot, I took her to the Dr. and he said she was colicky, but it kept getting worse. I tried everything (safe) that I could think of to help her, but nothing was working. I was trying to nurse her and changed my diet, that didn't help. After several visits to her Ped. he told me to try using formula (that she was just colicky). My DD would cry 12-14 hours a day/night, she was so miserable. After trying several different types of formula (with no relief for her), I finally went to a predigested formula (alumentum). It is expensive, but well worth it for the baby and for your sanity. I fed her this type of formula for 2 days and she was a completely different child-she wasn't crying, she could have a bowel movement on her own, she would sleep through the night, she ws actually smiling and playing, So I took her back to the Dr, so he could explain the drastic turn around, after he examined her and everything that I had been doing to help her-he finally said that she had an immature digestive system and could not break down a certain molecule found in regular formula and breast milk. Needless to say I was very upset that he hadn't told me of this possibily before, b/c of the pain my daughter and I went through. She was about 4 months old when i started her on the new formula(bc there are so many out there to try), If I could do it over again I would definetly try this first. I hope this helps.
Also, I would be very careful about putting a hairdryer in there room, it could overheat and start a fire.
"The Happiest Baby on the Block" is the book to get to help. My girlfriend told me about it and the tips, some things seemed silly, but all worked like a charm. There is also a video to it. I have the book and she has the video. I think you can get it at a library as well as a book store. We got it at babies'r'us.
Good luck and God bless,
If he is breast feeding I would eliminate all dairy, wheat and all forms of sugar from a moms diet. If he is bottle feeding I would change formulas. If you can find a homeopath or naturopath that muscle tests you will be able to find out in 5 minutes what is causing the colick but they are hard to find.
Boy, I could write the book on the colicky babies. My son had severe colic (cried/screamed all day long). We later found out he has food allergies, so first I would say cut out all possible allergens. Time will eventually cure colic, but in the meantime, use the 5 S's to calm the crying.
http://www.babyslumber.com/happiestbaby.html
I had to use all the techniques together to get my son to stop screaming. White noise helped (but only temporarily). You will find that that various things that work now, will not work in two weeks. However, the 5 S's, and a lot of holding, worked every time. Hang in there.. If you need to vent or need advice just email me. I have certainly been there.
Good news about colic is that studies have shown that those colicky infants grow up the be more intelligent, social, and well-adjusted children and adults. So consider this to be a good thing (even if it is miserable right now). It will pass.
