Colic??? - Cincinnati,OH

This helped me sooooooooooo much! It's more than just the bicycle thing with the legs. My baby would get fussy, I'd do this, she would let out a TON of gas, then be nice and happy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCKwO1vgvdc

My friends baby would get fussy in the afternoon She would put a towel in the dryer to warm it and would then swaddle him. It would really comfort him good luck

You need to know that the word 'colic' is not a definition. Its a fancy way of saying "gas". Little ones innards as I like to call them have a hard time dealing with or push out gas so when they have to (pardon the french) Fart, they dont know what to do and you know that THAT can be painful. If you are worried if its gas (or colic) take your babies temp when she is crying (in the butt). GENTLY wiggle the thermometer in a circular direction. That stimulates a bowel moment and then basically helps to push the gas out. My baby had TERRIBLE gas (or colic) for the first 4.5 weeks of her life until my mother (who is a mom of 5 and a RN) explained to me what was happening and how to help her. I personally think its a gas thing. Do you breastfeed??? if so , elimate milk and dairy from your diet immediately and start taking calcium pills.
Email me personally if you have questions...all I can say is I have been in your shoes...your issues sounds like gas (colic) to me. I wish you luck and congrats on the little one

My daughter was much the same way. She is now 9 months old and doing much better.

She would stretch out and cry after feedings. Did not always nap soundly, and would be especially fussy from 5 -6 to 9:30 when she would usually go down. She would also cluster feed around this time. She is still 'fussy' during this time and wants more attention and still wants to nurse more during this time -- but the collicky crying has stopped for months now.

We did several different things:
1) I breastfed and eliminated dairy from my diet. This made the greatest impact, but it did take a few weeks to get dairy out of my system and see results in our baby.
2) Gave her Axid - like Prevacid for reflux, but Axid has no alcohol, which I wanted since she was a baby
3) Kept her sitting up as much as possible - put her in the swing or her baby seat - it also helps with reflux.

I would try eliminating dairy from your diet. And discuss with your pediatrician as well. As the baby's digestive system develops her symptoms will get less - but there are things you should be able to do now that may help.

I too would suggest limiting dairy, and what worked for us was chiropractic. I've also know other moms that had their babies adjusted and it helped too, some only needed one visit, mine was three times.

I would tend to think it's a growth spurt thing as well. It sounds fairly normal. That evening time is usually the worst time for babies (and kids) and you will often find that time of night frustrating. I've heard from everyone that has had a colicy baby that if you're not sure, it's not colic. Keep trying the soothing techniques and make sure she isn't overstimulated...sometimes that can cause fussiness too. It will get better!

I would say your baby is just going through a growth spurt. Even at 5 weeks, their schedules won't stay the same.

Hi,

Don't know if it is colic or not, but you can always try "the colic hold". Easier to do than describe, but here goes. Hold baby on your forearm with her face in your hand and her belly along your arm. her right arm and leg will hang off one side of your arm, and her left arm and leg will hang off the other. You can turn her head so one of her cheeks is laying in your palm if she seems to like that better.

You can pat her back and jiggle her a little bit and even walk around with her. You might even be able to do something else with your other hand!

Other folks I know found their baby calmed down if they ran the vaccuum--go figure! maybe the little one figured s/he couldn't out-shout the machine, lol!

Good luck

K. Z.

my daughter got colic around this time... I thought it was constipation so of course i took her to the ER (after 5 days of not going) he assured me she was fine, 2 days later we were back, same time, same doctor, when he looked at me he said "id know that scream from anywhere, its colic, being a father of 8 kids whom all developed i know thats exactly what it is" we switched her to Nutramigen formula with dr browns bottles and it was gone within 2 day. If your formula feeding try switching to the nutramigen, no its not cheap but if it is colic its def worth the money!!! my daughter is 9 months old now, still on that formula but im having NO problems whats so ever. she sleeps 12-14 hours a night, takes 2 naps each 2-3 hours each and of course we havent heard any fussing.

Sounds like your daughter is very normal! It is not colic as she would not be comforted if it was, continuous crying!

Most babies have a time in the day or night that they are a little unsettled & irritable. This peaks about 4-6 weeks since babies come out of the newborn slumber & stay awake for longer periods during the day. They take in more information (which is good) during those awake times, which can be overstimulating for some. It just takes a few weeks for them to sort it out. Fussiness & crying is her way or releasing that stress
(good stress).

It is usually in the evenings to late evenings. I believe it their way of releasing the stress (information) from the day. Many times it seems like they fight sleep, but may sleep a little longer after the last night bottle.

Glad you are using the 5 S's it is very helpful!!! You might try ( if you're not already) giving her a bath during this time, it may help calm her.

Hang in there it will be better soon!!!

Good luck!

K. :-)

Hi, It doesn't sound like colic necessarily. My daughter was colicky and just shrieked and cried for hours and hours on end starting a 3 weeks until 13 weeks. My son did not have colic, but totally had the witching hour syndrome that the other moms are talking about and was super irritable from 4-6 every single night. He just grew out of it and I never figured out why he was so fussy at that time of day.

Definition of colic:
Baby cries unexplainably for at least 3 hours, at least 3 days a week, for at least three weeks. So it's kinda vague. What you really want to know is "what is causing it"? Many babies will just go through fussy periods in the evening at this age. It will pass.
If shes SCREAMING for hours, it might be more. Are you breast or formula feeding? If it's formula, it might be that she's having digestion issues and you need to switch formulas or relactate since breastmilk is so much more digestible. If you are breastfeeding, it might be something in your diet. Dairy and gassy foods are the most likely to cause tummy trouble in an infant.
Try putting warm water in a regular water bottle and rolling that up and down her tummy.
Put her in a sling and see if wearing her makes a difference.
Try putting her to bed earlier at night.
Try a swing, rocker, or bouncer for constant motion.

ok. don't laugh cuz it took us awhile to figure it out.
put her to bed.
we would try and try to get our son to stop crying (he did also have allergies)... but around the same time? our son went to bed at 6. We figured out all the fussing made him more irritable.
i'd feed him, burp him and rock or whatever, put in bed by self for 10 minutes w/music and see if she stops.

oh it just occured to me, isn't that the age they cry more for some unknown reason? like witching hour.. checking out their 'singing voice' LOL

i'd say its NOT allergies/colic if your child isn't screaming after EVERY feeding.

we tried EVERYTHING. it was funny in retrospect that the kid was just TIRED! good luck

Sounds like a growth spurt. She needs to eat more on that time feeding. Don't think it's colic.
Best Regards,
C.

Try putting her to sleep before the witching hour. It saved my life. My oldest would get sooooo fussy at 6pm like clockwork. I was worried to put her to sleep early that she would wake and be up all night. But that didn't happen. I started nursing her at 5:30 and putting her in teh crib and she slept ALL night only waking for feedings. And I know this doesn't really help to hear, but many many if not most babies behave this way.

My baby went through this same thing. There are two things happening - 6 week growth spurt would be around this time and your baby is growing up and noticing more things and getting used to being up in the day time. The good news about the awake time from 5 to 10 is that it will translate into more sleep time at night. Once you hit 6 weeks, there is some baby magic that happens and suddenly your baby is happy, alert, playful in the day and sleeping more at night. Stick with it and you will be rewarded. The 5 week age was torture for us, and I never thought we would get past it, but we did. Hang in there and keep doing what you are doing. Also, don't forget to swaddle! Anytime our baby even starts to have those droopy tired eyes we swaddle him tightly and it calms him down a lot. We usually have him swaddled in the evening to settle him and then through the night while he sleeps. If needed, we swaddle him in the day for naps if he is too excited.

Seems like colic. Try baby magic tea and hope your baby will calm down. It's herbal tea and safe for newborns.