Colicky 8 Month Old - Sleep Deprived Mommy & Baby

If he is uncomfortable/in pain, I would not do CIO. Supposedly, CIO is supposed to teach healthy babies to self soothe, but if he is in pain, he won't be able to soothe himself. Have you tried infant probiotics? We used those for my daughter's tummy issues and it really helped. They come in powder and liquid form. Might be worth a try. Good luck-it is so hard being sleep deprived!

Are you open to trying a nutritional supplement that has helped other babies who suffer with colic? My son was colicky for his first 4 months, and I truly wish I had known about it back then! It is safe for babies, so let me know if you'd like more information.

Are you sure you gave the elimination diet long enough? My daughter was diagnosed with milk and soy allergies plus reflux at 11 weeks. We were desperate by that time and tried Alimentum because we were told it would take up to six weeks for the dairy to come out of my system. Well, it turns out that it took almost six weeks for the dairy to come out of her system, too.

We went to a pediatric GI in the burbs. Her name is Suzanne Nelson, and she was a lifesaver. She was right at every turn. I know you've seen someone at Children's, but a second opinion may help.

Since you live in Oak Park, maybe you'd like to try to get in and talk to Dr. Weisbluth himself or his son? My SIL goes to their practice downtown Chgo - they are her pediatrician for her son. I don't have the info but send me a message if you want me to get it...otherwise you could probably Google it. I don't know how you are still sane after 8 months of this. God bless you!!!

I feel your pain, my daughter was the same way. Every night she was in discomfort. Finally, when she was 3yrs we had an endoscopy. Come to find out she had silent reflux. But every pediatrician we had gone to before over the years said it was nothing & she would grow out of it. She is now 4 LOL!! Your baby is to young to know what is really going on, food allergies, food sensitivity, just hang in there. Keep your baby as comfortable as possible & give her an infant probiotic. They even have one that is a dairy free formula. Taking a probiotic really helps.!!! In a study more babies responded to probiotics than mylicon.

I'd try some serious diet changes... sounds like he isn't sleeping because of tummy pain, poor guy! (and poor mommy!). Cow's milk is a HUGE cause of colic, though usually in younger babies. If he's breastfed, try cutting out all dairy in your diet (milk, cheese, butter, anything cooked with butter, etc). Also try to cut out all soy products because the soy and dairy intolerance often go hand-in-hand. If he's on formula you could try either goat's milk or a lactose-free formula. And obviously any foods he's eating make sure they are dairy and soy free and aren't gassy vegetables.

In the meantime, get somebody to take him for a night so you can get at least one night of good sleeping in. I had a severe bought of postpartum depression when my little one was waking up every hour all night long for months and months and months. You NEED sleep to be a good mommy.

Also, I usually believe that it's important for kids to have motionless sleep. But at this point you're so deep into this that you need to do whatever it takes to get the baby some rest, even if that means driving around in the car three times a day to get him into a good nap routine.

Good luck - hang in there!

OK, I just saw your updated information in the "so what happened" area. In light of that info, I'd say either co-sleep (if you aren't already) or do sleep training. We did CIO with both of our kids. The first one took right to it - three nights of crying. Second kid (who was up literally every hour all night every night from around 3 months old until six months old) took about three weeks to really "get it". But now he sleeps through the night for 12 hours each night. And he's a totally different kid depending on whether or not he gets his naps and full night of sleep. Commit to getting his naps and early bedtime (6:30 or 7) EVERY DAY for three or four weeks. Let him cry it out and I think you'll find some positive results. I know it's hard to do, but in the long run he'll actually cry a lot less because he won't be waking up crying all the time.

Sorry to say the same thing as others but try the elimination diet again and really watch your eating diary for small triggers. With my first baby i couldn't eat broccoli. When i told my ped she said that isn't something babies get upset about. (That was when i decided to start trusting my gut as a mother and the doctors less). He was fine the rest of nursing. Second son it was green beans and my daughter it is cow's and soy milk and some dairy. Some findings took longer than others but the baby is trying to say something - you know it!!! Don't just surrender to what the drs say keep searching to make this baby happy.
Also look into baby massage techniques. it helped my babies get over gassy symptoms quicker or if done prior to sleep let them rest a bit longer. Good luck momma!

This sounds almost excactly like my son who is now 4 years old. We could set a clock to him as he woke up exactly 45 minutes after we laid him down. What helped us tremendously was I eliminated from my diet ALL dairy (except butter for some reason) and anything that could be in any way gassy. That meant for me no salad (or any green vegetable), no bananas, no onions, no garlic... I pretty much ate carbs, protien, carrots and potatoes. This helped quite a bit, but he still had gas issues. Many many months later we finally took him to a pediatric GI, and he was diagnosed with severe constipation (they took an X-ray). They believe that at some point he had a painful bowel movement, and then he just started holding because he was afraid of them. Because he was so severely constipated, I think whenever he had any gas in his system it couldn't easily travel down his digestive system and was painful. We put him on Miralax to fix the constipation, and it was a life saver. My pediatrician said the same thing as yours just to let him cry it out, and I knew in my heart that it wasn't just a sleep issue. There was something else wrong. Stick with your gut and don't give up finding the solution!

The pediatric GI we saw was Dr. Saps. We saw him out of Lake Forest, but I think he goes to other locations as well.

We went through this with my 3rd child, but not for very long. I had successfully nursed two children, so I really felt that there was something wrong when the 3rd couldn't sleep and was miserable all the time. I had to go to the pediatrician's office 3 times before they would listen to me and say more than "babies cry you know" like I was an idiot. Finally, the pediatrician suggested taking a 3 day break from breastfeeding (but keep pumping so you can start again if you want to) and use Nutramigen instead (super hypoallergenic baby formula which costs way more than regular baby formula.) My baby drank the whole bottle and fell asleep for the longest time he had ever slept. When he woke, he was hungry, and not crying. He had another bottle and went back to sleep. After about 24 hours of absolutely nothing but eating and sleeping, he started to smile -- first smiles ever at 9 weeks!!! Even my husband said "oh! The baby we were supposed to get!" So, I stopped nursing. I had some mixed feelings about that, but the Nutramigen was clearly what he needed. My baby was not failing to thrive on breastmilk, but he was doing the minimum guidelines for growth/weight gain, when my two older children had basically done double that when they were babies. I would suggest giving this a try, and if it works, I would recommend some allergy testing. At 6 months old, my son (now 4) tested positive for allergies to milk, soy, egg, and nuts. Even following an elimination diet, it is hard to eliminate all possible allergens, and it makes your life pretty challenging to be thinking about that stuff too. Maybe you can do it for the first child, but I could not do that sort of strict diet for the 3rd. I was tired, trying to care for my other children, and the baby, and that Nutramigen was a life saver. I wish you good luck.

I would take him in for a thorough examination by his pediatrician. "Colic" usually ends by about 4 months or maybe 6 months if it lasts awhile. I would make sure there is nothing else going on--allergies, digestive problems, reflux...whatever. He might need a diet change--new formula or change in your diet if you are nursing. I had two very colicky infants. The oldest one was off the charts with his crying and we underwent a bunch of testing (all normal) and even he was pretty much over it by age 4-5 months, although he wasn't a great sleeper for quite some time. A book I recommend for sleep issues is Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's, "Sleepless in America." Good luck. I know how exhausting it can be.

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear this! I really have never heard of colic going on this long, I would be concerned that something else is going on. Can you press your pediatrician or do your own research to find a specialist that may do some tests or explore this problem more with you??? I think you should start there, but I also think your idea of a sleep specialist is a great one.

I'm glad to hear you've read the Weisbluth sleeping book as this is always my first recommendation for parents. Are you implementing his methods? Wouldn't it be great to be able to talk to HIM!

You say he is waking every hour or two - how does he respond when do you go to him? If he is calming and sleeping it seems like maybe some sleep training may help. If he's truly in pain I would think he wouldn't calm down much even by your presence/holding him/rocking, etc. Did he fall asleep when you let him CIO today? I think some CIO is fine - if anything it gives you a one hour break and give shim a chance to sleep. Have you ever tried to CIO at night? This would be REALLY hard on you as a mom, but if I were you this is what I would try, at least once to see what happens. I know when my son is overtired, he will wake often at night (if he had a long day or missed nap or something) but I just ignore it and he goes back to sleep. The more he gets rested, the less he wakes.... I would think he is so overtired that I would be trying to help him nap every couple of hours in the daytime. Even my generally well-rested babe was napping after every 3 hours of wakefulness and I would guess your little guy (if you could get him to) would really need to nap a LOT to try to get him caught up on sleep. I know you know this if you are following Weisbluth.

Good luck to you - I sincerely hope that you have some support at home or family/friends that allow you to gather some rest at some point and hopefully regularly. If not, please seek some help out - you NEED some relief and to take care of youself as a mamma.

There's obviously a problem there and the doctors aren't addressing it at all. :( These other moms gave you a few good referrals for someone to see. I would definitely get a second (and better) opinion.
I'm really sorry you haven't gotten any sleep. I've experienced exhaustion, too, and it's not a pretty sight.

Food allergies/intolerances/sensitivities???

Have you seen the pediatrician? That would be a first step if you haven't already.
My son also had the extreme colic you are talking about. He cried at least 8 or 9 hours a day. It finally started to taper off at around 5 mos. Our problem was his allergies. He has multiple food allergies, and if eaten or touched, cause him to break out or upset his digestive system for days. Since he was breastfed, he was getting the allergens from my diet. I tried the elimination diet, but it was extremely difficult to pin down the culprits. Once I switched him to formula at around 5 mos did the crying mercifully begin to stop. Are you breastfeeding? Also, does he have any trouble with solids that you are introducing?
As for sleeping- I did CIO with my son and it worked. It's not easy to B. (my son could go for a marathon stretch it seemed) and it's definitely a commitment. If you decide to try it again, my advice is to keep a sleep log. You will notice it will slowly get less and less everyday.
My son has been a great sleeper ever since about 6 mos old. And now, he is a well-adjusted, social and bright child- no harm done with the CIO. :) Good sleep is important for everyone and you both deserve it!
Hang in there!

Getting him checked out isn't a bad idea.
In the mean time, you need help - a family member or a sitter who will watch your child so you can get some sleep.

I too had a gassy baby with silent reflux. The reflux was treated with Zantac and the gassyness turned out to be a lactose sensitivity. I was breastfeeding, and she was in pain after every feeding. She did 100% better when she had lactose free formula. I tried to eliminate dairy from my diet completely, but it didn't seem to help enough to make her more comfortable. If you're not opposed to trying formula, try Similac Sentive or Enfamil's Gentlese. The good news is, my little one grew out of the reflux and was weened off meds at 10 mos and no longer has lactose issues! She is 13 mos and drinks regular whole milk! Good luck!

My younger daughter Elise was the same way. She is almost 9.

I tried sleep training, the EASY and 5 s's method (I describe all this on my website http://tarastoyland.webs.com/philosophysleep.htm if you don't know it)
That all helped, but didn't solve the issue. She was still miserable. I finally took her to a chiropractor at just shy of 9 months old and FINALLY she started taking good solid naps (in her bed, lying down as opposed to in the swing) and sleeping through the night. I was amazed, cause literally it was that day that it happened.

Now, 8 yrs later, we learned that she has severe kidney reflux. We are going to a specialist today actually, and she will need surgery to fix it. I am looking back in hind sight and wondering if she was having pain from this since birth and no one caught it. I wish I had pushed for more tests to figure out what was causing her to be so upset. I no longer believe colic is just how some kids are (and neither do the doctors that study this). I have read so many studies that show that it is a real pain issue, not just a sleep or crabby baby issue. I know there were doctors studying this and there were articles in a magazine or newspaper, think it was Reader's Digest, in about 2009.

My friends baby was the exact same way, and she was told to take him to a Chiropractor. She did and they had a brand new baby after about 5 visits. She swears by it, and I have heard of people taking their babies to them before. Just an idea!