Colicky Baby? - Dublin,OH

My second was the exact same. I didn't know what to do. The gas drops didn't work. I found he was intolerant to dairy. I breastfed, and once I eliminated all dairy from my diet - he was all better. It is amazing how sensitive their little tummys can be - especially if there is an allergy.
Good luck!
ps. I only had to cut Dairy out of my diet until he was about 16 months old, then I slowly introduced cheese back, but I still do not drink milk - though I didn't before.

I would agree with who ever said try the mylocone drops. My daughter was very colic and that was the only thing that worked. As far as sleeping more at night my kids didn't start sleeping longer at night till around 6 or 7 months and I went back to work shortley after having them it was hard but we adjusted till they sleep through the night. Good luck

3 week olds don't sleep much at night. It takes a while to figure out their days and night. I think my daughter slept maybe a couple of hours at night for the first 6 weeks. I don't really think anything can be done you just have to go with it. In regards to colic, I think it's defined as uncontrollable crying that can last for hours. If it's the case with your son, try asking his pedi. I think there are some things that can be done to help with that issue. Colic sometimes occurs due to dietary issues or reflux. I know that sometimes gas can do this, so burping often while feeding can help. If, though, he is only crying a little, it's not colic. Colic is crying that lasts for hours. Whatever you do, though, don't try keeping him awake. Babies at this age need to sleep. It actually helps their brains develop. Let him sleep whenever he wants to. It does get easier, but the first couple of months are rough and you just have to go with it. If you are going back to work soon, you and your husband will have to work something out if he is still not sleeping much. Most babies don't sleep more than 4-6 hours at night (their little stomachs can't stay full for very long) until they are 3 months old. My daughter starting sleeping through the night (around 6 hours) when she was about 3 months old. There's a good article here on colic and things to do if he is colicky http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/growing/colic.html

A.,
My son was like this when he first came home and had his days and nights mixed up very bad. We found out that he was very colic because of his formula. He could not tolerate the dairy in it. He was allergic and still is to milk. After getting him on the right formula he finally slept for 3 hours at a time!!! I was relieved, but it took him till about 7 or 8 months before he slept more than 5 hours!! Talk to your peditrician and see if they can help you.

I just read your responses before writing this. I also am a breastfeeding mom, with 5 very young children. The first 4 of my children were very colicky. It is so hard on everyone, even siblings. I am sure that the reason #5 was not as colicky is that I learned so much about what food proteins in my milk the babies were sensitive to.

The response from "M" is excellent and she said almost everything I would want to tell you. The only thing I can add is that my babies were not ONLY allergic to dairy. Dairy and soy are the top two, but my babies had many more sensitivities. If you are breastfeeding and you are interested in trying to change things to help your baby, I would love to share my knowledge with you. I don't want to bore you if it will not help! The other moms gave you lots of great advice.

If you want to e-mail me, the address is ____@____.com

Best of luck to you and the little one!

Well, your request made me think of 2 things. First, little tiny babies that are only 3 weeks old often don't have any schedule, so that's totally normal and should get better around 6 or 8 or 10 weeks of age. Second, another vote here for a possible dairy sensitivity.

I also have a baby who is sensitive to dairy - and because I'm breastfeeding him, once I eliminated all traces of cow's milk products from my diet, there was a wonderful, VERY noticeable difference in my little guy's comfort levels - he felt soo much better! Yeah, I really miss yogurt, ice cream, butter, etc., BUT definitely worth the benefits. My little guy now sleeps for hours in a row (w/ dairy, he wouldn't sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time and would only sleep when being held), he was much happier (the sad, painful-sounding crying stopped), and his skin improved (what I thought was baby acne and some dryness or a little eczema disappeared and his beautiful, creamy skin revealed itself).

If you're breastfeeding, here's a great list of dairy terms to watch out for if it would turn out that your son is sensitive to dairy:
http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01...

And this is a good primer to help determine what is fussy VS what is food sensitivity:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

If you're formula feeding, be wary of going from cow's milk based formula to soy formula because around 50% of kids who are dairy sensitive are ALSO soy sensitive. This means possibly having to shell out big $$$ for the hypoallergenic formula (which would be the healthiest thing if you have a baby who is both dairy and soy sensitive). But honestly, breastmilk is your best bet - you control exactly what's in it! No guessing. And at 3 weeks of age, you can absolutely switch back to breastfeeding (teach him how to latch) or at minimum pump and feed him breastmilk. He's most likely to outgrow any sensitivity if you a) remove the allergen and b) breastfeed for at least 12 months (with gradual introduction of solids when he is sitting up well, has a good pincer grasp, etc.). If you would want to get him back on the breast, I'd recommend planning for an intensive "breastfeeding bootcamp" for these next 2 weeks before you have to return to work, and you'd probably want to have the support of a good lactation consultant or LLL leader. The benefits of breastfeeding are so enormous that there are too many to list here, and even though the first 1-2 months of breastfeeding can be difficult, in the long run it's so worth the effort. Keep in mind that a nice, double electric breast pump is far cheaper than the cheapest formula - and why pass up the protective effect that breastfeeding has since it lowers the risk for cancer in BOTH you and your baby? (Important to me since my mom had breast cancer.) Also, we're headed into cold & flu season, too, so at least breastfeeding through that would provide amazing immunological factors in breastmilk that no formula or vaccine can duplicate. Breastfeed even longer (10+ months) and you'll get the superior facial muscle and bone development that breastfeeding helps develop (uses different muscles than eating from a bottle) which results in better teeth alignment, earlier speech, etc.

Anyway... whatever feeding method you ultimately end up using, I hope your child does not have any sensitivities to food, and if he does, I hope you're able to identify them quickly so that you're ALL more comfortable!

Congrats on your new baby!

Hi, get the Happiest Baby on the Block dvd or This not only teaches you how to soothe your baby but help him sleep better. Some cultures do not even have colic. I teach the class also. But the have the book and video even at the library if you do not want to buy it. If you need more info or help please call me at ###-###-####. I know how stressful that can be.

J.

Hello A.,

I went through this with my little sister when I was about 13. There were only 2 things that we could do to get her to calm down. 1...was turn on the sweeper and let her listen to the noise of it...the other...turn on the dryer and put her in her seat and on top of the dryer...put her right to sleep...Not sure if you've tried that or not...but it was a while ago, they might have new procedures now for cholic. I can remember being soooo annoyed with it and I'm just glad that my baby doesn't have it...and I don't wish it on anyone. Try that out and see how it works...sometimes they just need noise to go to sleep ironically enough. Hope it works and keep me updated!:)

Thanks,

K.

I had a colicky baby as well and was on the internet looking for anything that would help. I have heard that gripe water works. I also know for a fact that bouncing on an excercise ball with baby helps. I bought the miracle blanket and the book Happiest Baby on the Block. The 5's they recommend in conjunction with the Miracle Blanket was the key for us. My husband could get our little girl to sleep in minutes. There were nights before that, that she would be up for 6 hours just crying. She even cried all day. We also changed her from breastmilk (I could not produce enough) to Similac Advance (she was allergic to the milk) to Similac- Isomil Advance. About 3 days after the change to the Isomil (soy) formula and the Miracle Blanket and the 5's she was a completely different baby! I wish you luck and sleepful nights! If you have any questions about the book or blanket I would love to help you out..here is my email: ____@____.com

Hi! My son was colicky as well. We tried everything including soy formula. Nothing worked. Then we heard about Dr. Brown's bottles. After about 3 days of using only Dr. Brown's bottles he was like a completely different baby. If you are bottle feeding your baby I really recommend trying these bottles. You can get them at babies r us and a couple other places (Walgreens?). They are a little expensive but for me it was worth it.

The book we used when our baby was brand new was the Happiest Baby on the Block. The author teaches 5 steps-swaddling, side/stomach position, shhh sounds, swinging and sucking-to bring baby down from a crying jag and to help them go to sleep. While I have found that I only use bits and peices of most books (or advice from other parents) these 5 steps really did work for us and our baby is typically pretty happy now.

Another book that we're trying now is the No Cry Sleep Solution - we're trying to get baby to nap and sleep without being nursed down. Half the mothers in my group swear by this one so you may want to check it out too.

Good luck!!!!

Hello there.. I would try using mylecon. You can buy it over the counter, and it will not hurt your baby. You can ask your ped about it. I used it for both of my children and it is a wonderful invention. The problem with your baby could be gas, the mylecon helps to releive gas, on the bottle it will tell you how much to give for age or weight. There is nothing in mylecon that will hurt your baby. It sure helped me for having happier babies. Let me know if you try it.

I don't think that its colic. If he was colicky YOU WILL KNOW IT. This crying would be pretty much none stop day in and day out. Like mentioned before, if you are nursing it could be something in your diet. You said that it seems to start around dinner time. Maybe its something in your diet that you are having frequently and he doesn't like it. So if you are nursing, I would try to revamp my diet. You know that your breastmilk is what you eat for your child. If hes on formula, you may need to try a different kind. Here at the hospital, a lot of the parents use a soy based formula like Isomil. Its easier for them to digest. Then another popular formula is Carnation good start. Its lighter for them too. Well I hope this helps. Keep posted on how it goes.

A.,
I feel your pain. I have a daugther who did this for 2 1/2 years! Have you asked about refulx? Does he spit up?
I would strongly suggest having your Dr try some reflux med's to see if it would help. The Dr's ignored me when I shared my daughters similar sympotms. 2 years later we found out she had chronic reflux.
Hope you find relief soon & get some sleep!
K.

Ahsley,
I am a mother of 4, the youngest is 9. I have also done foster care in the past for newborns. so I have pretty much seen it all with babies! what you are going through will pass, I promise. In the meantime, a few things to try:

During the day, after you feed the baby, try to keep him awake for about an hour or hour and a half. Just hold him, play with him, put him in a swing, on the floor with something to look at. Basically, just don't feed him and put him right to sleep. After an hour or so, if he is getting tired, swaddle him tightly and rock if you want or put him in bed. He will then sleep until the next feeding. Approx 3 hours from the last one, so he will sleep 1 1 1/2 hours. Then start the routine over again. It may take a few days to get it down pat, but if you keep him on a schedule like this during the day, he will soon adjust to sleeping longer at night. I wish I would have known this with my first!!

If he truly has "colic", there is not much you can do, except comfort him. Remember the 3 "S's": Swaddle, Shhhhhhhhsh (put your mouth close to his hear and say shhhhhhhhhsh...this is soothing to a baby), and sway (gently dance or sway with him, reminiscent to being in the womb). These usually will comfort a baby. He may scream his head off while you are in the process of swaddling, but usually once they are wrapped tighly, they like it.

I know this can be so hard the first time around because you feel like you are doing "something wrong". Just love your baby, and use common sense, and you wil both survive and thrive! I'd be happy to talk with you more, or even come visit and encourage you. My email is ____@____.com

Blessings,
L.

Hi A.,

My little boy was very similiar and I really thought he had colic as well. Babies are generally colic due to gas. So first and foremost try Myclon (my spelling may be alittle off). The next thing is to find the source of his gas, in other words his food. We had to keep switching formulas until we found the right one. We ended up on Similac's Iron. But we tried all brands, soy and non-soy. Soy could be the answer to your problem. If you child is breastfed then it could be a possiblity he has Reflux. Does he spit up alot? You might want to schedule an earlier appointment to address it to your doctor. There is medicine for Reflux and it will help your baby feel more comfortable with it. Well I hope something I said might help.

-J. Rissmiller

A.,
If the hanging thing helped, maybe he has some pressure in his spine/back that is alleviated by the decompression. Have you thought of trying chiropractic for him. There are very gentle chiropractic techniques, simply using pressure points. Hope this helps.
L. P

When I had my baby she slept ALL day and was up til late at night. theres really nothing you can do right now b/c your baby is so young. If he's colicky then you have to wait it out. At one point I called my best friend and she said to let my daughter cry for 10 minutes ... Just walk away and let her cry. Then go in and give her a binky. Then let her cry again for another 10 - 15 minutes. It gets them used to be a little alone, but also feeling you come back in and knowing that you WILL be back to care for them .AFter doing this a few times my daughter started falling asleep on her own

HI.
I have 4 kids, my third was colicky. As stated before lil ones like yours don't have a schedule yet and its rare that they sleep through the night yet. I am into alot of natural remedies. The best I have found is Catnip tea. You can purchase it at any health food store and comes in bag form. Just brew a cup as you would for you and let it cool. It works really well for the gas build up that seems to be the underlying cause of colic. A little peppermint water is also really good. The best way to prepare is to take one peppermint disc and disolve it in an 8 oz bottle of boiling water. Let it cool.

Hope these ideas help..

BTW I am new here so hello to all

L.

We had to buy one of those noise makers, the ones that make the white noise, ocean waves,etc. It worked wonders. Another thing our doctor told us to try when my daughter was like that was get really close to her ear and just say "shhhhhhhhh", that worked really well at calming her down too. Babies find those types of noises soothing and alot of times it helps to relax them and calm them down.

Hi A.:
I've heard that almost all babies have a fussy period everyday and for most it's in the evening. They're tired, maybe they're getting less milk if breastfed (evening is when milk production slows down) and maybe they're overstimulated. I read this interesting article about how babies have no mental "filtering" system so everything they see/hear/experience throughout the day floats around in their little brains at night. Kind of like if you had a stressful day and you can't sleep because the wheels won't stop turning. It's frustrating, right? So be careful how much you have him around the television or boisterous visitors or super stimulating toys, especially at night.
I'm a big, big proponent of the Feed/Wake/Sleep routine. Get the Baby Wise book for details on this approach. I started it at 3-4 weeks with mine and now she's got it down pat. We're at 15 weeks now and not quite sleeping through the night (she's breastfed so she shouldn't anyway), but she sleeps from midnight - 5 or 6am consistently. And because we're on a flexible routine, she knows what to expect. I can put her in her crib when she's wide awake at "nap time" and she goes right to sleep without fussing - no rocking, no driving around, no running the vacuum, whatever. It's wonderful. I feel like I won the baby lottery. Good luck with your little stud muffin...keep him on a routine and he'll catch on soon!

Remember, you are on HIS time table. There is no schedule for now. Simple as that :)

Hi A.,
I to had a fussy baby after she ate dinner and I gave her Mylecon(not sure of spelling) drops. It then turned out to be gas because she would calm right down. hope this helps