To all Parents: How did you handle a colicky baby?

[Point44]

As some of you might know my wife gave birth to a baby girl about 3 weeks ++ ago. She was a good little girl for the first 3 weeks but now she's started her crying fits at nights. EVERY NIGHT. She goes through the day alright but at night she starts crying and crying and crying.

I know a lot of you have gone through this and i'd like some advice on dealing with a crying baby or any remedies you've tried that worked when dealing with colic.

I now also know why so many of you gave me advice on sleeping as much as i can before the baby came. Well, unfortunately i thought it wouldn't be that bad. BIG MISTAKE. I haven't had a good nights sleep in quite awhile. Luckily i haven't got a job yet so that makes it easier to wake up late.

 

[Nordic Viking]

Put her on your shoulder and play rhythmic music on the stereo. If water is cheap, keep a tap running as it has a soothing sound and you get clean drains as a side-effect.

It is not uncommon to want to kill your child at this point, but it gets better I promise.

 

[mycroftt]

Babies at that age cry because they either need something or because they are uncomfortable. Most likely she is either hungry or has a pain in her gut from the formula she is being fed. What's her feeding schedule?

 

[A.W.U.K.]

But we all told you so.

Colic, and wind, are much less of a problem with breast-fed babies. If you are bottle-feeding, try to make sure she doesn't swallow air. Get some gripe-water or other colic remedy. Walk up and down with baby over your shoulder and keep calm. If you do get tense/anxious/angry walk away, or the baby will sense it and cry more.

Dont worry!

Colic-induced crying will eventually be displaced by teething-induced crying.

Sleep on the settee!

Andy.

Edited to add:

When we had our first, I often had to get up at five o'clock, after perhaps one to two hours fragmented sleep, and work twelve+ hours. I was almost literally sleepwalking.

Our second son didn't sleep through the night 'till he was four years old, but that's rare!

 

[Mongo-man]

Is your wife breastfeeding the baby. A lot of cramps are caused by eating certain vegetables like cabbage. Ask our pedriatician what vegetables causes cramps.
If you bottlefeed the little one ask for one that doesn't cause as much gas as the one you are using now.

Also you should really look into a babysling.
It's a carrysystem where the baby can lie down in a large sling on your shoulder. They cuddle up, it's nice, soft and warm and they hear and feel that you are close.

My 3 daughters all grew up in a babysling, you can carry the baby around and do all sort of things while the baby is with you while walking around. The babysling mimics the movement and conditions in the womb.

If she/he starts to cry don't talk to the baby, just put her/him in the sling and start walking around.

If the baby sleeps you can lower the baby in his crib while in the sling so there are no sudden moves or noise.

 

[Kampfjaeger]

What a pretty little lady! You must be proud as all get out. Congrats!

Go to WalMart.
Pick up a set of shooting earmuffs.
Hold her high on your shoulder and pat her back.
Walk around outside with her.
Know that this too shall pass.

Know when to set her down or pass her off to your wife and walk away. You'll stay sane that way and nothing unfortunate will happen. Seriously. Babies can drive you to distraction.

 

[Mongo]

Man, I honestly have blocked out those memories! Our first had colic for the first 3 months, then it turned off like a switch. Do's: find a formula that works best... I cannot remember the one we used, but it had "comfort proteins" on the label. Carnation? I favored the "football" hold, so did my daughter. (No touchdown spiking though )
Don'ts: stay in the room rubbing her back/belly etc. As hard as it is, you need to let them cry. Sometimes they will go for an hour or more! Don't get angry, just walk away when you get that frustrated.
Colic will end... it just seems like it is forever.
good luck!

 

[Bob W]

Oh no.......


My wife's having a baby next May. I'm going to run away...

Walk around outside with her.

You better not do that anywhere near my house!

-Bob

 

[Don Luis]

It's being a long time, my younger is 20 years old now...

Don't you have to make babies burp after feeding by softly palming their back as you walk around with them face down on your shoulder ?.

Humming or softly singing lullabies does help, I used to play "Brahms lullaby" in the harmonica to calm and get both my daughters to sleep, my little niece seems to prefer "the Leaving of Liverpool".

Often a ride in the car around the block helps to get them to sleep.

Luis

 

[Mongo]

Yep, Don Luis mentioned singing/humming... I'm not sure if it soothes the baby or gives the parent something to do. All I know is that I made up alot of inane lyrics to just about every song I could think of. Singing, bouncing, burping, not sleeping.... hmmm sounds like some of those weekends in college!

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Singing and humming are worth practicing - they help calm and divert older babies as you change and dress them.

Andy.

 

[SYK]

Hi p44, your kid is getting used to the world, after coming out from the comfy womb. She'll(a girl?) take about 3 or 4 months to settle down, then she will sleep the night through.

During this 3 or 4 months the most you can do is minimize her crying, it will never really stop. If bottle feeding, try to get the temp of the milk right, then it will digest better(no wind) and baby will be more comfy. To digest milk, the enzymes work best at body temp....so milk must be at body temp.

There are some anti-wind drops you can give to baby, ask your doc. Also try to burp baby after feeding....if baby is not burped properly, will not sleep well.

And basically, you have to carry baby all the time. Put her down and she will cry. I and my wife took turns to carry the baby, each two hours in turns....whenever we put baby down, the bugger cried non-stop......my wife says let him cry....."he's gotta learn to sleep without being carried"......baby cried loud enough to wake up neighbours, non-stop 2 hours before falling asleep exhausted.......then woke up and cried non-stop again, until we carried him again.

I would take care of him until 4 am, then my wife wake up and look after him...I sleep for a bit then go to work and hope I don't crash the car.

I put the dummy into baby's mouth, then he is happy and falls asleep.....the dummy falls out, he wakes up and cries.....I put the dummy back....he falls asleep, the dummy falls out, he wakes up again.....

Then worried like hell if baby sleeps on front or back, got sudden cot death....baby slept better on front but everybody said your kid will die....i read up everything on internet on SIDS and decided, if the matress is good and air is circulating(by fan), then risk is OK.....put baby on front.

Don't worry, it only lasts 3 or 4 months, then your kid settle down and you sleep full nights again. Hang in there brother! When your baby smiles at you, you will be one happy fellow.

 

[Ryan8]

From what I've read, babies cannot properly digest some of the proteins in milk and other dairy products and therefore they are linked with colic.

 

[Mike G]

From what I've read, babies cannot properly digest some of the proteins in milk and other dairy products and therefore they are linked with colic.

One of the many reasons the doctors all say breast fed babies are healthier and happier.

My oldest daughter would wake up when she heard Johnny Carson's theme song ( 11:30 at night), and most of the time, we'd load her in her carseat, and go for a short drive. It worked like a charm.

 

[Yvsa]

Give her a sugar teat. Use the corner of an old clean pillowcase and put a bit of sugar in it and tie it up tight. Stick the corner of the sugar teat in her mouth, instant happiness, worked for a little cousin of mine and yes, it's an old, old, remedy.

 

[Ren the devils trailboss]

we used to lay our little ones on thier tummy on our legs as we were sitting..then slowly pat thier back and move our legs in a slow motion back and forth...a rocking motion...

also swaddle the baby ...which means wrap her up papoose style and lay her on moms tummy...this also works...

best of luck...this too shall pass...

 

[powernoodle]

this too shall pass.

Thats the thing to remember. Every "problem", every phase, changes so quickly that you can barely remember what just happened.

best regards

 

[SPHayes]

Congrats on the baby, you have gotten a lot of good advice. My boys are 1 and 4 with another on the way. The Gas drops (Simethicone) did not work for us. We ended up using a homeopathic product called Rescue Remedy. I don't believe in homeopathy and gave my wife a lot of crap about buying it but it seems to work. Also as stated above "Breast is best” If your wife is at all interested in nursing contact LaLeche League and have her go to a meeting. It is a wonderful group that can help with all areas of parenting. We have meet many of our best friends through La Leche League. As for slings YES buy one or two or three. My wife now makes them so she can have several to coordinate or while one is in the wash. We use a variation of the Maya Wrap and my wife likes the Mummy Wrap also. Don't waste time or money on the snuggle carriers or the Gerber slings with the thick padded edges or even a Bab yBjorn. A simple cloth sling is much easier to use and more versatile. You may want to consider bringing the baby into the bed with you. That way baby and mom can snuggle up and nurse while one or both sleeps. Co-Sleeping is somewhat frowned upon in the US but it works for us.

Patrick

 

[Point44]

Been wanting to get back to this thread earlier but have been busy.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice. Will take it to heart and maybe list it down. I showed my wife this thread and we're gonna try some of the stuff.

Actually yesterday whilst i was waiting for a vitamin K prescription at the pharmacy i found colic relief drops. It's called COLIEF. Man this thing is good. She has reduced her crying by a significant amount. It's kinda like lactase drops which is an enzyme to help the baby digest the milk better.

The baby is currently 100% breastfed with some pumped out milk sometimes when we're travelling. So i guess this reduces the wind quite a bit compared with bottle feeding.

We have wanted to try a sling for quite awhile but weren't sure. Seeing some of your experiences with it maybe we'll get it this weekend. It is so much easier. Today she was in a cuddling mood and i had her on one arm for a long time whilst i was surfing the net. After that it ached a bit. A sling would help a lot in this case. heehhe...when else would i have time to go to internet forums.

Oh and yeah she loves sleeping on the bed as well. We got her a new mattress for her cot which is a Sleepcurve matress. It's actually quite good since it has a curve for the baby's oversized head. But in the morning she still likes it on the bed in the middle. BTW why is co-sleeping frowned upon?

The advice on singing is difficult since i can't carry a tune and can't even remember lyrics. Sometimes i just say stuff in a melody or whatever. I'm sure since she's my baby she'll like whatever her papa sings.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

BTW why is co-sleeping frowned upon?

It is possible for an adult to roll over while asleep and smother the baby. It is very rare, but one of my grandmother's siblings was lost this way.

Andy.