Is There Really Such a Thing as Colic? LOL
-By Dana
OK…this is the first time I am blogging/posting so bear with me 
When my youngest son was about 5 weeks old, he was diagnosed with colic. He was crying inconsolably for hours at a time, mostly in the evenings and at times during his feeding, and right after his feeding. It killed me that everything I tried wasn’t stopping the crying. Finally, we gave in and brought him to the doctor. He said that little Gabriel has the classic symptoms of Colic and “Good luck”. Great…
I immediately, like Tela, went to the internet and all of my baby books (which everyone laughs at me for having – let them laugh – I love them). Each website I went to defined colic as the crying for three hours a day or more for three weeks, yada yada. Some said colic is not medically based, that it has nothing to do with the digestive tract, and others said it has a direct correlation to acid reflux, etc.
After completely confusing myself, blaming myself, and crying I turned to my friends – the real experts. I just want to say that I am so thankful to have my friends – they were the best form of support and resource I could ever find. Here are some of the great comments/ideas that were given to me to help console Gabriel “colic”:
- Bathe him with soap/bubble bath that has lavender and other calming herbs
- Wine – an lots of it (for Rich and I of course!)
- The 5 S’s – Shhhing, swaddle, sucking (pacifier), swing, side-lying/stomach position
- Car rides
- Walks
- Bring him into a dark, quiet room and play calming music and rock him
- Ear plugs
- Walk around with the baby in a Bjorn or sling
- With the baby in the Bjorn, bounce with him on an exercise ball
- Gripe water
- Change the formula, if feeding formula to a lactose-free (or soy if that does not work). If breastfeeding, review your diet and maybe take out dairy, etc.
- Use baby oil or calming lotion and massage the baby’s belly in a backwards “C” motion
- If #2 doesn’t work, try hitting the hard liquor (this came from a dear friend that nannied for a long time)
- Acidophilus – get the powdered version (I like the Baby Jarro-dophilus). I give Gabriel 1 billion colonies in a bottle each day. It is known to help with digestion.
- Medication for the reflux – think baby Zantac
- Mylicon – ehhhhh
- Chamomile tea (see below for how I make it)
OK, after reading all of those great ideas, I went to work and here’s what worked for Gabriel. Please note that every baby is different and what worked today to calm the baby may not work tomorrow (do I sound like one of those websites with my disclosure? LOL).
Gabriel is on Axid now as he definitely has reflux. Unfortunately it is medication, and I would rather not give him anything like that b/c he’s so young – but it works!!! I give him the acidophilus daily – he poops daily – LOL. At about 4 p.m., I give him a bottle with gripe water (I highly recommend Baby Bliss gripe water. I didn’t believe in gripe water before b/c none of them seemed to work – this one does!). When he is super fussy, I make him tea. I make Chamomile – 1 cup boiled water, let the tea bag sit for about 3 minutes, add 6 packets of sugar, add one cup cold water, give the baby about 1 ounce (with gripe water if you’d like). I give him Mylicon, but rarely – I am up in the air if it works for what he has. He is formula-fed, so we changed his formula to milk based but lactose free and that has helped his mid-bottle crying. Our nighttime ritual of bath with calming herbs, then PJs and swaddle, and bottle is our saving grace. He sleeps after that (about 7 p.m.) and doesn’t get up for a feeding again until 1 – 2 a.m.! He does sleep in a swing and I dreaded doing that b/c I know it’s going to be painful to get him to sleep in the crib but if it allows us all to get sleep – he will swing!
Each night I wait for the “witching hour” – sometimes it starts at 5 pm, sometimes he’s completely fine all night. I know now not to blame myself, it is nothing I did. I feel terrible when I hear the painful cries – but know that I am doing all that I can to comfort him. They say colic subsides at about 3 -4 months of age. Gabriel is 8 weeks old and I don’t want to rush him growing up any faster than I think it’s going, but I can’t wait!!
Oh, and we drink a lot of wine
Just a quick note to let you all know to be aware of a recent recall of Baby Bliss Gripe Water, Apple Flavor.
Go to http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01707.html for specifics.
I didn’t even know that gripe water came in flavors…good to know though!! I bought the original one. whew…
It’s so funny to look back at this…Gabriel’s going to be 2 in August. Gabriel was a lot better after the 3 month mark. All of the people that told me that would be the case – I apologize for all of the grumbling and bad names I associated you with during those hard weeks.