Colic or reflux?

[1sttimemama2b]

After the initial honeymoon period (the first week or so) I noticed my DS getting progressively more fussy. Since I don't really know how much fussyness is normal I am wondering if this could be colic. He is 1 month old tomorrow and I would say it started getting worse in the last 2 weeks. It's particularly bad in the afternoon/early evening. He cries after eating and so I try changing his diaper, rocking him, swaddling, holding, bouncy seat, etc. Nothing seems to calm him. Frequently I end up trying to feed again. I thought maybe it was a growth spurt because he seems fussy/hungry? every 1-2 hours. Last night was terrible with him waking every 1.5-2 hours. Sometimes feeding works and other times it doesn't. My husband lost his temper with me yesterday because I went out for an hr to the grocery store and when I came home all the pumped milk I had left was gone and I had even fed him before leaving. My husband insisted he was still hungry but I thought maybe something else was wrong and since he was bright red in the face and looked really uncomfortable and felt hot I asked for the thermomenter. DH was pissed because he thought I just needed to feed him and was irritated I didn't listen to/trust him. The temp was normal so I tried feeding and it calmed him down a bit so maybe Dh was right after all. Our pediatrician says he seems to have bit of reflux so we always try to burp well and keep him elevated after feedings but sometimes he just seems inconsolable. Is this normal newborn crying or colic. I read that overfeeding can make it work and also that the redness in the face and bringing the legs in and stretching them out are signs. He has both those. I am going to ask the dr at his checkup on friday but I was just wondering if anyone had experience with colic and could tell me their babies signs/symptoms and what helped.

 

[mrsthomas623]

Overfeeding is a major symptom of reflux, it soothes their throats temporally. Nolan was the opposite and fought bottles because of the pain. Has your doctor considered any meds for the reflux?

Nolan was both refluxy and colicky but the crying was a bit better and only in the evening once his formula and meds were sorted out.

 

[crazydiamond]

My LO was similar and wanted to feed constantly which we put down to silent reflux. He also used to arch his back and pull off the breast during feeds. If it is colic the fussiness tends to be in the late afternoon/evening rather than during/after feeds.

We ended up getting him medication ranitidene which is an acid blocker however that did not help much. What really helped was cutting the dairy out of my diet as we found the reflux was linked to a cows milk protein intolerance. I was surprised to hear that around half of reflux is and that this also affects breastfed babies. If you do try cutting out dairy you may need to give it 2 weeks to see the full effects as it takes a while to get it out of your and LO's system. You also need to make sure you cut out the less obvious sources of milk eg whey in bread etc.

 

[fidget]

lucas has reflux (is on gaviscon and about to start ranitadine) and i did the same as you and ended up overfeeding him, which causes it's own problems hehe. make sure you do try all of the other options before feeding again

i know a lot of mothers dont like to, but i found a dummy helped as he was comfort sucking on me to soothe his tummyache, and it does settle him.

also, try not to lay him flat after feeds, and if it's colicky pain try laying him on his tummy over your arm

hope your lo gets better soon xx