Help, colicky baby!

[lalitas charm]

I really am at my wits end. My baby seems to be really colicky and she is crying almost all the time at the moment.

It is soul destroying. She cries when she is feeding and is really fussy at the nipple, she falls asleep and a few minutes later wakes up with a yell. Its really hard to get her wind up and when I do then I can't get her to go back to sleep unless I let her latch on for a bit of a feed. but she only sleeps for a few moments and then the cycle begins again.

I've tried infacol which makes her constipated, gripe water which does nothing and I've just given her dentinox so hopefully that will help.

She is always hungry in the evening but this is different, she is so unhappy all the time and was awake last night from 5pm until 2am crying and feeding. It was hell. This was after a very wearing weekend of misery for both of us.

Has anyone any more suggestions as to what I can do to help her? Does anyone know when they start to grow out of being colicky like this?

Oh and I'm fed up with the oh so (un)helpful comments of people who havent had a baby themselves such as she's probably hungry coz she's breast fed! That has really annoyed me! I cancelled meeting someone tomorrow because I'm so tired now and she has implied that my LO is hungry....... I demand feed, she isn't hungry and she is growing really well! ARGH! sorry bit of a rant there.

Any help would be really appreciated!

 

[Seraphim]

Big hon.

We're doing this bit too.

We started using Colief on Sunday and it is helping, but not totally fixed it. But hey - sleep is sleep right, and something is better than nothing.

It's a pain in the butt for BF mummies, because you need to add it to EBM and feed it before BFing... but you might be able to hand express enough and use a medicine spoon or dropper like I have been... kinda got the knack of it now - but being ontop of it if they land a sneaky early feed on you can end in tears.

I'm fed up with peoples comments too. Very tempted to just lock us in the bedroom and tell the rest of the world to go hang.

I also found with out LO that if she will fall asleep or get peaceful when feeding... I leave her settle for a while, then prop her up on my chest, and half the time the wind will let itself out (having had time to gather into one big burp) and she will continue to sleep on... this is the only way I've got her to go down at all.

But with babies one thing can work one minute - and then the next you have to invent something else :/

Good luck hon xx

ETA: The EBM has to be warm (so if like me you've saved some in the fridge, you have to warm it) and also Colief is £10 a bottle!

 

[MelanieF]

Ohh, you poor thing..... Colic is terrible!

I have posted this link before, but it is just brilliant for BF strategies that help with colic and I happened to have it open on my PC: https://www.nbci.ca/index.php?optio...-breastfed-baby&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

Otherwise, can you try slings? baby massage? Cranio Osteopathy? A rocking chair? A car drive? A walk in the fresh air? Getting a grandma to come and do the colic dance for a bit? Booking yourself a pampering session at the local beauty parlour to help you feel better and face the evening?????

I hope that it passes soon; blessings to you!

Mel

 

[pennysbored]

Swaddling. I swear by it, it works!
https://ezinearticles.com/?Swaddling-Instructions---Swaddle-Your-Baby-in-Six-Easy-Steps&id=2392778
Lots of bouncing and shusshing too. Its all about recreating the womb.

 

[MelanieF]

I found this, too https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/Colic.pdf

Mel

 

[soootired]

I have heard that cutting out dairy products might help? Gona give it a go as it cant do any harm but really craving a nice ice cold glass of milk now

 

[Seraphim]

Let me know if it works

 

[lalitas charm]

Thanks Ladies, I'm going to try these ideas! I really am at the end of my tether with this I'm on my own during the week as my DH works in England so I just feel so lost and stressed out. I really dont know if I am cut out for this. Its such a struggle.

thank you for your help, I'm going to have a go at swaddling now to see if that helps any and read all the other stuff carefully tomorrow.

 

[bumpty]

Big hon.



ETA: The EBM has to be warm (so if like me you've saved some in the fridge, you have to warm it) and also Colief is £10 a bottle!

didnt look if you are in uk but you can get it on prescription ...hope that helps someone....Im gonna try get some today!! desperate too

 

[polaris]

I also found with out LO that if she will fall asleep or get peaceful when feeding... I leave her settle for a while, then prop her up on my chest, and half the time the wind will let itself out (having had time to gather into one big burp) and she will continue to sleep on... this is the only way I've got her to go down at all.

This is what I do too, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

 

[lalitas charm]

Thank you so much for the support!! I really needed it, I was getting so distressed and was questioning if I should even have had a baby!! Last night was loads better. I gave her Dentinox and it seems to have really helped her. Fingers crossed it wasn't just because she was so exhausted from the last few nights. Its amazing how things seem so bad when you are exhausted and then when you get a bit of rest it all seems ok again.

The only issue we had last night was that her little internal gyros seemed to sense when I so much as twitched in the direction of her moses basket and woke her up with a yell. I ended up falling asleep with her on my chest for almost 4 hours before she woke for her next feed after which I got her in her basket.

I am in the UK bumpty, I hope you get the Colief on prescription, I was told by the out of hours Dr on Sunday that it wasn't available but different regions have different policies so where you are could be different. The Dentinox was only £3 and is def worth trying, I've only seen it in a couple of pharmacys tho so it might be difficult to get.

I'm going to go and get some soya milk today and go off dairy to see if that improves things as well. I'm virtually living on cereal at the moment so I need something! I quite like soya milk in coffee (tho I'm still off coffee) so I'll see what it is like in cereal and tea!

Many thanks all and I hope this is our colic problems dealt with and that all the other colicky babies settle soon too!!

 

[RebeccaColief]

Dear Charlie5,

I work for Colief and just saw your post. Please find below a link to some you tubr video's by Dawn Kelly, a health visitor about colic, she explains about the condition and tips to try to cope with colic.

There are also further videos where Dawn Kelly explains how to use Colief whilst breastfeeding - we hope these help.

Kind wishes,

Rebecca

The following videos are available to Dawn Kelly on You Tube by searching these terms ( I am not able to post links)

What are the symptoms of colic?

How can colic be managed

Can milk cause colic

How to use Colief when breastfeeding

How to use Colief for treating colic - Using Colief when making up feeds in advance

How to use Colief for treating colic - Using Colief with Infant Formula

 

[soootired]

Thanks Ladies, I'm going to try these ideas! I really am at the end of my tether with this I'm on my own during the week as my DH works in England so I just feel so lost and stressed out. I really dont know if I am cut out for this. Its such a struggle.

thank you for your help, I'm going to have a go at swaddling now to see if that helps any and read all the other stuff carefully tomorrow.

Totally off subject but i live in england and my oh was hinting he may have to work in Northern Ireland next year. just amused me
Oh and the no dairy did nothing, well i had eaten lots of chocolate so dont know if that counts as eating diary lol. I found skin to skin and wrapping my dressing gown tightly round both of us works good for a bit, its a really strechy dressing gown. nice cuddle to
good luck to all of us.

 

[Eleonora]

My friend (a scientist) had one colicky baby and one baby that was totally easy. She methodically tried everything with the colicky one...going off dairy and all the other possible food triggers for weeks on end...that made no difference. All the standard tricks like swaddling, going for a walk outside with kid in baby carrier, white noise like a hair dryer or vacuum cleaner, ride in the car, jiggling and shushing, etc., - - they would sometimes work for 5 minutes or maybe 5 hours, but there was no rhyme or reason to it. Doctors of course are useless and there was no medical problem that anyone ever found. Colick is truly hell and you just have to keep trying different things and know that tomorrow is a new day and your baby will eventually grow out of it. Do ask for help if you start losing your mind!
The book called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" has some good techniques and comforting stories of parents who've been there. Like one of the other posters said, it is all about recreating the lost womb.