BAD Colic, Nutrimigen?-Dr.Brown's Bottles?

My neighbor has a 4mo daughter who had colic at about 1mo and used mylicon drops. They didn't work very well so her pediatrician told her to try Colic Calm Gripe Water. She said it works like a charm. You can get it online at www.coliccalm.com Good luck!

Hi B.,

My daughter had the same horrible crying - up to four hours at a time. But it wasn't acid reflux or pain - she needed more intense soothing help than most babies. The only things that would soothe her was white noise and rocking and or car rides. The white noise was LOUD vacuum, LOUD ocean wave CD (cheap at Target) or running the hair dryer by her head. Swaddling also helped immensely.

Be very careful about treating her with medication - especially acid reflux medication. Yes, acid reflux exists in infants but it is rare. Make sure she's diagnosed by a doctor you trust (if it was me - I'd go to more than one for multiple opinions). I work in the health care industry and there is a lot of concern that acid reflux is too often overprescribed and that the medications for it are not as well-tested as they should be.

The book that helped me the most was "The Happiest Baby on the Block" that described the same type of unexplained colic that some babies had. This doctor's soothing techniques really helped me a lot. My mom is a RN who manages a program that gives nutrional and pre/post natal care to low income women - she recommends this book a lot to women who have babies who cry more than most.

Breastmilk is far easier to digest than any formula, so if you still have it, I'd give her that!! It may have seemed like your breastmilk upset her, but really it may have far more to do with the fact that her soothing mechanisms aren't the same as other babies.

But have hope!!! My daughter grew out of it, gradually crying less and less and now she's a very happy, intelligent little girl at four years old. But at 3 months, I thought she'd be miserable her whole life. In fact, she was a dream as a toddler - I never had screaming tantrums from her!

Can you go back to nursing? I doubt your milk was upsetting her tummy, breastmilk is a natural antacid and will actually help with colic or reflux.

Switching formula's will do a number on her tummy too, as formula is hard to digest and it will take her at least 2wks to settle into digesting a certain formula.

If you can get her back on the breast, that owuld be your best bet.

We LOVE Dr. Brown's bottles. We switched our daughter off of the old ones because of the plastic they were made out of, and we hated every other bottle we tried. There are extra parts to wash, but it is so worth it. They now make Dr. Browns in glass and Polypropylene which is better than the original Polycarbonate. We have also heard of people having really good luck with the chiropractor. Just make sure the one you are going to has experience with babies. Sadly, some baby's are just more cranky. My good friends' youngest finally came around at about 14 months. (don't worry, even with her it wasn't as bad as it was in the beginning the whole time) Good Luck!

I can't say much about colic, but we used the Dr. Brown bottles and loved them!!

Is your doctor sure that it is colic? My baby had all the signs of colic PLUS spit-up. It ended up being Reflux, and she was put on Zantac at about 2mos and was on that until about 4 months.

We tried switching formulas, gas drops etc. And then finally I had enough and went into the doctor in tears. I mentioned there was spit-up after just about every feeding, and he thought since the other remedies didn't work that we would try Zantac, and it WORKED! She was so much happier after that.

I would maybe suggest it to your doctor. My doctor is almost convinced that colic and Reflux are one in the same, they both have so many similar signs. I have had numerous friends whose children have similar symptoms and also were diagnosed with Reflux. Just a suggestion! Hang in there!

I also had a colic infant,I had testing done after enduring the same thing, the crying ,never sleeping and nothing soothing to her I was literaly exhausted and finally a doctor suggested a test,she had to drink her bottle while taking the test,she cried before and after the tesr but during the test she was very calm and quiet, it was almost like lets find out what is going on from her.The test came back and she also had reflex disease so the gave us medicane to put in her formula,she remained colic for awhile but she would sleep and eat better,hang in there mom your doing great remember to ask for help from friends or family it is very difficult and people should be loving and understanting.I feel desprately for you,also remember to ask about the reflex or other testing to make sure there are no other medical problems you can be insistant I was and it turned out to be reflex disease.Take time to care for yourself with hair,makeup,nails and outings with friends for lunch ect....
(babies will be fine if you trust your sitter)
also try laying baby on the tummy while bouncing your legs slightly,massage babies back gently,worked sometimes!!!
moms need love too!!!!
so some fantastic tricks to get you through hope it helps!!!
(remember to go visiting its fun and great help!!!!)
(not sleeping, ask a friend to stay over no matter how old you are a pajama party is always fun!!!!!!!!)

love,L.

I'm surprised your doctor didn't mention acid reflux. That is what it sounds like. Both my kids have had that and that is exactly how they behaved. Once they got on meds they were much better. And out grew it by one years old. I would ask your doctor about it. Does she arch her back while eating and cry? And does she sleep good while you are holding her upright and then when you put her down flat wakes up crying? Also prop up one end of her mattress to help the acid stay down. And if they give her ranitidine it doesn't work as well as prilosec. My husband is in pharmacy. Trust it will be like night and day once she gets on some medicine for it. You can google acid reflux (GERD) and see the list of symptoms.

if it is the gas and not reflux like some of the other mom's suggested. we tried every other kind of formula. and nutrimigen works wonders! both of my babies saw a difference with in a day. by day two on it, they were smiling and so happy again. the price is hard but it was so worth it to see them smile!

if you can get on wic or are on wic, if you get a perscription for the nutrimigen wic will help with the formula.

also~ with both of my babies that was on nutrimigen they both were able to be on regualr formula by 6 months. the doctor told us that when thier bellies are able to handle food usually they can handle regular formula.

good luck~

B., A friend of mine gives her 4 month old Aloe Juice every day. Her baby had acid reflux. Since she has been on it she has had no problems. I am going to start my 7 year old on it. I don't want to give him any meds if I dont have to. Maybe you should check it out. Go to www.marketamerica.com/pamrorman and look for the Ultimate Aloe Juice. It comes in a couple of flavors but the strawberry kiwi is the best. I also take it when I have an upset stomach. Works great! It says 16 servings but I would only give your baby 1oz per day. That would give you 32 servings.
hope this is helpful!
P.

Is the Nutrimigen formula cow's milk- based? Your baby might be lactose intolerant. The way you describe it, it sounds just like what my son went through until we completely cut ALL dairy / milk-based products from his diet. I couldn't eliminate the dairy from my own diet, so we ended up having to quit breastfeeding altogether. He slept SO much better after that. We used the Dr Brown bottles. He liked them just fine. We went to soy milk, but you can ask your doctor about that, rice milk, goat's milk, and any non-milk-based formula. It was like a miracle once we cut out the milk. I feel your pain.

I'm with Angie, sounds like reflux. My son went through all the same things you describe and, yes, spit up like all babies do. Not more than usual, I thought, but the doctor said that was enough to lead him to think reflux. We put my 2 month old (at the time) on Prevacid and within a week or two, he was a whole new baby. Sure, he still cried once in a while, but not constantly. And, he stopped waking in pain so much. We tried Nutramigen, but saw no difference. Talk to your pediatrician again. Ask if reflux is a possibility. Good luck!

My niece had reflux and my SIL said it didn't matter what bottle she tried.
I don't quite understand why the breast milk would be upsetting. To me, I think it it much more digestible than formula. Is it possible to put your milk into one of these types of bottles?
Also, I found it interesting that my SIL had to elevate my niece's bed so she wasn't laying flat. She said she was told to do so by her doctor (along with other things) and it helped the reflux. She had her in the bassinet and had a towel or something under the mattress part (hard for me to explain in writing. I hope you are understanding this). This way her upper body was more upright. It seemed to really help my niece. She also was on some type of expensive formula (I think she still is).
Hope I didn't confuse you. My kids didn't have problems with this. My daughter had what I like to call her "bewitching hours" noon and 8pm it didn't matter if you rocked, swayed, burped, walked, sang, etc... she would cry.
Good luck to you and hope you get some peace soon. Hugs to you.
~SR

My 5-week-old son was colicky from the moment he was born, but a couple weeks ago we took him to a chiropractor at the recommendation of someone I trust. It has worked wonders. I noteiced a difference in my baby right away. We've gone to 3 appointments, and I think that's all we'll need. It's all very gentle. There is no cracking or anything like that. It basically looks like your baby is getting a massage. Not all chiros work on newborns, so you'd have to find one that specializes in it. I tell you - I have a new baby who is quietly sleeping right now! I live in Madison, so I can't recommend anyone by you. I bet if you search the web, you'll find info on infant colic and chiropractic care. Good luck!

My daughter was picky about her bottles, too. My sister in law bought us some of the Dr. Brown's bottles, but they didn't seem to help. Plus, there are so many bottle parts to wash that it was a pain! My daughter had reflux, and her doctor gave us baby zantac, and within a couple doses, she was a completely different baby! I would ask your doctor about zantac--it really helped our little one.

my baby was the same way we use born free bottles and gentle ease formula the best advise i can give you is just wait it out i think when a baby is born there tummy just doesnt know what to do for a while it takes a bit