Colic? Not Getting Satisfied with Breastfeeding?

J., you are doing great! Sometimes we mom's really need to hear that. I'm the mother of 4. You would think that #4 would be a breeze for me. Your discription of you son sounds just like my baby boy. I was at my whits end just like you. My baby's doctor recomended "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. It's a book and video. Look at your library for this. The movie is the first step. It shows you exactly what to do to calm your baby. The book then goes into detail explaining what is going on with your baby and how you can literally fix the problem. Please try this for you and your baby. Colic is in my opinion harder for the parents then it is for the baby. You can do this! E.

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Even though it has been almost 10 years, I remember what this was like! My first daughter was sooo fussy and colicky and nursed constantly and didn't sleep for long stretches, and it was exhausting. First of all, please believe me that it will get better. Second, it has nothing to do with breastfeeding, and I''m sure that if you were formula feeding, your baby would probably be even more fussy! Your baby's temperament is simply different than that of your other babies.

As for books, the best book we found was by Dr. Sears called "Parenting the Fussy Baby and High Need Child." (I have since passed it on to my best friend for her fussy one.) The new edition is called "The Fussy Baby Book.' Also, I strongly advise you NOT to follow the "Babywise" method. I read it when it was given to us by well-meaning friends, but it just seemed wrong, and I know it would not have worked for my fussy, high-need baby (nor would I have tried it with any of my other babies).

I hope you will hang in there with breastfeeding. Most likely your little guy is not simply nursing for food but for comfort as well during this difficult time. If you need support, find your local La Leche League. They usually have a wealth of resources! I hope you will check in and let us know how things are going, at least after you get through the first 3-4 months (usually colic gets better after that).

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Have you talked to your doctor about this? Are you watching what YOU are eating? What you eat will also go through your milk. Onions, garlic and spicy foods will make an unhappy baby when nursing. Look for a La Leche group in your area. They are a great support when it comes to nursing. They helped me nurse all my babies with no bottles. Good luck, please remember you must take care of you so you can take care of the babies.
J.

J.,

I would strongly recommend you learning more about reflux. This sounds like silent reflux to me. Both of my twins had it and they were miserable for months. They were new babies when I got their issues figured out.

Also, intolerance to something in your diet could be making the reflux issue worse and thus you may benefit from trying a total elimination diet, though that could be extreme for now. When I was learning about this, I found the forum on www.infantreflux.org to be exceptionally helpful. Those moms seem to know everything. Lots of good information there about all sorts of things.

Ultimately, my babies went on the www.marci-kids.com recommended dose of Zegerid for their reflux and on Neocate for their MSPI (because I couldn't breastfeed). Good luck in your search for your answer to your baby boy's problems and helping him feel better. Please let us what you end up doing and how he does!

We had a smiliar situation when our twins were very young. Our pediatrician put them on Zantac and it really worked well. Both calmed down (our daughter was worse than our son, but he had it pretty good too). I would ask your pediatrician about it and see what they say, don't try going this alone, get some help!!
Good Luck....D.

J.,

It sounds like your little boy my be experiencing heart burn (silent gastric reflux). You can do some detective work by changing your diet. (kids with reflux either eat constantly or very little, they arch their back are very unhappy and do not sleep unless in an upright/reclined position). I have had 2 babies with this.

3 things.
1) eliminate caffiene, chocolate, garlic, citrus, tomato, high fat foods, from you diet (takes 2 weeks to see a real difference)....you may need to eliminate diary too.
2) Make an appt with your pediatrician to discuss possibility of silent reflux.

3) Gas drops can be your best friend!

Keep in mind that formula takes longer to digest and therefore can cause more reflux/heartburn.

Try to stay relaxed. let the baby sleep in his car seat or in a bouncer that keeps him reclined. If you suspect reflux you need to see a pediatric gastroenterologist.

Hang in there,
R.

Sounds like reflux to me. Get you lo in to a pediatric gi. they will give help you out a ton. my dd has been on prevacid and some other things since two weeks. they really do make a difference!

Sounds like what happened with my little guy. Turned out he was allergic to dairy, soy and corn. Once I eliminated all those from my diet, he turned around almost instantly. It was good that I continued to breastfeed because once we figured out what it was we just eliminated those from my diet

First-make sure you have some support! A couple of ladies mentioned La Leche League-give it a shot if you haven't already.

Get a list of as many trigger foods as you can that could be causing a reaction. With my fourth, we finally figured out that it was tomatoes that set him off! He went from always screaming to a much better baby. Most people find that dairy makes a big difference, and chocolate is another big trigger. Often when breastfed babies act this way, it is due to a sensitivity of something mom is eating.

Another thing that often causes gas and discomfort in babies is that they are getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. Are you feeding baby off of both sides when he eats? If so, try feeding him off just ONE side at each feeding. So often women breastfeed by the clock and nurse off one side for 10 minutes then switch for 10 minutes, unfortunately that is not usually the best way to go. Let baby nurse off just one side at each feeding and let him suck for as long as he wants. The thicker fattier foremilk will be more settling to his tummy, so that may help. If he is not getting enough of that and is ending up with too much foremilk, that will make him gassy and uncomfortable! Make sure your milk supply is enough so that he really is getting enough to eat.

Also, like someone else mentioned, the gas drops may be making it worse!

Have you tried wearing him? Like in a sling or a wrap....that is also one thing that has helped a ton with my fussier babies. They are more content, sleep better and though still prone to be a bit more fussy (as some kids just are!), they dealt much better with everything when they spent plenty of time on me during the day-and wearing them allowed me to still get things done.

As one who is not a fan of medicating as a default, I would try many of these other suggestions before turning to that or even before trying a switch to formula. BUT make sure that you are consulting with your pediatrician to find out if there is an underlying problem that needs to be addressed, and if so, get it treated. If you are worried about GERD or something of the sort, it would be wise to check with a pediatric gastroenterologist and they will be able to do some thorough checks to find out exactly what the problem may be if he ends up diagnosed under the general blanket of "refulx", so that it can be treated more specifically and not just generally.

Kudos for keeping with it, and good luck! (and remember that it will get better!)

You have got some good advice already. My son was really bad and try burping more to get the gas out. watch what you eat and cut out all dairy! Take turn with your hubby cause you need to sleep!
C. B

Try getting him on a schedule. If his little tummy hurts, feeding him every hour probably doesn't help much. Really try to spread out his feedings to 2-3 hours if you can. I found that the book "On Becoming Babywise" was very helpful. Loves and Hang in there!

Go to your local library and check out the video "The Happiest Baby on the Block." You can buy it online, but you only need to watch it a time or two. It will teach you the five S's of getting your baby to sleep. Works like a charm.

T.

I am so sorry you have had to go through this! My daughter had colic....she would just scream from about 5pm until about 8pm (my husband thought she hated him b/c it started when he got home :( ) If it is colic, it usually goes away at 12 weeks. I know this seems like an eternity when you're going thru it! My suggestion would be to 1) make sure you are not nursing him to sleep...they won't learn to self sooth and put themselves back to sleep when needed 2) I'd get a copy of the Happiest Baby on the Block (DVD...what new mom has time to read a book?) by Harvey Karp. Even if it is colic, you can get some peace. 3) Try to get him on some kind of schedule where he eats, stays awake and then you put him down (sleepy, but awake...look for the signs, a yawn, droopy eyes...). We did Babywise and it seemed like having the schedule helped alot. My daughter knew that she would eat, play, sleep and that was our routine. Another great resource is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby.

They'll figure it out, but sometimes they just need a little help. For us, it seemed like my daughter could read a calendar...12 weeks to the day, she stopped screaming (but all the other techniques we continued and we had a baby that slept through the night at just under 3 months and continues to be a fantastic, happy girl at 5 years). Good luck, it is tough and you are tired, I know.
Best,
N.

J.,
The symptoms you are describing sound exactly like my son when he was a newborn. It was exhausting for everyone in the household. I took him to his pediatrician and she said it was acid reflux. I thought this sounded so odd for a baby until I found a book called "Colic Solved" here is a link - http://colicsolved.com/
There is a little valve on the top of the stomach that hadn't matured enough to close on it's own so the stomach acid would leak into the throat and irritate it. One reason they want to nurse all the time is the warm fluid feels good on the sore throat. Then they get too full and force more acid up the throat. This causes them to arch their back in pain. After going through this and doing tons of research on it I total believe that colic and acid reflux are the same thing. My son was and still is breastfed at 11 months, this has nothing to do with breastfeeding if you were feeding formula you would probably still have the same issues. I did cut all dairy out of my diet for a few months and this made a differance as well. I would highly recommend a visit to the pediatrician.
The doctor put my son on Previcid and after about 2 days he was a totally different baby. I was very nervous about putting him on a prescription at only 1 month old but am so glad I did he was so much happier. The good news is most babies outgrow this at around four months old.

Hey J.,
it could be a list of things. The more stressed you are the more he will feel that. Swaddling tightly ....i mean relly tight. Remember how squished he was in you belly? This should help a lot. He may be alergic to dairy. Also when he is swaddled he feels like he is being held so you can put him down. Make sure you tuck his arms down so he can't get out and will feel secure.
Good luck and god bless

My first son had awful colic---every evening we read the baby care book about crying as we passed him for one of us to another. When I stopped drinking milk (when advised by my doctor) at 3 months, the worst of the colic stopped, so I would try that first. And I stopped ALL milk products, no cheese or ice cream. He was very sensitive to whatever I ate and cried when I had spicy food or onions. He did grow up to have a lot of allergies or reactions to foods.

He was born pre term (5 weeks early) and while I was in the hospital they brought in a breast pump so I could nurse for 10 minutes on each side and then give him a bottle of expressed milk with a premie nipple. They said not to feed him more often than every 3 hours. I think that my body needed the time to make more milk.

One other thing I did that helped for the late afternoon feeding when he would be crying is drink about 3 to 6 oz of beer. My pediatrician advised me to try this. He said that the beer would help my milk let down and the hops helps you produce more milk. I could feel the let down happen, and my baby would stop crying. I only did that one time a day.

Good luck!

Hi J.,

Have you tried changing YOUR diet? The baby could be reacting to something you eat...such as milk. There is milk in EVERYTHING! I didn't personally have this issue, but several friends of mine have had babies with milk sensitivities while breastfeeding and after completely eliminating milk from their diets, their babies improved greatly. Look online for help with eliminating milk from your diet. I bet you will have a much happier little guy after a few weeks. It takes a few weeks to get all the milk out of your system and you must be diligent and patient.

Best to you and I hope you figure it all out!

A.

My baby was pretty gassy and my husband found these pro-biotic drops that we have been giving him. There are also tablets that you can take that will secrete in your breast milk that will also help him.

http://www.biogaia.com/Page/Standard/79/BioGaia-Probiotic...

They are proven to reduce pain from gas by quite a bit and I have noticed an improvement with my son. Your pharmacist can order them for you and have them the next day. You give them 5 drops a day. I hope this helps you!

Hello. You have had lots of great advice. Just wanted you to know that you are not alone! My second did the same thing. She has reflux and now with meds. she is 100% better! She is a very happy baby now! I would call your Dr.'s office Monday. The sooner the better for you and your baby! Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

Colick ends around month 3 or 4 if that is what it is.

You know your baby. If he seems happier held upright and around his stomach, and cries tons, especially in the evenings, it is colick.

Don't be scared of formula. Just be scared of Chinese manufactured formula. That is what all the media hype is about.

If he is acting like he is starving, maybe you should switch totally to formula and see if he is more satisfied. Boy babies tend to eat more than girls.

M.

Have you talked to your Pediatrician about reflux ? Nursing or bottles help soothe reflux which is a reason they feed so often. I would just talk to your Pediatrician.

It very much could be your diet too, my daughter reacted to everything I ate, I mean everything! I couldn't take it at about three months and we went to Nutramigen formula because I was literally on bread and water. Nutramigen helped her tremendously like a 180 degree transformation!

Try supplementing with formula too if you want at night. You are still giving him breast milk still but he will have more feeling of full then do Mylicon drops after each feeding.
Hugs, you need some rest for sure! :) Good luck

First off congratulations on your new little boy.
I feel for you. We had a colicy baby and this sounds so familiar. The gas drops for us were hit and miss for us. I had started off nursing and due to the lack of sleep and the fact that she had a lazy sucking reflex I had to switch to formula, but I think dairy in my diet made things worse. If you do switch to formula do not feel bad, it is exhausting when you have a hard baby so if do talk to your pediatrician I am sure he/she can recommend a good safe brand. We used a lactose sensitive formula and that seemed to help her a lot even more than me avoiding dairy. I would also agree that perhaps your little boy may be having reflux. ( I took care of a little one that had medicine and it help her a lot) That could explain why he doesnt like to be laid down, so try keeping him in his car seat or baby seat. It also seemed to help with my little girls gassy tummy. As for the colic if he is, just remember it will go away even though it seems like an eternity. We found that a good swaddle helped and she loved motion, so she lived in her swing, in a carrier or in her car seat on the washer ( thats how I could fold laundry) . Remember there is no shame in letting him cry for a few minutes if you need to walk to the other side of the house. ( I even would have to step outside for a minute) It tears up us to hear our babies cry and not be able to sooth them, but a quick breath sometimes helps settle you and they feed off of our emotions too. Remember you are not alone and we are cheering for you. Good luck

Our baby #2 was that way. We watched the video "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. It was an instant cure. Turns out he probably could have benefitted from Xantac as well, but we got our much-needed sleep. Congratulations. I hope things improve soon.

I am guessing it is an allergy. Try eliminating allergens from your diet, dairy, wheat, soy, etc. Also try giving him homeopathic Chamomilla 30C in a clean mouth No food/drink 30 min. before or after. Hope this helps!

Hi J.,
This sounds just like my first little guy. We thought it was colic too, and it might have been (which can be related to gas) but I found that MY DIET especially DAIRY really effected him terribly. So I just took out as much dairy from my in-take as possible and that seemed to help. Also, our chiroprator showed us a way of helping our baby reduce the pressure of gas in his little tummy after he would eat. (My husband always had the best touch with this, so that helped me) Lay your baby on your lap looking up towards you/the ceiling legs towards your tummy. Grab his ankles/calves and rotate his legs and pelvis in a circular motion. This helps get the build-up of gas moving and they will fart and poop and feels so much better. Also after this, try massaging his abdomen just to the left or right of the naval and that also help relieve some pressure. It really sounds like he is getting plently of food from you, but is using your breast as a pacifier (the best one around :-) ) and might actually be getting to full of a belly, just making his gas even worse. The poor guy and you must just be exhausted! Good luck and let me know if you need any further info. about (what we like to call) the rig-a-ma-roll.

try belly rubing in circular movement or lay the baby tummy on your lap and do the circulal movements. Baby heating pad for wormth on the belly also a mint like candie cain when your loving arms a holding your baby that little fold is releving persuer off his belly when you lay the baby down the body is relaxs and the air is back and it hurts.hope this helps God bliss you and your baby

I had a similiar experience with my 3rd breastfed baby, and it turned out that the dairy i was eating was causing her discomfort. I eliminated dairy alltogether for a few weeks, and she got astonishingly better. THen i added a piece of cheese or something simililar to my diet here and there at 4 months and no problems! SOme babies just can't digest the cow's milk proteins. Pretty much was a milk allergy. I am still breastfeeding and can dairy again, so luckily it was short lived. I am still suppelementing with the A.R nutrimigen lipel formula from enfamil that has the milk proteins broken up better for her digest. best wishes!

My sister-in-law had the same problem with her third little boy, she eventually found out it was because she was eating and drinking dairy and it was upsetting his tummy. So that is something you could look into.

J., it sounds more like to me that he is still feeling hungry than colic. They do have organic formula that is supposed to have different standards in preparations and you can get them at any health food store or they even have them at wal mart. Good luck

WOW!! J.! These symptoms ALL remind me of my little girl! (She is 6 mos now). The arching back, crying during and after feeds, breastfeeding every hour trying to console, no sleep for you, major frustrations, etc etc of what you just described! My mom is a RN V, so she knows what she is talking about. She told me to immediately go to the doc because it sounds just like reflux! I called, made an appointment the next day, and that was what she was diagnosed with! The doc prescribed her some Zantac (generic form, with insurance: $5/month) in liquid form. Just gave her the drops in her mouth in the AM and PM. It was like I had a new baby! It wasn't my milk, it wasn't formula, it was reflux..the milk gets caught in their throat and it hurts, that is why they cry and arch their back after and during feeds. some babies projectile spitup, but my little girl didn't. so there are different I guess you would say degrees or levels of reflux. This reflux is very common. We used to just say the baby was colicky, but now they are figuring out it is signs of reflux.
While talking with some friends at church, many have had this problem. they tried different formulas. some say they liked soy (isomil or prosobee) others said they liked Enfamil A.R. (if baby is spitting up a lot). But get in to a doc, get a RX if this is the case, and you will see a difference that first day!! AND continue to breast feed as long as you can for those immunities. My little girl is now 6 mos, and we got through this, and are still breastfeeding AM, noon and PM, and supplementing with Enfamil Lipil. I think that is the reason we were the only 2 who didn't get the stomach flu at Thanksgiving (throwing up and diarreah). My poor 4 yr old got it too...terrible stuff.
Anywho, FYI....Zantac was the miracle drug for us for the 1st month, then she went back to what she was doing before. If this happens, work with your doc and see if they will prescribe I think it is called Prevacid. Always make sure you get things in liquid form, don't try and mess with cutting tablets in half stuff, way too stressful with a crying baby. You might have to see a GI doc (gastro intestinal)
GOOD LUCK!!!! This is soooooo stressful, I KNOW! But if it is reflux, it is curable and they will get better once they are sitting up more. Also, try and keep him upright after feeds, and get one of those foamy things at Babies R Us to lay him down for sleep in. This keeps him more upright...like a 30-45 degree angle...that helps a lot tooo.
PLEASE let me know if this works!!! You are not alone!

PS We went to Disneyland when she was 2 mos. I was breastfeeding her, 1st full day at the park, just went on 1 ride (Pirates), she was crying really hard, but I felt her with lots of gas, so I went down to change her in Bear Country, thinking she had a poo, and I go to take her out of the sling...she was not breathing and blood was coming out of her mouth! I screamed call 911, we went to the ER, had to stay 24 hours, and she was fine. But I think this was the precursor to this reflux...she probably got milk in her throat and couldn't breathe...even the GI specialist couldn't figure out what happened. She said she cried so hard she broke a blood vessel. But about 3-4 weeks later, she was diagnosed with reflux, and I wonder if it was all related....so go see your doc NOW!!! Good luck!!!

My mom found with colic babies if she ate yogurt before nursing it would help make sure yogurt is active cultures.

It sounds like colic to me too. Colic isn't just being fussy; you can tell that your baby is in real pain or serious discomfort. There are a few things you can try that may help. One is to restrict your diet. My daughter was really colicky and the doctor took me off dairy, wheat, eggs, nuts, beans, chocolate, any hard to digest vegetables like broccoli, and soy. All of these foods are common allergens. I had to stay off of all of them for 1 week and then I could slowly introduce them back in one at a time. It turns out my daughter reacted poorly when I ate nuts or chocolate. She was still colicky when I didn't eat them, but the intensity increased when I ate nuts and chocolate. She finally outgrew the colic at about 3 months, but she would still scream if I ate chocolate or nuts until 4 months. One of the suspected causes of many colic cases is that the intestines are not fully formed yet so digesting food is very painful for the babies. I think this is what happened with my daughter. If this is the case with your son gas drops and formula would not help. As far as the eating goes, he is probably comfort eating. My daughter ate a ton when she was colicky and I think it was because she found it soothing; it was a coping mechanism.

Also, talk to your pediatrician. He will probably have some other things you can try. I noticed someone mention reflux and that is a definite possibility.

Hang in there, it will get better. It will be a rough couple of months, but it will get better. I have read that colicky babies deal with stress and pain better than the average person when they get older. I know that my daughter does and I always wonder if it's because she had to put up with so much pain as a small infant. She is a wonderful, happy, easy going girl now.

I would talk to your doc. about acid reflux. I was reading that most kids with colic actually have acid reflux. Both of my kids had acid reflux my doc told me to get liquid gaviscon which is an antacid 10-20 mins before I feed them. It helped so much with the spit up too. I tried gas drops too but they don't work on acid reflux. The doc can prescribe med's too. As my kids got older it got a lot better as they esophogaus matured.

My little one was the same way. It was a combo of hyperactive let down and reflux. they want to nurse all the time because it soothes their throat and it is comforting. But then they get over full, and it upsets the reflux...what a wonderful cycle! Go to the doctor and tell them what is going on. It is nothing you are doing!!! I felt horrible because I couldn't soothe my baby, and was so grateful when I finally knew what was going on... If they try to give you previcid, ask if you can have Pepcid instead...the previcid tastes horrible and you have to give it to them an hour before they eat...plus it's in pill form and you have to dissolve it in water...it's a pain. She is a completely different baby on Pepcid, and it has been wonderful. Good luck! You are doing great!!!

It's a lot like my newborn. We found that she is allergic to milk protein or gluten, not sure which, that are both found in breast milk (the milk protein in large quantities.) We switched to a hyperalergenic formula and the arching, crying, freaking out is nearly all gone. So is the constant eating. Apparently, they eat so much to try to soothe their tummies, which just makes it worse. Sad to give up BF but baby is happier. Guess BF isn't ALWAYS better.
Our pediatritian is more alternative than most with an emphasis on nuitrition. Dr. Roy Steinbock in Boulder.
Best of luck.

You've gotten a lot of good responses. There was one about probiotics which is what I was going to suggest. You can find them at health food stores. I agree you should stay with breastfeeding if at all possible since whatever it is doesn't sound like a breastfeeding problem and would likely get worse on formula. I would also agree with Happiest Baby and checking with your doc on reflux.

S.

From one J. to another...wink.

My daughter was a lot like your son sounds. I ended up doing 3 things -

She started crying at 2 weeks. Several people told me that it was too early to be colic, but I think anything that involves CONSTANT crying is put under this heading.

The first thing I did was eliminate milk out of my diet. COMPLETELY. I read labels on every kind of food I put in my mouth. Milk can take 2 weeks to get out of your system, unlike other foods which are around 24 hours. It is one of the biggest "allergies" for infants. This seemed to work for us. It was super hard, but worth the sacrifice for me (plus I lost 70 pounds!).

I also started taking her to a pediatric chiropractor. I swear by Dr. Beth Lancaster (in Pueblo) and think she is the best thing since sliced bread. She contends that babies twist and turn all sorts of wrong ways when coming down the shoot and need some help straightening out. I would recommend her (or any pediatric chiropractor) for any newborn and any child having health issues. It's not a scary thing - not like an adult going in and getting twisted and contorted. The chiropractor will hold the baby and gently push in different places. Dr. Beth used to put my son to sleep during adjustments.

There is also a way to hold a colicky baby to help calm them. The vacuum cleaner makes a noise that can be calming, but here's the hold. Let's see if I can explain it... Hold him on your left side in the cradle position while standing. Rock back and forth like a guitarist in a rock band (fairly roughly, but not roughly enough he is going to be injured). Say SHHHHHH SHHHHHH SHHHHHHH into his ear while rocking.

Someone in my La Leche group told me that one, and it was when the colic was subsiding, so I don't know how effective it would have been during the height of our misery.

Check out kellymom.com and askdrsears.com. Get a sling (if ya don't have one) and "wear" your baby during the day.

Sorry this is so long. I just remember what it was like and feel so bad for you to go through it. Colic usually subsides around 12 pounds or 3 months. It's a long time, but it will stop! Good luck. I'll be thinking about you!

Are you swaddling him tightly???? that helps with the crazy arms and gas. Have you looked at what YOU are eating. You already have 2 others. So, you know what foods are the gassiest.
IF I were you...I would nurse him for 20 minutes on each side then offer him one ounce of formula for every other feeding for a few days...a few days so that you can rest up enough to increase your supply. I had similar problems with 2 of my older kids. Yes, breast milk and breast feeding is the best BUT formula takes a bit longer to digest and may just get you and the baby through this so that you can settle into a more relaxed nursing pattern.
good luck!
oooohh...Also, try a super hypo allergenic formula like Pregestimil or Prosobee by enfamil.