Seeking Advice on Colicky Baby

My daughter had the same issue. It seemed like she was never happy. When she woke up from a nap she would scream her head off until I got the bottle in her mouth! I read this book called Happiest Baby on the Block. They have several ways to soothe colick. It's the 4 S's. Swaddle, Side Position, Sway and Suck. I thought to myself, this will never work. But it did. First you swaddle him tight with his arms at his sides (it will look uncomforatble, but its really not), he might not like it at first, but it will take some getting used to. Then you hold him sideways with his face towards you. Next you sway him back and forth. I like to bounce and sway at the same time, then you give them a binkie to suck on. It worked for my little one. You might have to try it a few times to get him used to it. Give it a try and let me know how it works.

J.

Hi. I had the same problem with my 3-month-old. I tried the gas drops, which made things worse, and the liquid infant laxatives, which didn't seem to help. I also started the cereal, which constipated him. Although this isn't the most glamorous task, I began using child suppositories to help him pass his stools. This helped relieve him a little bit. After a while, he began passing them on his own. Hope this helps!

Hey. My 2 month old became colicky after changing her formula..it was PURE hell. The only thing that worked was taking her to the chiropractor. I know that sounds weird but somehow the dr. realigns her hips and spine and that does something to the stomach and the rest of the digestive system. after 2 or 3 visits, there was a SIGNIFICANT change. Although it was rather pricy, I think it was a small price to pay for my sanity!

They have this homeopathic dissovlable pill at GNC for colicy babies. My neice was extremely colicy and we put a pill or two in with her formula. (you can also place it on their tongue) it is the ONLY thing that helped us. I thought I was going to go crazy before this miracle pill. I kept her during the day while my sister worked. I believe it is simple called colic relief or something similar to that.

Sound like gerd ask your pediatrician about zantac or prevacid, I see donald george at nemours clinic. He will help you he is awesome ###-###-#### to get a new patient appointment.
A.

My second was colicky as well. Try reading Happiest Baby on the Block. We placed pillows on her stomach which helped her belly. So pressure on the belly seems to sooth them. Keeping him close to you, like wearing a baby carrier. It will all be just a memory in 3 months. Definately read Happies Baby on the Block. Tons of info that covers just about every suggestion you will here at momma's source and then some. Good luck!

Hi J., I have to say that I agree with Meagan F. GRIPE WATER!!!! It is WONDERFUL! I don't use it much anymore, because my daughter is 13 months old now, but we used it like crazy when she was your son's age. I hope this works for you!
J.

Dear J.,

My daughter had colic and it was really rough. We tried everything on the market and nothing worked. Finally out of desperation I read an out of print baby book, Let's Have Healthy Children by Adelle Davis. This book was printed in the 60's. I read it in the middle of the night for many nights. She basically says that babies who have colic have a lack of enzymes and enzymes are essential in digestion. I went a purchased a full spectrum enzyme from the healthfood store. The book recommended a full capsule but I did not feel safe with that. My daughter was a premee and born at 3.8 pounds. Si I put 1/4 of a capsule of the enzyme in her bottle first thing in the morning and waited 12 hours and gave it to her again. The next morning I gave half a capsule in the bottle again and the same that night. The following day I did a full capsule in the morning and at night, and she NEVER had colic again. We spent hour hours a night with a screaming baby. Every night like clock work from 8:00pm until midnight. It was awful.

The doctors do not tell you this solution because they are not trained in nutrition.

It is up to you, but I bet, this situation will get worse as time goes by because that is how my baby started and then it went to the screaming. They get purple with pain and just dry and cry. I do not know of many things worse. By the time I tried this remedy we had tried so many things, and nothing worked. Then I got really upset because the enzymes worked just like the book said. It pissed me off that my daughter suffered because this information was suppressed.

It is up to you if you want to try this. You could do your own research regarding digestion and the role enzymes play. But, I did find that this was the ONLY solution that really worked.

Good luck to you.
D.

Reflux/fedding issues- Have you tried only feeding him warmed bottles. My son has horrible reflux and can only tolerate warmed bottles, not even room temperature. The Beachnut cereal is suppose to be easier on the tummy to digest. It's even possible that once you started adding the cereal to his bottle that it wasn't flowing thru the nipples liek normal. You can try getting bigger nipples or stretching the ones you have on your own. The docotrs don't recommend putting babies with tummy issues or reflux flat on their back ever. Whne you do have tummy time or time just on the floor make sure it's at least 20-30 minutes after a meal. I put Conner's boppy in his pack n play, bassinet, or crib and prop him up on that. I really hope a little of this helps.

As of colick, if he does really have colick. We used the all natural remedy sold at the health food store and it seemd to work. Conner grew out of his colick after 2 weeks, but we spent a lot of time driving him around so he would sleep.

Anyway good luck!

The other suggestions are great. I wanted to add that sometimes just changing the type of formula helps. And by that, I mean using the ready to feed liquid kind over the concentrate or powder kind. This helps because you don't have to mix anything. When people mix the powder, they shake it, which infuses air into the milk your baby is drinking. Which goes directly into their little tummies making gas much worse for some. Same with concentrate. Anything you mix up will have more air infused into the formula than just pouring ready to feed liquid into the bottle.
Also, you mentioned that he gets really fussy when you lay him down. Try putting him in the boppy, swing or bouncy chair instead of laying him down. Most infants with digestive problems have a much harder time laying down and do better when the top half of their body is always higher than the bottom half. Inclined sleeping pillows help for when he's sleeping.
Good Luck! This phase will pass.

Good Morning Stephanie,
My son also had stomach and reflux problems as an infant, he is now 20 months old. And this is how I eventually handled it. After trying all of the formulas out there, I went to Nutramigen and Dr. Brown bottles. Both are pricey, but, it worked. The Nutramigen already has the milk product broken down so there little bodies don't have to work to do it. The Dr. Brown bottles helped so much with the gas it was unbelievable. I had a whole new baby when I switched. When he turned 4 months old and was eating food, I then switched him to Good Start Supream, and he could handle it. As far as his reflux, he grew out of it around 10-11 months old. Needless to say, all of my clothes were stained!!! I also have another friend who is currently going thru the same thing, and that was my advice to her and it is working for their family. To offset the price, my pediatrician spoke with his rep from Enfamil (this is who makes nutramigen) and gave me a ton of coupons. Good Luck, let me know how you make out.
B..

My daughter,(and I), suffered from colic. I massaged her tummy.
After that I would lay her on her back, hold her feet and legs and gently push her legs up towards her belly. Burping only gets the gas in their belly, the leg pushing helps them pass the gas that is already pass the stomache. If you have ever had a bad stomache ache and after you pass gas or go to the bathroom you feel better and no more pain. It's the same thing for them. I know it is gross to talk about but its the truth. I hope this is of some help for you.

HI. I haven't read any of the responses so this might be a duplicate. My 6 month old has reflux and I could never leave the house because he was such a fussy eater. He's on Pregestimil formula, which is for sensitive stomachs. We recently upped his Prevacid doseage and it seems to have helped him a lot. He has been on Beechnut rice cereal (about a teaspoon per ounce of formula)since he was two months old. With that, we had to switch to a fast nipple because the formula is thicker. It frustrates him less. Also, you should try some regular Mylanta. It really works! My son is 16 lbs and takes 3 ml of Mylanta twice a day. I hope this helps. I know what it's like to have to fight with your baby everytime he eats. It used to take me an hour to feed him and I was pooped when we finished. Good luck.

GRIPE WATER!!! It is an all natural liquid that you can get at the Health Food Store. It is made specifically for babies, it comes with a dropper, and you can give it to them straight (my daughter loved the tasted) or you can put it in their milk/formula/water/juice. It saved us, and our poor daughter who suffered with it for a while. We tried the Mylecon, which helped a little, but I hated giving something like that to her that frequent, when it wasn't working all that well. Gripe water is all natural, it has extract of chamommile (like the ingrediant in chamommile tea) and ginger and fennel. It works quickly too, although I know each baby is different. I don't know where you live, but I purchased mine at the Health Nut, on Indian Rocks Road in Largo. But I know most health food stores carry it. It is very safe, you can give them a lot of it, and it won't hurt a bit. Good luck, I remember those days well! Poor babies!

Have you tried a little Karo Syrup in the bottle? It could also be the formula you are giving him. Also this may be a big NO NO to some moms but my son slept on his tummy from 4 weeks old. Never had any problems with it either. Again try putting wherever he sleeps on a incline...I hope this helps!

My son was like this when he was small. I was nursing and he spit up at every feeding. He would have a bottle maybe twice a week and spit up with those even worse. At eight months he was sent to an allergist and we finally discovered that he was allergic to milk, peanuts, eggs and wheat. Since I was nursing, the allergist suggested I stop. They recommended the expensive formulas that are milk based but are supposed to be ok for milk allergy but they weren't. He finally got on soy and what a difference! The spitting up stopped after about four days of the soy formula and he started sleeping better too.

Sounds EXACTLY like my baby and I'm still at a loss, other than I've tried a product that you can get at a vitamin store called "Gripe Water" and that sometimes helps a little we think. Also, your doctor can try to give you Zantac medicine for the reflux - we think that helps, but hasn't cured. I'll let you know if I find anything else out that helps and you can keep in touch too, as I totally understand and feel your pain.

Have you tried getting a milk free formula or cutting dairy out of your diet if you are still breastfeeding. My best friend's little boy was dairy intolerant and she had to cut out everything dairy from her own diet so that she could keep breastfeeding. I know that milk intolerance can be very painful.

Colic can't really be cured. My son was very colicky and still is a high needs baby. Have you trbjornied a sling or bjorn? Try reading Happiest Baby on the Block. It has several great tips for colic. My son cried pretty much the first 3 1/2 months of his life. It was rough.

My son also loved to be on his stomach. Hated being on his back and still does at 9 months. For the first three months he slept on jis stomach my chest. He pretty much had to be held with my bouncing or standing up. Never took to a swing or anything.

Dear J.,

My son had this as well. We switched him from regular Enfamil Lipil to Enfamil Lactofree. (He was also the same way when he was on breastmilk.) Changing formula helped a bit and we also used mylicon at every feeding and at bedtime. The main problem with young babies is that their digestive systems are immature and the only thing that changes this is time. Some babies just are fussy (mine was) and they usually grow out of this colic stuff by 3 months. Good luck!! K.

J., both of my boys (5&1) were colicky. I later found out that they had problems passing their food through their bowels, this also would give them horrible tummy aches because their bowels would move through their bodies slowly as would the gas. So they would get horrible gas pains. But the doctors seem to misdiagnose this as colick due to the symptoms being so much the same. How often does your baby have a bowel movement and does he pass gas a lot? You said he does not spit up a lot which almost says to me it is probably more going on in his bowels and not as much as his stomach. Both of my sons were diagnosed as having just colick and it was horrible. But none of the doctors took it any further, until finally my last son was diagnosed with a milk allergy that caused him to have horrible gas and bloating and pain pain pain. I cut the milk out of his diet and went to straight soy products and it helped a lot. His bowels started moving much better. He still had some trouble with the colick, but the bloating and the gas pains were substantially decreased. I also took my 5 year old off of milk products and he no longer had any bowel problems either. Hope this helps!

It sounds a lot like Reflux to me. Maybe you can call your Dr. again and see it you can get him so Zantac. It was a life saver for me with both of my children.

Have you tried using Dr. Browns bottles. They work great. Also they say you should try holding him face down with your whole forearm supporting him. Just like you would hold him like a baby in your arms just with him facing down. It is called the colick hold. They say it calms them down. It's worth a try! Good luck

My daughter was colic until she turned 3 mths old. There is really nothing you can do, they will cry most of the time because they have gas and their digestive system isn't fully developed yet. I tried mylicon drops as well and they did not help my daughter. If you breastfeed then you need to watch your diet. You should not consume any dairy products, green leafy vegetables, anything that can cause gas, no garlic or spices, no tomatoes. Pretty much all you can eat is plain food and trust me it is hard but it helps. When ever I would cheat a little my daughter was a lot worse. The main thing you have to do is wait it out. Nothing will totally stop your son from crying or being colic, certain things help and make it easier but he is still going to cry and you are going to have to deal with it. What normally calmed my daughter down was taking her outside and I had a bible song DVD that she really liked. It is hard but it is only temporary and will pass. I know for my daughter I was nursing her every 2-3 hrs for the first 6 mths. If your son seems hungry then you should try feeding him more often. Good luck!