Colic - Antioch, TN

My oldest had colic, and the only way I could settle her down was Chamomile tea, with a little honey in the bottle.

J.,
Walmart carries a colic relief instant disolving tablets. They work amazing. He won't choke they start desolving as soon as they touch the saliva. They work amazing! You can use them from birth to 5 years of age for colic or gas.
E.- single mom of 2

My little one did the same thing but I don't really think it was colic, she was lactose intolerant and once we changed her formula the crying got better.

Hi I was reading your post and I totally understand all too well what you are going thru. My daughter had colic and she also had acid reflux as a infant. I went thru 5 diff formulas before they put her on nutramigen and zantac. It went away after that but it would start daily between 6:47 and 7pm. It was so bad that we coud time it and it never failed. I have 2 other children so I was exhausted and my husband had just left for bootcamp. You may want to try and sleep when the baby does and talk to your pediatrician about a formula change if you notice the baby is having gas alot. I think we would not have suffered so long if we would have known what formula to use. Then 1 day out of nowhere it just stopeed and she is a vibrant 3 yr old who barely cries at all now..Good Luck

Hi J.,
My children were not colic but I have a cousins who were. They told them with the first one to give her chamomile tea. They got it at a health food store. It worked and with the second child at the first sign they just used the tea again. They said it was a life saver.
Good luck

Hi! My daughter who is 15 months now had colic. She cried all the time! The worst part of the day was the evenings, but really she would cry throughout the day. Nothing seemed to calm her. Only her getting older helped. She was so fussy no one in my family would keep her without me being there. There's no days off for Mommys.
Hang in there Mom it will get better!
T.

My baby is 5 months and tried to get a touch of colic...I quit drinking milk now I drink the acedopholis (spelling??)stuff. If you are breastfeeding, try it out. If you are formula feeding, I suggest 1. changing brands(esp. if it's similac) or 2. burp him every ounce. You can try to lay him on his stomach across you legs and pat his back. There's always a reason for colic...if you ask more than one doctor. Just don't get frustrated....I know it's hard. If you need a minute just set him down(in a crib,bassonett, or somewhere safe) and step out onto your porch for a min. of fresh air. Come back in and give him a kiss. Don't feel bad, it will keep you calm.....good luck sweetie!!

hey J.,
Both of my boys had colic. It was AWFUL! They had it in the morning, afternoon and night. Couple things I did was take their shirt off and lift mine up so my belly was showing. I placed them tummy to my tummy, skin, to skin and that worked. Also, a loud white noise works too. Like running the vacuum for a little while. One time it was so bad we placed his infant seat on top of the dryer while it was running and the vibration worked some of his gas out and hummed him to sleep. (Stay right there with him if you try the dryer thing), I have also tried goats milk, gas drops, etc. Each baby is different and sometimes you want to pull your hair out. Just know that this is only a phase and he will eventually grow out of it. Hope some of this helps. Good luck and God bless

First off. I know what you are going through. My son had colic from 2weeks through about 4 months. I thought it was gas or maybe acid reflux. nope. Just had to patiently wait it out. It was the most difficult time of my life and marriage. I think my husband and I rotated 3 hour shifts at one point. My son only slept on us . He was also a belly sleeper. We spent the first few months sleeping on the recliner.

Have you tried an Infantino or Baby Bjorn upright baby carrier?
My son loved that. That's the only way to get him to stop crying in the evening. He never cared for the sling. At 13 months now he still hates being on his back to sleep. lol.
Anyway, try to get some help. Even if you have to hire a sitter just to get some sleep. i wish I would have asked for help.

This is something I was given when my son had colic. Take a quarter of a small onion and boil it in a small sauce pan. After about five minutes of boilng, take 2 oz of broth and 2 oz of cold water, and 1 tsp of karo syrup and place in a bottle. Give bottle to baby. This helps the desire to suck, and the onion breaks up the gas. Child stops crying IMMEDIATELY, and is back to sleep in 15 minutes. And I found this online...may be worth a shot.(My daughter was colic from the time i brought her home from the hospital and i was living with my grandmother, and she told me to do this. I didn't think it was going to work, but it did and fast. The first time I used it on my daughter, she drank about a half oz., and then didn't want any more, so i put her on my shoulder to burp her. Man if you could have heard that burp - - no, no a belch is what she did. It was unbelievable. After she BELCHED she went to sleep and slept for 5 hrs without waking up. She was about 1 month old. So get a piece of real peppermint candy, and melt it in hot water. Once it is cool enough to give to a baby, give it to a baby -- just like this. DON'T mix with milk, that causes souring on stomach. ) Good luck, I know the colic feeling all to well.

my daughter had colic and she cried constantly all day long. my MIL told us about a particular bottle from PARENTS CHOICE which is designed to decrease colic in babies. after we started using this particular bottle and the gas drops together, the colic stopped. you can buy the PARENTS CHOICE bottles at wal-mart. they come in a 3 pack.

Hi,
My son had colic from the day he was born until he turned 6 months old And he cried from the time he woke up until the time he went to sleep, and that's IF he slept. Once we switched to Nutramigen from Enfamil, it was AWESOME. We also bought the sound machine from Walmart that has like 10 different sounds to it. The pediatrician said loud noises were good for him because he couldnt concentrate on his own crying, so he would listen to the noises. The machine has noises like crickets, water, white noise, etc.
Hope you find something that helps.

J.,

The crying can start at anytime. My 9 month old daughter had colic until she was 4 months old and spent almost every waking moment crying. I can tell you one thing that worked for her was to hold her using the football hold - on her belly across the length of your arm lightly swinging or bouncing. You can also go to Kroger or Babies R Us and buy some Gripe Water. We tried it with her and it seemed to work okay, but every baby is different so it might work wonders for him. I know it can get frustrating, but just remember that it WILL get better. Anyway, I hope this helps you out.

Not sure if someone else mentioned these things to you, but if so then I guess you get it twice. I never had a kid with colic, but I do know of somethings that would help. First, if you bottle feed, try the Dr Browns bottles, they help. Also, yes you have to wait it out, but you can also start a hot shower and just sit with him in the bathroom with the door shut, the mist from the shower will help him calm down.

Please make sure that colic is the reason he is crying. When my son was 3 weeks he started crying alot...everyone said it's just colic,try this or that,even his nurse prac. Well I finally asked his doc. who said he is a firm believer with every "colic" case there is an underlying problem. Turns out my son had reflux,he was precribed an antacid and grew out of most of it by 3mons. Make sure you feel comfortable that is could not be anything else. Also if his stomach is hurting there are pressure points on the arch of his foot you can rub that will help relieve pressure/gas. Hope this helps good luck!!
N.

Have you heard of Dr. Harvey Karp? He has a book called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" It deals with ways to soothe and calm babies, especially colic. There are some great ideas, I recommend it to ANYONE who has a tiny new one, or is expecting. It's available online and in bookstores everywhere. Good luck!

This is a link to the table of contents just to give you an idea:

http://www.thehappiestbaby.com/book_contents.htm

J.,

A lot of moms have given great advice about gas medicine, changing formula and diet, etc. But another theory of what causes colic is that it's not stomach upset, but that "a colicky baby's still-developing nervous system simply tenses up, and a baby who can't stop crying is tired or overstimulated, and that colic is his way of blocking everything out so he can let off some steam and fall asleep." This is partially why those white noise machines help colicky babies sleep. There's a great book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth that explains how much sleep children should be getting, how to tell if they are overtired and adjust their bedtimes and nap schedules. When I was a new parent I had no idea how important it was to make sure my daughter got enough sleep, but now that I'm more experienced, let me tell you, naptime is practically sacred in my house.

You've been getting great advice, I just wanted to reaffirm another mom's comment. The doctor thought my daughter also had colic, but it turned out to be reflux (which I had to diagnose!). Her pediatrician never bothered to look for a reason for her tears and just said "colic". After reading several books, her symptoms sounded more like reflux and her doctor prescribed her something over the phone. I ended up not having to use too much of the medicine, because cutting out coffee on my part did the trick. There's a lot of acid in coffee. I can still have a cup of decaf once a day, so life goes on! She mostly grew out of the reflux by about 4-5 months. Also, make sure your baby is just not tired. My daughter tells us she's tired by crying.
Also, try cutting out all dairy if you're breastfeeding. If not, try a formula with no lactose (DON'T USE SOY BASED!!!) There are a lot of dangers with soy and go to www.mercola.com to research why it's so harmful for boys especially. (It causes reproductive issues).
Good luck, and he will grow out of it eventually. He could also be missing his dad since he's used to seeing his dad more.

J.,

My son cried alot too when he was about that age. It seemed as though if he weren't nursing or sleeping he was crying. I found out he had reflux and after starting on that medication he was a new baby. Talk to your doctor about his symptoms...

a new mom to mamasource

Hi J.,
My daughter had severe colic from the time she was 2 weeks old until she was 3 1/2 months. She would scream no matter what we did for her. Her longest day of screaming was 18 hours. She would sleep for 15 minutes at a time and then wake up and scream until she tired out. So, yes, colic can happen any time of day. We were under the impression also that colic would start in the afternoon or later. We had several tests done on our daughter to rule out any medical problems. The doctor told us that in between 3-4 months it would turn off like a light switch. I didn't believe him...but sure enough. When she was 3 1/2 months old, it just stopped.
There are several "tricks" that can help make it easier on you and your son. We tried everything in the book. Car rides, running the vaccuum cleaner, placing her car seat (securely) on top of the drying while it is on.....everything. The thing that finally worked for us was a CD that was an hour long. It was the sound of a lawn mower running. We would put it on and turn it up loud and she would calm down in seconds. Good luck and hang in there. It doesn't last forever. It just seems like it.
M.

My first child was a colicky baby he cried all of the time. I just thought he was a "gassy" baby so I stocked up on mylicon drops...but it turned out that he had an allergy to milk. I noticed alot of the responses below showed that their children did much better once their formula was changed. I gave my son a soy based formula and that was the best thing we could have done. But alot of infants can have a sensitivity to soy also... I would try formula with Nitramigen, Alimentum or Pregestimil. But which ever route you choose give it about 3 to 5 days to notice a change. Good Luck! And if you would like I can send you some tips on things you can do to help your baby during these episodes....probably things you have tried already but if I can help I would be glad to do so.
K.

My baby had colic and he used to cry and cry and cry. I was getting insane with the situation. Thank God, babies magic tea finally got soothed.

My son had colic, and it was a nightmare. Like most of the other moms described their babies, he did not stop crying until he fell asleep. It lasted 3 months. He ended up on adult mylanta which helped a little (we like to think), but really it just took time. I think though, the biggest thing to remember with a child with colic is that if they're fed, clean, and not tired, there isn't anything to do. We found ourselves getting really frustrated with him and we learned really quickly that frustration is normal, but we had to just put him down and go take some quiet time if it got too intense. The baby will be fine crying in the bed for a minute versus you getting too frazzled and frustrated.

OH YEAH! My daughter, now 10 months, had colic. She cried all of the time, from the time she got up until bed. I was at my wits end some days because my husband was working out of town and I was by myself with her and a three year old, very active son. You could try a box fan or any white noise, for some reason it soothes them. Also, holding her close on my chest helped; I used a baby carrier so my hands could be free.
I hope this helps.

Check out the new products for Colic. I became a first time grandma in Oct. I provided my daughter w/ and emergency sick kit that I found at Walmart. It had Tylenol, diaper rash med, colic drops,etc. The kit has come in handy numerous times. The first thing she used was the colic drops and she said they worked wonders.

I know this is a rough time, but it does get better. You have some great advice here. I just wanted to clue you into Fennel. You make it with a tea like the chamo or one like it. Also, you might want to try placing the baby one the floor and turning on the vaccum. It's great and she loved it. Hope this helps. O.