Colic Help

Hi Jennifer. I don't know if this will help but it helped with my daughter. My doctor told me that if you put 2-3 drops of peppermint extract in 8oz of water it will help with the gas. It worked wonderful. Good luck.

Hi J.,

My baby did not have Colic thank goodness, but I have a friend that used the gripe water and she said it worked wonders for her baby. Good Luck!

The Gripe Water worked wonderfully for my nephew. My daughter did better with 2 or 3 drops of generic Mylicon in every bottle. The name brand Mylicon has food coloring that can actually cause more stomach upset. If you are already using it with no relief, I would recommend trying the Gripe Water. Hopefully this won't last long.

J.

My son is almost 9 months old and we went thru the colic problem. Gripe water is wonderful I strongly recommend it. My son also got put on Zantac for acid reflex and he acted like a different baby from the first dose of medicine. He is on the Similac soy formula which also helped. Good Luck!
K.

I had the same problem with my oldest son when he was young. I didn't have the herbs on hand to be able to make gripe water, but my grandmother told me of an old remedy she used to use on my mom and uncle. Onion water. You peel and slice an onion, bring it to a boil in a pot of water, pour the mixture through a strainer to remove the onion pieces, and allow the liquid to cool. I was amazed that my son actually drank it and it seemed to ease his discomfort enough that we were both able to get some rest. Good luck to you.

Is it possibly reflux and not colic? some symptoms include:
"wet" burps, night wheezing, frequent persistent hiccups, frequent spit up, sudden bursts of crying, poor sleep habits, wanting to eat too frequently, back/neck arching during feedings, refusal to eat, chronic stuffy nose and many others...http://www.reflux.org is a site that could give you more information and questions to ask your pediatrician if you suspect that instead of just colic.

Jennifer,

I am so sorry! I know it is a nightmare! We found Gripe Water at about 6 weeks after trying everything to get rid of my DD's gas. It was the only thing that worked for her (she'd go from happy to screaming in .5 seconds), and I can honestly say it saved our sanity. The stuff is a Godsend! We used it until she got over whatever gassiness she had at about 10 months and now use it when her tummy is upset (works for Mom too). Get thee to a health food store, woman! While you are there, the teething tabs are great too!

Good luck!

iT MIGHT BE GAS TRY SOME MYLICAN DROPS BEFORE EVERY FEEDING. iT ALSO COULD ALLERGIES. mY FRIENDS BABY WAS COLIC AND i GOT HER USING SAFIER PRODUCTS AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT HE IS DOING MUCH BETTER. iF YOU NEED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THAT STORE LET ME KNOW CAUSE ITS CHEAPIER. fOR THE MEAN TIME THOUGH i WOULD TRY TO JUST COMFORT HIM AS MYUCH AS POSSIBLE. mAKE SURE HE BURPS GOOD AFTER FEEDING.
ABOUT ME-iM A 30 YR OLD MOM OF THREE i WORK AT HOME WITH MY KIDS AND LOVE IT- go green

Try reading the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" which is all about how during the 1st three months babies still need a womb environment. I found it extremely helpful. It's all about how you handle and calm your baby. Most of the book is dedicated to colic also. Best of luck! This too shall pass!

Hi Jennifer,
Had the same problem with my first child. My pediatrician recommended an over the counter medication that worked wonders! I don't know if you have a Walgreens in your area, but thats the only place I was ever able to find the medication. They are called Colic Tablets. It is a tiny white pill that dissolves in the baby's cheek. I usually gave one to my daughter right before feeding, and it helped tremendously. They are on the isle with the baby formula, close to the Mylicon and teething tablets. Give it a shot, it will eliminate alot of those miserable days and nights! Good luck! Let us know how your little boy is doing.

GAS!!!

My son had this and we had store brand Mylicon everywhere in the house, car, diaper bag, etc.

It worked immediately.

Just get the store brand, same stuff, cheaper price.

T.

Bless your heart! Dr. Bryan Vartabedian (a pediatric gastro from Baylor)has an incredible book called "Colic Solved". You should not have to suffer through this...there is help. Gripe water or Colic Calm are worth trying, but getting to the bottom of it is important.

My son was the same way when he was little he was on so many formulas it wasn't even funny. and the doctors didn't believe that he was projectile vomiting after every feeding and here is what we tried.

Peppermint water. we soaked a peppermint in warm water and let him drink it out of a bottle.

Onion water. (this one worked absolutely awesome.) take an onion (can be a white onion or the green onions) and boil it in water. remove the onion pieces. Let cool and add some sugar just a little to make it sweet tasting. and let him drink it out of the bottle. it not only helps with colic it helps them to sleep to and is all natural..

Hey Jennifer,
I feel your pain!!! I have a 2yr ol and 4 yr old and my 2 yr old had bad colic!!! We used gripe water and it worked wonders! It was a last resort for us. We had changed formulas too many times to count, had medicine, you name we had it. That was the only thing that worked for us. Sometimes we had to combine that with a car ride but other than that it was my miracle bottle!! I have heard some people say it didn't work for them but it did for us! Good luck! I hope you all get some relief soon, I know how it is!!
A.

One thing you might try is the Dr. Brown's bottle. My son had colic and it worked wonders for him and also the Vent Air bottle as well. I know it sounds old fashioned but I also boiled the bottles and nipples after washing them to keep out bacteria. You might try the ready to feed formula instead of mixing it. We used ready to feed for my now 6 yr old son. He might also be Lactose Intolerant and you might want to try Nutramigin Ready to Feed. It is a pre-digested formula and stinks but it really works along with the Dr. Brown's bottles. Also you might keep a stock of Mylican Drops everywhere he goes. Try the bottles and the Ready to Feed Nutramigin and see if you don't see the difference that I did. We had to change formulas 3 times before mine got any relief and he finally did.

My son had reflux until he was about 10 months old. The pediatrician told us not to use Gripe water because the glycerin (main ingredient) went through his system instead of straight to his bowels like the simethicone in mylicon. We tried both and neither seemed to provide much relief. We ended up switching his formula to Lactose free. Also, we could not use the powder. His tummy just had a really hard time. Every time we would use the powder he would throw it up. We used the liquid concentrate or the ready to use. It is more expensive but it seemed to help.

Good luck!
A. K

I was very blessed to have a son without colic, but have had friends and family that have had problems with colic. My sister in law used gripe water for all three of her children from day one. I did use the gripe water when my son seemed to have a little gas and it works! Mylecon works wonders as well. Keep an eye on it though, my best friends son ended up having to be on barbituates for this problem. Also, try to feed your son in the up-right position as possible. Bless you and your little one. Hopefully this helps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_colic this is a website that I found. My Youngest had colic for 10 1/2 months! We had simethicone drops from walmart everywhere in the house. They were the only thing that helped her. Turned out she was allergic to the formula and had to be put on Neo something which was $22 a can 12 years ago. You may like your pediatrician but as soon as I switched hers the first appointment he knew what was wrong and gave her a bottle of the new formula in the office and she calmed down almost right away. Needless to say we cried when he stopped taking tricare and we transferred.
Good luck and hope it works out for you soon.

I feel for you. I just went through this with my 7th baby. It turns out he was allergic to milk protein. They make a formula with out milk protein. When he was really suffering, I got a prescription for Lysin drops. It is a bowel and bladder relaxer. Beg you doctor for it. The drops did help. One night he was crying from 5pm to 10pm. His eyes rolled back into his head. And I called my pediatrian at 10pm on Friday. He also like to be wrapped really tight. I used the kiddopatamus blanket/wrap to swaddle him. I would go ahead and get the gripe water I dont' think it can hurt. I also it just occured to me that maybe tylenol would help dull the pain. Try it. Ask your doctor for the correct amount. I know the baby is really suffering in pain. I know you're suffering because I've been there. It won't last for ever. Be humble enough to let people help you even if it's for a half hour. My baby would sort of stop crying during a stroll. Good Luck. God Bless.

Jennifer,

Take it from another mom that had this very difficult introduction to motherhood...

My son had colic too. I have a thousand suggestions, so you may want to email me directly at ____@____.com.

First, buy some earplugs. You're gonna need them when you are about to go out of your mind from the screaming. My son screamed so loudly - our neighbors came over to make sure he was ok and that we weren't performing some ancient torture on him! I kid you not. The Dr's sent a home health nurse to our home 3 days a week to make sure it was "just colic" too. (How insulting!)

Second, get some help. My son would scream the loudest with those that he was familiar with (mommy and daddy) and someone would come over and hold him and instantly....he would be calmer. It was the "new" person smell and touch. This worked better than almost anything. Is there a church, family, friends, a Mother's Day Out program? Anything to get some momentary relief.

Third, get some Hyland's colic tablets, some Gripe Water and/or Colic Calm. This was wonderful medicine to use...and we used it frequently.

My son went through the same sleeping issues, too.

When you try something new, it may not work the first time, give each suggestion a valid try - but don't give up on it. There were times when I would swear that one remedy didn't work and my son would make a liar out of me and it would calm him down (that time...)

As for the Mylicon, we stopped putting it in his bottle because the effect wasn't the same as when we gave it to him straight. But we went through bottles of the stuff and still use it to this day!

Some things to try include:

1. Put baby on a towel or somthing comfy on top of a running dryer. (warmth and vibrations) Of course, never leave baby unattended and make sure it doesn't get too hot on the dryer.
2. A vibration chair may work for a bit.
Car rides. Make sure you aren't overly tired when trying this - you don't want to have a wreck.
3. We put a fan in baby's room. Not too sure if it was the vibrations or the cool air, but it seemed to work (off and on)
4. Have you tried a baby carrier that you can wear around the house?
5. We took lil one places he'd never been - to break up the monotony. Such as the park, a pet store, the aquarium, etc.
6. Have you tried music?
7. There were times when my son was facinated with my parent's ceiling fan. Not too sure why that worked (temporarily)
8. This worked for daddy more often than anything - but he would play a Spiderman dvd repeatedly. It played the same song constantly. To this day, daddy sings the Spiderman song and lil one calms down.
9. On one of my appointments to the Dr's, I grabbed a handful of rubber gloves. Fill them with luke warm water and put it on baby's tummy. GRAB THE LARGE or EXTRA LARGE ONES.

Nothing works 100% of the time. The earplugs and having someone watch him for a while were the best things for both us and baby boy.

To this day, our son still doesn't "cry" because he really never learned how. He screams. This wears on our nerves and we push vocabulary daily. Once he learns to communicate, things will get easier.

I wish you the best.

L.

Many babies eat too much because the "guidelines" favor the companies' profit lines more than the well-being of our poor children.

My mom's a nutritionist for WIC. They say, feed the baby how old he is in months. So your son should only be eating about 2 - 2 1/2 oz. per feeding.

IF he seems ravenous and keeps gulping, the problem might be that he is just trying not to choke. Check the flow and your feeding rate. Even slow-flow nipples are too fast for such young babies. They don't know how to turn away and show that it's too much, too fast so all they can do is gulp. This makes parents thing they need to eat more, they're so hungry.... Nope! So, WIC educators teach parents to pull the bottle away at the first sign of discomfort or confusion. This means maybe every couple of seconds, at first.

Also, take breaks during feedings. Break of a couple of minutes. Let that tummy settle.

Smaller amounts per feeding mean frequent feedings. This too will pass. It's all part of that difficult first couple of months.

He might be allergic to milk, or lactose intolerant. Try soy-based formula, if you're using dairy.

Studies show that, the more babies are carried and held, the less they cry. If you don't have one, get a sling or another type of carrier. (My husband and I actually never really liked slings, but some parents love them.) We really love our Ergo and our Storchenweige wrap. The Storch comes with a dvd that shows you how to do the different ties.

If it were me, I'd fire that pediatrician and find one who gives you the time of day. Your poor son is going through hell, and his doctor should be trying to figure out what is wrong.

Get the gripe water with the fewest ingredients and without parabens, for sure. Or, just steep some strong chamomile tea for 10 minutes, let it cool and give it to your son in tiny, tiny amounts (half a teaspoon, say).

L.

I am no expert, but from experience it sounds like he may be suffering from reflux. Symptoms sound very similar to what my daughter went through. Especially the screaming after feedings and lack of sleep. My suggestion would be to switch pediatricians to one the will listen to your first of all. Second keep him upright as much as possible, especially after feedings. Elevate the head of his crib so that he is sleeping on an incline.
There are pediatricans out there that will listen to you. Our pediatrician told us that there are 3 reasons infants cry - hunger, wet or they are in PAIN. It sounds like yours is the latter.

Hi. We also had the same problems with all 3 of my children. Our pediatrician put us on tons of different prescriptions for stomachs, acid reflux etc. because they weren't sure exactly what was wrong. They told me that it was silly to try something natural and that it wouldn't work--so I tried all of the regular colic medicines and of course nothing worked until I found the Baby Bliss Gripewater. This product is a miracle worker! It works great for anything stomach related, and I would put it in the bottles so that they were getting it as they were drinking. It didn't always totally stop all of their symptoms, but came close--my husband and I even take it when our household is having a stomach bug and it helps tremendously with nausea for adults! I have tried other brands of gripe water, but nothing worked for us like the Baby Bliss brand. It used to be hard to find, but now you can get it at any walgreens.

Jennifer,

I am a mother of a 2 month old that has had the worst stomach problems. After trying Mylicon, peppermint water, and every other thing I could think of my mom gave me some of the best advice. When I was an infant I too had colic, acid reflux, prjectile vomiting...the works and my pediatrician told my mom to mix 1 oz of children's tylonol, 1oz of children's benadryl, and 2 oz of water with 1/2 oz mylanta and give it when needed. I only give my son about 0.3 ml each time he needs it. I swear by it. It helps him get a little more sleep and he has quit throwing up. Also if yours is throwing up give him a little pediatlite. I have mixed about 2 oz of pedialite with 3 oz of water and give him a 5 oz bottle. Also have you tried to add rice cereal to his bottles? My docotor told me to add 1 teaspoon of rice cereal to 1 oz of formula and give it to my son. Hopefully this helps. Good luck...I know how you feel!

Gripe Water is AMAZING!!!!! I managed to survive my first 3 kids without it, but OMG it has been a life saver with my 4th baby! I had been trying gas drops & mylanta and nothing was working. My mom brought me some gripe water to try as a last resort before going to prescription meds and my babies colic was totally gone within 3-4 days. This stuff was a miracle!! You should try it. You'll love it!

My son, who is now two and a half, had colic really bad for awhile. I actually found that helsp, and this is going to sound silly, is peppermint. A small piece broken off and melted down in warm water seemed to help sooth him sometimes. I have a friend that would double-up the amount of formula in the bottle and he said it worked great, but i was a bit wary of that suggestion so I never tried it. Another friend suggested coca-cola. She swore by it, and she's got three kids and about fifteen grandkids. You might also try switching formulas altogether. We used Enfamil for the longest time because he had the least amount of trouble with it. I hope this helps!

I had the same problem with my son at that age. Doctor's kept telling me it was colic, but nothing was working. I had a friend mention it could be a lactose problem. Since I was nursing I tried cutting dairy out of my diet and it made all the difference in the world. He was a completely different baby. You might try a lactose free formula and see if that helps.

Try babies magic tea. This is organic tea and no harm to little ones. I am using this tea with good results and my baby is now no more colic.

Colic tablets by Hyland's work well for my baby girl who has reflux and used to have gas. We tried colic calm, it is BLACK and stained her clothes when she drooled it out, and expensive, and didn't help. I did not find gripe water helped, but it is certainly worth trying. I would recommend getting a new pediatrician, and possibly considering that your baby might have reflux. Good luck! And remember, this is a relatively short period in your lives and will soon just be a memory!