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First Time Mom - Baby Colicky - Any Advice
Hi,
My daughter is the picture perfect baby - until about 6:00 p.m. each night wherein she turns into a complete hysterical devil. She cries anywhere from 2 to 5 hours straight.
She will be 3 weeks old on Sunday. Our pedi says that she is just an "overachiever" in the crying department, and while it is a bit early for colic, she may well be, and I need to invest in good ear plugs and ride it out with her. She is in perfect health so there is no distress to her while she is crying.
Anyone else dealing or have dealt with this type of behavior? It is heartbreaking, as her mom, to not be able to soothe her, but I've tried everything and the poor doll will eventually just poop herself out and go to sleep.
Doing nothing is the worst thing for a mom...Any feedback would be appreciated!
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Re: First Time Mom - Baby Colicky - Any Advice
My DD was like that for the first 10 weeks of her life and then one day it just stopped completely. The thing that worked best for my DD was to bound her on a yoga ball. We spent hours doing it, but it kept her quiet. Other things that helped was to swaddle her and use soem type of white noise like a fan close to her.
My DD also loved to comfort breastfeed ALL the time. I would not recommend it, because it is exhausting for you.
Oh, I'm sorry - that is rough on both of you!
Have you heard of the Happiest Baby on the Block (a dvd and book) it has some great strategies for helping to calm babies.
My kids both like to be held belly down over one arm and rocked. They also loved to comfort suck/nurse.
Like the other poster said, white noise can be very soothing to them. The fan, or a vacuum cleaner, or a staticy radio (we'd do this in the car) or a Sleep Sheep are all options for white noise
If it is colic, a company called Hylands makes homeopathic colic tablets that dissolve in a baby's mouth (we use their teething tablets all the time). You can usually find them at CVS, Target or Whole Foods. Some people have better luck with Gripe Water (Baby's Bliss is one company).
If you think she's got some tummy pain, the I L U massage (I love you) works great for gas and constipation. On her left side using the palm of your hand rub down, then rub across the top from your left to right and down, then do the U starting on her right side and up, over down. Doing that a couple times combined with some cycling of her legs might help her pass any gas in there. That is just one stroke, but baby massage in general can be very calming for babies - maybe see if you can take a workshop or glass (or get a DVD) on baby massage.
DS2 (born at home) 7/09
DD1 (born at home) 1/12
I feel your pain. My DD was very colicky from about 2 weeks to 3 months. It was very, very difficult. I know how frustrating, heartbreaking, and exhausting it can be.
With my DD we had to try every trick in the book. Each night it would be something different. We did swaddling, massage, pretty much everything.
Some of the things that worked best for us were:
1. The Vacuum Cleaner - for some reason the noise helped put DD to sleep. She did eventually get used to it and we had to try other things, but there were a few nights where the vacuum was magic.
2. Skin to Skin Contact - I would undress DD and put her right up against my skin and snuggle with her.
3. "Divine Dips" - this was passed on to me by a friend who does baby yoga - it's quite a workout! Using your palms, make a seat for your baby against your stomach. Then face the baby outward and do squats bending until your knees make 90 degree angles.
4. Co-sleeping - it wasn't my first choice, but it allowed me and DD to get 6-7 hour stretches of sleep starting around 5 weeks.
Also, there is a crying clinic in RI that specializes in colicky babies. They do research and help mothers bond with babies that cry excessively.
As PP mentioned, The Happiest Baby on the Block would be worth looking into as well. (I know you have so much time to read, right?)
I remember how hard it was for me. I felt like I would never live a normal life again. Good luck. This will pass eventually and you will have a smiley, happy baby.
We would swaddle our daughter and put her in her bouncy seat (Fisher Price Hoppy Days bouncy seat) then we would put her in the seat on the bathroom floor and run the shower. It would quiet her down instantly.
Good luck!
DD was like this for several weeks. It turned out that she had severe acid reflux, but anyway the only thing that helped was putting her in a sling. She loved it! I didn't get one until she was about 6 weeks old and I couldn't believe that I had waited so long because it worked immediately. I know there are recalls and concerns about slings now, but several put the baby in a more upright position. I got the K'tan for the new baby (DD used the peanut shell and hotsling) and I am hoping DS loves it as much as DD did. If you haven't already, I would definitely say to give some sort of baby carrier a try.
Good luck!
DS was colicky and was eventually diagnosed with acid reflux. Here are the strategies that helped us.
swaddling
bouncing on an exercise ball while holding him
wearing him in a sling
TM Soft white noise generator app for the iphone
co-sleeping
Good luck! It does get better, I promise!
Thank you for all the advice ladies!
Swaddling has been a life saver, along with purchasing an AC to actually do the swaddling so she doesn't suffer in this crazy heat.
I am also finding dancing with her and putting her in a carrier work wonders.
We also switched her formula to Nutrimigen, which seems to be helping a bit. She still has moments at night - usually around 6:00 p.m. wherein soothing her is a big challenge. Sometimes she cries from the 6 p.m. feeding up until the 9:00 p.m. feeding - it is hard to tell if she is truly hungry at 9:00 but she eats and usually passes out within an hour.
I keep hearing that it will pass and she'll be happier around 3-4 months but it is still heartbreaking that the first few weeks of her life she appears miserable.