colic/fussiness/allergy/gas?

hollace · July 2011

LO will be 6 weeks Friday. For the last week he's had inconsolable crying. I don't know if this just extreme fussiness or gas or allergy (Im omitting dairy from today as an experiment). Haven't called the pedi as I don't think it's dr. necessary just yet. Looking for opinions. He usually sleeps very well but hasn't slept for more than a hour at a time recently. We also traveled over the weekend to see my parents so Im wondering if the sleep disruption is more from that. We were up at 3 to feed, then I had him sleep on my chest until 6. Fed, he had a good period and then really inconsolable. Ive been wearing him since and he'll still cry or fuss though its a little more manageable. TBH, I dont think it's bad enough to be colic, but don't have any experience with that. Any thoughts/tips, I could use anything at this point.

Hey Jellisy · July 2011

6 weeks is usually the peak for colic. I'm sort of embarrassed to say this, I didn't really know my daughter was colicky until my son was born and the absence of crying made me realize it. I just thought it was normal that babies were fussy. DS had problem with gas pains (mostly in the middle of the night when he was tired and less able to handle discomfort) and with the pedis permission we put probiotics into a small bottle of expressed breast milk every day and it really seemed to eventually help him. Good luck. DD outgrew her colicky ways by 12 weeks and DS got over the night fussiness after a few days on the probiotics.

mssaint · July 2011

Oh, I remember those days...

First, 6-8 weeks is peak fussiness for all babies. Colicky babies will keep being fussy/inconsolable after that, but even for them, it ends around 3-4 months.

If you think it's a milk protein intolerance, you will have to omit for more than a day - it takes a couple of weeks to leave your system and then a couple of weeks more to leave baby's system. That being said, I noticed a difference in my LO within a couple of days, and the few times I've slipped and eaten dairy since then, he's gotten better within a day or two.

We tried everything. Happiest Baby on the Block worked pretty well, and all the jiggling and rocking baby got me back in shape pretty quickly as a bonus. We also used gas drops (actually, we still use them sometimes) and tried gripe water occasionally. I didn't see any difference.

We were pretty sure LO had reflux (he was arching his back and spitting up), so we got him on Zantac. He's now on Prevacid. It seemed to help. We also got a Rock N Play Sleeper, which was amazing. It lets them sleep at an angle that is really good for reflux babies and cradles them much more snugly than a crib. We just transitioned him to his crib from the Rock N Play. The first night we got it was the first night LO slept more than 3 hours in a row. It was magical.

That all being said, it will end. I was convinced LO would never get better and never smile and never laugh and never be happy and that he was going to live a painful, miserable childhood. And now he's almost 6 months old and since he was about 3.5 months old, he's been great. The fussiness really was like a light switching off one day. Now when he's fussy, there's almost always a reason. And if there's not an obvious reason, he's usually pretty easily soothed. He laughs and laughs now, and smiles all the time and is generally a pretty happy guy.

You'll get through it!

hollace · July 2011

We're trying to rule things out. I guess I should have stated better that starting today Im omitting dairy as I'm not certain if it's affecting him or not, but we should at least be able to tell at some point. (I hope). We tried simethicone and it probably helped a bit, but not the cause per se...I feel like I do ok dealing with him in the day, but the night is another story just because Im exhausted by that point. Husband is in grad school with finals next week so I can't push too much on him at this point either.

2vthokies · July 2011

It could be lots of things - reflux, food intolerance, gas, colic, simple disruption due to travelling, getting a cold, etc. I would suggest you just call your ped. Do they have an advice nurse you can talk to? Around 3 weeks is when DD1s reflux/food intolerances reared their ugly heads. She went from sleeping all the time to only sleeping while we held her. She started crying and fussing a lot more, had terrible gas, etc. I waited a couple days because I thought it was colic and on a whim I called the ped/advice nurse just for confirmation (I wasn't planning to bring her in). They wanted to see her and through our conversation determined she had reflux (took a couple more weeks to figure out the food intolerances). I'm not suggesting your LO has any of these issues, just that maybe your ped might be a good place to start - especially if you can chat on the phone first. Smile

hollace · July 2011

They do have an email forum you can use to ask questions, etc. My husband suggested that last night maybe I'll go ahead and shoot them an email. I just hate feeling like the needy patient...

Sofka · July 2011

remember that it can take upto 2 weeks after you eliminate dairy from your diet before you see a difference

good luck!

tracy042206 · July 2011

I also highly recommend Happiest baby on the Block. Those techniques were the only thing that could remotely soothe Maggie around that age. For us, the answer was reflux and the Zantac medicine they gave us was a life saver. She had progressively gotten worse and worse every day/week up until 5.5 weeks when we started the meds. She wasn't a perfect baby after that (she still cried and wanted to be held a lot) but the difference was night and day. Before meds I just couldn't deal with the constant screaming, tagging out with DH when he got home, DH finding me crying over the crib while Maggie laid there screaming, having to get Maggie out of the swing because DH had to leave the house from the crying/screaming/lack of sleep. After meds, it was handleable and the technques from HBOTB worked almost every time and she was finally sootheable - before meds she was often inconsolable and that was awful for her and us.

vtmezzo · July 2011

Another vote for Happiest Baby on the Block. Also, don't worry about being a needy patient - that's what the peds are there for! You'll be so much happier and less stressed if they can help you sort it out.

Have you tried a swing? My DS#1 slept in a swing for about 3 weeks at the peak of his fussiness - approximately 8 weeks through 11 or 12 weeks old.

hollace · July 2011

I've already read and use the happiest baby on the block techniques. Some help more than others. He used to sleep in the swing but wont sleep anywhere but on you for the last 8 days or so.

belizeitornot · July 2011

it sounds like colic to me. we had a terrible time with it and the only thing i can say is it does get better! you want to shoot yourself now but it won't last forever.

also, since you've gotten a lot of recs for HBOTB, i want to say it's ok if it doesn't work for your LO. none of the techniques really worked for us and i felt like such a failure, but it isn't a magic pill that helps all babies. my LO also hated the swing, only tolerated the bouncy seat if she was in a really good mood and was generally just an all around pill. the first day i brought the moby home was a miracle but it lost it's appeal quickly too (though I could usually get her calmed down enough to take a short nap while being worn if i knew she was overtired) she was happy right after eating, but then went downhill soon after. evenings were by far the worst. dh and i spent a lot of time walking around with her, bouncing up and down, changing positions because that was the only thing that sort of soothed her. like mssaint said, the constant motion got us into pretty good shape as an unexpected bonus!

we still have a rough time in the evenings, but the all day unhappiness seemed to get better around 3-4 months. i can't remember exactly. take turns with your DH handing him off and take a break to save your sanity. you might want to try doing some bouncing on an exercise ball - that worked well for us when our legs and arms were just too tired to walk around any longer.

mssaint · July 2011

The other thing that helped was putting him down for naps after about 90 minutes of awake time. For a couple of months I felt like all I did was feed him, change him and try to get him to sleep, but it kept us busy and distracted him and me from his fussiness. It really does get better. I used to read the posts from bumpies who said that and I didn't believe it, or I just assumed it would take longer because LO was 4 weeks early and hit all his early milestones 4 weeks late, but it did end between 3 and 4 months.

2vthokies · July 2011

Don't feel bad about calling. That is what they are there for and they expect new parents to call. With DD1 I called all the time because we had to deal with so many issues (reflux, food intolerance, chronic ear infections, etc.). I knew all the nurses voices when they answered the phone.

special382 · July 2011

hollace:
We're trying to rule things out. I guess I should have stated better that starting today Im omitting dairy as I'm not certain if it's affecting him or not, but we should at least be able to tell at some point. (I hope).

Cutting out dairy from your diet (and i mean completely cutting all dairy) can take 2 weeks to be completely out of your system.

It took almost 6 months for someone to suggest cutting out dairy to me. I really, really wish someone had earlier (I never thought of it). In about a week, he was a happier baby, in 2 weeks he was a completely different child.

He turned 1 this week and still can't tolerate it, but I am pretty sure he will outgrow it.

Hopefully you will find your answers soon!

Want a personalized experience?

colic/fussiness/allergy/gas?

Re: colic/fussiness/allergy/gas?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards