Help with Colic

Hi everyone. I had my baby on March 1st. She's 9 wks today. For the past I guess 2 wks she has been very cranky and crying after we get home from the sitters house, this mixed with a lot of gas leads me to think she has colic. She acts like she wants to eat but cries franticly during it and moves around...
i've got sum advice like burping her after every ounce, giving her gas drops after each feeding. Is there anything else i can do? I'm taking her to the dr this afternoon and someone has said there is meds that the dr can give the infant now for colic is this true?

[jd1419]

Are you sure it is colic--and them not overfeeding her at daycare which could cause the gas build up for her?  Or have you tried switching formula to see if that makes a difference.

[over40club]

All of my babies had some amount of colic...they were all early...first 2 6 weeks early and the last one 4 weeks early...I use nutramigen formula by Enfamil or Alermintum by similac....they are hypoallergenic and have virtually stop the colic....if she is on milk based maybe lactose free, gentlease or soy may be better but if that doesn't work the nutramigen works wonders. Sometimes if they are projectile spitting up it could be reflux which they prescribe meds for...does she seem constipated? if so the nutramigen will change their bm's to a more regular frequent basis and helps with the gas and discomfort from the constipation or having trouble passing the bm...hope this info helps....good luck

[NataliesMommy]

You can also hold her with her belly on your arm or over your lap so there is pressure on her belly.  Also, lay her on her back and lift her legs to her head like you are folding her in half.  My dd had terrible colic and we did that plus bouncing her on our knees.   BIG bounces.  The bigger the better.  A pacifier also helped and a white noise machine soothed her.  The gas drops I gave to her before her feeding and not after, that helped as well.  Best wishes to you.  

[Me2mommy2b]

Nothing helped my DD with gas.  We tried everything under the sun and after a few months of a nightmare she was diagnosed with reflux so it turned out to be the acid that was bothering her and not the gas (plus, the reflux makes gas worse).  I would suggest looking closely into signs of reflux which are:
Pulls away from bottle or breast while feeding and is obviously still hungry

Chronic ear or respiratory infections (bronchitis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia)

Going a substantial amount of time without bowel movements (for us it was every 1-2 weeks)

Continuous cycle of eating, spitting/vomit, eating, spitting, eating.  (feels good going down, but burns coming back up so infant eats more to soothe only to burn again)

Stops breathing

Loud and persistent grunting

Frequent hiccups

Constant runny nose

Bad breath

Other noises associated with ruminating ( ruminating = the voluntary or involuntary regurgitation and re-chewing of partially digested food that is either re-swallowed or expelled )

Very irritable and easy to agitate ( by knocks on doors, ringing, etc. )

Frequent screaming episodes with eyes shut and brows furrowed

Very tense during feeding with fists clenched tightly and legs drawn up

No sleep or only short naps

Sudden screaming during sleep and wakes up frequently crying

Constantly hungry and still feeds even after being overfed

Moaning, groaning, and straining during and after feedings as if trying to pass gas or a bowel movement

Good luck!

[Mozartcowgirl]

zane is 4 weeks old.. and he does that as well.. he is very squirmy.. and .. he farts.. and farts alot... i mean.. wow.. you got dad beat farts...  at night he is very angry with gas... i have tried cutting down on the gas riddled foods that i am eating.. ( funny how the healthiest foods cause gas)  

the one thing that has worked for me.. is... giving him a bath... a nice.. warm.. soothing bath.. he just scoots around.. checking everything out.... i sit in the bath with him.. and hold his head and back .. and he just loves it...

by the time we are done... he is sleepy.. content.. and ready for bed.... there are times when i am in the bath with him for about 45 minutes.. and sometimes... just 15 minutes.. but.. its worth it...


hope this helps!!

[amy524]

I have a lot of experience with acid reflux and I can tell you it's no fun!  Mommy2's list is a good one but remember that your DD doesn't have to experience ALL of those symptoms for her to have reflux.  My daughter spit up, was a comfort eater, and fussed/screamed 90% of the time.  Medicine was finally the miracle solution for us.  I had a brand new baby.  Also keep in mind that a baby does NOT have to spit up for her to have reflux.  I don't spit up when I have heartburn, but it still hurts!  I really feel for you and I know how stressful it can be.  Hopefully you have an educated pediatrician who can help guide you through this.  MANY MANY MANY doctors know little to nothing about reflux and think if your baby is gaining weight then everything is fine.  Like I said, my DD was a comfort eater so gaining weight was NOT the problem.  I would like to recommend a wonderful forum for support...www.infantreflux.org/forum.  The support and help on that forum was what saved my sanity!!!!!!!!  GOOD LUCK!

[Crritter]

I had posted about a week ago with problems.  First off, wanted to say I'm sorry you have to go through a fussy baby.  Not fun at all.  My first baby was diagnosed with it at 3 days old, his first night home he screamed from 9 pm till almost 8 am nonstop.  I was a wreck and called the Dr. office ASAP that morning.  HeHe was diagnosed really early, most babies show it around 2 to 4 weeks.  My second baby was a dream baby till 2 weeks exactly, then the screaming started.  It's an unconsolable cry, more of a scream like they are in pain, and they do have gas too.  They seem to hit a pattern in the fussiness.and it usually peaks in the late afternoon/evening.  They will usually arch their backs and pull their legs in and make fists.  My second son starts to get fussy around 8 pm, by 11 pm he is screaming, maybe calms down for an hour or so to get a little catnap if I hold him, then proceeds to scream and cry till around 5 am, then it stops and he sleeps.  We go through this every night, I really dread it and worry about going back to work.  We use the gas drops at each feeding too, and the Dr. switched formulas again from soy to Nutramigen.  Worked good for a few days, got a few more hours of sleep, but it continued and he still seemed in pain.  I noticed him gagging, he would wake up and make terrible faces, spit a lot, sometimes a good hour or so after eating, and wanted to eat all of the time.  The Dr. put him on Prevacid for reflux, and while he's still crabby at night, no more screaming fits.  It's still early to tell, but for the past few nights he's just been fussy during the night and not screaming.  The screaming makes the gas worse too, so I was thankful for the stop.  Our Dr. is keeping our son on Nutramigen for another month or 2 to help him out, and then we will wean him off if possible, since he should be able to digest his own food by then.  I would ask about reflux too, seems a little late for colic, but you never know.  My first one got better around 4 months, so I'm hanging on waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel.  One thing that works for me is shushing loudly in baby's ear or right by it.  Sounds strange, but they both liked the noise, he also did better being help on his side, close to me, and prefers that I walk and sway, if I sit in a rocking chair and cheat, he knows.  Good luck, hope it gets better for you.  As for hte medicine to cure colic, nothing but time.  Some remedies may help, and if it's just reflux, then the medicine should clear it up in a few days.  

[sam2]

The only thing that is working for me right now with my 7 week old is putting her in the bouncer and since she is too little to do it herself, I bounce her in it.  Not too hard, but she likes it and settles down a bit.  I can sit in a chair and with one finger just bounce her a bit.  I bought a fisher price one at target for $30 and it is well worth it!  My sister had a baby with severe colic and the only thing that worked for her was to leave the vacuum on pretty much all day.  For some reason that helped her settle down.  Just keep on trying different things and eventually you will find out what works for you.  Good luck and just remember this phase does not last forever.

[fungirl]

My son (who is 12 now) was a very colicy baby.  We had a vaccuum that was also a dehumidifier and we ran it when he would have crying fits.  It would settle him down very quickly or i would put him in one of those carriers, and vaccuum the floors, by the time I was dond, he was done throwing a fit.  Now my daughter on the other hand (she is 9, but is also handicaped) is terrified of the vaccuum.  She had reflux very bad.  Nothing we tried helped her to stop spitting up and ease the gas.  My doctor was an iodiot and never once checked her for acid reflux.  It was not until we moved to our new town and she was about 3 that we got a doctor who really listened to what she was doing.  He put her on meds for about 2 weeks (she had a very bad reaction to the meds) and then we had to stop.  Sounds crazy, but we have not had any problems since.  You may want to consider putting a towel (rolled up) under your baby bed mattress to help keep her head raised up a bit.  This also helps.  Good luck.  Kasie

[sherryroberson]

Thanks to all of you for your support and guidance! I'm sure it will help alot. I'm concerned after reading some of your posts that she may have the acid reflux, but i'm still not sure.  Should i ask my doctor to try her on the meds to see if it gets better or what?  I took her to the doctor yesterday evening and she got her shots so while at home later i gave her tolenol and i think it made her sleep the evening and then i gave it to her again later on that night and she slept thru the night. 10:30pm to 6:30am. i couldn't believe it.
thanks again!

[Crritter]

Glad to hear you got a good night!  It really does sound more like reflux to me, I would hope you could avoid colic at this point, but you never know.  My son is doing so much better since he went on the medication.  My Dr. started him out on the formula for colic since he was in a sett pattern and fit the signs of colic, plus I already had one colicky baby, so I was pretty sure when I called them.  We were still having some issues with him and he would even wake up making a terrible face aqnd would gag and cough, sometimes with and sometimes without spitting up.  I mentioned it to the Dr. when we went in and told him I thought he might have some reflux going on.  He didn't bat an eye, just agreed with the symptoms and said it was common to have that with a colicky baby too, they had mentioned when he went on the formula that if he didn't quiet down, they would reevaluate and see about medications.  After almost 2 weeks on the new formula he was better some at night, but still having problems.  The medication is working wonders for us, still having a pattern of fussy times, but no more screaming, no more waking in pain, spitting is better, gas is better, and he is not demanding to eat all of the time now.  I would definitely ask your Dr. if it's a possibility, sometimes they mistake fussiness for a difficult baby, when it's something that can be treated.  See if she goes back to her old ways and keep note of it so that you can tell the Dr. esxactly what's going on, most Dr.'s will go by your word since they are not there to see what happens.  Could also be the adjutment to daycare and she may be overstimulated, causing crying, causing gas, but it really sounds like reflux.  We went on a 2 week trial and are doing well, they have called in a prescription for us for when the free samples run out.  Good luck with your little one.