Colic - please help!

[LittleB]

Hi all,

I had my second child two weeks ago and I think he has colic. He screams for 3-4 hours at a time and cannot be settled (if rocked he will be calm for a few mins but then starts screaming again). He goes red in the face, arches his back and pulls his knees up to his chest. I really don’t know what to do with him. He is worse evening/nighttime.

This evening was a nightmare as I was trying to make dinner for my older child but I could not put the baby down, he screamed for the whole dinner/bedtime. I don’t know how I am going to cope/get things done for my other child. My partner works away in the week.

My first child was not like this at all, he would feed and be changed, and then be put down where he would just fall asleep.

Please do share your advice/experiences, all I can really find online is that it should pass by 6 months!

 

[Sailorontheseasea]

Hi all,

I had my second child two weeks ago and I think he has colic. He screams for 3-4 hours at a time and cannot be settled (if rocked he will be calm for a few mins but then starts screaming again). He goes red in the face, arches his back and pulls his knees up to his chest. I really don’t know what to do with him. He is worse evening/nighttime.

This evening was a nightmare as I was trying to make dinner for my older child but I could not put the baby down, he screamed for the whole dinner/bedtime. I don’t know how I am going to cope/get things done for my other child. My partner works away in the week.

My first child was not like this at all, he would feed and be changed, and then be put down where he would just fall asleep.

Please do share your advice/experiences, all I can really find online is that it should pass by 6 months!

Hi lovely, I really feel for you as my second as like this. Can I just ask, does he grunt in the night at all? Or is he refusing feeds etc? Could it be potential silent reflux or some kind of milk allergy? Mine was such a loud sleeper and grunted and wriggled all night, screamed the second he was put down after a feed (after battling it in him!), had to be held loads of the time etc etc and it was silent reflux - I thought I was losing my god damn mind!! He cried for so long all of the time I ended up just being able to drown it out - it was awful.

Colic is bleeping brutal and I’m so sorry you’re going through it with your little one. Sending hugs xx

 

[LittleB]

Hi lovely, I really feel for you as my second as like this. Can I just ask, does he grunt in the night at all? Or is he refusing feeds etc? Could it be potential silent reflux or some kind of milk allergy? Mine was such a loud sleeper and grunted and wriggled all night, screamed the second he was put down after a feed (after battling it in him!), had to be held loads of the time etc etc and it was silent reflux - I thought I was losing my god damn mind!! He cried for so long all of the time I ended up just being able to drown it out - it was awful.

Colic is bleeping brutal and I’m so sorry you’re going through it with your little one. Sending hugs xx

Thank you for your message - I wouldn’t say he grunts but he is really wriggly/noisy. He can sound snuffly and has hiccups pretty much after every feed. I don’t know anything about silent reflux, I will look it up now. How long did you wait before seeking help?

 

[Albs]

Hi it was a few years ago now but my son had colic, but I remember them days like it was yesterday.
After trying all the different medicines that there is the only that i found that worked for my son was the dr brown bottles, colief drops ( you can get them on prescription or from holland & barrets) and cow & gate carobel thickner. You can also get the on prescription or from most chemists from over the counter.
Give your drs a ring & see what they say.
I know it doesn’t feel like it now but it does get better.

 

[Sailorontheseasea]

Thank you for your message - I wouldn’t say he grunts but he is really wriggly/noisy. He can sound snuffly and has hiccups pretty much after every feed. I don’t know anything about silent reflux, I will look it up now. How long did you wait before seeking help?

Yeah all of the above can be signs of it - they often sound quite congested, get hiccups loads and are just generally very squirmy, arch their backs and just constantly unhappy or upset and waking up pretty much hourly is another. We went to our GP at around at around 2 months, he gave us special milk as he thought it was CMPA but it was vile and he hated it so we persevered with all the usual stuff reflux milk/infacol/gripe water/infant gaviscon etc. He was under a paediatrician so I went to him at 5 or 6 months when it still was no better (which is an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to let it continue looking back on it) and he immediately diagnosed him with severe GERD/silent reflux and prescribed omeprazole which was literally miracle stuff and he finally drank milk without fighting us off.

Unfortunately so many GPs don’t really believe silent reflux is a thing but my poor little guy now has enlarged tonsils as a result of GERD and struggles with eating etc so if you think he fits the criteria then go to your GP and don’t take “it’s just colic” for an answer. All of it really is so horrible! Obviously I could be shooting down the wrong path here but worth researching. MAM bottles are brilliant for colic, as are the colief green packaged drops and baby wearing - invest in a good sling if you haven’t already.

 

[LennyBriscoe]

The best thing we found that relieved the colic symptoms for a while was a Tummy Tub - something about the fact he was sitting upright and the soothing of the water helped for a while. Other than that we found just as the Doctor said - nothing over the counter really helps unfortunately.

My son was 12 weeks to the day and it just disappeared. I know 10 weeks feels like an eternity but you may hit on something that helps, even for a wee while a day. Good luck

 

[Jellybean093]

My youngest cried all day, everyday. At about 14 weeks, I took him to the health visitor and she weighed him and found he lost weight. It was then she said he had silent reflux, I changed his milk and he changed over night. He finished bottles straight away, it was easier to feed and he didn’t cry all day. He’s now 2, and he is a moany child, but he is nothing like he was.
I really feel for you. It’s awful. I have 2 older children who weren’t like this so I never knew how to deal with silent reflux. He was also NEVER sick after bottles.
I would speak to your health visitor straight away. Honestly, I should not have left it for so long x

 

[Definitelyme]

Sending so much love, endless hours of crying take such a toll on you. Come and join us over at the new baby/post baby advice thread. Lots of us navigating the early days of babyhood together, first time mums to mums who have been parenting for 10+ years.

The others have given you great info on possible causes. While you’re investigating those options, do you use a sling? Keeping him upright and close to your chest, and keeping your hands free, would hopefully keep him calm, and give you the ability to help your older child as well.
My second screamed constantly (milk allergy, also a bit of an hole to this day ) and the sling was a lifesaver for me. I could get you a few links if you’d like.
Also for things like dinners could you or your partner prep some during the weekend when he is at home, so you can easily bung them in the oven/microwave during the week to ease the burden?
If it’s possible for you, try to get out at least once a day. I find being trapped in the house with a screaming baby is one of the worst things ever, and when I would go out the baby was less likely to cry, and also my toddler would then be having fun and letting off steam without too much input from me. It’s still my go to now when things are looking hairy.

Oh, also if the birth was a little bit tricky a few of us have found that taking baby to a cranial osteopath really helped. I am so not “in to” alternative medicines at all, but I did it as a last resort with my son and it really did help. His crying was cut way down that same day, the woman was like a magician.

 

[Sailorontheseasea]

Sending so much love, endless hours of crying take such a toll on you. Come and join us over at the new baby/post baby advice thread. Lots of us navigating the early days of babyhood together, first time mums to mums who have been parenting for 10+ years.

The others have given you great info on possible causes. While you’re investigating those options, do you use a sling? Keeping him upright and close to your chest, and keeping your hands free, would hopefully keep him calm, and give you the ability to help your older child as well.
My second screamed constantly (milk allergy, also a bit of an hole to this day ) and the sling was a lifesaver for me. I could get you a few links if you’d like.
Also for things like dinners could you or your partner prep some during the weekend when he is at home, so you can easily bung them in the oven/microwave during the week to ease the burden?
If it’s possible for you, try to get out at least once a day. I find being trapped in the house with a screaming baby is one of the worst things ever, and when I would go out the baby was less likely to cry, and also my toddler would then be having fun and letting off steam without too much input from me. It’s still my go to now when things are looking hairy.

Oh, also if the birth was a little bit tricky a few of us have found that taking baby to a cranial osteopath really helped. I am so not “in to” alternative medicines at all, but I did it as a last resort with my son and it really did help. His crying was cut way down that same day, the woman was like a magician.

Yes I second the cranial osteopath and I was the same but this helped hugely with the sleep aspect as he’d become seriously tense around his head and jaw and upper body it seemed - I have no idea what she did but it was bloody magic.

Also “bit of an hole to this day” could not be more spot on

 

[Pinklady567]

My son had colic, the only thing that helped him was moving him to dr browns bottles. Absolute game changer!!

 

[Flowerpotgirl]

Keeping the baby upright and not laying flat is super helpful. If it’s reflux it helps to have gravity on your side keeping the stomach contents down. I was a colicy baby and still can’t lay down after I have eaten. I get bad tummies like a witch and have meds for it. All these years! It’s a loose flap from tummy to esophagus for me.

 

[Sally1993]

My first had colic from 6-12 weeks. It was only six weeks but it felt like forever and it was absolute hell. I’m sorry your baby has it too. I hope you are able to ride it out and I hope that it doesn’t last long for you. Stay strong xx

 

[sofiesuzie]

Just been through this with my little one, I can really empathize with you. My 5 month old had colic/silent reflux. He used to cry every evening from about 6pm to 11pm, we found going for a walk or drive helped and music also sometimes distracted him. the hey bear sensory videos on YouTube were amazing at Calming him down he enjoyed listening to the music on them. The colic started to lessen around 9wks and was completely gone by 12wks. We knew he had silent reflux when he wasn’t able to nap at all without wakening after about 20 mins and he would make a face when the acid would come up his throat also frequent hiccups and spitting up clear liquid, sometimes he would also have a hoarse sound to his cry. He still has silent reflux but we manage it now and it really doesn’t bother him at all. We add carobel to his milk, keep him upright after feeds for at least 30 min, making sure he gets winded regular through feed as sometimes wind aggravated it for him. Infacol helped him with the wind too. Also switched from tommee tippee bottles to MAM, they’re fantastic. Every baby is different but if I had to do it all again I would remind myself that it’s not forever which definitely would have made it easier. Best of luck hope this helps somewhat xx

 

[Lurker121]

Really feel for you. My 10 month old had colic and like a previous poster, it pretty much disappeared as he turned 12 weeks. We’d been told by everyone they tend to grow out of it at 12 weeks, and he did, but hearing that was still of little comfort when we were really in the thick of it. We had approx 4-6 hours of screaming every night and it was absolutely brutal and without doubt the hardest time of my life. We tried all over the counter products, nothing worked but I know lots of other people have had success with colic calm, co lactase, gripe water, infacol or simply changing bottles. Not sure if it was a coincidence but we changed to Hipp Organic formula at around 12 weeks and he was so much better. Previously we’d been on comfort milk for colic and constipation and it did nothing but give him bad wind and horrible nappies. Stick in there, here if you need a chat. It can feel incredibly lonely so please do reach out. X

 

[LittleB]

My youngest cried all day, everyday. At about 14 weeks, I took him to the health visitor and she weighed him and found he lost weight. It was then she said he had silent reflux, I changed his milk and he changed over night. He finished bottles straight away, it was easier to feed and he didn’t cry all day. He’s now 2, and he is a moany child, but he is nothing like he was.
I really feel for you. It’s awful. I have 2 older children who weren’t like this so I never knew how to deal with silent reflux. He was also NEVER sick after bottles.
I would speak to your health visitor straight away. Honestly, I should not have left it for so long x

thank you - which milk did you change to?

Thank you all so much for your words of advice, I didn’t get any notifications for this thread for some reason so I’ve only just read the replies. It’s so comforting to hear that it passed with your little ones, it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel at the moment x

 

[Jellybean093]

thank you - which milk did you change to?

Friends recommended Hipp comfort (I think) however that didn’t agree with him, so we put him back on cow and gate, and on to the anti reflux one. It’s a lot thicker and he finished it so much quicker. Changing milk was the best thing I’ve ever done for him!

 

[sibh19]

Our little baby now 10months used to cry cry in evenings refuse to feed & would just cry himself off to sleep very difficult time,was recommended sma comfort & got tommie tippee bottles for colic & straight away was like a different child back to his happy self.
We used infacol on him too & found it brillant

 

[Snippysnips]

Hi, hope this helps, not sure how you are feeding the little one but my cousins little one was exactly like this, she was breast feeding an was told to come off diary an for her that was what stopped the colic for her little one, she's a few months old now but hasn't been anything like she was when she was born, of course if it's bottles then ignore me, apparntly I was a nightmare as a baby with colic an it was slow feeder teets an being layed down on someone's arm with my legs an arms dangling down the side an my head in their palm that stopped me crying

 

[Thelife&times]

Our little baby now 10months used to cry cry in evenings refuse to feed & would just cry himself off to sleep very difficult time,was recommended sma comfort & got tommie tippee bottles for colic & straight away was like a different child back to his happy self.
We used infacol on him too & found it brillant

Another vote for infacol here!

My little one had this, and a first time parent I hadn’t no idea what I was doing and what was wrong I was about to change bottles/milk etc, but a good friend recommended this to me and it really did settle her. The only thing I did change was the bottles and went to anti colic bottles.

 

[Londonsays]

Could I ask a question, I think it’s colic but I am not sure?

First time parents and we have a 5 day old baby. He’s very hungry and takes all his milk (Aptamil powder at home and when in hospital was the ready made bottles).

He has never once been sick after a bottle and does not cry but it’s incredibly hard to get him to burp and if we manage it’s only a tiny one. He squirms, lifts his legs up, clenches his fists, goes red, sounds like he is wheezing and does all this for ages. Sometimes stops and then starts again.

He also has hiccups several times a day.

We’ve been shown different ways to rub and pat his back by 2 midwives and a health visitor but it’s not helping.

I don’t know what to do? xx