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WTF is colic?!?!
  • morgaine
    Posts: 44Member
    My newborn is screaming. And screaming. And screaming. I'm still recovering from a c-section, I haven't slept more than 5 out of the last 48 hours. He never cries like this. A friend said something about colic, but I Googled the symptoms and they don't really match up. He's dry, fed, warm, no fever/gas/constipation, and husband and I have taken turns rocking him since 4 am. What do I do?? I'm so tired!! D':
  • kittykisses80kittykisses80
    Posts: 1,014Member
    Sadly for colic there's not much but patience. My oldest had it as a baby, before colic really was anything. She would spit up and cry constantly. Thankfully it won't last forever. Try to get a break away from baby when you've had enough. I knoweasier said than done. Poor little baby. Hard on them too.
  • SchweddyBallsSchweddyBalls
    Posts: 3,241Member
    Colic is a painful build up of gas in the little ones poop shoot tubes.......you can't feel it or hear it......but if holding baby upright on your shoulder while gently bouncing/ rocking and little one calms down.....its colic. Gripe water works, colic tablets too. ....all safe for newborns and you can find them at walmart.......also try some 1/2 strength peppermint tea. Good luck mama........just try to sleep when baby does......forget everything else you "need" to get done.
    I'm the nicest person you will ever meet, UNTIL you fuck with me or the betches I love.......
  • cheesehead4ever
    Posts: 673Member

    I think colic is really a term for when the doctor doesn't know what the hell is wrong, although supposedly it's gas.

    Are you nursing?  I know when I was a baby, I screamed for the first two months (according to my mom, almost constantly) and I was on formula.  Dr. had no clue what was wrong except gas.  When my sister was born, she started up right away also.  My mom, just on a hunch, switched her to soy formula.  End of crying. She now figures I was allergic to the regular formula. 

    One thing that helped me was them putting me in the car seat on top of a running dryer.  Probably not the safest thing but now there are vibrating bouncy seats.  Have you tried that?  Also try the swing.

  • morgaine
    Posts: 44Member
    He's resting fitfully in the swing currently ... He's combo fed because I don't produce enough milk but he's never had a problem with formula before ... He's still passing gas and pooping normally but is discontented in ANY position. I'm gonna cry. :'(
  • SchweddyBallsSchweddyBalls
    Posts: 3,241Member

    The passing gas and poop doesn't mean its not colic........that's a BIG missgiving!!!
    Have tried tightly burrito wrapping??? That worked on my #2....
    I'm the nicest person you will ever meet, UNTIL you fuck with me or the betches I love.......
  • justkeepswimmingjustkeepswimming
    Posts: 780Member
    I nursed both my kids, and my second had colic. One thing I found that helped for brief periods was rocking her really hard in a (rocking) chair, or, holding her face-down football hold w/ her head to the crook of my elbow and swinging back and forth - smoothly yet forcefully. Just be careful, don't want shaken baby syndrome, but my daughter would just look content for a bit while I did this. Other than that the gas drops and the things @SchweddyBalls said, patience, and a steady supply of people to take over so you don't lose your mind with impatience. That was the hardest for me, staying calm after 3-4 straight hours of screaming. Good luck - and just remember, it will pass eventually #:-S
    When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.
    ~Oscar Wilde
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  • Marionettevie
    Posts: 2,229Member
    colic hold! google colic hold, that helped my poor son when i had crazy let down and he was swallowing loads of air.
  • morgaine
    Posts: 44Member
    I did try the swaddle-de-los-straightjacket, it worked yesterday (though he hated it at first) but not today. As for the assistants, I'm pretty much alone in this now that DH is at work. I'm thinking of enlisting the cat as a babysitter for five minutes so I can have a smoke. O.o
  • TorturedbyTWINSTorturedbyTWINS
    Posts: 1,161Member
    When one of mine was screaming my friend laid him across her legs belly down and just patted his back and for some reason that position has worked...  She babysat a ton of newborns and she swears by it.  Gripe water was also a big help.  Good luck! 
  • Crotchgazer
    Posts: 173Guest
    For the first 3 months of DS life we had to go for car rides. That was the only thing that would calm him down. Saw a lot of nice neighborhoods. Good luck mama!
  • morgaine
    Posts: 44Member
    Things that work: stroller rides, Colic Calm™, shower noise/stove exhaust fan noise, propping him to sleep on his side (no flames plz, he needs sleep and so do I), quick rocking motion, calling his father/a sitter and bolting for the door

    Things that do not work: rocking in traditional cradle position, holding upright, pacifier, crying, saying "please, baby, please shut up", desperate appeals to the gods, rain dance, summoning the Goblin King
  • shate98shate98
    Posts: 2,773Member
    @morgaine also look into the "happiest baby on the block" book/dvd. Sometimes it's a combo of things to get lil one to settle. It's about the 5 S's:

    Shushing (or loud white noise- like the exhaust fan)
    Sucking (on a pacifier, finger, etc)
    Swaddle (baby burritos!)
    Side (holding baby on side- because being on their back causes the "falling" reflex sometimes)
    Swinging


    "As you wander through your life, whatever be your goal,
    keep your eye upon the doughnut, not upon the hole."
  • Dragonbabyx3Dragonbabyx3
    Posts: 1,137Member
    Hilands colic tabs worked for DD!!! Immediate affect. I was in my happy place for the first time since having her after we found those! Lol
  • BugsMomma
    Posts: 174Member
    Mommy's bliss gripe water, just standing in the shower with baby, keep trying to nurse (helps your milk supply too) try magic baby hold. Good luck! I know it's rough but you can make it!!!
  • mommyof2_76
    Posts: 341Member
    Does he spit up a lot? It could be acid reflux. Both my kids have it. My son slept in his carseat and my daughter sleeps on her tummy. Oh yeah and try doing bicycle legs and gently pressing his knees to his tummy. If he farts a lot its probably gas.
  • WhoDatIsWhoDatIs
    Posts: 733Member
    I stand by @shate98. And put that swing on the highest setting with him swaddled tightly, my babies, especially "colicky" babies slept in the swing on high or medium all the time til 4 mos. Swaddled til 6 mos.
    You and me, we go way back.
  • WhoDatIsWhoDatIs
    Posts: 733Member
    Hell, I still love to be swaddled! ;)
    You and me, we go way back.
  • Crankypants
    Posts: 8Member
    There is a med called donnatol
    My sister used it all the time for her kids and insisted i get it for my screaming new born. The doc said he hadnt prescribed it in 20 years. I got it and it seemed to help. I used ut sparingly because there were reports of babies dying it is a barbituate. But it helped.i went through what you r going through for 7 weeks after seven weeks it just stopped. A sling worked too. We called it baby in a bag. Its awful hang in there.
  • Crankypants
    Posts: 8Member
    Stop eating dairy for 2 weeks
  • beambeam
    Posts: 1,060Member
    1. If they fall asleep nursing - -wake them up for that burp!!!!
    2. The downward facing football hold works too (there is picture on a thread around here somewhere) but here photo number 2 : http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/crying-colic-9/slideshow-treating-colic
    3. Raising one end of the bed (towels underneath)
    4. The I Love You massage worked for us http://youtu.be/-RaMv4smzO4
    "Magic things are fond of deceptions.” ― Tom Robbins
  • Emmasmom04Emmasmom04
    Posts: 206Member
    My daughter had it really bad, it was awful. all she ever did was scream.  My mom said I had it bad when I was born and she gave me fennel tea, 2 oz once a day.  I did it and it worked like a charm, it helped her out so much!  You have to make the tea homemade, don't buy any premade mixes. no sugar, just fennel seeds and water.
  • undercoverbanana
    Posts: 7,726Member
    Catnip and fennel. Catnip calms them, and fennel helps them pass gas. Or, if you are afraid to use catnip, chammomile and fennel seed. About a tsp. Of each steeped in hot water, about a coffee cup full, add a little something sweet to it, let it cool, strain it through a coffee filter, stick it in a little bottle, and let them have as much as they want. Safe for brand new babies, too. Also, try running a vaccum cleaner, or putting the baby in a baby carrier on top of the washing machine while it is running. It calms them. When they calm down, their tummies stop hurting so bad.
    i'm nekkid.
  • Emmasmom04Emmasmom04
    Posts: 206Member
    undercoverbanana said:

    Catnip and fennel. Catnip calms them, and fennel helps them pass gas. Or, if you are afraid to use catnip, chammomile and fennel seed. About a tsp. Of each steeped in hot water, about a coffee cup full, add a little something sweet to it, let it cool, strain it through a coffee filter, stick it in a little bottle, and let them have as much as they want. Safe for brand new babies, too. Also, try running a vaccum cleaner, or putting the baby in a baby carrier on top of the washing machine while it is running. It calms them. When they calm down, their tummies stop hurting so bad.



    my daughter used to love the vacuum running, but as soon as I shut it off she screamed bloody murder.  Glad you mentioned the fennel tea, it works so great!
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