my two week old baby....?

Question

Has what I believe to be colic. Every night from about 4 to 8 she is very hard to console...only by pedalling her little legs to release the gas and by carrying and bounching her can I get her to calm down for a minute or two. She has regular bowel movements up until early afternoon and then doesn't go again until night time, when she goes very often, which I think is the culprit. She has also been spitting up more, even though I burp her frequently during feedings. Thankfully her weight gain is very good and she is not dehydrated, but I still worry. I am breastfeeding and my first thought is to cut out dairy, which my dr said may help, and of which I had eaten a lot of through the pregnancy and the past two weeks. I am starting that now...does anyone have other suggestions for calming and soothing her, or to reduce her discomfort in some way? I hate seeing her like this, she's such a good baby and it's so hard to watch her be uncomfortable :(

Answer 1

It can take 2-3 weeks for the 2 of you to get the dairy out of your system, so it will be a while before you can determine if the dairy elimination did the trick. If cutting out dairy doesn't do it, I'd look at wheat next.

Try short, frequent feedings. This may be easier on her tummy.

Massage her tummy in a clockwise circle.

Try keeping her upright for about 20 minutes after a feeding.

Talk to a Lactation Consultant or a La Leche League Leader for more help.

Answer 2

Most of what I have read, colic is a myth. It is for exactly what you describe, a cranky baby for no reason. The wife and I just started going through this with out 6 weeks old about 10 days ago. Best part has been, when she finally does calm down after, the 5 S's, music and every other possible thing to calm her, she usually sleeps 3-5 hours.

Most dificult thing ever, not being able to soothe you baby when he/she is like this.

Welcome to parenthood.

Answer 3

Nurse her more often during this time...if nothing else, it will soothe her and keep her quiet! Definately quit dairy...it could take three days to dissapear from your system so give it some time! The next culprit could be a wheat allergy....but try the dairy first and dont worry at this point....also, remember to swaddle her nice and tight and go sit or lay down in bed...she may be overstimulated from the day.....
Signs of bad gas would be she is holding her self straight out, stiffinging up everything ...for a long time, she has seems to sense relief after passing gas....
Some babies are just plain bewildered by NORMAL abdominal functions...not in pain, just freaked out by it...swaddle, nurse, hold and comfort....

Answer 4

Ohhhh, I am sooo sorry! Both of my children experienced something like what you have described. My son seemed to feel better with "Mylacon". (I think it spelled it right??) It comes in a little dropper, similar to infants Tylenol. I believe its a blue or green packaging. It is supposed to help upset tummies and is safe to use on even newborns. Give it a try, it could help. (It did not seem to help my daughter though).
My daughter responded well to a change in diet. She was very sensitive to vegetables and dairy. It sounds a little boring, but I ate a lot of oatmeal with water. It was one thing that I knew did not bother her.
Remember, this will pass. I think the first 3 months of a babies life are grueling as a parent. Know that happier days are coming!

Answer 5

I had the same problem with my two boys 19 mths apart. They would start crying at 4 and wouldnt stop till 9 at night unless they were held or breastfed.They too were of good weight and healthy but would just cry and cry. I tried Gripe water for colic but it didnt really help. Just rocking them and holding them seemed to do the trick. It lasted about 3 mths for each child and every day it will last less and less till eventually when they started eating solids they stopped. So to you Good luck and try to stay strong it wont last forever,hopefully you can get some help around this time of day till it gets better,All the best and your not alone.

Answer 6

i always thought it was normal baby behaviour at this age to be unsettled during these times of the day. I experienced it with all my 3 babies & it lasted to about 3 months from memory. Try some cool boiled water or some gripe water if you really believe it to be colic/wind etc. Have you tried bathing your baby at this time followed by wrapping her snuggly & giving her a breast feed. I would not recommend making any dietry changes at this stage unless you have good information on dietry replacement. Your doctor sounds vague on this issue so it probably wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion. Best of luck.

Answer 7

The best thing is to "swaddle" your baby with a receiving blanket.

If not, or in addition to that, hearing a dryer running or sitting her atop of it with your supervision can also help sooth her colicky ways. They also say running a vacuum can help, but I'm not sure if I buy into that one because it didn't work for my son years ago.

Good luck hun!

Here's a link for you honey....

http://pregnancy.about.com/od/newbornbabies/ss/swaddle.htm

Answer 8

hi i had a very similar problem when my son was born. i don't know where you come from but in the uk we have something called infacol. it smells like oranges and you give it to them before a feed, it helps the baby to release wind after a feed. it really helped my son and he was a completely different baby after we used it.