baby colic?

Question

My baby is 3 months old. EVERY OTHER NIGHT, he screams in pain. My partner thinks he is hungry and feeds him. He then screams even more. He is being bottle fed and won't poop for a couple of days. He wakes up in the morning, and is fine. He kicks off again at about 6pm. We can't seem to burp him, he will bring up a lot of wind but still cry. We give him Infacol which helps and Gripe Water which seems to do nothing. Does he have colic? Is he contipated? Is he being over-fed? I don't want to go to the doctor just yet, I don't feel there is a serious problem but it's upsetting. My partner says I should not put Infacol in with his milk but I have heard of lots of people that do this. Is this okay? I don't find doctors very helpful.

Answer 1

It sounds like colic, my DD suffered terribly with colic from about 2 weeks. I was at the end of my tether with her constant crying and we had a vicious circle forming as I was breast feeding, when she was in pain she wanted to suckle but feeding led to more pain. It got so bad for her that at about 4 weeks she was admitted to hospital for 4 days to rule out anything else but they concluded that it was 'just colic and would pass once her digestive system was more mature'.

Prior to this I had tried all sorts of colic drops and gripe water as well as things passed on by grandparents like a warm towel on the tummy etc. My HV was next to useless and just wished me luck and told me it would pass once she was older. At this point I felt such despair, I honestly didn't think that I could cope with another 8 weeks of the constant crying and I felt so helpless that I couldn't take away the pain that I just used to sit and cry with her.

Out of desperation I trawled the internet daily looking for inspiration and I found an article about cranial osteopathy. It involves gentle manipulation of the skull. I was worried at first that it may cause damage if not carried out correctly but according to many websites, it was impossible to cause damage if an incompetent person carried it out, it simply wouldn't work. I found a registered osteopath who practiced on babies (not all do as it is an extra qualification) and I booked Emma in.

The osteopath examined her and felt her tummy and said that the nerve at the back of the head that fed the digestive system had pressure on it which he could help to relieve, he also said that if the cord is cut very quickly after birth then that can lead to problems too. As skeptical as I was, the treatment was nothing short of a miracle, after her 3rd session she slept right through the night for the first time and he doesn't want to see her again until she is 2.

My family have all commented on what a difference it has made, it was almost instant, she became more settled, let go of her wind more easily and actually started smiling, she hasn't stopped since. The treatment is available on the NHS but the wait is so long that by the time the treatment was received she would have outgrown the problems. She was in so much pain I went ahead and paid privately. It was worth every penny.

I'm so sorry this is such a long post, but there is so little support offered by healthcare professionals for colic that I felt I had to share my experience and make you aware of cranial osteopathy if you aren't already.

Answer 2

I also have a 3 month old baby boy and he was doing the same thing he was crying really hard in the evenings for a month and a half and the crying would last for about an half hour to 45 mins.So I would be steady patting/rubbing his back,singing to him,tried lying him down,I even switch his bottles from gerber to avent.It still never helped.This was also he's last feeding time for the night aswell.So I called our family doctor cause I thought the formula was upsetting his stomach ( Baby drinks Good Start) and he told me to keep him on this formula..So then he asked me how much formula does he drink? I said 8 oz every 2-3 hrs which was adding up to 40 oz a milk a day..So he told me to start giving him cereal then gradually increase it to twice a day and in a couple of weeks introduce baby food and so on.So I have been doing this the past 5 days and the baby hasn't had any crying at night like he used too.I forgot to say that when he would be crying in the evenings after a while he would also let out 2-3 hard burps and still cry a little and then when he was calm down he was ready to drink his bottle.As to regards of infacol and gripe water ,I didnt find gripe water that good ..But I do give Infacol right before his feedings which I started doing the past 5 days aswell..That brings up gas really good.I personally don't think your baby is colic cause I thought the same thing about mine and the Dr. said he wasn't...But that's for your doctor to decide...As regards to your baby being contipated I've known babies to go a couple of days without pooping and they where fine...But check with the doctor about that to.Also if you don't find Infacol working for your baby try some oval drops they might help.I hope this may help you and to say hang in there cause I know it is very stressful on you and your partner when your baby is crying and you don't know what is wroung with them.So maybe your baby is ready for a little cereal.:)

Answer 3

My daughter was fussy/crying starting at 6 pm every night, I asked the pediatrician about it and I was told babies are fussier in the evening, it's not necessarily colic. My daughter would cry off and on till around 8 or so, the only product that helped was gripe water. As soon as we'd get home from the babysitter's I would give her a dose and it really did help with the fussiness. Their bellies are still developing and basically the fussiness and colic is from pains in their stomach, the gripe water helps with that. I nursed my daughter, so while she was in her fussy time I would take her into another room, dim the lights; keep the noise down and nurse her till she came out of her fussy time. I believe it got better around 3 - 3 1/2 months.

Answer 4

I believe your baby cries becoz of colic. My newborn girl is like that too... everynight. But her poop is ok - formula fed too - poop is mustard colour. However your baby does not poop for days. I think thats an area of concern. What is the texture and the colour of the poop? My paeditrician suggested that we carry our newborn against our shoulder, this would make them feel better. It has indeed stop the crying, but once she is placed back to her cot, she cries again.