Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Got Colic?

I can still remember the tension. The aching knot in my shoulders that was caused by them continuously being hunched up in stress and frustration as I tried to soothe my daughter for what felt like the millionth hour that day. Every day.  Colic.  That five letter word can reduce any parent to a puddle and incite groans in so many.  I still cry out in horror when someone mentions it and our daughter is now almost five.

Shortly after we brought our beautiful first baby home from the hospital she changed.  Gone was the serene sweet face.  Instead it was replaced by a red, beady-eyed screaming mite of a child that never stopped crying.  She would be rigid and fighting for hours on end.  It caused no end of stress, questioning and frustration in our house as we first time parents had no idea what to do for this colicky baby.  Her doctor tried to help giving us all the positions to hold her and books to read.  We tried so many.  Once the screaming was so bad from her and us that a neighbor popped by to ask us if we wanted her to take TD for a while just to give us a break.  It was that bad.  To say we felt trapped and overwhelmed was an understatement.

While I have no quick remedy I do have an arsenal of ideas, tips and tricks that we tried and found success with at many given times.  And like they say, "this too shall pass..." it did.  Hang in there. Read on about what we did to soothe our colicky baby and offer some advice to others if you want to pass on your own wisdom. I am working with AVENT and TheMotherhood on this issue and hope you can help us out with your thoughts, ideas and tips.  Sharing your own stories is also welcome. 

The Miracle Blanket- they say swaddling can help calm a colicky baby.  This "baby straight-jacket", as my husband called it, worked incredibly well.  We would wrap TD up tight in this each night and it would calm her down.

The Football hold- Placing her on H's forearm, stomach down relieved some of the gas and discomfort she felt many nights as did pumping her legs while she was lying down.

Soy Formula- This may not work or even be a remedy for everyone  but it was our saving grace.  We tried this at 6 a.m. one morning after a marathon screamfest and hours spent pacing the floor and bouncing TD.  I finally relented and remembered that the labeled said it could help with "fussy" babies.  EUREKA!  After a week we had our serene baby back and life slowly got better. 

Kanye West- Certainly not a traditional remedy by any means but for some reason West's 'Late Registration' CD worked like magic on our child.  I must have played "Touch the Sky" and "Drive Slow" about a million times rocking, dipping and swaying her to the beats.  She loved it and it never failed to amaze me and lighten my mood as well. 

Avent Bottles- Truthfully, the only ones we allowed in our house for TD.  They helped reduce her colic as well and we lived by those wide, squatty bottles.  I'm still a fan of the BPA-free ones for The Fifth Element. 

I'm giving away a fabulous package to one lucky reader too- an AVENT gift basket that has 3 bottles – one of each size (4, 9 and 11 oz) and Dr. Jen Trachtenberg’s new book 'The Smart Parent's Guide to Getting Your Kids Through Checkups, Illnesses, and Accidents: Expert Answers to the Questions Parents Ask Most'.  To enter simply submit those fabulous tips for caring for colicky babies in the comments!  I will choose a winner at random by October 29, 2010.

3 comments:

  1. Jessica7:02 PM

    I know EXACTLY what you went through because my daughter was like that too for four months. Luckily, so far, my 3 week old son is completely different and surprisingly easy! We found that vacuuming helped sooth her (somewhat). We also used the vibration of the bouncy seat. My only real saving grace was the Moby wrap. I wore her around all the time and she'd usually, eventually, fall asleep. She also like loud base in music. In particular, Jay Z's the Black Album. We don't play that for her now!
    My email address is jessicareedbradley at yahoo.

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  2. I followed the 5 S's from "the Happiest Baby on the Block" (swaddle, side/stomach, sucking, swinging, and sushing) when my daughter was a baby. They worked like magic. My son never got colic, so I lucked out there! He's almost 6 months old so I think he's past the colic age.

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  3. Natalia12:30 AM

    I used to put my baby down and stroke his belly clockwise and of course Dimethicone or dill water helped a bunch!
    natatheangel at yahoo dot com

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