Any advice to help stay sane for babies with colic?

Carla - posted on 07/01/2010

All right, you guys, I gotta ask--what is gripe water?

Eraine - posted on 07/01/2010

There are some good recommendations listed here and a lot of old wife's tales. From someone who just had her first baby in April and who's baby has horrible colic combined with acid reflux I think I can safely say I have tried EVERYTHING! I'll give you a list of things we tried but every baby is different so you will have to find what works for you which will probably be a combination of stuff. Massage, gripe water, gas drops, monitoring what I eat (onions, garlic, spicy food, broccoli, cow milk, etc...), holding her certain ways, swaddling, white noise, pacifiers (including my own breast), sensitive stomach formulas, non-milk based formulas, having her sleep on my belly, rocking chairs and even trying to let her "cry it out". Now not one of these things worked but a combination of things did. I also found great comfort in the book "The happiest baby on the block". That helped me see colic differently and approach it differently. After reading that book my husband and I found a very good way to manage it and things have been much better since then. Good luck and stay strong, it won't last forever!!!!

Monica - posted on 06/30/2010

Gripe water worked wonders for my son.

Genia - posted on 06/27/2010

The book The High-Needs/Fussy Baby Book by Dr Sears might have some helpful ideas.

Carla - posted on 06/27/2010

I would like to relay my experiences with a chiropractor: I was very sickly as a child, and they were at their wit's end. My dad was an acquaintance with a chiropractor, and he told my parents he could manipulate my spine and cure asthma, ecezma, and a host of other maladies. They spent lots of money, and, of course, manipulating a 10-year-old's spine does nothing for asthma, or much else, other than back aches. Be careful taking your babies to any other person than your pediatrician.

God bless, sweeties!

Mary - posted on 06/26/2010

someone today told me that colic is a myth, and that it is actually a problem with the baby's spine. this lady said she took her daughter to the chiropractor one time and she never had any more problems. no guarantees, but it's defintely worth a shot!

Nicki - posted on 06/25/2010

Try some Gripe Water, a warm bath then her bottle. I had to do it for my daughter and it WORKED! A friend of my switched to Neutramagen formula and it helped her Colicy daughter. Neutramagen is for Colic as Gentlease is for gassy fussy babies. We also found out my daughter has Acid Reflux which was part of her problem.


Good Luck. Hope I could help.

Carla - posted on 06/25/2010

Read a lot of the posts here, and there could probably be millions of remedies, each child is different. I will say that I agree with the one who said track what you are eating. No one told me that, so, at 16, I was eating like a healthy horse, and chocolate galore. My poor baby was throwing up like gangbusters! The Dr. finally told me chocolate was too rich for a baby to digest, so lay off the chocolate, onions, garlic. So, you might want to look into that.

Meghan - posted on 06/25/2010

The chiropractor worked for my colicky baby. She went two times a week for two weeks. We started seeing improvements right away and by the end of the two weeks was cured! I liked that I wasn't giving her medicine. It's worth a shot.

Karen - posted on 06/24/2010

My youngest (who is now 4) had colic...her Grandma massaged her ...she started with laying Maddy on her tummy, and using quite a bit if baby lotion/oil(I don't recall which)...and massaged pretty firmly across her lower back and abdomen in sweeping motions. At first, Maddy wasn't real happy...but in a few seconds, she started passing gas. Grandma told us to do it a few times a day or whenever she seemed fussy..and , after doing so for almost a month, her colic seemed to disappear.

Sara - posted on 06/24/2010

Two colicky kids later, I can confidently say, it's a food allergy. If you're breastfeeding, there's really nothing else for it to be. I didn't seek out accupuncture with my first and I wish I would have. I quickly found out my second had a gluten intolerance and for the first 18 mo. he was gluten-free. Now he's two and a half, and clear of all food intolerances. And don't worry, they don't push needles into your baby! It's accupressure - need to have an NAET practicitioner who is dedicated to these types of things. It will work, I promise.

April - posted on 06/23/2010

I know this is going to sound grosse, but boil a yellow onion and strain(very tiny strainer) the juice that comes out from the boiling. Let cool to a safe temp. Then give the baby a ounce or two of it. They love it and normaly after one or two bottles of it the colic is gone. My grandma, mom, and me and my sister have used it with all of our children that have had colic. It smells nasty but it works.

Karlee - posted on 06/23/2010

Track your foods you are eating. sometimes the foods mom eats will affect the sensitivity of breast milk. If it seems that every time your baby is colic, see if there is a certain food or foods your are eating everytime. The baby might have a sensitivity to that food that is going through your breast milk. Avoid those foods if you find a pattern of colic and the certain food. Colic is said to be from an underdeveloped stomach. certain foods can aggravate baby's tummy. This worked for me. my daughter stopped her colic crying after I eliminated some foods in my diet.

Cheryl - posted on 06/22/2010

I had one with colic and ... I feel your pain! After having her, it took me almost 7 years to work up the nerve to have another, for fear another one would be colicky too!
Some doctors will prescribe gas drops for the baby. Mine wouldn't. So, I would feed her, burp her, change her diaper, etc. I'd to everything to make sure she was fine and needed nothing. Then, I put her in her crib and turned on the vacuum outside her door. I would go to another part of the house to get away from the crying. Sometimes, if it wasn't nap time, she'd be better if I held her on my hip, facing out, draped over my forearm. I think the pressure of her little tummy laying on my arm somewhat relieved the pressure in her tummy. It will pass. I have many friends who've had colicky babies and every one of theirs, as well as mine, turned out to be very intelligent.. even gifted. So, you may get a reward later! :o)

Kristen - posted on 06/22/2010

This may sound odd, but it's worked for our fussy baby and for every other family we know who has tried it. Find the Counting Crows' "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" and play it! My husband or I would wear Annie in a sling snuggled up to our chest and stand in front of the speaker, playing the song comfortably loudly (I think the bass in the song is the key; our guess is that it mimics the human heartbeat). Then just sway or bounce to the beat, staying right in front of the speaker. Within a few minutes (the song is long), Annie would settle right down. We did this night after night, week after week, and it worked every time.

We used a soft fabric sling rather than a Bjorn, but you have to make sure your house is cool in the summer if you're using the fabric sling, because babies overheat easily, especially if they're really worked up.

Deborah - posted on 06/16/2010

I heard having a white noise machine in the babies room helps, it helps soothe them just like the vacuum does. I don't have much experience with colic but if your child is soothed by the vacuum then a white noise machine should help.

Itsa - posted on 06/16/2010

Get a Baby Bjorn sling, we swear by this. It's easy as anything to feed baby in and they're upright so gas comes up quick. They can fall asleep in it and it's easy to put them down in the crib too. Simply lean forward till baby is lying on their back on the crib mattress in the sling, unhook the straps and stand up, raise crib bars!

Our son had TERRIBLE colic... somedays I couldn't get a moment to use the loo, let alone get something to eat! The sling makes it a breeze... I could make food, use the toilet (lol seems weird but easier than not going at all!), we even slept together like that, on my side with baby facing me in the sling.

Terri - posted on 06/15/2010

Hey Robyn, if u keep socks on her feet all the time day and nite. and try giving her a ounce of water before she drinks her bottle.

Alison - posted on 06/15/2010

The vacuum generally helps to stimulate the calming reflex. I heard a recommendation to let baby lie on their own in a dark calm room could help, but my girls never had colic.

I do recommend you consider seeing a pediatric chiropractor. They actually have a really good success rate with colic.