I need some advice from some seasoned moms!

LenaGardner

LenaGardner

New member
Oy. I have had 3 days from you-know-where. While I'm on baby #3, I have never experienced this before so help me out if you have!

I think Parker has colic. Or something. I'm not sure. He woke up at 6 a.m. two days ago, inconsolable, and has just been incredibly fussy every since. I've been online quite a bit the last couple of days because he won't let me put him down so I've spent all my time sitting with him snuggled on my chest and scrapping, etc.

He spits up a little, but not like a FF baby...it's like a little bit of almost curdled milk that comes to his lips every now and then. He's also very drooly. He's only 7 weeks old though so please don't say he's teething :p He is very gassy, from both ends. He is somewhat happy as long as he's upright. He fights at the breast. He claws, shakes his head, pulls off, you name it. He will NOT take a bottle of formula, so even if I wanted to quit BF I couldn't! :p (smart boy, huh?)

My gut says it is less about reflux than it is about gas/colic, but I can't be certain. He's been given an otherwise fine bill of health...no congestion, no ear infection, etc. The thrush is not completely gone but it is still clearing up (we are using gentian violet).

Yesterday a trifecta of gentian violet, mylicon and tylenol plus a bath helped to get him settled down for a morning nap and I did the same last night except instead of a bath I shut down all the lights and swaddled him and cuddled with him.

I think that I should start eliminating from my diet. I honestly don't think I can do the actual Dr. Sears elimination diet...I barely even like the foods that are on it! I could, however, start with dairy...any advice? Do I have to go hard-core...like eliminating chocolate b/c it is made with milk?

I'm also stumped b/c it has JUST presented itself...never before have we had these issues. I've heard sometimes that 6 or 7 weeks is when this can begin though.

I'm looking for any advice I can get. I have had a few mini-meltdowns in the last few days because it is an emotionally charged situation to begin with. I am the one who signed up to have two under two, I just didn't think I'd be alone when I made that decision!
 
It does sound like colic to me. The only thing that helped my middle child (only one I had with colic) was holding her in a football type hold with her looking down at the floor and rocking her. Another thing that helped was having some soft music going. It seemed that the more noise there was, the more she stopped.
 
well i have a colicky/gassy/fussy baby..

the things i have done.

1. eliminated all dairy from my diet. i have elminated everything.. go to www.fussybaby.ca and you will see a list of foods there that contain dairy (this website actually helped me alot. My dr told me to try and start reintroducing some dairy when lucas is about 6 months old (2 more months - WOOT)

2. swaddled (just recently quit wrapping his arms) and sleeps with a white noise machine (not sure if this helps but it relaxes me lol)

3. he goes for chiropractor appts - this SERIOUSLY helps

4. my dr did put him on reflux meds because we just weren't sure but i'm not sure.. he seems to be getting better now. my dr told me to stop giving him the meds for a few days and it doesn't seem any different so not sure that was a problem.

5. Gripe Water - here in canada we have a brand called "kolik" and it helps the best

*huge hugs* Lucas is 4 months now and still pretty fussy but i have noticed in the past week or so he is starting to get a bit calmer

Oh and lucas.. he did cut his teeth early but not that early he was 11 weeks i think? just a few days shy of three months. Lucas wont' take a bottle either and he feeds very frequently - still at 4 months he is at least every 2 hours..

I'd talk to your dr and see what they have to say and definately check out that website, and if you search here you will find a desperate plea for help from me that i posted a month or so ago.. heh
 
Last edited:
My nephew has colic..thankfully for my sister he's not terribly fussy, she has eliminated dairy and her ped said to let him sleep on his tummy and he's a diff baby!
 
I know some might not like this question, but we're moms, so...let's talk poop. What are his poops looking like? Are they the healthy normal buttery, mustardy, seedy-ish breastfed poops? Or have they been foamy at all? Greenish?

The fighting at the breast could be an issue of your letdown being quite strong and he could be getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk..that can cause discomfort and gasiness. I had this issue with DD we ended up nursing on only one side for awhile and this really helped her get a balance of the milk and eased her ick gut.

Also, what you're doing sound just right..follow your instincts. My DD responded to being held closely and tightly so I wore her in a sling most all day and we swaddled at sleep time.
 
It is either colic or reflux, I think. I'm not seasoned and only have one child but this sounds a lot like what I dealt with when my daughter was born.

She was always ill, gassy, fussy, and not normal fussy but I'm talking screaming hollering mad as fire! It about drove me nuts but she was in pain and couldn't help it. We didn't know what to do. I tried taking all milk products out of my diet but that didn't work. Then I started taking all wheat based products out of my diet and that wasn't helping and it was getting to the point where there was not much left for me to eat.

I kept telling the dr.'s that it was more than normal baby spit up or her just being lactose intolerant. Took us 6wks but we finally got her scheduled for one of those reflux tests. Turns out that yes she did have severe acid reflux. Everything she ate flew right back out so not only was she hurting she was also hungry and that explained the every hour and a half eating binge. I was truly at the end of my rope and gave up on breastfeeding at about 3 months old. I hated to do it but it took her 30 minutes to eat and that was every 1-2 hrs. I just couldn't handle it anymore.

They put her on liquid zantac and regulin and had us mix bottles of formula with 2 tbs. of rice cereal. It looked thicker than a milkshake and I was always scared she would choke.

After that, things started getting easier and she was less fussy. I hated to put her on all that medicine and give her formula but we really had nothing left to try. We had to do something for our sanity and hers and now looking back I'm glad we did.

I hope this is not the case with your baby but if it is and you need someone to scream to, I am here and listening! Bottom line here Lena, trust your instincts above all else. You are moma!

By the way- she was VERY lactose intolerant. The kid couldn't tolerate real milk until she was 3. Before that she had something called lactaid I think? Red box of milk, pretty expensive that we had to buy. She's ok now and eats ice cream and cheese and milk all the time LOL
 
Last edited:
We all know that they don't know what causes Colic, but I figured out, through trial and error, that if I gave Kylie anything with too much iron, she was miserable. I know doctors say that babies need all that extra iron, but iron can really irritate a little ones tummy, and if you are taking iron supplements, which I am sure you are, this is coming through in your breast milk.

Once again, i am no doctor, but limiting her iron intake really seemed to help, also, potassium is another culprit. I use to give Kylie banana and she would get really crabby afterwards, it's all trial and error, but it's worth a shot, :)
 
curdled milk puke can be a sign of reflux or a milk allergy.. BUT if there's no projectile vomiting.. I'd lean away from the reflux side. Ce had colic, severe reflux.. and a major milk allergy (amongst others) so it's hard for me to even say which caused what LOL.. but I know the disgusting curdled milk part all too well. Hang in there, def try eliminating ALL milk products from your diet and see if that helps.. you're doing all the right things mama.
 
I don't have any extra advice - I think these ladies know a lot more about this than I do, but i wanted to just send you a big HUG and let you know you're in my prayers. Typical of bubby to wait until Daddy's away to do this huh.;)
 
lauren grier said:
curdled milk puke can be a sign of reflux or a milk allergy.. BUT if there's no projectile vomiting.. I'd lean away from the reflux side.
Click to expand...
My daughter had reflux- I tried the elimination diet, reflux meds, gastro docs, etc. We ended up going with formula Gentlease LIPIL and she'd still BF sometimes, but the fussy, gassy, throw-ups slowed down considerably. When we started solids around 6 months, she only BF every so often and did the formula and the symptoms slowly disappeared.

Not saying you should go to formula, especially if the doc doesn't recommend it, but that is what we ended up having to do.

Hang in there!
 
DS1 had colic. He screamed, cried, fussed & wailed non-stop from pretty much the moment he was born until he was 10 months old. When he was 5 weeks old we both laid on the bed and cried for a half hour & DH called my doctor. I hoped it was somethng treatable but it wasn't. It was colic. Didn't matter what I eliminated from my diet, didn't matter if he nursed, had forumla, had rice cereal. Rocking him, swaddling him, walking him, driving him around, putting him in a swing, carrying him in a sling, none of it worked more than a couple times. The only thing that seemed to help on a regular basis was to sit him up on my lap, drape his belly/chest over my arm and pat/rub his back. He was born able to hold his head up so I didn't need to worrya bout floppy neck muscles. DH & I would do this for an hour at a stretch until he settled enough to sleep or sit in the bouncy while we ate. I spend endless hours just sitting in front of the TV patting this child on the back. Then, almost overnight, he didn't need it anymore. Like a switch went off or something.
Good luck to you. I've been there & I know it is miserable. {{hugs}}
 
My first thought was colic, not reflux. My third has reflux and what you are describing doesn't exactly ring like what we went through, granted all babies are different, but even still.

Is the fussiness mainly at night or all the time? Will he sleep lying down or only sleep on you? I noticed with Logan's reflux right off that he absolutely could not sleep lying on his back. And it wasn't that he spit up all that much, but he did a lot of gagging, hiccuping and burping.
 
My son was really colicky and it did come on very suddenly around 6 weeks. I don't have any great advice because we tried everything and nothing really seemed to help much (except his swing, sometimes). He eventually just grew out of it and is a happy/healthy kid now. I would take him to the pediatrician just to make sure it's not a reflux issue or something else and they try the usual colic remedies (gripe water, diet changes, etc).

My only real advice is to try not stress out about it. I know that it's so much easier said than done and it's really hard to listen to your own baby cry and fuss, but so many kids have colick when they're babies and they grow out of it and it doesn't result in any long-term harm. So, I know it's upsetting, especially when you have everything else going on, but remember that it's not harming him and it'll get better. :)
 
See the symptoms you describe sound like reflux to me. I have twins and Logan was my reflux baby. He would only BF until we got him on meds and he didn't have projectile vomit or anything else common with reflux signs, just the curdled spit up that you descirbed. He also had problems napping and was just in general very fussy. Mylicon drops helped a smidge, but until we got the relfux meds it was tough at feeding time!!!
 
**Hugs**
I'm a seasoned mom, my guys were/are both such mellow babies, I don't have any advice. =(
The gentian violet worked on Phin's thrush almost immediately after only one application at the pedi's office... are you using it on your bb's, too? Also, I've been sterilizing the nipples between each use, it's a pain, but I'm thinking it's helped with the thrush (he's still so premature, he falls asleep on the breast too easily, and in order to keep his weight up, I pump, bottlefeed him what I pumped immediately, and then bf him to get his suck stamina up.)
Have you tried pumping into a special colic type bottle? We use the Doctor Brown's one.
 
lauren grier said:
curdled milk puke can be a sign of reflux or a milk allergy.. BUT if there's no projectile vomiting.. I'd lean away from the reflux side. Ce had colic, severe reflux.. and a major milk allergy (amongst others) so it's hard for me to even say which caused what LOL.. but I know the disgusting curdled milk part all too well. Hang in there, def try eliminating ALL milk products from your diet and see if that helps.. you're doing all the right things mama.
Click to expand...

Reflux doesn't have to include projectile vomiting. My daughter has severe reflux, and she never had much projectile vomiting. Projectile vomiting is more a sign of an anatomical abnormality, such as pyloric stensosis.

I highly suggest the book Colic Solved. It's a fabulous book about the dealing with the "colicy" baby. Lena, I'll be honest, what you're describing is almost identical to what we went through with Aidan's reflux. Another thing to keep in mind, over-active letdown and over-supply can cause reflux-like symptoms. How is your milk supply and letdown?

We have been through the ringer with reflux. Aidan was on every type of medication under the sun; we tried every elimination diet her GI could throw at us, and yet, she still ended up needing surgery because it was just completely out of control! She still refluxes now! Now, my 5 month old has reflux as well, but not nearly as bad as his sister.

(((hugs))) to all other reflux and "colic" mommies!
 
My little girl had bad colic when she was a baby. She was formula fed so I started giving her Infacol (colic drops) and sleeping her on her tummy and she was so much better.

A friend of mine's little girl was really bad with colic as well, because she was BF and her flow was way too fast. She had to lie on her back and have her baby propped up sitting next to her to when she was sucking it was uphill if you get my meaning. So basically she had to work for the milk, it wouldnt just overflow into her mouth.
 
Thanks for the advice girls! After pining over this all day, consulting with my LC and chatting with many friends (a friend of mine is currently BF #9!) I have decided to take a two pronged approach for now. I'm going to eliminate 95% of dairy and see if that helps. There are just a few things I can't live without (LOL!) like a little sour cream on my chicken taco, that sort of thing ;) I am however going to eliminate everything but that and see if it helps at all. I'm also going to eliminate caffeine even though it hasn't bothered him up until now (but nothing else had bothered him either). I'm also going to eliminate citrus fruits and spaghetti-type sauces.

The other part of my solution for now is to pump. I'm not a huge fan of it, but so be it. I have a medela pump and my body is fairly responsive to pumping. I think I may have a twofold problem with my breastmilk...one is I think I may have a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance...which pumping would solve...and two is I KNOW that I have a really strong and fast letdown. He has such a strong suck (we're talking like a ravenous animal, LOL) that my letdown just sprays out like no joke. I am certain that it is choking him. He gets upset and pulls off, gagging, and screams until he is blue faced. (poor baby :( )

So we'll see how this does!
 
Im no expert but I think you'll find that the latter will be the solution to your problem.

I hope things get better!
 
sorry girlfriend

well...i think it is colic too...hunter *dd* had reflux..projectile vomitting..it was super..let me tell ya...on reglan since she was 3 weeks old...still has bouts of it...Kane *ds* had colic...oh my gosh..terrible times for momma..i am SOO sorry that you are having to go through this..they were both breast babies...I would turn him over and hold him kinda like the football hold and let nothing touch his belly and sing *hey it helped my sanity a little* 15 baths a night tend to help...lavendar j&j is GREAT..i swear that stuff is the shiznit! I also slept with him in the recliner for the first probably 6 months the rocking and him so cuddled and snug seemed to calm him..but he did scream from about 6pm to about 2am.......fabulous times..it wasn't everynight that he did it..but almost that long every night...mylicon drops were in every room..every purse...i kept him out of the wind...let's see...i did probably lots of ridiculous things..but hey..the kid is screaming you will stop at NOTHING to get him to stop crying...ya know...

big hugs...oh..and i sang silent night to him every night about 88 times...that didn't really help him...but it made me feel better...........

xoxo it WILL get better..my niece is very colicy..just started it...my SIL is going nuts...she puts her in the vibrating chair and holds it up and does these squats while holding it..i don't know why..but sadie is quiet when she does it...she is going to have a rock hard bod after this is all over with...

sorry.i can't offer any other help..if that was help that i gave ya... :) big hugs...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2026 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top