Colic - Lets chat

moped wrote: So Jennie's post made me wonder about colic. Jack was VERY colicky and it was so hard, but what causes it? Can it be prevented in the womb? Anything??

lovemy2 replied: I don't think there is any prevention for it - but I have read more and more and have had lengthy discussions with my Ped about it and have found that more and more Peds are moving towards reflux being the issue.....like I said in one of Jennie's posts there is such a thing as silent reflux - no real visible signs - no spitting up, etc. etc. all the visible things the infant does - getting rigid - pulling legs up, etc. etc. seem to mimic colic.....now that being said - I do agree there are fussy babies out there but I also whole heartedly believe there are things you can do for them (some medical, some not - swaddling for example) and by pursuing it with your Ped you will eventually find something to get some relief to the baby - Dylan is living proof - once we finally got the right combination of formula and meds, he turned into a dream

eta - oh yeah and a nice bottle of wine for mommy is always good too (if you aren't breastdfeeding of course)

Kaitlin'smom replied: just wondering has anyone who BF had a colic baby?

I wish there was some great easy fix for them I hate to think they are suffering. make me sad that something is buggin them.

PrairieMom replied:
I did.

I read that 1/3 cases of cholic are caused by milk sensitivities. When I quit eating milk products Ally's cholic got tons better. when I put her on formula it was horrible again, until we discovered soy. that saved our lives. we finally changed her over to regular milk soy at 10 months, and she is totally fine now.

moped replied:
Yes I did Di, you see I didn't know much about anything when I had him so i thought it was normal for him to cry so much and then the doc told me what it was - I BF til 6 months but I didn't notice a difference in him with formula or BM

lovemy2 replied:
Tara - wasn't Alexis "colicky" until you stopped dairy???? Seems to me the issues around "colic" still have underlying roots in something manageable - like milk intolerance, protein intolerance, etc. etc......all things that can be helped with formulas, diet changes (if BF), etc.

luvmykids replied:
Not me but my grandmother All five of hers were BF and three were extrememly colicky.

PrairieMom replied:
yeah. I just posted that. we must have been posting at the same time.

Kaitlin'smom replied: hummm so it sounds like colic has something to do with an interollance to milk or something, so one is exclued it can ahppen to any babies. sorry for the questions but anothe rone those wilth colic babies were you or DH? wondering if its herretary, or do eithe ryour or spouse have any intollerance to milk, lacots or anything?

moped replied: Good question Di - I don't know if I was or DH

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: All three of mine have had a sensitive stomach at some point. Katy had colic...there seemed to be no other problems. She did make a huge diference when we started her on soy but part was also she seemed to know what she wanted from teh time she was born...and if you were not giving her what she wanted she would let you know. She didn't get to be *tolerable* to be arround until after she was mobile.
Matt was diagnosed with colic also went to soy with minimal improvement but he also had horrible reflux. He was worst on bm(and I was on a very exclusionary diet), than dairy based formula, best on soy (hypoallergenic made no difference)
Johnny...he's a mess and we ahve no clue why or what to do for him

eta. dh and I were both very easy babies...slept like a dream, rarely cried...we were both apparently DREAM babies....and all three of ours have been nightmares (still great but ykwim)

PrairieMom replied:
DH was real bad. My MIL was totally kicking herself when she learned that I was able to control hers with diet and swaddling. She was totally amazed at how "smart" I was, and "if she had only known that 30 years ago..." All I have to say is Thank God for the internet, and for forums like this where you can get ideas and support. I',m no smarter than her, (well... ) I'm just better connected.

My FIL had it real bad too. He was raised on Goat milk because he couldn't tolerate cow milk.

Kaitlin'smom replied: I feel so bad for the suffering of not only the babies but the parents as well. there deffinalty seems to be some connections as to what they are eating and genitics, maybe not 100% but some corrolation with them.

Our Lil' Family replied: Personally I think "colic" is a Dr's way of saying, I don't know what is wrong and I'm too lazy to figure it out. I believe that most often than not it is either an allergy or reflux.

Boo&BugsMom replied: My personal experiences...

Tanner was colicky from day one. However he was two week's overdue. The reason that is significant is because from what Tanner's doctor said that it appears between 1-2 weeks after birth or after the supposed due date. He has had premies who were not colicky for a month or so, then all of a sudden two week's after their "due date" they became colicky. Kind of strange. That would explain why Tanner was so hard to deal with from the moment we got home...because he was SO overdue. ???

Aiden was one week overdue, then for the first week at home he was fine, then after that is when the colic started setting in. Again...strange, but almost predictable.

IMHO, I think part of it is because some babies just have a hard time adjusting to life outside the womb. They are nice and cozy and comfortable, esp. when dealing with ones like my kids who did NOT want to come out and liked it inside my belly. I wonder if that explains why many infants like swaddling and white noise and movement...they all mimic the womb.

Other reasons as to why colic exsist??? I have NO idea!!! I know the formula worked really well for Tanner, so perhaps his was an allergy. We'll see what happens with Aiden.

On a side note, I have known a few people with BF'd infants who were colicky. Ones who did and did not cut out certain foods from their diet.

ETA: I also wanted to make a note that both hubby and I were VERY colicky as infants. The boy's doctor believes that you can have a higher chance of having a colicky baby if you or the babies daddy were colicky. Makes sense with our situation...Troy was so bad that hs doc put him on Valium as an infant!!!

Nathansmom replied: I'm BF and Ryan is colicky, but I've cut out all dairy and it helps...a little bit. What helped most for us is to not let him stay awake for more than an hour...if he sleeps a lot he is way happier while he's awake.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
This seems to help Aiden too. When he's only awake for an hour or so at a time he does way better during the day and at night. He gets overtired easily!

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Yep, this is my take on it too!

Maddie never had problems, but Ethan did. They were both BF. Ethan had horrible reflux, but we never figured out what triggered it. Scotty had "colic" as an infant and still has stomach problems to this day. I was not, but I had a brother who had "colic" and also still has stomach problems.

Boo&BugsMom replied: I wonder if colic is correlated with being induced. I was induced with both my kids and they were both extremely coicky. Almost like they were upset they couldn't come out on their own time.

Nathansmom replied: Nathan was induced, no colic, Ryan came on his own, major colic.....

HSAE4 replied: Have you tried Gripe Water. You can get it at a health food store, It's suppose to help with colic, teething, and some other things. My friend uses it for her sons colic and she loves it. You don't give them alot of it, but not sure exactly how much. It a natural alternative rather than meds.