Newborns and Colic

Colic is one of those things that can make a parent feel like a failure right out of the gate, especially, if it is your first time as a new parent. My daughter’s colic started when she was about four weeks old. She just started crying one night and didn’t stop for another 2 ½ months.

At first my daughter would scream at 8:00 every night wouldn’t stop until sometime after 11:00. Then she started screaming in the afternoons. Our mornings were peaceful, she was a wonderful happy baby until noon. Then her colic fits would start. She would usually have 3, 3-4 hour fits between 12:00 and 11:00 at night. When a colic fit would start I knew I would be doing nothing but holding her for the next 2-3 hours.

The reason I call them “colic fits” is because they would be these all encompassing states that she couldn’t get out of. I know that many pediatricians feel that babies aren’t in pain when they have colic, but then again many pediatricians also think colic isn’t real.

When my husband and I brought our concerns about our daughter having colic to our pediatrician he looked at us like we were stupid first time parents that didn’t know what we were talking about. He never addressed the textbook colic symptoms that we explained to him. His big revelation to us was that babies pick up on a parent’s nervous energy and that if I was calmer, my daughter would also be calm.

Ok then, thanks for that.

So the pediatrician couldn’t help. I decided to go to an expert, my mom.

She told me there was no magic cure for colic, but she came up with a new idea to help me almost every day. Together we came up with a routine that her and my sister followed when she would have a colic fit. This way they could give me a much needed break.

It went something like this: Swaddle, Heat, Noise, Rock. Repeat. Swaddle, Heat, Noise, Rock. Repeat.

We would wrap her up like a Baco (baby taco). Then we would get a warm water bottle bag and put it against her tummy. Then we would turn on the vacuum cleaner. And finally whoever was holding her would stand feet apart and rock from side to side and sway her back and forth.

Sometimes it worked, but sometime it didn’t. It just made me feel better to know I was trying my hardest to help her. And the best thing about colic is that it passes. You will often hear parents say their baby just woke up one day and wasn’t crying anymore. And that really is how it goes away. It is one of the strangest things in the world.

The biggest help I had was the support of my husband, mother and sister. Sometimes you just need to find someone to help you with your baby. Mom’s have a hard enough job as it is, you don’t need to do it all yourself. Accept help from whoever can offer it to you!

Ironically whenever I mentioned that my daughter had colic, someone in the room would always say “Well you know it’s almost impossible to have another baby with colic.” The hair on the back of my neck would stand up every time. And for good reason, when my son was born a year later he had colic. And I got to do it all over again…

Do you have any questions about colic? I’m not a medical professional, but I’m happy to share any tips I may have with you. 🙂

Daniele

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