Evan is a guzzler, so much so that he takes in a lot of air as well as milk when he drinks. He suffered with colic from around 2 weeks old. It was a huge shock to us as he’d been fine up to then, a textbook ‘perfect’ baby who had regular feeds and who could burp and fart with ease.
Colic is horrendous. The painful cry coming from your baby is like no other and you’ll feel helpless most of the time. It’s frustrating, for them and for you. We didn’t try anything out of the ordinary to get rid of it and it, eventually, went away overnight. Remember that it does get better and it will stop.
These are the things we tried:
• Dr Browns anti-colic bottles
We used these after realising that the pre-made Aptamil bottles they use in hospital were going to bankrupt us, even if they were really handy. Evan drank much more than he was meant to from the start so those little bottles really didn’t last long. I’d say he was around a week old when we switched to Dr Browns. These seemed to work ok but a few weeks into our colicky he’ll we changed to….
What a God-send these beauties were! My sister bought us three to try as they were on offer at Argos at the time. Worth a shot, we thought. Let me tell you, they were the best investment. The first night he used these he fed and burped so much better. They are pricey, but its money well spent. Added bonus is that you don’t need a separate steriliser to clean them. One of our best buys and in our top ten recommended baby products.
At first, this made very little difference to Evan. We used it for about a week, because we didn’t know what else to use. After this time we went to the GP for something else. We later came back to it and tried again with much more success.
*advice*
Don’t write anything off completely, just because it didn’t work once doesn’t mean it won’t ever work.
• Colief
This is what the GP prescribed. At £12 for a teeny tiny bottle it’s pricey. No wonder everyone heads for the Infacol first! We tried this with great success from the off. Be warned, it does cause some explosive nappies! We found that, rather than burping out the wind, Evan would ‘shart’ it out instead. It’s better out than in though and I’d rather an atomic nappy that goes through three layers of clothing, yes three, than have the wind stuck in his tummy causing that wailing banshee crying.
Downside of colief is that once it’s in the bottle you only have 30 minutes to use the milk rather than 2 hours. Evan sometimes woke in the night would have an ounce or two, fall back to sleep and then wake an hour later for the rest. This meant we had to make a fresh bottle, with new colief, so we went through the teeny tiny bottle pretty quickly. I think, at worst, it lasted only 4 days.
After a month of this it suddenly seemed to have no effect. We had no atomic nappies, no burping and the banshee crying was back. So we stopped using it, went back to the beginning and started the trial and error process again.
• Aptamil Colic milk
We tried this at various points in our colicky journey. We tried it on its own with no help, with infacol, with colief and with two different bottles. We eventually decided that Evan just didn’t like it. It’s thicker than normal milk, presumably to slow down the drinking process. Evan would get frustrated he wasn’t getting fed quick enough or would work so hard for it that he’d fall asleep mid-bottle. We gave up on this and still have half a tub sat in the drawer.
Do try it though. Every baby is different and just because Evan didn’t go for it, doesn’t mean your little one won’t. Do whatever works for you!
• Gripe Water
The nectar of baby Gods! This is another God-send. At the end of a feed we dipped his dummy in this and it helped to settle his tummy. He still likes a bit of gripe now when he’s being a bit whingey at bedtime. I found that if he’d sicked up his milk, putting gripe on the dummy would help get rid of the sicky taste he was left with and so he’d settle much quicker.
• Baby Massage
I don’t think this helped Evan at all. If anything it just made him more frustrated. Thinking about it, if I had a tummy pain, the last thing I’d want is someone holding my legs up to my chest to try and get me to fart! Not for us I’m afraid!
As you can see, it took a lot of trial and error to get to where we are now. In all, our colicky hell lasted around 6 weeks. It felt like so much longer and I know mums who have had to deal with it much longer than we did. Regardless of how long it lasts, it’s hell when it’s happening. Persevere, it will get better! Try everything, if it doesn’t work try and different combination of things, and if it still doesn’t work-start again.
These things, along with different winding techniques: rocking, swaying, on the tummy, on the shoulder, bouncing and patting of the bottom/back, will definitely help. You just have to find what works for you.
On the plus side, I was told that there’s a link between babies with colic to babies who are more alert and engaged with their surroundings. How true this is, I have no idea. But I wasn’t going to go hunting for evidence to disprove this! Thinking Evan was extra alert (translated in my head as advanced) got me through some dark, dark nights!
