Maybe because my baby was breastfed but I sure am lucky he didn’t have colic. Or maybe he’s just lucky.
What is colic?
According to baby and child care expert, Dr. Miriam Stoppard:
“Crying caused by colic can be distinguished from other forms because it is more of a high-pitched scream than a cry. Usually you’ll find that your baby’s legs are drawn up to his abdomen and that his face becomes very red.”
“…your baby is likely to cry every night for 12 weeks…”
“…tension is the most likely cause. You’re preoccupied in the evening with bathtime and bedtime for the baby and getting your evening meal. It is likely that your baby picks up on the tension”
Are you sure it’s colic?
First, check if the baby is crying because he is:
a) Hungry?
b) Sleepy?
c) Lonely, don’t leave me alone!
d) Scary – loud sounds? sudden bright light? Someone carried me up suddenly!
e) No-Nappy – my birthday’s over, I don’t like my birthday suit! I like to be swaddled!
f) Sweaty – I don’t need 2 layers of swaddling! 1 layer is good enough (unless I’m in an 18 deg C air conditioned room in Malaysia)
g) Agony – An ant is in my nappy! Nappy pin is poking me! I’m wrapped too tightly!
From my experience, signs of colic in babies include:
- crying for extended periods e.g. from 5 – 7 pm
- a rather firm tummy
- refuse to be soothed (despite all efforts) and
- usually acting up in the early evenings.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SOOTHE THE BABY?
1. Carry him up gently and put him close to your body. Speak gently to him. Ask him, “Why are you crying? Are you hungry? Do you want to sleep? Do you know you’re making so much noise?” or something silly. It doesn’t matter. Babies love to look at faces and listen to the sound of soft voices.
2. If he’s hungry, then feed him. The boy breastfed every 3 hours when he was 1-2 months old. If not, he may just need some comfort sucking.
3. If he’s been fed, burp him. The best way for me is putting his head to rest on my shoulder while I slowly rub his back.
Sometimes, I do that walking around. The burps come quick after 1-2 minutes.
Somtimes, I need to rub for 20 minutes or so until a really, deep belch is heard. Only after that will the baby fall asleep peacefully.
Read this post on “how to burp the baby“.
4. Just carry him and walk around. My dear father would give the boy a 10-15 minutes “evening walk” which is actually around the house! He loved being carried and brought around to see things that Grandpa would point out stuff he was looking out while the rest of us prepared dinner etc.
PLEASE DO NOT ROCK / SHAKE THE BABY as you may do more harm than good, especially if he has just been fed.
- The rocking will cause baby reflux, which is the milk coming up his throat.
- Also, once baby gets used to a rocking motion, you’ll need to rock him EVERY time to calm him down!
PLEASE DON’T LEAVE BABY ASIDE and believe that he will stop crying eventually. Unless the source of discomfort or pain goes away, he’ll just keep crying.
In olden days, gripe water was used to soothe baby. I remember my Mum whipping out a bottle when the boy was little and proceeded to give it to him each time after his bath.
He loved it and you know why? The good old gripe water is full of sugar and alcohol!
Since he didn’t need it, I stopped it. If I can do it without any drugs/supplements, you can do it. Just take a deep breath and try. Good luck!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
good article !!
my MIL loved to use baby bouncer (don’t know is this the correct name for the item?) to put my nephew to sleep, but I don’t like it, since he became so dependend to it, hopefully I can stop her to do the same thing to my baby.
I think I’ll need a good “training” from you, hehehe…since you’ve pass the baby periode successfully….i’m excited to have my baby born but also scared…
Errm…actually, lots of times, colic has been misdiagnosed. Nowadays, with better checks, babies with such symptoms could have gastro reflux, or kidney reflux.
Plus…babies in the first 12 weeks do tend to cry more than usual. It’s something to do with their circuitry system. Do I sound like a know-it-all? HA HA HAHA…NO! I’m just mad with all the drugs I’ve been taking!!! I’m hallucinating here….!!!!! arrrrrrr
Rye Li was a colicky baby – crying for no apparent reasons btw 7pm-10pm daily for 2-3 months from 6 weeks onwards. And she fully breastfed then.
Anyway, ur making feel guilty coz there were several occasions I let her be to cry on her own coz I was all alone with her and I needed my shower and to settle things around the house before I hit the sack. Of course, I made sure she’s not hungry, diapers cleaned and all before I let her be but it was like 15-30 mins the most.
I even tried gripe water but it was no help. Now that I know there’s another gripe water type, I will try this out if no. 2 is also colicky (which I sure hope not!). thanks for this post!
I’m glad both my girls didn’t have this problem.
Btw, I didn’t know you maintained so many blogs.. boy.. how do you do it?
Lilis – Thank you
My Mum loved to use the “sarong” bouncer when he was small too but thankfully, I managed to stop it before he was 6 months old. Babies become smarter as they get older…
I wouldn’t say all bouncers are bad…sometimes, a bouncer can be good to soothe a particularly fussy baby. As long as it’s safe and doesn’t need a full time bouncer “guard”, I’m all for it
Mott – Thanks for the input – I’m (am sure other Mums too) always keen to learn new info about our precious ones. I do hate it when I come across cases/stories where babies are left alone to “cry” or misdiagnosed as you mentioned…really pity the helpless little babes.
Syn – Wow, 3 hours every night? That must have been a hard time. Don’t feel guilty, you did what you needed to do and I know you’d take care of all her needs first before your very own
Will keep my fingers crossed for your second one.
I have NOT tried this gripe water but from the looks of it, I’m impressed too.
Zara’s Mama – Yeah, me too. Ugh, only 2 blogs and believe me, I’m sinking in the quicksand! You can see how irregular my timing is. Would you believe it if I told you some Mums have 10 blogs???