When our first daughter was born, I adjusted to life as a mom quite well. Our daughter was such a happy girl, smiling all the time, and definitely what you would consider an ‘easy’ baby. Also, the fact that she was sleeping through the night at 3 months old was amazing! Two years later, we welcomed our sweet little Addison into the world. Things started off great but by the time she was 8 weeks old, it started getting pretty rough in the Pajerski household.
Addison began crying on average 3 hours a day and let me tell you, there is nothing worse than listening to your baby cry for hours on end and not knowing what to do. Addison’s fussy period would begin around 6pm. She would start to fuss and then eventually wear herself out and fall asleep around 8 or 9pm. I quickly went to search Google, as most moms do these days, to see what I could do to help my poor little girl and learned about the ‘witching hour’ that so many babies go through. I figured that had to be what it was. It was just a phase we told ourselves.
At her two month checkup, our pediatrician told us that Addison has the dreaded C word every parent hates to hear, Colic. Colic is described as when a baby cries for more than 3 hours per day, more than 3 days per week, for at least 3 weeks. There is no medical reason for colic and there is no single cure for colic. It can last 1 month, 3 months, or even 9 months.
Unfortunately, another few weeks went by and things got even worse. Addison was doing great during the daytime. She was happy, smiley, and napped quite well, but as soon as 6pm rolled around, our poor girl’s tummy was not doing well and she was quite fussy for the rest of the night. We did what we could to get through the evening and then bedtime consisted of her screaming and crying for almost 2 hours every.single.night in order to fall asleep. There were many nights that I sat crying with her wondering what I was doing wrong and wondering what I could do to help her. We tried everything. Swaddle, no swaddle, swings (multiple of them), rock n play, massages, oils, pacifiers, mobile, no mobile, white noise, nightlight, no nightlight, cuddles, driving in the car, probiotics, gas drops….you name it, we probably tried it.
When I finally felt we had tried everything, we consulted our pediatrician again to see if there was anything else we could do. She prescribed acid reflux medicine to see if silent reflux could be causing the issue. The medication seemed to help, but it was not the magic cure all that we had hoped it would be. I continued to research what else could be causing her upset stomach and found that Addison not only had silent reflux, but she also had a dairy sensitivity. We switched her from breast milk to soy formula, and we noticed an improvement very quickly.
As time went on, it got better and better, and I am happy to report that our little girl is as happy as can be, goes to bed at night with no issues, and colic is a thing of the past for us. Getting through the evenings with a fussy baby as well as a 2 ½ year old that was going through the terrible two’s is no joke! But I am happy to say that we survived it and here are my top 10 tips to surviving a colic baby:
- Try to get out of the house during the witching hour. Go for a walk outside, go to the mall, run errands at Target. Whatever you can do to be active and get a change of scenery. We would pack up the kids and go for a nice long walk after supper almost every night. Addison loved being outside in the fresh air and loved to be moving so this was a win\win for us. The other added bonus was that both kids were happy, strapped into the stroller, and mom and dad had some time to talk, reconnect, and regroup after a long day.
- Bicycle their legs. Some nights it felt like I would walk around and bicycle Addison’s legs all.night.long. She would stop crying right away and it would usually lead to her being able to pass gas and give her some relief.
- Gas drops, Gripe Water, and Probiotics. All of these combined or separate have helped reduce colic symptoms in some babies. We used all three of these and definitely believe they helped.
- Change what or how they are being fed. Whether it is trying new bottles to allow less air into their stomachs, trying a new formula, or eliminating dairy for a breastfeeding mom. Experiment to see if any of these will help minimize the discomfort your baby is in and relieve their stomach pains.
- Warm bath. The warm water is soothing and helped calm Addison many of nights. I also recommend, if you are comfortable, getting into the bath tub with your baby, lay him\her on your chest face up and bicycle their legs while in the warm water. This will allow both of you some relaxation time and a great way to bond with your little one.
- The four Ss. Swaddle, Shushing, Swinging, and Sucking. Try any of these together or separate to help calm your baby.
- Ask for help or accept it when it is offered. It can be very hard to ask for help, but having a great support system can help tremendously while trying to cope with a colic baby. Remember you are not alone in this and there are lots of other moms that have gone through the same thing and are willing to help and share the support and knowledge they gained while going through it.
- Take a break. If you have been cooped up in the house for hours with a crying baby, it can really wear you down. Ask your spouse, a family member, or a friend to take over so you can have a break for a few minutes or hours. You need to make sure to take care of yourself too!
- Consult with your pediatrician to see if there are any other underlying health issues that need to be addressed. Trust your instincts. Remember that you are your baby’s voice as they cannot speak for themselves.
- As babies get older, they will grow out of their colic. Hang in there mama, it gets better. Trust me!
