Is she colicky? Help! - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

sweeterthan · 01-31-2006, 08:32 PM

I need help. DD is now 6 weeks old. For the past 2 weeks now she gets fussy and irritable at the same time every night which is usually between 9-11 pm and the crying goes on for about 2 hours straight, maybe more. I don't know what to do for her. She cries for basically no reason.

She will have a bottle, be changed, a pacifer does not work, swing doesn't work, talking and playing with her doesn't work. The only thing I can do is walk around with her, bounce her, or rock her and sometimes that doesn't even help. I don't know what to do, its exhausting. I even try playing music for her but that only lasts a few minutes before she starts crying again. Even on her bath nights she gets this way and the bath used to calm her down. The rest of the day she is pretty good baby.
Is this considered colicky? I don't know what to do. Is this just something she will grow out of. I wish I knew why she was crying.
Thanks ladies.

Kiedy · 01-31-2006, 09:49 PM

I think definition of colic is cry for 3hrs, 3days/week for 3 wks at least. It's very common for babies to be that way between 3-8wks. Does she get enough naps during the day? Have you tried the Ovel for gas relieve?

I feel your pain, my DS was like that too, and many will agree, it's always during those hours at night. I was able to breastfeed my DS every half hour to hour during those last 4hrs of the day and that helped a lot. Try offering the bottle again, even if she drinks a little bit it may help. Swaddling her in a warm blanket may help too (put it in a drier for couple minutes). Stay in a darker, quite room.

It did stop around 8wks for us. And again the key factor that helped was the frequent feeding. So hang in there. Get a break, even if she cries in the swing, go take a shower. Not much longer to go.

dizzygirl · 02-01-2006, 05:32 AM

It doesn't sound like colic to me, just normal. Have you tried gas drops? That's usually referred to the " witching hour". It will get better, probably in a few weeks or so. Just keep on rocking, and try the position of holding heron her belly, if it is gas, it may push it out. Hang in there!

Gayle0000 · 02-01-2006, 06:02 AM

Our colic started about the time she was 4 weeks old, and lasted until she was about 12 weeks old. I know what you mean about not knowing what to do. Ava's screaming occurred all day & evening. She would only stop screaming when she was sleeping or breastfeeding.

Gas drops didn't do anything for us.

Check out the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block". It's all about soothing the baby. It didn't make the screaming stop for us, but it did teach us how to calm her down quite a bit and got us through it.

The thing that helped me the most was taking her to the Ped to get checked out. He was able to talk to me and let me know she was not in pain & she looked completely fine aside from the screaming. The gas is common. Once I was assured she was okay, and he gave me suggestions on coping with the screaming (like get out of the house or away from the baby for at least an hour or 2 every day) things got much easier to deal with.

Yahuh · 02-01-2006, 06:39 AM

It's usually at 6 weeks taht babies become more aware of their bodies and it feels 'wierd' to them. As the pp suggested, read The Happiest Baby on the Block (or just rent the video).
My suggestion would be to swaddle your dc tight at night. Most times a regular blanket is not big enough or your not able to swaddle securely. There are blankets out there made specifically for the swaddling. It's been the best thing I have started doing with my dd !!

Good luck

Amy
Hannah 11-16-05