Need help with a colicky baby

I have been breastfeeding ever since Whitney was born. She had no trouble latching on from the beginning. She has extreme gas and cramps constantly. I really try to watch what I eat. In fact I went on a very mild diet which consists of baked turkey, boiled potatoes, or plain rice, rice pasta, pears and green zucchini.

The doctor says she is colicky. I want to to continue to breastfeed, but she wants to eat every hour to hour and a half. This leaves me no time to pump. Therefore, there are times that I give her formula. The formula is lactose free and hypoallergenic. This also seems to give her extreme gas and pain. She only finds comfort when I nurse and hold her. I cannot get anything done around the house or for myself (shower). She cries constantly.

What can I do to help ease her pain, and get things done around the house? I have tried a swing, sling, snugglie pack, vibrating bouncy chair, stroller, and even driving in the car. Nothing seems to comfort her. Any Advice? Thanks for listening.






Dear Michelle,

15 years ago, I lived through the very same thing you are going through right now, so I can sure empathize with you! My Lin-z was never happy unless she was in my arms and/or at the breast. I used a sling pretty much around the clock--and that was before they made the newer more lightweight slings. My baby was born at the end of May and it was hot with that thing on during the hot sticky Alabama summer! Lin-z, also, was not soothed by swings or driving in the car. In fact, I dreaded having to put her in the car everyday to pick up my other child from school. It was a 40 minute trip with Lin-z screaming all the way! I still shudder when I think of it. I was usually crying myself by the time we got home.

If the bland diet you are now living on has not helped the symptoms, then there is no reason to be on it! The most likely diet-related cause of colic in breastfeeding women is dairy products. I would recommend taking out all dairy , which it sounds like you've already done (be sure to read labels) for 2 weeks and see what happens.

For more than half the women I suggest this to, it is very helpful. If this does help, then by all means put the other foods back into your diet gradually. Then begin putting milk products back also. Begin with the solid forms like cheese and yogurt. Unfortunately for me there weren't any lactation consultants 15 years ago (at least here in Montgomery) so I didn't know about this. The pediatricians I went to all told me to "just put her on formula." That was never an answer I wanted to hear, so I continued to breastfeed with the support of my friends that I found at La Leche League meetings. Most meetings found me in the kitchen because Lin-z was usually crying and I didn't want to disturb the others. I often wondered what was wrong with me--all the other moms were in there lovingly nursing their babies and I was in the kitchen with a very unhappy baby. It was an extremely trying time...

The medications they have for colic can be very effective, but I am finding that women are reluctant to use them because they don't want to "drug" their babies. These medications have no side effects--all they do is break up gas bubbles--so they are very safe. If you wait until your baby is screaming in pain, they are not effective. They need to be used ahead of time or sometimes even around the clock. Again, this is something my doctor failed to tell me. So, I tried the drops a couple of times, found they didn't work, and quit using them. If only I could go back and do it again!

One thing that helped Lin-z was a baby hot-water bottle. Drug stores should have these. We put the hot-water bottle (with warm water--not hot) on our laps, put Lin-z's tummy on the hot water bottle, and it really helped her. Also, my husband would hold her upright firmly against his body, sit on the end of our bed, and gently bounce up and down. Nothing worked better than that. We discovered that colicky babies prefer an up and down motion to back and forth. Rocking was never effective--I guess that's why the car and swing didn't really work. But that's also why the sling worked so well as long as I was walking!

One other suggestion, try this for about 3-5 days and see if it helps. It often does. Nurse your baby on only one side for a given period of time. She can nurse as many times as she needs to during that time period but only use that one breast. For example: 6am - 10 am, nurse right breast only; 10am - 2 pm, nurse left breast only. If you experience any discomfort in the breast that is not being nursed, express just enough milk to ease the discomfort and no more. After about 2-3 days your body will adjust to this schedule and you should not experience anymore fullness in between nursings.

I grinned inwardly when I read what you said about not even being able to get a shower. When Lin-z was born, I was used to getting a morning shower. All that changed then because I had to wait for my husband to get home so that I could take one. 15 years later, I still take my shower at night! Now I wonder how I every went to sleep without it! So, you are certainly not alone. Time will take care of the colic. And realize that colicky babies almost always go on to be very healthy babies. I like to think of the analogy that morning sickness goes along with a healthy pregnancy. Have you read Dr. Sear's book "The Fussy Baby?" If not, then please do. It's wonderful--it changed my life!

Now I feel like I've been through a trip down memory lane! Hope this is helpful to you.

Cher Sealy, RN, BSN, IBCLC, LLLL





 

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