Colic heartbreak

[Arbre de la vie]

my little man is 5 weeks old and has been the perfect baby since he was born.. until now! he virtually never cried, slept 5-6 hours at a time at night, was happy and very easy settled. but the past 2 days he has been incredibly windy and cries on and off all day, especially after feeds. but from late afternoon onwards he cries non stop for at least 3 hours. he is exclusively breastfed, i havnt changed anything in my diet at all so i dont think thats the cause. but im thinking of cutting all dairy and acidic foods out of my diet anyway, has anyone had any success doing that? i read that colic usually starts at 2-3 weeks and ends around 12 weeks.. has anyone else had a baby develop it later? if so when did it go away. im desperate to find something to help him. its heartbreaking watching him scream in pain and not be able to do anything to help him. ive tried cycling his legs and rubbing his tummy, burping him for longer.. i might get a little gas from 'each end' but nothing substantial and it doesnt settle him for long.
also i dont know whether he's going through a growth spurt as well or if hes just not eating as much at each feed because he's full of gas but he's wanted to be fed pretty much every hour all day today (usually only feeds every 3 hours during the day) is that an effect from colic or something else?? ive been searching the web all day for answers but so much of it is so contradictory or vauge.. i need help!
oh i also tried brauers colic releif and it doesnt seem to do anything for him :(
what worked for your baby??

[kar]

Holding him close from 4pm-8pm and totally demand feeding is what worked for us.
How long has it being going on for?
I wouldn't be leaping to colic conclusions if it's not been an ongoing issue.
Unless I'm reading your post wrong? If it's 'only' been a couple of days I would just do what you can and ride it out. If it continues for a week start looking at possible causes.
I remember someone telling me most babies will have one unsettled period a day and one unsettled day a week.

[singa06]

My DS was the same from around 3 weeks. The best advice a nurse once gave me was to do what you can to survive. For me that was lots of holding, cuddles, the dummy, warm baths, rocking in the pram etc. He grew out of it at around 8 weeks. No bad habits picked up! Good luck.

[Arbre de la vie]

thanks for the replies! but i think i may have just found the answer to my own question :) .. havnt proved it yet but i should know in a few days if its worked or not.. for anyone searching this thread for answers to similar problems with their own bubs, heres what i have found:

foremilk/hindmilk imbalance or oversupply can often mimic the sypmtoms of colic, and true colic is actually extreamly rare in totally breastfed babies. other signs of a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance include acne on babies face, rapid weight gain and reflux - all of which my baby has begun to display recently.

heres a few links to sites with all the info -

http://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/foremilk-hindmilk-imbalance.html

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/foremilk.html

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/oversupply.html


i have only ever fed from one breast at each feeding (stopping your baby half way through a feed and switching breasts often means the baby gets too much foremilk, not enough hindmilk) but as the info suggested im going to try feeding from the same side for 2-3 feeds in a row instead of alternating for each feed.. hopfully this works!! anything has to be better than 'the c word' - COLIC!!

[BabelFish]

I had lactose overload with my son as well and he was a VERY windy little man who really struggled and did up to 20 poos a day.

Block feeding REALLY helped. Good luck - it's hard when they're in pain.

Bouncing on a fitball really helped with him, too. Both my kids actually.