Is it really colic?

[Miss Tazar]

Hi
Our bub is 4 weeks old and I am struggling to know what to do. She cries on and off for up to 18 hours at a time - sometimes it is a scream and it always involves her hands bunching into fists, back arches, legs stretching then pulling up.
I have had advice that this is colic - but is it?
Does it last for 18 hours a day?
How long will she be like this for?
How do you cope? I am in tears, I am so scared that this screaming will never end
Can anyone please help?
Thanks Roxi

[Ky]

Hi Roxi

It really does sound like colic, it is normal to last a few hours at a time - does she have a rest in between? Does it happen at approximately the same time every day? Is she gaining weight well?

I ask about the weight gain as I was "breastfeeding" my dd for the first couple of weeks of her life and she screamed continually. the midwife said that she was probably still hungry and to top her up with 10 mls of expressed milk. Little did I know, that we were physically incompatible (she - very high hard palate, me - very flat nipples!) and she was in fact only getting the 10mls at each feed!

If it truely is colic, then there is relief in sight as it usually only lasts for a few weeks at the most, although in some cases it lasts a little bit longer. It is something that has an end in sight though, so I would try to find someone to hold her for a while so that you can have some sanity time - maybe a bath with nice music playing so that you can't hear her cry or sitting somewhere quiet to read or have a nap.

take care of yourself ... she needs you to be calm and positive to help her get through this. If you are still worried and it doesn't seem to be lessening ... take her to another doc or a paediatrician and get her checked out.

Take care

[Caitlin's Mum]

Hi Roxi, I went through the same thing. From 4 weeks my little boy was doing the same. I was told it was colic, then reflux. I kept going back to the doctors because nothing was working. It turned out he is lactose intolerant so the formula he was having was giving him terrible tummy pains. He does also have reflux but as soon as I changed formula and got him on medication for the reflux, he was a different baby. Not sure if you are breastfeeding or bottle feeding, but if bottle feeding, could be the formula? If you want any more info from me just PM me. Hang in there, it will get better. :)

[InfiniteDreams]

Hey there Roxi.... I am in the exact same position as you. My 4 week old girl is in lots of pain. Screaming all day, she hasnt slept during the day for the last three days and up most of the night aswell.

I have been trying infacol which does work a little during her feed (bottle feeding her on formula) however shes still in pain after her feeds.

She had a little trouble with wind when i was bottle feeding her expressed breast milk too.

If you have found any help out there... please let me know, because im a walking zombie and about to tear my hair out.

If she wasnt so beautiful i think if have a breakdown!

[Tizi]

Roxi and Infinite dreams....

My suggestion is to go see your doctor or peadiatrician as it sounds to me like your bubs might have silent reflux. My DS was diagnosed with reflux when he was 5 weeks (now 8 weeks) and was put on zantac which helped a little bit and recently losec as well and he is so much better now. He actually sleeps!!

[Sherismum]

Nah, we beat you. My dd cried for 21 hours a day, 3 days out of 4. Our ex-pedetrician :mad: fobbed us off as new parents who where just stupid. We went the next day to our GP and told him what was going on. A urine test showed that she had an infection and she was put on antibiotics immediately. Took two weeks to clear up. Turns out she has colic as well, but we now get some sleep. To deal with the colic we went to an osteopath - within hours she will have this amazing release and fill her nappy - then sleep for hours. (If you try this make sure the osteopath is fully qualified!) Trust me - in the first instance go to a doctor and if you don't like the answer get a second opinion. Your mental health is just as important as bubs health.

[Caitlin's Mum]

Infinite Dreams - did you try changing the formula to the lactose free (as per my PM)? If you do, let me know how you go. This made an instant change in my bub.

[Caitlin's Mum]

Hi Tan, yes my bub was lactose intolerant, but I also know of babies who have been put on this formula because their little tummies just can't handle the normal formula. I suggested this to Infinitedreams because she sent me a private message asking for my help and her baby's symptoms sounded similar to mine. My doctor told me that changing to the lactose free formula doesn't do any harm at all, it still has all the goodness in it that they require (obviously, because my son is thriving!) :) . I suggested this to her because I know how I was willing to try absolutely anything to get my bub to stop being in pain. Anyway, hopefully she has found a solution by now. :) :)

[Miss Tazar]

Hi Everyone
Sorry about my absence - but we ended up in PMH (Perth's Childrens Hospital)
We couldn't take the screaming anymore (and yes it was screaming) and admitted ourselves privately to get some attention as everyone put it down to "new parents syndrome".
Turns out our little girl had silent reflux, by the time someone listened to us and had a look she had burnt out the tissue in her throat - to the mouth! :( I can only imagine how much that was hurting her. Even the nurses who were going to "show us how to settle her" :mad: made notes on her chart about how distressed and in pain she was!!
We are now on Losec, Mylanta if required to ease immediate pain, thickened formula with guarcol and using the Nan HA 1 formula which is easier to digest as the protein has been broken down further than other formulas and it is working (cross my fingers).
We are getting sleep!! (in 2-3 hour stints, but hey it is better than before!) :D
I now hear my baby cry for attention - and it is so different to the awful sound from before, I am glad I stuck to my instincts and insisted on being seen.
If anyone would like to know more about what we went through please PM me, or post a note here.
For everyone who is living through a similar experience - please go see someone until they listen. We videotaped our daughter and showed this to the doctors and that seemed to help.
Wishing everyone a wonderful evening, Roxi

[♥Heaven Sent♥]

Hi roxi
my daughter had bad reflux and colic and is lactose intollerant and i took her to PMH too what great help they are.Well they said she would grow out of it and i think they thought it was just me??I mean they so dont know what your going through but they still judged me.I had a paediatrition appointment and when i went there my daughter was happy so they immediately thought that she was happy all the time they offered no help whatsoever and sent me to a social worker.Well i diagnosed my own daughter with colic reflux and wind and she is lactose intollerant.My daughter used to cry for 3-4 hours throw up immediately after feeds and when i was breast feeding she was worse when i had dairy she cried a high pitch scream pulled her legs to her tummy and it would take a couple of hours to get her wind up when i did get it up milk would follow and plenty of it then scream for more milk.after all the trouble i went through i put her on lactose free formula i seen a huge differance instantly slept through the night and not as much crying i had her on sd26 at first but threw it up instantly all the time also when i gave her solids that had milk in it she would throw that up too but was fine with fruit and veg.I used infants friend for the wind and brauer stomach calm for the reflux she had a trial of losec but didnt stop the pain and throwing up and went onto gastrogel and that helped greatly and loved the taste.she now gets a little bit of relfux and wind but has no colic yay all those sleepless nights i also got special bottles that reduce wind and colic.Shes a healthy bub now 8months and about 7kg tiny little thing only just in 00's.Shes eating solids now and her fave is spaghetti bollenaise.Well thanx for listening to me whinge hope no1 has the bad luck ive had with docs it drives u mad lol good luck all with the reflux.

[♥Heaven Sent♥]

Now thats put a smile on my face not that u had the same bad expirience but that i wasnt imagining things lol.Yeh i was hell stressed out i had no sleep every day from bout 12 lunch till 5 in the morn i was breast feeding too which meant i was up through the night doing feeds and then thankfully in the morn my mum would take her so i could get some rest that was my only thing that kept me sane.My daughter would projectile vomit after a botlle and then hours later she would still have wind and would spew a bit more and then it would happen all over again.Well my daughter grew out of hers at six months too six months too long they told me she would have grown out of hers by 4 months But that was the peak of it.My daughter went through a stage for 2months that i had to have her morning and night wouldnt go to anyone else so i was exausted(sp?).She still chucks but only minimal amounts and sometimes cries with pain.Mostly when she's sick or teething.My daughter is very smart and advanced for her age she is crawling she is saying mumma dadda nanna bubba and bye bye and waves goodbye and the latest is no.She walks around on furniture and then stands by herself and now she climbs(oh no here we go) lol.Well girls im off and good luck and thanks for listening AGAIN lol.

[mummycloud]

Argghhh, those first 6 weeks with Aiden were so hard. He would be on the boob all day and night unless he was screaming :( He thought he was hungry because of his tummy pains. It got to the point where is was being over fed and getting tummy pains from that too. He was pooing all the time from too much food which gave him the worst nappy rash I'd ever seen. Turns out he is lactose intolerant. The acid in his poo from not digesting the lactose burned his bum.
Since i put him on lactezee he's been so much better. He hasn't had a nappy rash since either. He also has refulx and is on Zantac.
If I didn't take him to a pedicatrician, I would have kept giving him colic drops which didn't do a thing and would have been at my wits end. As it was, I thought I was the biggest failure in the world.

((((HUGS))) I hope you get things sorted out fast!