First Baby Colic Blues

by Stephanie
(Chandler, Arizona)

When I brought my daughter home from the hospital, she slept for about three days solid. I thought something was wrong with her because she wouldn't wake up to eat and didn't really cry. When she finally did come out of her "newborn coma," she started crying and didn't stop for months.

As a young mother with no family in the same state, I was distraught. I tried to feed her, rock her, walk with her, sing to her, bounce her, and swing her. I cried right along with her and lost what felt like weeks of sleep as I stayed up holding her. Her stomach would get as hard as a rock, and I could tell she was in a lot of pain by the way she screamed.

I took her to her pediatrician, who informed me that there was "no such thing" as colic and that I was just too high-strung and stressed and that was upsetting her. That made me more stressed, naturally.

I eventually found that putting her in her baby bouncer on the floor and running the vacuum was soothing to her. But you can only vacuum so much, especially when you live on the middle level of a three-story apartment building. Neighbors just don't appreciate it vacuuming at midnight.

I also discovered that lifting her legs to her chest to help her relieve some of the gas seemed to calm her down and ease her pain. Mylicon drops also worked when things got extreme. And eventually - after about 3 months - things improved. It seemed like an eternally when I was in the middle of it, but I have since found that colic is very real and very common.

I have had three more children since my first daughter and three of the four were colicky babies. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to colic.

Two tips: Have a good support system and if you are nursing, watch what you eat.