Possible Fixes For Colic

by Danielle G
(Sydney, NSW, Australia)

My little girl started crying after feeding then all the time from around 4-5 weeks on. She was so perfect before then at first I thought something was wrong with her, but no it was normal onset time for colic and that's what we had - a colic baby :(

The causes we were given included the possibility of the baby not getting the right bacteria in her belly to digest with, usually a problem for formula fed babies as babies get their bacteria from their mothers breast milk but also if a breastfeeding mother doesn't have the right bacteria to pass on the baby can still have trouble. Since I had IBS and realized I had a high possibility of not having the right bacteria we did research and found that babies with colic had a 95% improvement rate when given a probiotic called Lactobaciullus Reuteri. I'm in Australia and no infant products containing this bacteria are sold here, so we bought some from amazon at stupid cost but it did seem to help. Biogaia probiotic drops is the product.

I also cut milk out of my diet and dragged out my feeding times from every 2 hours (she would wake up screaming and feeding was the only thing that would move the gas bubbles along so I would feed her after 2 hours) to a minimum of three, if she needed to move gas pockets before three we would give her a bottle of water. This was because newborns digestive systems really only properly move things along the next time they feed - which is why you hear all the gurgles and clunks when you feed! But overfeeding milk can cause undigested sugars to get into the lower gut and once available to the bacteria naturally present there they go nuts and produce large quantities of gas - just like how beer brews. So stopping undigested milk sugar (lactose) from getting past the stomach is also important, and not overfeeding or feeding too frequently can help if this is the problem.

She was also horribly hard to burp, and sometimes I would give up after 30 minutes of trying to burp her with no result. I learned not to stop trying to burp her until I got something out, even if it meant leaving her as upright as possible in a vibrating bouncer to help bring the wind up. She had enough gas without swallowed air contributing to her pain.

We also took precautions against reflux in case this was contributing, elevating the head of her bedding by putting a filled (but cold) hot water bottle under her mattress at the pillow end, not putting her to sleep, laying her down or putting pressure on her stomach just after eating, and using a product containing bicarbonates to cut down any excess acid in her belly after feeds. This product also has anise oil in it which was mentioned as perhaps helping, and fennel oil which likewise studies have shown help.

So what worked? All or none, at 12 weeks she is a new baby, lovely, smiling, happy, but she may merely have grown out of it. I'm so glad it's finally over because it was very hard on her and us as well.

I mention all these things because we were desperate to be doing everything to help we possible could and I'm sure other parents will also want to know everything they might try. But hang in there you will get through it and your baby will have a closer bond with you for all the care and time (and tears) you gave them.

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