Screamy McScreamerson

by Rachael
(Brighton, CO USA)

My oldest son was a dream baby. He was happy, and healthy, even though he was born very early. He rarely cried, was a good eater, and very, very easy to please.

It came as a complete surprise to my husband and I when our second son was miserable. It was a difficult pregnancy near the end, and a difficult labor and delivery, and as soon as we got him home, we knew there was something different about our little guy.

He needed to be held all the time, and around two weeks old, he would scream non-stop for no apparent reason. I would hold him, he would scream. I put him down, he screamed. I fed him, he screamed. I bathed him, he screamed. I rocked him, he screamed. He was just so unhappy.

The only thing that seemed to ease the screaming bouts was me pacing with him. I would hold him over my arm, pat his back, and walk from one end of the house to the other--sometimes for three to four hours at a stretch. It quieted him somewhat, and it helped me walk off the baby weight!

It would start around 6:00 every single night, and last until around 2:00 a.m. When I finally brought him to the doctor, he told me my little boy had colic, and there was not much we could do about it but wait it out. He advised that colic usually corrects itself by about three months.

My son finally outgrew the colic at around 6 months old--three months longer than I was told.

While it was hard to deal with it at the time, it ended up bringing my whole family closer together, believe it or not. Both my husband and myself have a very strong bond with our youngest son--probably from the endless hours we spent walking and pacing with him.