Unforgettable Time

by Juanita Bryant
(Chicago, Illinois, USA)

My colicky baby is on her way to college in the fall, but I will never be able to forget those months! There were a few methods which helped us survive:

I was a breastfeeder, so I tried to deal with the issue by modifying my own diet. There was a tea by a company called "Traditional Medicinals" - Mother's Milk Tea. Something about the ingredients really had a positive impact on my fussy baby. The tea also had the side benefits of helping relax Mom (me!) so that the let-down process was improved, as well as the volume of milk produced.

In addition to the strategy of improving my diet, our doctor showed us a way of holding our baby which we dubbed "the crotch hold." Mom or Dad places the baby on their arm with the baby's head facing toward their hand. Baby's tummy is then lying along the arm, while baby's legs are straddling the bicep, or upper arm. Mom or Dad then proceed to go about their daily routine one-handed, while baby calms down because s/he is receiving warmth and massage along the tummy area.

As a last resort, we would play music and wear a groove in the floor while utilizing the crotch hold. For some reason, The Beatles song "Come Together," was good at distracting our baby from her own howls. We also developed a shameless strategy in which we invited one of our single friends over for a home-cooked dinner; we then showed them the crotch hold, and handed them the howling baby so that they could pay for their dinner by deepening the groove we had worn in the living room floor walking baby back and forth. The only thing about this strategy is that you have to make sure that your single friends don't know each other, or the ploy will only work one time.

Just remember, this too shall pass. You'll remember these days fondly in the future when you and your partner are sitting up at 1:30 a.m. frantically wondering why your "baby" isn't answering their cell phone.