Colic Starting at Month 3???

Hi J. -

The Zantac will lower the amount of acid produced in his stomach - not increase the speed of digestion. You can give him some peppermint & fennel tea in a bottle or make a mild tea and use it as the base for his bottle. If he is breast feeding, you should drink the tea about 30 minutes before feeding him. The peppermint will settle his stomach and the fennel will relieve the gas and/or bloating that makes it very uncomfortable for him. If the peppermint seems too strong, use spearmint in it's place. It is best if you find the whole herbs at a local herb store instead of using commercial blends.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to write.

Sincerely,

M. M. Ernsberger, HHP
Herbalist
Hypnotherapist
Life Coach

You talk about Gerd, but how are his poops? Is there a bowel movement after these crying spells? Is he gassy?

I would love to say it's growing pains, but I don't know. You are doing the right things by taking him to the DR, asking questions, seeking advice...Hang in there, it will get better.

Oh! If it's gas, have you tried the Mylacon drops? (generic:symethacone drops)

I am a massage therapist and an infant massage instructor. You may want to learn how to give your baby a massage, especially focusing on the abdomen. You can check online at www.lovingtouch.com. That is where I got my training. This site has reference books and a locater service to find an instructor in your area. This is something you may want to do some research on yourself and check with your doctor. Hope this helps.

Hello. My name is T.. I'm 23 and I have twin girls that are 7 months old. I remember reading somewhere, I think "What To Expect In the First Year", that a baby can start teething as early as 3 months but there are other signs that can help you know if that's what it is. The child would be chewing on things a lot, drooling a little more than usual, etc. But they say that breast feeding soothes teething babies, do you breast feed? But if it does seem possible that he is teething you could give him teething rings and wet washcloths to suck on. You could try massaging his gums with your finger, make sure your hands are washed before attempting this. My life saver for my teething girls is Teething Tablets. I got mine at Bi-Mart, Fred Meyer, and Rite Aid. My girls started to teeth at 5 months so if you are going through the teething process with your child I completely understand the stress and emotional moments that occur when you're worried about your child's pain. Good luck! I hope everything goes well.

Hi J.,

Sorry you are having such a rough time. I can tell you what I learned from my experiences with my own son around this same age. I too thought my son had colic (and so did a doctor) because he would start to get crabby and scream for hours each evening even with all our attempts to soothe him. Our screaming started around the early evening each day. The thing that helped us tremendously was getting him on a loose schedule and making sure he napped during the day. We had been lucky and he had fallen asleep on his own the first couple months and then when the screaming began each night I realized he wasn't napping much anymore. So, I read some books and after we found ways to get him napping again throughout the day, the screaming stopped.

Hope this helps. :)

Take care,
H.

Our daughter did the same thing about the same time as your little one. Her ped also thought it was GERD but we did not treat it. She is now 5 months old and has "grown out of it", though still a little fussy in the evening. But we also have found that she has a milk protein intolerance which made sense that at about 3 months we started supplementing my breast milk with a bottle of regular milk formula. She had yucky mucousy stool as another sign though so...We have switched her to a hypoallergenic formula and are hoping that will take care of the remaining fussiness. So I know you said your ped doesn't think it is diet related, just keep this in mind.

Our son started colic behavior before 3 months. We used lots of different medication for GERD. Zantac didn't work for us. We used prevacid for a long time and then switched to axid (we got him off of everything by age 2 and he's fine now). But the thing that helped the crying the most was finding the correct noises to soothe him (along with the bouncing, movement, swaddling, etc). There are two great noise CDs out there that you can find my googling them -- For Crying Out Loud and The Happiest Baby on the Block. We now make copies and give them to every new mom we know since they were the only things that helped. The first time our son cried for several hours at a time was when he was only 1 or 2 months old and I was at my wits end until my husband came home and then I had the idea of turning the blow dryer on. He stopped crying instantly. Then we found that turning the vacuum on calmed him enough so that he could latch on and nurse. The vacuum noise was the winner. It didn't stop him from screaming in the car (that's a whole other story and was truely horrifying for the first 5 months of his life), but the noise seemed to help at other times -- especially when combined with bounching or having him in the baby bjorn rocking and walking fast. We had the vacuum sound playing all night in his room since he got up every 2 hours when he was younger (was every 30 minutes until we started playing the vacuum noise in his room). He had a tough time eating the first few years of his life too and we found that playing classical music and baby einstein DVDs helped calm him down enough to eat. I'm not 100% sure his was ever reflux though, even though that's what the doctor said. In hindsight, I think it had more to do with sensory integration issues. The sensory issues explained the crying, problems sleeping, problems riding in a car at a young age, and problems eating when he was younger. You might want to look up the sensory stuff. I wish I would have understood the sensory integration stuff earlier. Reading about it later and having an occupational therapist help me understand it, made a world of difference. Hang in there. It does get better! Although I never believed that since at every point when it was suppose to get better, it didn't. Now my son's 3, sleeps through the night, eats great, is very advanced for his age...and, best of all, I can barely remember the pain of that first year or two of life when he demanded my constant attention and never let me sleep.

Sounds like colic. While I have not experienced colic myself, my cousins son started the same behaviours at the same age...it passes.

Yes yes yes resounding yes I experienced exactly that and I can tell you exactly how to cure it! Your baby is allergic to milk products! This happened with both of my babies and removing ALL milk products from your diet if you are breast feeding, and his diet if you are bottle feeding. Unfortunately if you are bottle feeding this is very challenging because feeding your baby soy formula is equivalent to giving him a birth control pill every day because of the estrogen in soy. If you are breast feeding it is easy. Get rice milk, use margarine, and eliminate cheese and start reading labels. The smallest amount of milk you consume can set him off again. It will take 4-5 days for all of the proteins to get out of your system, but he will steadily improve. When his system is matured a bit, after he reaches 6-8 months, you can slowly reintroduce milk products. Both my children now drink milk again. Their systems just cant handle such a large protein at this point. I am always amazed that pediatricians dont know this, but I share it as often as I can with new moms and it ALWAYS works. It will take care of his GERD too. I am appalled that doctors subject new babies to powerful medications when the answer is so simple. It is so heartbreaking to see your tiny new baby in such pain, believe me I know. The midnight rocking with no relief to them. Please please please try it, you will be amazed. And your baby will thank you too. Best wishes.

Yep, funny but mom every baby is different, I had to sit up many hours rocking my sons, during the day I done a lot of washing clothes just to put his carrier on top of the machine to sooth him I guess it was the vibrations that worked to calm him. Then another was to put him in a swing bed to sleep during the day with the moving and clicking sounds of the swing he would sleep, If you do not have the bed a good baby swing with blankets to stay warm and comfortable will do fine,being a mom is hard work low pay but the rewards just watching them grow then to share their happiness and love with you and dad pays for all you went through. So as I always say LOVE THEM NOW, AND LET THEM LEAVE ON TIME AS ADULTS WHO CARE BE PATIENT THEY GROW FAST, S. Lopez Vancouver Wash,

One thing I forgot to tell you.. what ReALLY worked was him sleeping on his tummy! I was so scared of SIDS that is why we held him instead.. but at age 6 mos we got a angelcare monitor that monitors their heartbeat to give me piece of mind and then let him lay on tummy.. bingo- sleep.

There is a book that was him to a T called COLIC SOLVED.. I forgot who wrote it.

My son had severe reflux until 4 1/2 months.. We tried everything.. a wedge, prilosec ( worked better than all the others) small meals, mylicon, gripe water, and one one I highly recommend is probiotics.. not just any either we used some from BioGaia they are worth the money..

http://www.childrensprobiotics.com/faq.aspx

I know you don't want to hear this but by the time you try and solve it it will be gone BUT I feel as a mother you have to try and make your baby comfortable. My husband and I took turns 24/7 holding our son. That worked the best.
If I can think of anything else we did I'll get back to you.
I don't think that feeding your baby rice cereal from a bottle to fill his tummy will help him sleep only hurt his growing digestive system.
Sorry this is so scattered it's 130am and I couldn't sleep;-)

Here is the wedge we used

(http://www.pollywogbaby.com/cat--Infant-Positioning-Produ...) and the particular products you are interested in.

Here are the diagnostic codes by product:

Pollywog Feeding Wedge | 530.81;E1399
Pollywog Changing Station Incliner | 530.81;E1399
Tucker Crib Sling | 530.81; E-0621
Tucker Wedge with Sling | 530.81;E1399
Tucker Slings for Wedge | 530.81; E-0621
Acid Reflux Pillow | 530.81;E1399
Comfy Lift Bed | 530.31;1399

From what I have read and from what I understand from the Drs, colic starts at around 2 weeks and ends around 3 months. However, acid reflux does start around 3 months or gets to it's worst around that time. My son had acid reflux and right around three months old he started being super fussy and ended up being diagnosed with the acid reflux and we put him on zantac. It worked well for us and he mellowed out quite a bit. One thing about my sons spit up that was different from non-acid reflux babies was that it smelled really acidic (more like throw up) where the non-reflux babies spit up just smelled like sour milk or like nothing.

What really helped my son other than the zantac was that I would make sure he was pretty upright while feeding him. I would always keep him sitting up and rather quiet for about an hour after he ate as to give the formula some time to settle in his tummy, he would hang out in his bouncy seat a lot, not bouncing LOL. At right before 4 months, I started him on cereal three times a day to help hold down the formula. I never put him to sleep right after he ate, I always fed him right after he woke up instead. Those things all really made a difference, especially the part about keeping him upright after he ate.

So, hopefully that helps you. Reflux is a pain in the rear, so hopefully it subsides sooner than later. My son became a lot less fussy as soon as we did all those things I mentioned but he still spit up quite a bit too. He stayed on the zantac until he was 18 months old. Good luck!

You might be interested in looking into your little one wearing a hazelwood necklace.
My friend's son had BAD reflux and was on Zantac for it too(as a newborn). Her mom told her about these necklaces so she gave it a try. She says it basically took away his painful reflux. She was able to take him off meds after 2 weeks of him wearing it.
Anyway, she told me about them because my daughter has had eczema since she was 3 months and nothing was really helping (these necklaces help with a variety of issues from teething pain, to eczema, to reflux). Since she has been wearing it (about 9 months now) she hardly has any breakouts at all. They work by absorbing excess acid in the body (the wood has that natural property).
Anyway, you can find them at www.hazelaid.com
They're really cute too & safe for babies to wear because the clasp is made special.
Hope it helps.

Hi J.,

I'd recommend going to a Chinese doctor who practices tui na pediatric massage. I know that for my friend it was an immediate miracle. They can also teach you things that you can do yourself. One doctor to try is Dr. Yang, at ###-###-####. Here is another one:http://www.portlandacupuncture.net/services.html#tuina

I know it's easier to stick with conventional stuff, but I think if you make the effort you'll be glad you did.

Best wishes,
Colleen

I have heard, but don't know from experience, that colicky babies sometimes like a little pressure on their tummies. Supposidly, laying them face down across your lap (head over the side so they can breath of course) can help. You didn't say if you've tried mylecon drops (simethicone---AKA baby gas-x). The Zantac can cause GI distress, ask the doc, there are several other meds to try.

I hope the three of you get some relief soon.....good luck!

Here are a couple things...First try taking him off the zantac, if at all possible. My two older boys were on zantac for reflux, I found though it was causing more problems then helping. I would consult with your ped though first. Second it very well could be teeth. Some babies have no trouble with them. Others have horrible pain. My 7 month old is cutting four across the top right now and every night at about five he just falls apart. There is not much I can do for him. I hold him and rock him, other then that i just have to stand by and be there for him. He hates when i rub his gums and wont take a teether. So your other option is hyland natural which freddies carries iin the organic section has these great things called teething tablets. They help with the sore gums and the tummy trouble that teething can bring due to extra saliva. try them they helped my first two alot!!! not so much this one but two outta three is not bad.Good luck and hang in there...the light is at the end of the tunnel!!

My sister's son was diagnosed with GERD. It's been a real nightmare for her. If you have a good Natural Supplements store or Super Supplements near by, ask them what to do to help your baby. What helped my sister the most was putting digestive enzymes on her nipples before breast feeding. Bromelain and Papain in a lot of the digestive enzymes come from Pineapples. You could also try eating more pickles and olives with more vinegar to help yourself have more acid to pass to your baby. Make sure you are eating lots of UNCOOKED fruits and veggies. These have a lot of digestive enzymes built-in. GERD MOST OFTEN is caused by immature stomach that doesn't produce enough acid to digest the food, and as a result, the baby spits up. The fact that the pediatrician is putting your son on Zantac really shows his/her ignorance. I would fire him/her. This type of problem is caused by too LITTLE stomach acid, not too much. As a result, reflux happens because the food is not being processed, so it can't go down into the small intestine. As a result, it comes back up!

When my sister took the advice of Super Supplements and with their help chose a digestive enzyme to put on her nipples, the GERD cleared right up. Now, not only is the baby no longer spitting up, but IS ACTUALLY GETTING THE NUTRITION OUT OF THE FOOD! With Zantac, he is not. Also, her Naturopath prescribed Chamomilla (a Homeopathic remedy) for her baby and that made a difference as well. I would take him to a good naturopath. They are worth their weight in GOLD. My daughter today would be autistic from a food allergy if it weren't for my Naturopath.

Hi J., Boy do I remember how frustrating and helpless this makes one feel. The only suggestion that I can make is regarding burping. When my daughter (now adult) was a baby (my first) I thought that patting her on the back for a couple of minutes after feeding was all that was needed for burping and if she didn't burp I just thought she didn't need to at that time. Well, the truth is they do need to burp and it is very important to keep patting until you hear a good burp. At least one but preferably more than one. Once my son was born I patted his back until he burped and we never had a problem with him crying. But our daughter would cry for hours every night with no consoling. I really think she had a build up of gas and it caused bad stomach aches making her cry. So, its a pretty easy solution and worth a try. Just pat, pat pat and then pat some more until you hear some good loud burps. This could take awhile (10 - 15 minutes or more) Good luck! J.