Dear Geraldine,
I have been told that my baby has colic and am totally devasted. Oscar is 4 weeks old and is really unsettled toward the end of the day – when I am feeling tired myself, but won’t settle until 9pm – 10pm at night. I have tried to put him on a routine, I try to wind him or give him a bath to help him relax but this just seems to make matters worse. I have not had a calm enjoyable meal with my husband for weeks and am close to breaking point.
Is there anything you can do to help me? I would appreciate any advice you have.
Kind regards,
Amy Reed
Dear Amy,
I am not surprised that you are feeling close to breaking point, as there is little more exhausting than keeping all ‘life’s balls’ in the air with an unsettled little newborn. I can assure you that many moms will be sympathising with you, so remember that you are not alone and you are doing a good job!
Now, let’s see how and where we can start sorting things out for you. Firstly, don’t get too hung up on the word ‘colic’, it is a simple term most professionals use when they just don’t know how to help. Colic is quite rare and usually trapped wind, poor digestion or overtiredness is the true culprit, so we will start by addressing these first.
Your milk supply is at its lowest point between 1-4pm, so feeds may go on for longer than usual at this time. This is not great for a baby who is tired and not effective at accessing the milk.
You have 2 options here, you can offer a bottle of expressed breast milk – so your baby gets a good hit of milk in a short space of time, or you can breastfeed offering both sides and using breast compression throughout to help push the milk into Oscar’s mouth. (depending on how hairy your evenings are, I would probably go with the first option for a few days). You want Oscar to have a sleep before the evening feed and bath routine so that he is calm and settled and goes to sleep.
Winding – remember that trapped wind doesn’t suddenly appear! it accumulates throughout the day, so you need to wind baby well at each feed. If you are struggling, use a winding aid to help get the bubbles up – something like infacol at each feed should be fine.
The more wind comes up and out, the less will need to go down and out – this means less gut cramping and spasming.
If you have offered Oscar infacol at each feed for at least 5 days and things have improved but not resolved, you could offer some colief drops before the feed – inconjunction with infacol. This will help Oscar digest the milk a little better and will reduce gut pain.
Have a look at the Let’s Breastfeed Guide for more parctical tips, routines, expressing tips and so on.
ALWAYS SPEAK TO YOUR GP OR PHARMACIST BEFORE GIVING BABY REMEDIES – EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SAFE AND FORMULATED FOR INFANTS.
I hope this helps, stick with it, you will get over this little hill and then you’ll be so pleased at how well everything is going. Come and see me in the practice in Twickenham if you need any more help or advice.
Kind regards,
Geraldine
