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View Full Version : Your secret weapons for a colicky baby



Dcclerk
07-16-2003, 05:28 PM
We'll admit it... we have a very "high needs" baby. Generally we get 5 minutes of smiles for every 55 minutes of screams. I like to say that my child has very developed lungs for his age;) Since all the kids in my family and all the ones in DH's fam were colicky, we were pretty sure we would be so blessed, also. For the most part we are in decent humor about it, but I would love to hear about any secrets you all might have for a colicky kid.

For example, when Caleb has worked himself into a frenzy, I can snap him out of it by playing the hair dryer on high near him (not at him). Holding him while sitting and bouncing on an exercise ball works well, too.

Do you have any tricks to calm your babe?

JustMare
07-16-2003, 05:32 PM
Have you read the book "Happiest Baby on the Block"? I believe it has tips for exactly what your going through.

My copy is on order, but many people here have suggested the book.

Good luck.

Marisa6826
07-16-2003, 05:35 PM
I also recommend the Happiest Baby on the Block and a bottle of Gripe Water!

Good luck

-m

Momof3Labs
07-16-2003, 06:56 PM
Another HBotB devotee here - I soooo wish that I had bought that book before Colin was born. I waited until he was two months old!

jd11365
07-17-2003, 08:51 AM
Baby Bliss Gripe Water!!!!!

flagger
07-17-2003, 08:56 AM
Best advice is to get out of the house once a day. Get away from the baby at least every other day if you have someone staying with you. Even if it is just for a walk around the block, a happy mom makes for a happy baby.

So often we are so focused on taking care of one who needs us so much, that we need to remember to take care of ourselves.

One other thing that might work is to do the standing football hold. Tummy on arm, butt in palm of hand. Rock back and forth like a human metronome.

Good luck. This too shall pass.

Rhonda36
07-17-2003, 09:30 AM
Surprisingly, our secret weapon ended up being the Fisher Price Ocean Aquarium swing. This thing ROCKS (pardon the pun). Seriously, during DS's "witching hour," we put him in his swing and he's mesmerized, then falls asleep. It's been about 3 weeks now, and it's worked 99% of the time.

Good luck and hang in there -- this too shall pass.
Rhonda
mom to Spencer, 5/17/03

lukkykatt
07-17-2003, 09:31 AM
I too had a "high needs" baby. DS got all of his screams out between 12 and 4 am - yuck!

1)Bouncy Seat - he was an addict. I almost cried the day I had to put it away.

2)"Hiney pats" - we would hold him accross our laps on his belly and pat his bottom.

3)White noise machine

DH and I also made a pact that if whoever had him at night was getting too frazzled to wake the other person up. It is important to get a break! If you are the only person at home, it is ok to lay him down in the crib and do a couple of laps around the downstairs, and then go back up!

There will be a day when this will all be behind you!

kapow
07-17-2003, 09:37 AM
Where do you get a white noise machine? Do they also play environmental sounds, such as waterfalls? Or do you use something like a humidifier or a ceiling fan? A friend of mine made a tape of a vacuum cleaner and said it worked great, even took it on trips.

flagger
07-17-2003, 10:11 AM
Homemedics makes one. It was about $12.99 at Target. You find it on the aisle with hair dryers, down on the lower shelf. Look for the Small Electrics sign.

Mine has White Noise, Ocean Waves, Mountain Stream (which you cannot listen to with a full bladder) and a few others. Her favourite is Summer Nights.

amyinNC
07-17-2003, 10:28 AM
Babies-r-us also sells a white noise / nature noises machine (Nature's lullabye for $19.99) that hooks on the edge of the crib. I'm not thrilled that it's only battery operated ... but we've had it on all night for the last 8 days and we haven't run low on batteries yet. It plays a heartbeat sound, which we use most often (also ocean waves and a few others). You can set it up to come on when he's crying (sound activated - and also on a timer)

Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/baby/B000056HMY/qid=1058454826/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-4262278-8847837

Good luck. Our baby is still so little - but seems headed in the high needs direction. His fussy time is 8 pm to 12 pm (not full out screaming, but unwilling to go down to sleep).

I highly recommend happiest baby on the block. I bought and read it while pregnant - and imagine without the tips, our son would be much worse.

Amy
mom to Andrew (born July 9, 2003)

ocmama
07-17-2003, 11:04 AM
Happiest Baby on the Block saved us. We still had to hold DS a lot, but no screaming! His white noise fav. was the dryer. Good Luck and know it does not last forever.

Dcclerk
07-17-2003, 01:50 PM
Thanks to all for your reccomendations! I, too, am a fan of the Happiest Baby book... and I actually liked the video even more since you could see Karp's tips in action. I'm convinced that if we didn't use his tips religiously, my child would already have nodes on his vocal chords! ;)

For those of us who swaddle but who have kids who make it their 3 a.m. entertainment to get out, Kiddopotomus makes a swaddle contraption with velcro called "Swaddle Me". Unfortunately it seems a tad like a baby strait jacket, but Caleb seems to prefer it to the blankets. It is almost like he realizes that he will not be able to get out and doesn't need to try, so he can rest and go to sleep.


I love the bouncer, too, although we haven't been able to convince him that he likes swings quite yet... but maybe it is because I don't have the Aquarium one; he loves his Aquarium bouncer so that might be the secret!

Good thought on getting out and trading off. Sometimes I get so involved with him that I forget to take care of myself.

If anyone else has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks to all!:)

Rachels
07-17-2003, 03:15 PM
LOTS of people are helped by eliminating diary-- us included! You have to religiously cut it all out if you're nursing, including whey and casein, and you have to give it a full two weeks to clear the baby's system. What a difference, though! It was absolutely worth it. The difference between a happy baby and a sad one is profound. I'd do it again without blinking.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

DCmommy
07-17-2003, 10:49 PM
We were in a similar situation -- I wasn't colicky, but DH and his younger brother had SERIOUS colic (at least if you listen to my MIL tell it), so I was preparing to just ride it out if our DS inherited his daddy's genes.

HBOTB was great, Homedics white noise machine on "summer nights" was great (and we still use it), sometimes the swing helped, sometimes nothing helped, UNTIL we mentioned it to our pediatrician, in conjunction with some other stuff (like coughing) that we thought were unrelated. Turns out, however, that DS had gastroesophageal reflux. They did a few relatively basic (and pain-free) tests at our local hospital's pediatric apnea clinic, and they prescribed baby Zantac. DS was like a new person! Still fussy at times, but not in that pained sort of colicky way. And that's probably what DH and his brother had, they just didn't know it back then.

So if you haven't mentioned it to your pediatrician, you might want to make sure that baby doesn't have something medical going on that can be easily treated, before all three of you have to suffer through any more colic.

HTH!

Megan
Mommy to Patrick, 1/16/03