Check, check and check.

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The medical definition of colic is a healthy baby with periods of intense, unexplained fussing/crying lasting more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week for more than 3 weeks. Check, check and check.

Remember when I said that my sweet angelic baby never cried during the day except during “witching hour”? Yeah, looks like I jinxed myself. We have a colicky baby on our hands and most of my day is spent trying to prevent or calm crying. I’ve actually become quite the pro at swaddling and shushing my brains out (à la Happiest Baby On The Block).

Yes, we’ve tried gripe water and gas drops and white noise and chiropractic care and car rides and warm baths – you name it and we’ve tried it. Some things give our ear drums temporary relief but for the most part the crying continues. Boy does the crying continue. My baby cries so much that I think I hear crying even when he’s not crying.

Many of my mom friends keep reminding me that “this too shall pass”. I’ll keep you posted and let you know if they are lying. I’m off to do some more shushing…

Logan is 9 weeks & 4 days old. Vanessa is contemplating getting her tubes tied.

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8 Responses

  1. I feel your pain. Charlotte had colic. The days were long and the nights were longer.

    You might try ColicCalm:
    http://www.coliccalm.com/

    It's not the same as the gripe water or gas drops you get in most drug store. We tried all of those too! At least I've never seen this in stores, but I hear you can get it at CVS now. It has a number of other homeopathic herbal ingredients helpful in calming baby, and also the addition of vegetable charcol for calming baby's gassy tummy and reducing reflux. The charcol will make Logan's poop and spit-up gray or black, but if it helps calm him, you wont mind some stained diapers and burp cloths.

    You also might consider that he's an early teether. Highland's teething tablets worked wonders for us, another homeopathic remedy. This is one of those products we didn't know about with our first child, but discovered it with our 2nd we sang HALLELUJAH, then contemplated buying stock in Highlands.

    Best of luck. I'm thinking about you. Don't feel bad if there are moments you find yourself wondering what would happen if you flung that baby at the wall to watch him go splat. Take a deep breath, leave him crying in his crib where he'll be safe for a few minutes, then find a quiet corner of the house where you can have a good cry.

  2. I feel for you. My first was colic. Your posts sound all too familiar! He cried about 10 hours every day (not an exaggeration) and didn't take any semblance of a nap until he was almost 3 mos old. I think he blew the definition of colic out of the water. Plus he had reflux and was on meds for 3 mos. He did well once he finally went to sleep about 1am every night but the days were horrid. Nothing ever helped. Tried everything! He did mildly better when we bounced on an exercise ball. He never liked rocking much.
    The best advice I got was to put him in a front pack, facing out and go about your day. You can't put your life on hold. The colic didn't get much better but I wasn't as focused on it. I discovered he liked running water so doing the dishes was great. I would go for walks, clean, put on some music, etc. At least I felt like I accomplished something when the day was done!
    I also learned to purposely find things to be thankful for. I think that helped my sanity a lot! There were a lot of people worse off than me, that couldn't get pregnant or lost their baby.
    I have blocked out much of his first 3 mos of life. There's a lot I don't remember. And somehow I decided to have another! 🙂 …don't worry, the memories fade a little. Lol. My second child is now 3 weeks old. I'm anxiously waiting to see if we will have a repeat performance! The last few days have made me wonder. The high pitched screams, kicking, endless fussiness, bouncing on the exercise ball… I wonder if it will develop into full blown colic or just blow over?
    I remember that advice got annoying in the end. No one really knew what I was going thru. Come on, no one really had children that cried 10+ hrs every day?!
    I'll pray that you have some peace and rest! That you are able to catch some moments to savor! A little cuddle or smile.

  3. I went through this with my daughter. It was horrible and I don't think I could ever go through it again. I had my son three months ago and this time, as soon as we started down that road again, I cut all dairy out of my diet. I don't know whether you are nursing or not but if you are, it might be something to think about. It takes a good two weeks to get the dairy out of your system but once I did, I saw a huge improvement. I miss cheese like anything but if it is the price I pay not to have the intense crying, it's totally worth it. I know other mothers of colic babies who don't find elimination diets work but for some, they really do. Also, all babies go through fussy periods at certain developmental points, at about the same age (e.g., 5 weeks, 7 weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks, etc). It's all laid out very clearly in a great book called "The Wonder Weeks". It didn't eliminate the fussy times but it really helped me to know that there was a reason for these times and that they too would pass.

  4. I went through the same thing with my daughter. Around 5pm she would start crying and not stop for hours! Which always lead to me crying. Well, a friend gave me a book called the Healthy Sleeping, Happy Baby or something like that and I read a part about sleeping. It said at her age she should be sleeping every 90 minutes which was soooo not happening. I figured when she was tired she would sleep and never implemented a "sleep schedule" but apparently she was not getting near enough sleep so she ended up being cranky in the evenings. I didn't want to be a Nap Nazi like a certain SIL I have but once I started her on a schedule the crying stopped. She was a completely different baby and when baby is happy, mommy is happy. So, my advice is write down his naps and see if he is getting enough sleep, if not try putting him on a sleep schedule. Every baby is different and I am no expert but that is what worked for us. Good luck!

  5. We've tried colic calm (which seemed to help for a few days but the crying started again), I cut out dairy at week 1 (now I'm cutting out other gassy foods), I even have him on a sleep schedule (although not rigid, but how can you be with a newborn). We've tried EVERYTHING.

  6. my lil man didn't have colic so unfortunately i have no words of wisdom….only encouragement. just don't give up!! it will pass soon, and these days will be mere memories. just focus on how much you love your sweet lil' guy and how much he needs you. motherhood is hard, but the rewards are SO worth it. keep going and remember to accept every offer of help that comes your way; try to take breaks for yourself whenever you can! thinking of you!!!

  7. I am sure you have tried and though out just about everything, but I thought I would pass on a thought just in case. My baby had a little bout of reflux…could it be something like that? I gaver her Mylanta. It seemed to help. Hang in there – motherhood is hard, no doubt about it. And don't feel bad for feeling frustrated. It will pass. And remember, you are a good mom 🙂

  8. The only thing that worked for us was Colic Calm. It was a little scary at first, because it is black charcoal, but read about it and give it a try. I tried everything too I mean everything. And people wonder why we don't want another one right away 🙂

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Hi, I'm Vanessa!

Welcome to See Vanessa Craft! I’m Vanessa, an MSSW and mom of two in Arizona, and I’m happy you’re here to get inspired with me. It’s my mission in life to spread creativity through crafts, recipes, travel and more in order to live a life well lived.

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