***New Mother Looking for Advise***

[JenLouise0201]

I am a new mother, my daughter was born on 9-5-03 and she is currently 5 weeks old. I am breastfeeding her, and that seems to have went very well so far. For her first week or so being home, she slept fine, waking up every 2-3 hours to eat and going right to sleep. Then the fun began. She started staying awake from about 7 p.m - 3 a.m. just fussing turning into screaming spouts. She screams so hard she breaks out into a sweat. We have tried everything and nothing has seemed to work to calm her down. PLEASE if anyone has any advise that would be great. One thing I have noticed was odd, she has wet diapers all day long, but sometimes she goes 2 days without a bowl movement. Then FILLS her diaper. I wasn't sure if that was normal. So if there are any mothers that can help me I will appreciate ANYTHING that might help. I think this is what they call colic. Thanks so much!!

-A Tired Mother

[Unregistered]

Hello! Yes, it is tiring - isn't it? Our little girl, now 7 weeks, started fussing around 2 weeks. Gas seemed to be the culprit (and she only had bowel movements every few days, which I have been assured is fine, though I think she fusses more in the hours before one). I had to walk her around the house all day just about and nighttimes were hard as well. I read all of the different baby books and websites about dietary changes and followed their advice. However, I found that I was now eating a lot more carbohydrates and had a feeling this wasn't good. I was eating wheat and dairy free products for instance, but realized they were sweetened with fruit juice and also had soy. At first I thought this was ok. However, soy isn't tolerated by all babies and I think there is some research out there that says soy isn't good for babies. Then, I went on a couple of national gastrenterology websites and they talked all about how a lot of carby foods/soluble fiber cause gas. I'd look up the info if I were you. So for the last week I have eaten things that are low in sugar and much of it, though not all is low in carbs. Basically: no spices other than salt and pepper, eggs, occasional dairy and wheat free toast, rice pasta, water, occ chamomile tea, (no more juice), spinach with olives, avocados, and balsamic vinegar, zucchini, bok choy, meats/chix (no pork)... and for a snack, nuts (watch for allergies) and root veggie chips. That's about it. Still taking postnatal vitamins. Oh and someone told me that the Wall Street Journal recently had an article on taking apple cider vinegar - a cap a day... So I've been doing that. (Make sure it is not raw or unpasteurized). Other than food I now frequently play ocean waves on cd. In fact, we play it all night long and she loves it. If I have the tv on, I play it very softly now.

The response was almost immediate!!!! Her cries are more "normal" now and we can tell she feels sooo much better! She is a much happier baby and sleeps more during the day, not needing to be on Mom's shoulder all of the time. I've noticed she is having very small bowel movements in between the larger ones now as well.

Hope this helps!! It is such a relief to find what works. Good luck! ~Kathy

[JenLouise]

Thank you so much for your advise! I will try anything that might help. I will let you know how everything turns out.

[Unregistered]

Your welcome... I hope it helps your situation. I know how much you would like to just have a nice, peaceful day with your little one. I just wanted to say that I read bok choy (which I listed as one of the foods I eat) is listed on foods that produce gas. I am not so sure that has created a problem for us, but I wanted to tell you that just in case...

And... a little sugar here and there is ok.

Think body AND mind and hopefully things will look up... And take care of yourself. I know in the heart of it I had a couple of days, particularly nights, where I was mentally and physically tense - very tense. Take deep breaths and relax! Best to you! ~Kathy

[Unregistered]

Found a good idea on askdrsears.com today - The Elimination Diet (look under Fussy Babies). Instead of just going by what foods worked for me (in the messages above) maybe you could try out this elimination diet and find out what might be causing your colic. I think this is a smart way too because you can eventually add more foods to your diet as you go along, if you have some success. That sounds great to me!

He has other good ideas for colic on there too.

[KMP]

http://www.gicare.com/pated/edtgs12.htm

[KMP]

Just wanted to give a heads up: My baby girl's colic returned last week and because it seems diet-related, I checked everything I had been eating. It turned out I got a different brand of rice pasta at the store last week and this one had rice BRAN in it. This can cause gi problems and so I stopped eating it. She is much better now. So just be sure if you start eating a lot of rice products that it only contains the rice and not the bran. :)