What is colic really???

[katyj]

I have an eight week old daughter with colic. In the past two months I have read everything I can find about colic, but very few things apply to our situation. There are things that she does that no one else has mentioned about their own children, so we are feeling a little alone. From the time she was a week old, Abby was only quiet when she was eating or sleeping. Unfortunatley, she would not sleep, so that left little peace in our home. The only way she slept was on our chests at night or in our arms during the day. On average she slept about 9 hours out of 24. That situation has improved dramatically in the last week, but she still fights sleep. This, however, is not the worst of our troubles. Abby despises her car seat. She screams the entire time she is in it. In addition to screaming, she hurts herself. I know that it is unintentional, since she has little control of her arms and legs, but it is miserable to see. Last week, she gouged the roof of her mouth trying to suck her thumb. Today, after a five minute trip to the store, she managed to give herself a bloody nose. It looks like we are abusing our baby. Nothing I have read suggests that babies with colic are angry, but that is how I have to describe my baby. Yes, she is very gassy, but it doesn't seem like she is in pain. She just seems very very mad. I'm not looking for advise, because things are getting better. I'm just wondering if anyone else has these problems.

[Angie]

You are not alone:

I used to tell people that Sophie had two emotions, happy and very angry. The happy only came during eating and sleeping, otherwise she was screaming. She screamed everytime we put her in the car seat or stroller. She would ball her hands into fists and flail around. She would be so mad that she would turn beet red. I had to make sure I clipped her nails often because she would put deep scratches on her face and stomach during her fits. She would push her thumb way back into her throat and would sometimes make herself gag. She started improving a little at 8 weeks,but when she was twelve weeks old it started to really get better. It has been a slow process for us, but it gets easier and easier. Sophie doesn't do any of that stuff anymore. She is now 5 months. She is still high maintenance, but generally happy 95% of the time.
Good Luck!
Angie