confused about colic

[sylvia Uziel]

This whole colic situation is really strange to me. When I was pregnant I kept saying to my friends that I am going to be the "lucky" one to have a colicy child. At 9 weeks old my son seems to be at his worst. At first he was just gassy so I thought that it was not colic, but now he crys for 2 hours at a time. I read alot of the posts that say that this could start at 2 weeks. Does the crying also start at that time? because he did not have these crying attacks until week 6. also he seems to be crying less in the past couple of days, but I am not sure if that is due to some drops or maybe things are getting better. What are the sure signs of colic ending?. I am so scared that this will not end at 3-4 months. can anyone tell me how to detect reflux? Any help would be appreciated.

[andreac]

Hi Sylvia, lots of babies just cry for no real reason up till about 3 months, it's just their way of relieving tension and stress caused by over stimulation. Even things like being handled a lot or subject to noise all the time can make them cry to let off steam. Once they hit 3 months most babies only cry for a reason eg. tired, hungry, teeth, wind. If your baby is starting to cry less it doesn't really sound like colic, just normal baby behaviour (hopefully!!).

You can usually tell if a baby has reflux if they vomit milk or you see milk in their mouths after feeds (when they vomit it up and swallow again) and also if they seem to be chewing. I find the best thing to do is:
1. If they are still putting on weight then do nothing
2. Sit them up for a little while after a feed
3. Change their pants before feeding as lifting their legs up can cause reflux.
4. Some people suggest thickening feeds if you are bottle feeding but unless it is a major problem I wouldn't bother.
5. Make your baby stop half way through the feed and burp them.

Hope all goes well.

andreac (mother of darling boy who cried until nearly 3 months then turned into an angel!!)