How EXACTLY did your baby's colic end???

[BabsandDave]

We are very interested to find out EXACTLY how babies' colic ends. We would like to hear stories on the way your baby's colic finally came to an end.
Suddenly?
Gradually?
At what age?
Any particular changes in stooling or other behavior at that "end-point?"
Thanks for your input.
Dr. Dave & Babs

[Melamamaof4]

Dr. Dave,,

I am the mother of 4 children, and with my first,, it hit at 11 days old, and was so patterned, and reliable, I could set the country's clock by it. He was a thriving happy baby until 5 pm, and then all hell would break loose for 6/7 hours. Scream is an understatement. The only time he was quiet in that span of time, was when he would pass out for 15 min. to store up for the next bout. Needless to say, I still wonder how I ever made it thru. It ended, totally one night,, it was 5:15, and my husband commented how he was late,, we laughed,, and I got ready for the great walk,, that I would do with him every night,, and it never came,, he went to sleep at 8pm,, and I set and stared at him till 11, woke him up for his last feeding,, he barely ate,, and he went back to sleep. I didn't sleep a wink that night , convinced something was wrong with him, or that he was coming down with a terrible illness. He slept till 7 am. He was born on Jan.1,, and it was Mar. 3 when he did that. It was over that abrubtly. I couldn't believe it.

My second child was my calmest,, (still is to this day), and never really had what I would term colic,, but I do remember many nights of no sleeping,, many nights of fussiness, and many nights of walking and soothing,,but I have always thought it was the normal infant fussies that all babies experiance. It was all gone by 3 months of age, and he was a settled little boy. He did breastfeed constantly, and I changed him over to formula at 3 mo.

My third child never bf, was formula fed from day one,, and was a high needs,, fussy infant. This behavior stopped and settled by 4 months of age. He slept thru the night after this.

My latest baby, a daughter was VERY hands on. Her problems seemed to be clearly the most digestive. She would fuss, squirm, and grunt with every feeding. She is now a settled, and happy baby. I started to see her behavior SLOWLY fade. It was the most gradual of all of them. She has also been the hardest to establish a healthy sleep routine,, but we are finally there.

I only had problems with one child, my third, with stools,, he would have a hard time passing stools, I assumed because they were always hard and firm. He still has trouble with constipation at times to this day. He is my only child with that problem.

Hope you meant it when you said you wanted to hear our stories. Those are mine in a nut shell. Hope I have been a bit helpful. Thanks for caring!

Carmela, mother to

Joseph 11:)
Philip 7;)
Luciano 4:D
Gabrielle 5mo.:angel1

[BabsandDave]

Hi Melamamaof4,
Thank you, and yes, that is exactly what we wanted to know... But in a bit more detail, please, particularly with regard to the end point, which in your kids seems to have been "right on time" at the 3-4 month age level.
And your four seem to have covered quite a spectrum of symptoms, as would be predicted. Interesting how Gabrielle's sort of faded off, as you said.
A few more questions, if I might...
Was there any change in stool volume on that blessed day of relief (particularly with Joseph and Luciano) - for example, an extra-large stool?
Was there any blood on the diaper or mixed in with the stool on that last day of pain or the first day of no-pain?
Hopefully your answers and those of others will help to solve this great mystery of colic.
Thanks!
Dr. Dave

[colie74]

Hi Dr.

Anna (my first and only) had colic from week 8 to week 18.

She was always a fussy baby from about week 2 on. She didn't have any problems with feedings, though I think as a new mother I didn't have the knack of good burping down. And during desperate times for sleep, I remember not burping her when she passed out during a feeding because picking her up would wake her and start the whole process over again. She was a terrible sleeper and woke alot to eat. And I needed some rest, so I left her alone any chance I got her sleep. So I am sure gas was an issue then.

Ok around week 8 she became VERY fussy and cried alot. She had a lot of gas and was constipated, meaning not going at all for several days. After the prune juice ordeal got old (worked though), I switched to soy, which worked for about 3 days and back to being fussy and crying. So I went straight to Nutramigen hearing it at least solved gas/constipation problems. Ok, that solved...now on to the colic. She wasn't a constant cryer and was basically fussy all the time with bouts of screaming here and there that lasted only maybe a couple hours or less. I couldn't find a pattern at all. She had to be held all the time or would cry.

The thing I remember the most was the car seat. She screamed the moment she was in it, non stop till I took her out of it. I went back to work when she was 9 weeks old and every day she screamed all the way home...everyday!! My sitter says she was fine during the day only fussy, but solved by being held. And she had no problem doing that for me for the sake of me not worrying that she would give up on me.

For quite sometime, since being already wound up from the ride home, she would cry from 4:00 to 7:00. She seemed to always be overtired and at least would go to bed around 7:00. She always seemed hungry as well and I would feed her because that is when she was quiet.

So for most of those colic days, we would do the shuffle from one thing to another....hold her in various positions, run the vaccumm, walk, pace, whatever worked. But she seemed so uninterested in anything, tv, toys, whatever.

But the bedtime routine is what I consider the main colic times. She would scream from 6:00 to 7:00, on the dot. Yes like clockwork. We would pace the floor with her which worked until 6:00, then the screaming began. Nothing consoled her at that point. Nothing. So we would take her upstairs and rock her and let her cry it out, but stay with her. Eventually around 7:00 she would slow her pace down and then would gradually calm down to sighs. Then she would just stop and fall asleep. This went on for a long time.

You know Dr., in my daughters case...especially towards the end, I attribute her colic to more of either nuerological or overstimulation. I know she had no tummy issues being on the Nutramigen, her feedings were spaced and consistant and she was doing really well with it. My sitter always told me she was fine during the day with now meltdowns. But she still had these fits at night before bed. And during the whole colic phase we couldn't go anywhere that had noise or lights...she would do fine say at the mall for a little while, looking around and all, but always ended the event with a meltdown. Especially if we were out past bedtime. And with the nighttime episodes of that hour of crying, just didn't seem associated with pain. She had no problems sleeping (once we flipped her over on her tummy anyway) and didn't wake in pain. It was like she was just mad and wanted to let off that steam.

Ok...let's see...her colic ended gradually with the 6:00 moving to 6:15 and so on and so on. When I considered the colic "over" around 18 weeks, she still fussed from about 6:30 - 7:00. Just fussing, really tired and ready for bed. She didn't cry herself to sleep at that point. Just fussed and rubbed her face alot. So we would take her to her dark, quiet room and rock her. She would just sigh and eventually fall asleep. I thought that was wonderful, and couldn't ask for much more than that. But recently, now being 5 months old, she has stayed her happy fun self well past 7:00 and now at 8:00, we either just put her to bed now or she will now fall asleep where ever she lay. She is not bothered by tv, or noise or lights. She will fall alseep on the couch with a toy in her hand, and not think twice about it! It truly is amazing the steps she has made and how far she has come. She is truly a joy. That is why I attibute most of the colic to overstimulation, becuase I can now see how she has finally matured and grown accustom to her surroundings and they don't set her off anymore.

Oh did I mention, during her breaking point, if someone sneezed and startled her, that would push her over the edge and begin the colic routine.

So I hope I gave a little different take on this whole thing. I know parents hate it when their dr. tells them that nothing physically is wrong and that they may be just letting off steam or crying to relieve some stress. But in our case..I truly believe that is a true statement.

So sorry this is soo long, but I have a different story than others and I think there really are different things that affect colic in babies. It really helped on those nights when she would cry that hour to know that it is ok that we just ride it out with her instead of beating ourselves up for not being able to figure this out. She always ended her sessions around 7:00 and we new we wouldn't be pacing the floor at midnight with her cause she won't sleep or is in to much pain to sleep.

Take care...

Oh ps, daugter is on soy now and solids and is doing great, still constipated some, but doesn't seem to bring her down at all. Oh and we waited till colic was over before weaning back to soy, so no change in her bm at time of end of colic. She was regular going same time everyday and it was runny enough to pass without pain. So now change in that department when colic ended. She was 4 1/2 months when it ended. But since it started at week 8, we new it would go well into 4 months.

Nicole

Anna, 5 months

[BabsandDave]

Thanks Nicole, for sharing Anna's story of gradual relief.
It must be wonderful to all sleep at night!
We are going to keep track of these answers, and appreciate your time in sharing - and, yes, it takes a while to share a good story!
Thanks again.
Dr. Dave & Babs

[davispeters]

I used an all natural baby formula recipe from a naprapath and my son was colic free within two days! It has everything to make it nurtritionally complete and tastes good. My son is 9 weeks old and is content, healthy and very happy!

[colie74]

Well hi Michelle, do you mind sharing?

How did you find out about it? How do you make it? What's in it and how did you hear about it?

Appreciate it...wish I had heard about this a while back....maybe others might benefit.

Thanks

[davispeters]

Hi--This is for all that may be interested. The following is a baby formula recipe that I came across on the internet researching for colic remedies/allergies in infants: NATURAL BABY FORMULA

Better Than Milk, Soy or Rice base (Sold in most health food stores or available at Healthyroads.com)(Made according to directions.)
Standard Process Supplements (Catalyn-1/2 tab./ 32oz. of formula)(sold from most naprapaths or I sell them)(Folic acid/B12--also a Standard Process Supplement--1/2 tab/32oz. baby formula)
2tsp. organic flax seed oil per 32 oz. baby formula(health food store)
1-DHA capsule/32 oz. baby formula(health food store)

That is all you need to make the formula nurtritionally complete for infants. I came across this recipe called "Schmooie Juice", by a couple that ran a natural health care practice. There grandson had colic symptoms and allergy symptoms of watery eyes, runny nose, coughing and sneezing from the "commercial baby formulas" because of all the synthetic vitamins, pesticides used to grow certain products in the formula and additives. The above recipe is completely natural. The Standard Process Supplements are made from organic food bases and therefore, you can not overdose on the vitamins.

When I read this article, every symptom their grandson was having, my infant son was also having. Going on instinct, I tried this as soon as I had everything I needed. It worked like a charm. He no longer has the gas, bloat, and intestinal cramps like he did before, which by-the-way is usually at the root of colic.
Every commercial formula I tried did not work. He threw up the Allimentum and the Nutrimigen. Within 3 days of feeding my son this formula, he no longer was having the allergy symptoms either. He sleeps much better now instead of waking up every two hours crying. AND, he no longer cries for hours on end.

If you need additional help, email me directly @ davispeters@aol.com Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!! Michelle:)

[BabsandDave]

Thanks Michelle for sharing the "formula" that helped your baby's problems. We are keeping track of what works and what doesn't work in clearing infant colic.
Continued good wishes to you both!

Are there more stories??
What happened to your baby at the 3-4 month time when colic "magically disappears?"
Dr. Dave & Babs

[needsleep]

Dr. Dave

Finally, another Michigander...My son who is 2.5now..had colic 24/7 from day 7..cried 24/7..I had a very hard time wiht him..We drove him at all hours of the night/day..it helped for a few minutes but then the screaming would start again..and I mean screaming..He also had reflux pretty bad..we had 2 endoscopies done on him and the Pediatric GI said he had mild esophagitis[pardon my spelling]..but that she felt the screaming was colic..I never cried so much in my life...I begged for drugs for him to at least knock him out but of course the pediatrician would not try anything..she did let me use Benadryl on him for awhile..which ws a life saver because it knocked him out for about 2 hours and I could gain my composure...Miraculously, at about 14 weeks, he just slept 6hours or so and woke to be a happy little man...It was as plain as that...It was over.....no. gradual decrease in crying that I can remember..but my next child was my daughter and she is a different story..which I will post when I have more time..I hope this helps your research..

Marlana
Wyandotte, MI

[BabsandDave]

Hi Marleena! Wyandotte is a friendly town, right? From up here in northern Lower Michigan, we talk about wonderful places like Wyandotte as "down below." We can joke about this because we are originally from Pittsburgh, PA.
Thanks for your info about your baby. Fascinating! Just ended one night when he slept 6 hours?! Any more details? Any change in his appetite, intake style, BM's? Was there a particularly large BM that last day or so? Any blood on the diaper?
You may know from our previous posts that I have a rather firm idea that what I call "constipative colic" is caused by a residual partial membrane and/or a tight anal canal which is a carryover from the 5th to 8th week of life after conception, as an embryo. By performing digital rectal exam on the colicky babies in my practice over the past 25-plus years (the ones I've delivered in Family Practice and the babies referred to me my other physicians and Moms), we have seen colic disappear and lives return to normal.
The great unanswered question is: when the therapeutic digital rectal exam is NOT performed in a timely fashion (preferably before 4 weeks of age) and colic DOES go away (typically in 3-4 months) WHAT IS GOING ON??? How does it self-cure? No one seems to have really looked at this aspect of the problem, and ColicHelp.com seems like a great place for parents to share this information.
We also need to get every doctor and healthcare practitioner into the mindset of performing a digital rectal examination in every baby who is supposedly receiving a COMPLETE physical examination, especially when there are constipative-type complaints (grunting, turning red in the face with attempted movements, crying, reduced number of stools, etc., etc.). The problem is well stated in the embryology textbooks, but we doctors don't read them after med school. It looks like the answer has been before our eyes for over 40 years, but we just weren't seeing it! Sad but true. I get heartbreak when I hear parents being told "It's just the colic. She/he will be over it in a few months." Easy for them to say! Fortunately for us, none of our four kids had colic (it's randomly distributed), but my first grandchild did, and he responded just as well to my exam as all the other babies did over the years.
But - hope you have some more details. If not, Praise the Lord that the relief came that sweetly!
Thanks. Dr. Dave

[needsleep]

Hi Dr.Dave

Well, let me tell you..I have 3 kids...my 1st was a preemie delivered at 23-24weeks..weighing only 1lb3oz. and not given much of a chance..but she is 7now and has not had one setback...she was diagnosed with colic at about 1month...which was really about 4months[with her adjusted age]..once we switched her to alimentum formula which was the last of all formulas to try...we saw a big difference..Now, we were not sure if it was the formula or just time since it took us a few months to get to the alimentum..but I can tell you that she to this day still has a problem going to the bathroom..She has been to the Ped Gi and she is taking mineral oil every day..she has for years..We tried to take her off the alimentum as she got older but she got constipated from anything else..she did ok with milk at about 14months but as i said, she had to be stimulated to go to the bathroom..My son who is my 2nd had the severe colic...the dr. said she had never seen anything like his,...he just screamed 24/7...to the point i went to the drs. and said take him...i cant handle him..i do not recall constipation in him, but at 2.5yrs., now he is starting to show the same signs as his older sister..where he is straining to go to the bathroom..With both the older kids...they have had bm's where my toilet has clogged from them being so large..my sitter has even saved them on occasion to tell me that is not normal..My oldest daughter has the worse time..but the mineral oil does the trick with both kids..we had tried everything including, laxatives, senecot, fiber diets, exlax,prunes and a ton of others but the mineral oil keeps them regular..Now, on to my 3rd and final child..she also has reflux as my 2nd child did and is on alimentum..she started the colic at about 6weeks or so...she cried after every feeding about 1-1.5hrs after eating..she has shown signs of constipation as well.she was extremely gassy as my son was..and she still seems quite gassy to me..Now, my son could eat anything and not be bothered, where i am very careful with her diet..she still shows occasional signs of the colic..we have had to stimulate her a few times but nothing major yet.I hope this info helps you a bit..feel free to ask any questions..as if you can find a cure for this horrible disease or whatever it is...you will not only be rich but a life saver to millions of women who almost lose there sanity during the 1st few months..I hope the Mi weather is treating you well....we used to go to houghton lake on vaction for years..i had an uncle who lived there[ he just recently moved back downriver] but the rest of my family frequents that area alot..Thanks again

Marlana
Cassidy 7yrs
Matthew 2.5 yrs
Elizabeth 7months[almost]