My 8 Top Tips for kicking Colic's butt.
- Amy Leonard
- Mar 24, 2017
- 2 min read
I've mentioned in a few previous posts that feeding hasn't always been easy with Lochy - he struggled to latch to the boob so my idyllic dreams of breastfeeding fell by the wayside, and then within his first week he lost a whopping 14% of his bodyweight, leading to us having a 6 day stay in hospital while I religiously force-fed him every three hours. Now we're home and he's consistently gaining the grams, but just when I thought we'd cracked it, a new challenge reared its ugly head...
Colic affects up to a fifth of babies and usually stops by itself by the time baby is 6 months old, but its horrible to see your beautiful baby struggling in pain, sometimes seemingly inconsolable, so I took to the laptop to find out what ways I could help Lochy while he was having an episode.
Here's my tried and tested top tips;
Always burp baby after a feed - I also find doing so mid-feed helps too, I can usually tell he needs it when he slows down mid-bottle!
I've found that feeding Lochy in an upright/sitting position really helps rather than laying down - he seems to burp himself this way too so I'm sure its helping the issue of swallowing air.
There are plenty of anti-colic teats and bottles on the market, or you can use fast-flow teats to prevent the swallowing of air. I have some NUK ones that seem to work.
A warm bath, or little hot water bottle can help too (make sure its not too hot!)
Give him a cuddle - this definitely helps Lochy, it offers comfort and I like knowing that he knows we're there, rather than just leaving him screaming.
Use a pacifier, this seems to offer both comfort, relieve the pain and get any trapped air moving.
You could try and oral suspensory such as Infacol, which is given before a feed and may ease symptoms.
Lay him across your lap on his front - I tried this for the first time yesterday afternoon and he instantly fell asleep! I couldn't believe how well it worked!
So there we have it, I hope one or a combination of these help, but remember, if symptoms continue to persist or get worse then contact your GP or speak to your health visitor.
Mama x
*EDIT* We seem to now have cracked Lochy's colic by introducing a formula which is specially developed for babies suffering with colic or constipation - its formulated to have smaller protein particles which are therefore easier to digest.
We are using Cow & Gate's which seems to be working wonders, though most companies have their own version. Its a couple of pounds more expensive but its well worth it if you find it works for you and your baby!!
