Biff & Baba
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Mother & Baby
  • Lifestyle
  • Health & Fitness
  • Social

m o t h e r  &  b A B Y

THE DREADED "C" WORD...

16/7/2017

9 Comments

 
Picture
Yesterday my little Maddison turned 3 weeks old... that's 21 days together already (not including today)! However, since day 18, we've been struggling with the dreaded "C" word that makes all new parents feel helpless and exhausted, and NO I'm not talking about any rude words (which I know is what you're potentially thinking you naughty buggers haha)... I'm talking about COLIC.
 
Colic. Those hours of late afternoon/early evening, when your baby just cries and cries for no reason what so ever. You've changed them, fed them, burped them, literally no amount of rocking, bobbing or cuddling positions will settle them. It is just non-stop crying as if baby has become possessed for a couple of hours!! Then all of a sudden, they are fine again! As if nothing had happened and they are back to the normal, adorable, newborn that you know all the other hours of the day. 
 
"Colic is the name for excessive, frequent crying in a baby who appears to be otherwise healthy. It's a common problem that affects up to one in five babies..." - NHS website 
 
Who the hell can explain the science of this craziness?! Well, I've done a ridiculous amount of research trying to help me understand and find a cure, but it seems that unless accompanied by other symptoms that would suggest something more serious.. that there is no real reason why babies get colic! Or any way to fix the problem! It starts when they are a few weeks old and the nightmare normally ends by 4 months of age. There is one thing for certain though.. and I know already from my few days of experiencing colic so far, that it is exhausting and I completely get why it causes so many parents distress!!

I am so unbelievably grateful that when Maddison started showing signs of colic my mum was with me, and having had 3 babies of her own, she recognised the behaviour immediately and started working her magic of different techniques to try and settle her! She had started crying and refusing to settle at about 6:30pm on Thursday, so I did the obvious checks.. was she hungry? Did she need burping? Did her nappy need changing etc... everything seemed fine! Yet her little face wouldn't stop going red, her vocal cords squeaking and whaling, and her little bottom lip trembling away! I just felt completely useless and helpless!! Why couldn't I comfort my baby? Why could I not work out why she was upset? Then that horrible thought crossed my mind; that I'm sure crosses every first time mums mind at some point... "Does this mean I'm a bad mummy?!?!" I know it is a dramatic stupid thought, I know I'm not a bad mummy, I'd do anything for my little girl! I'm just ridiculously tired and full of hormones!! Anyway, NOTHING worked. And like I said, thank god my mum was here to reassure me everything was okay and this was a perfectly normal thing that many babies go through! It's just one of those things where you have to stick it out, do your best to comfort baby, and stay sane till the crying passes!

Since that day, we've now had "Colic O'clock" roughly between 5:30-7:30pm everyday. And I'm going to say in complete and utter honesty, that from my experience so far, it doesn't seem to be getting easier. Those few hours are SUCH hard work! Please agree with me?! As if motherhood wasn't hard enough already.. I've done everything to try and prevent it, knowing that colic time is creeping up upon us. I've popped her in the pram and gone for a long walk to settle her, not worked. I've tried using Infacol before a feed, made sure I've done a good old winding, not helped. I've made sure she has enough sleep but doesn't nap too long that she's cranky, no use. There is no dodging colic. (Or if there is and you've discovered it, give another mother a helping hand and let me know your secret pretty please?!!) But at least I know WHAT I'm dealing with and that it WILL come to an end, and she's not going to be crying forever!! 


Something that I have read and heard a lot of people say who have had colicky babies, is to make sure you have some support or someone to lean on to help you through those difficult hours. (On a serious note..) Being home alone dealing with a crying baby, that will not stop, can be extremely draining and emotionally stressful on top of the 24/7 care babies require anyway! So the best advice I've come across, is to have someone handy that can pop over to help, or be on the other end of the phone for you to rant or cry to, be that your partner, friend, family, neighbour etc!! This is something that has made colic even harder for me personally, because of the hours Josh and I work as Personal Trainers, we always have evening clients. So Josh is normally out during Maddison's colic 'prime-time' (lucky for him!), which can make those hours DRAG even more for me being alone than they would normally. But knowing I have my mum on Facetime standby or Josh's mum down the road, does make it easier! So fellow mamas, try and have someone on call who can help out, because it really helps!

Although being a mummy is the most incredible and rewarding feeling in the entire world. Things like colic do not make it easy. Being a mum IS a superpower! You are constantly putting yourself second to your little one, while trying to still have some sort of social life and attempting to keep a clean and organised household, all while running on very little or no sleep. Adding on top of that, these "witching hours" of baby crying, you do sometimes want to bang your head against a wall! I know there are times I feel like that! Any fellow mummys struggling with a colicky baby... YOU ARE NOT ALONE! It wont last forever but it is okay to admit that it's hard! We can do it!! Oh, and to any mums-to-be that might be reading... Please don't let this post scare you! Being a mum is still the best thing EVER! Doesn't mean it's easy, but it is totally worth it! 

As mentioned above, any mums who have experienced colic and found ways to cope, please feel free to share! Not only for me but for anyone else who might be reading that can relate and might need a boost!! We should always support and help each other, united motherhood! There is far too much judgement out there to be criticising mums that are learning and trying their best! Every baby is different and it's always important to remember that.

Either comment below or contact me via the Social page! Love x


9 Comments
Lorn
16/7/2017 21:05:22

My little boy is 5 weeks old and has had colic for a couple of weeks, I try to give him a bath when it hits and then wrap him in a towel and give him a skin to skin cuddle and feed straight after the bath, been doing this for a week or so and it defiantly eases the crying

Reply
Kate
17/7/2017 02:02:34

Our first little girl had colic really bad too. One thing that helped us was swaddling her and holding her tight while bouncing on an exercise ball (sitting on it, of course). Hang in there mamma it's one of the most frustrating times ever! The good news is it doesn't last forever and in my experience it only lasted three weeks. I also had to remind myself that if I was getting to stressed out, it was okay to put baby down and take a short break.

Reply
Lizzie
16/7/2017 21:34:19

Just read up on a new vibrating pillow that holds the baby as we would -called 'Babocush' - they have an instagram page. Supposed to be amazing for colic, might be worth checking out ☺️

Reply
Monica
16/7/2017 21:51:11

I read the below. You can try gripe water, it really worked for my daughter. Good luck!

Some experts believe that colic is the result of an allergy to milk protein (or lactose intolerance) in formula-fed babies. More rarely, colic may be a reaction to specific foods in Mom's diet in breastfed babies. Either way, these allergies or sensitivity can cause tummy pain that may set off colicky behavior.

Reply
Gillian
16/7/2017 22:26:54

My little girl is 5 weeks old today & this begun around the 3 week mark for me also. I had 3-4 evenings of endless crying with nothing soothing her AT ALL. Then I found bathing with my daughter, having lots of skin to skin & feeding in the bath tub really helped to calm & settle her. Then got her ready for bed and put her to the breast again to act as a soother until she fell over. I don't know if it was just a coincidence but been doing it every night since and it seems to be working. Routine definitely helps (I know it's hard to try and make a routine at the moment though). Hope it gets better for you both. Xxx

Reply
Sarah
17/7/2017 00:19:15

Hi again! My little girl had colic for 3 months. Some tips -
Infants Friend medicine (worked great!)
Massaging bubs tummy in a clockwise direction
Nice warm bath
Placing bub on your lap on their tummy and patting their bum, or snuggled up on your shoulder and patting their back.

For me it was mostly because she had tummy pains and couldn't pass any wind or burp

Reply
Laura
17/7/2017 05:10:53

I really feel for you. I found these two websites very helpful
https://www.happiestbaby.com/blogs/blog/the-5-s-s-for-soothing-babies

purplecrying.info

Goodluck with it all
Xxx

Reply
Amber
17/7/2017 09:14:05

I signed up to
Babycenter.com and found them real helpful with finding out things. They have a link for coping with colic:
https://www.babycenter.com/0_colic-how-to-cope_1369745.bc

I hope one of these helps😉

Reply
Victoria
19/7/2017 04:02:12

Eliminate all dairy from your diet. Some babies digestive system are not well developed and they can't process the protein in cow's milk. It will take almost 2 weeks for it tk eliminated from your body and the baby.
All the best!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Mummy

    This section will all be focused on being pregnant, discovering motherhood and baby bits!

    Archives

    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Mother & Baby
  • Lifestyle
  • Health & Fitness
  • Social