Comments on: Roundup – Colicky Baby Edition

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:28:14 +0000

Thanks, Enrique. We run a loud fan at night, but we’ll try the vacuum cleaner – it should be a little louder.

By: Enrique s

Enrique s — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:14:31 +0000

Both of my sons had colic. I remember my oldest cried for a whole Saturday. I could only imagine what my wife went through during the week. A friend suggested that we make a tape of the vacuum cleaner and play it when we wanted to put him to sleep (I kid you not). It worked like a charm! I’m sure there’s some white-noise generating device out there that would do the same thing. Give the vacuum a try, what do you have to lose?

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:08:55 +0000

Sorry to hear about the lack of sleep – both of our babies were a handful but 1 hour of sleep at a time is very inconsiderate of her!

Most people I know who had a colicky baby just endured….hopefully it won’t last long.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:31:07 +0000

Kristen & Cat, She is breast fed, and we have tried the incline sleep. We have also tried changing Mom’s diet, helping her expel gas by moving her feet, different holds, etc.

She’s just fussy.

By: Cat

Cat — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:47:39 +0000

To follow up to Kristen- if your wife is breastfeeding, changing her diet might help too. Dairy and eggs are the first things to try, it helped with my son’s fussiness when he was tiny.

The bicycle move also helps get rid of gas- I’d take my son’s feet and cycle his knees up to his chest like he was riding a bike. He thought it was funny, and it helped get some gas out. The football hold (baby face down on your forearm with head near the crook of your elbow) pushes on the tummy and relieves some gas too.

The best advice I got was to never turn on a light between bedtime and time to get up. If you need light in the middle of the night, get a cool light nightlight, like a taplight, for beside the bed. It helps get the baby’s day/night pattern set. It took 6 weeks for my son to sleep more than 2 hours at a time (and at 11 months we’re still at 4-5 hour stretches, tops) but those are a few things that helped in the early days.

Think of it as an initiation into the parent club. The hazing is brutal…. good luck!!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:18:45 +0000

Ryan, I don’t know what method you’re using to feed your new little one. If you’re bottle feeding, have you checked with the pediatrician about changing formula or the type of bottle you’re using? One of my best friends just had her first baby and he had colic (in addition to an RSV infection when he was 4 weeks old). They ended up trying a lot of different formulas and bottles. Also, they make a sleep positioner that has a bit of an incline to help with acid reflux if that’s a problem. Good luck!

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:04:04 +0000

Ryan, welcome to the world of being a parent . . .

My daughter starts high school in a matter of weeks– you think you got problems . . .

By: FFB

FFB — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:07:34 +0000

Our little one has been spending nights in the bed too. Sleeps real well next to my wife. Still makes me a bit nervous but it worked for our son too. Of course our bassinet is somewhat useless at night….

Hope your daughter gets over the reflux and gas problems soon (and you guys can all get some sleep too)!