How we relieved our baby's Colic symptoms
Being first-time parents was very intimidating at first...especially once baby started showing colic symptoms. With help from awesome friends (Shani especially, Naeema, and Marissa), we managed to find the problem and somehow successfully give baby relief!
Here are some relief products we tried and what did/didn't work:
1. Telament
This did NOT work for us, it made baby projectile vomit, which meant we needed to calm her and I needed to feed her again (and so the process started from scratch)
2. Colic Calm
I got this stuff from my friend, Shani, who was no longer using it with her baby. It was such a lifesaver and eased my spirit because it does not contain alcohol like the other relief options do! It's totally natural. The only downside is the black mess (the liquid is black), but if it gives relief to your little one, the mess is worth it. This stuff is super expensive, so we were lucky to get this free!
3. Gripe Water
I will probably get crucified on the mom groups for this, but this is what ended up working the best for our little one. I couldn't find an alcohol-free version, and honestly the results were so intense, that I decided I'd rather give baby relief, than stress about opinions of (ultimately well-meaning) moms. Luckily we only needed to use this a few times, because our other methods started REALLY working!
Physical movement and care methods, we STILL use to keep baby happy
1. Kangaroo care
If baby is having a fussy day or is generally feeling a bit clingy, I wrap her onto my chest and spend a lot of the day with her physically on my body. This calms her down enough to also do some of the other techniques. Again, Shani came to the rescue with the wrap she had used!
2. The five "s" technique
We used this whenever baby was fussy for 'no reason' and before we gave gripe water. WE wanted to avoid putting anything other than breastmilk in her system. If these didn't work we'd try the physical movement exercises shown below (3). Here's a video on the technique:
Its very important to swaddle your baby correctly when using this method
3. Physical movement to stimulate baby's digestion
So with lots of trial and error we discovered that the pain baby had was from struggling to release gas. Thanks to my friend, Marissa, who sent me videos,I was set on a path to discovering what would ultimately help teach baby how to release gas on her own! Here are some of the exercises that helped:
4. Learning your baby's language
This was the hardest part for me. I am hard of hearing, so I tend to miss things in terms of sound. I'm still battling to hear the different sounds in the noises baby makes, but the tone is where I can sort of distinguish what she needs. This took a long while and was triggered by a video from my friend, Naeema. See link below:
5. Trust your instincts
I found that I would doubt my instincts and tend to over-feed my baby. She would comfort eat a lot and then spit it up again after. There were times when I knew that would happen, but I offered her breast anyway. I was so worried that she was hungry. My fears contributed to the problem! If I had trusted my instincts and held out with her crying a bit longer, I could've saved her from a few very sore cramps. Luckily this is a learning experience and I eventually started trusting myself more and more, which made for a much MUCH happier baby.
Not all babies can overcome their colic, so we were very lucky that these methods worked for us!
The advice I would give once you DO figure it out, is to try and remember that your partner may not know exactly what to do as they may be at work most of the day (or whatever circumstance makes them have less time with baby). Try not to get frustrated or angry at them for not doing it the right way the first time...you'll eventually start seeing them go through the same learning process as you did. With gentle guidance, they will be great help next time baby cries!
Thank you again to every person who helped us relieve baby's symptoms. It's absolutely heartbreaking and draining in all thinkable ways when baby goes through that and you're unsure of how to help. Each and every one of you made a massive difference!
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