Our son was born 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes. He was the most amazing thing we’d ever seen. He was so sweet and quiet during the first two weeks of life that we thought we might want 100 more babies. He slept in his bassinet right by our bed and we wheeled him around the house so he could be close to us during the first few days. We worried about him, of course, like all new parents will do. We’d even rouse him while he slept, just to be sure he was still breathing!
But then the colic started.
At first it was just an hour here and there. He’d cry and mommy would feed him, and he’d cry and she’d feed. He ate a whole lot the first couple of months of life, just because that’s about all we could think of to stop him from crying! We wondered if something mommy was eating could be causing him a tummy-ache so mommy tried eliminating certain foods. The doctors, nurses, and breast-feeding consultant all said the same thing. The best thing to feed a baby is mother’s milk, hands down. So we kept feeding him mother’s milk.
But the crying didn’t stop, it just got worse. By this point mom had stopped eating bananas and dairy products. She had eliminated all caffeinated drinks including coffee, tea, and soda. She didn’t eat soy, peanuts, shellfish, or coffee. She’d pretty much eliminated all citrus fruits and gassy vegetables. And still, the baby cried. One night it was so bad we went to ER. While there, our baby pooped. I’m not talking a little “awww, isn’t that special, he poo’ed” kind of thing. This monstrosity filled his diaper, spoiled his clothes, and got all over his blanket. It was a huge mess. After he was cleaned up, he quit crying. We told the doctor what happened, and they sent us home with medicine for reflux. Hmmm.
When he was about 5 months old, Mommy decided to try something new. She picked up some Carnation Good Start, which is supposed to be created to be easier for babies to digest. Lo and behold, the baby quit crying so much. He still had issues once in awhile, but it wasn’t the incessant, never-ending cry of pain but more a baby that’s annoyed sort of thing. What a relief!
We never figured it out back then when he was an infant, but now we feel pretty strongly that more than likely, the poor kid just didn’t handle milk of any form all that well. Mom has had problems with dairy since she was born. It was never really diagnosed until she was in her late 20′s to early 30′s and even then, she still had the occasional bowl of ice-cream. It was never quite nailed down until the colicky baby grew into a little boy and wouldn’t stop complaining about stomach pains.
First, we as parents thought he was just complaining. He’s always been fussy, we’d say, so this is nothing new. Then Mom began to think “what if it’s milk?” and the rest is pretty much history.
The reason this blog exists is to help other families. Whether you are struggling with finances, childcare, food intolerances, or life on-the-go, we are here to hopefully help you find some answers. Just because colic is rare does not mean it doesn’t exist! There is a REASON your baby is crying incessantly. Colic, in our opinion, is a rotten diagnosis and not good enough. If it’s not lactose intolerance, then maybe it’s something else. But it’s not just colic. Colic is the term for the incessant crying, not the answer to why the crying occurs.