While I had heard the term colic many times, I didn't have a clear understanding of the term until this week. The dictionary definition of colic is pain in the abdomen or bowels, and it is common in infants between 2 weeks and 3 months of age. The pediatric books we have refers to a colicky baby as one that cries incessantly for 3 hours or more. Luckily, Jude doesn't qualify as a colicky baby.
But last week, Jude had a couple of evenings that were uncomfortable to say the least. He was crying on and off for over an hour, and one night we were worried enough for me to do a late night run to Wild Oats for some colic medicine - of the homeopathic variety which is recommended by our pediatrician. We used it a couple of times and it seemed to help him. Several people have said (and Marcy has read online) that Good Start from Nestle is the best formula for colicky babies and so we switched this week to that. Since then, he has had less "colicky incidents" so we have decided to stick with that one for a while. Marcy is still breastfeeding, but her milk hasn't come in enough to be the only source of nutrition for Jude. So we have had to supplement with formula.
When Jude is really upset and we can't settle him down, we have found a couple of tricks that work most of the time. The first one is bouncing on the gym ball - if you persevere with this it pretty much always works to calm him down. The only problem is that it is hard on my back to go for very long. The other night I was bouncing on the ball for over 20 minutes and my back was killing me. But it is worth it in the long run, because he eventually falls asleep and then we can all get to sleep.
The other thing that works to a lesser extent is something that Marcy read online. If you hold his feet and do little bicycle kicks that seems to settle him down as well. But if his gas is too bad that becomes ineffective. The most effective cure for colic that we have found is breastfeeding. He settles down within 15 seconds usually of being put to the breast, which is a truly wonderful thing.
He still wakes up a couple of times during the night to feed, but the good news is that he falls back asleep pretty quickly each time. He is starting to learn the difference between night and day. He is awake during the day now for up to 3 hours at a time, but luckily we haven't had to deal with that length of time at night.
