Alicia, I am a father of 2, both were colic, one is 3 months and
mid-colic. All the input in this tread is coping practices. They are
not right or wrong, but the only thing a human being can mentally do
to cope. My wife, god bless her, has to deal with the days (while I
work). I try my best to come home and provide relief duties. I have a
rambunctious 3.5 yr old, awsome boy, but a deathly colic (6 months).
My daughter, is a duplicate of him and a joy for the 30 min a day that
she smiles, carries you to the next.

You can't call what your doing as 'attachment' but sometimes the only
remedy that is left after you exhaust all avenues. My daughter refuses
the pacifier, the nipple and laying on her back, so putting her to
sleep is nothing more than a treat.

This note is merely my point and 'hope' to let you know that 3-6
months sounds long but it will end. Then the joy that you (we) all
hoped for in having children is at the end of the storm.

Helpful Note for the guys: Come home from work play with the kids,
take the colic child at 8:30pm (force the wife to sleep, in a closed
room, on seperate side of house, or you go to the basement) and tend
to the long colic nite (the screaming usually ends around 10:30-11:00.
You stay up til 12-1am though! Do not go to sleep, because it will
irrate you more if the colic baby wakes you up. Between 12-1 if the
baby wakes now pass on to your wife and switch locations, now she has
about 4 hours sleep. The best we hope for is that she gets an
additional 3 during the waking hours. Overall, my wife feels caught up
on 7 hours one interuption, you get 6 straight. That will allow me to
go to work clear.



Alicia wrote in message news:6ZXhb.71133$pl3.4700@pd7tw3no...
Hi there, my name is Alicia, I'm 29 and just had my first baby two months
ago. He's a wonderful baby, very alert, gorgeous and full of life. His
name is Raine. Anyway, Raine has been crying quite a lot lately, not due to
a growth spurt as he just got over one. I have elected an attachment
parenting lifestyle with him. We co-sleep, I don't give him a pacifier, so
I end up suckling him a lot because he is a very 'sucky' baby. I don't
believe in letting him cry himself out, BUT, a few times lately I have found
myself so exhausted that I can barely keep myself on two feet, nevermind
take care of a baby. I do my best to hold him, comfort him, check all his
needs are taken care of. What I've had to do a few times is just put him
down in a safe place and leave him to cry. I feel terrible and guilty about
it, but when I need to make myself something to eat, I have to do something
to get away from his crying. The most I have left him is about ten minutes,
and I usually end up crying too I feel so badly.
What do you other parents do to cope with this? I have tried a sling (I
think I'll try again), but if he won't take my nipple he cries anyway. Do
you think he'll still develop a trusting relationship with me if I do this
from time to time?

My birth experience was terrible (45 hours of labour with a planned home
birth ending in a c-section), following a very unhappy pregnancy (sick the
whole time, pubis symphisis pain, and so on) so that's why I am still so
tired. I love my baby immensely, we have definitely bonded, but sometimes I
just feel so helpless to comfort him properly. So, any tips on coping would
be great. I don't have anyone I can call on to help me at times like that.
Thanks for your input, Alicia