Baby fussiness and crying--gas?

"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...
Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

Hi Angela -- Did you first start to notice your son getting fussy at around
2 weeks of age? Has it gradually been getting a bit worse week by week?

You say he fusses the most during a certain time of day, so I wonder if he's
got colic. My daughter also had it. At around 10 days old and she got more
cranky, and as the weeks went by it got worse. At first the crying jags were
unpredictable, but after awhile you could set a clock to her: She'd be
content until 7 p.m., after which she'd start to get unhappy. The crying
jags didn't stop until 10-11 p.m. No amount of burping, feeding, rocking,
etc. helped in the middle of a spell. She too had gas, but it seemed to be
a side effect of crying, as opposed to the cause of the crying. Thankfully,
at 5-6 weeks of age these episodes began to get shorter, and by the time she
was 11 weeks they stopped entirely.

From what I've read, doctors are still unsure why some babies get this. The
latest theory is that little brains are organizing more adult-like
sleep/wake patterns in the first few months of life, and in the process of
setting up that natural rhythm, some babies might be hit with a sort of
temporary chemical imbalance that results in fussiness. It isn't something
one can cure, but is a stage that they just have to grow out of.

If colic is the problem with your son, you may notice it getting worse for
another few weeks, and then gradually getting better after that. Most
babies are better 12 weeks. The only advice I have right now is to keep in
mind that this is temporary, and you aren't doing anything wrong. Also, buy
some good earplugs! Really, DH and I would pop earplugs in while DD was
crying, and it made it so much easier to hold her throughout the colic
spells. Hearing those loud screams just scrambles a new mother's brain!
Muting the sound meant we could still be there with her, but do so without
extreme stress and alarm on our part.

Good luck! --Erin, mama to DD, b. Nov. 6, 2003

Well, we tested the hairdryer and it worked immediately both times in a
row. Amazing how that works. DH also has an aquarium screen saver that
he's testing to see if Quinn likes the bubbling sounds as well. We'll
test the vacuum and static sometime later. I'm also going with dairy
elimination to see if that makes a difference. It's kinda tough for me
to have my diet so limited (we eat a lot of tomato, milk and garlic
around here it seems). Thanks for the suggestions.



One more thing . . or two . . I remember reading that most gas is caused by
air gulped while crying (rinse, lather, repeat), so diet might not be your
problem. I'd still suggest trying dairy elimination, though.
Have you tried the standard colic cures of tight swaddling and white noise?
A fairly loud hairdryer was our best friend in those early months. I used
it the other day to lull the baby to sleep after a particularly fussy
morning. Static on the radio or tv, or even try turning your baby monitor
to the "wrong" channel?

Good luck,
Hannah

I found that the pharmacy at the Jefferson City Medical Group Building
sells Baby's Bliss Gripe water so I had DH go and buy some this morning.
I don't know if it's making a difference yet or not but I guess we'll
find out over the next couple days.

Kat wrote:

If you are close to Columbia there is some gripe water at Clovers. Good
luck to you! The water seemed to help with my son alot when he was like
that. They say that around 6 weeks alot of babies start to mellow out a
bit.
Kat
Mama to Maggie 11/03/01
and Will 02/10/04


"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...

Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

We tried putting him on the Dryer in his car seat but it didn't seem to
make a difference. I'm bicycling his legs but he doesn't seem to like
his belly rubbed at all. Sometimes swaddling will help but not if he's
got himself really upset. It only helps if he's mildly cranky.

Sue wrote:

I used to have good luck swaddling the baby in a blanket and holding them in
my arms and laying them across the dryer while I am leaning over it. Lots of
people just put the carseat on the dryer, but I just held them until they
were in a deep sleep and then moved them to the bassinet. Also putting baby
on your lap on his stomach and swaying gently back and forth. Bicylcing his
legs help as does laying baby on his stomach across your forearm (And my
babies loved when I would stand that way and sway back and forth). I hope
some of these tips help. I had a colicky baby for the first three months and
she would cry from 6 PM- 12 PM every night. It's hard to watch them be so
miserable, but as his digestive system matures, so will the crying and
fussing. Hang in there. )
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Angela Schepers wrote in message
news:hv7uc.21880$n_6.14086@attbi_s53...

Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
time. DH and I are at our wits end.

We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
be greatly appreciated.

Angela & DH
DS 5/07/04

Angela Schepers wrote:

Well, we tested the hairdryer and it worked immediately both times in a
row. Amazing how that works. DH also has an aquarium screen saver that
he's testing to see if Quinn likes the bubbling sounds as well. We'll
test the vacuum and static sometime later. I'm also going with dairy
elimination to see if that makes a difference. It's kinda tough for me
to have my diet so limited (we eat a lot of tomato, milk and garlic
around here it seems). Thanks for the suggestions.


You might want to look at Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block
book and/or video. We just saw the video in our birth class, and
he has techniques to sooth a newborn, including swaddling, sidelying,
swinging, shushing (which is what your hairdier essentially did) and
sucking. It was quite interesting how these techniques would calm
the fussy babies.

Mary

It seems to me that he's been pretty fussy since he was born but it has
picked up in week 2. It hasn't necessarily gotten any worse since then,
his crabbiness just increased. I'm not necessarily convinced that he
has colic just yet but we're still ruling out things. I've been giving
him 1/2 tsp gripe water in a bottle 4 times a day and that seems to have
helped with his gas. I haven't noticed him passing near as much gas
which keeps him from waking up crying from gas pains. He's still kinda
crabby at times though and that's when the hairdryer seems to come in
nicely. Also, I discovered last night at 5am that the bathroom fan
which to me sounds like a plane taking off seems to help him get back to
sleep at night. I'll be watching him closely over the next couple weeks
and if it gets progressively worse than I'd be more inclined to think
his fussiness is due to colic but then again maybe he's just a crabby
baby. Either way I think only time will tell. I'm not sure that we
need earplugs just yet, it's not quite that bad but I'll definately keep
that suggestion in mind.

Thanks everyone!


Hi Angela -- Did you first start to notice your son getting fussy at around
2 weeks of age? Has it gradually been getting a bit worse week by week?

You say he fusses the most during a certain time of day, so I wonder if he's
got colic. My daughter also had it. At around 10 days old and she got more
cranky, and as the weeks went by it got worse. At first the crying jags were
unpredictable, but after awhile you could set a clock to her: She'd be
content until 7 p.m., after which she'd start to get unhappy. The crying
jags didn't stop until 10-11 p.m. No amount of burping, feeding, rocking,
etc. helped in the middle of a spell. She too had gas, but it seemed to be
a side effect of crying, as opposed to the cause of the crying. Thankfully,
at 5-6 weeks of age these episodes began to get shorter, and by the time she
was 11 weeks they stopped entirely.

From what I've read, doctors are still unsure why some babies get this. The
latest theory is that little brains are organizing more adult-like
sleep/wake patterns in the first few months of life, and in the process of
setting up that natural rhythm, some babies might be hit with a sort of
temporary chemical imbalance that results in fussiness. It isn't something
one can cure, but is a stage that they just have to grow out of.

If colic is the problem with your son, you may notice it getting worse for
another few weeks, and then gradually getting better after that. Most
babies are better 12 weeks. The only advice I have right now is to keep in
mind that this is temporary, and you aren't doing anything wrong. Also, buy
some good earplugs! Really, DH and I would pop earplugs in while DD was
crying, and it made it so much easier to hold her throughout the colic
spells. Hearing those loud screams just scrambles a new mother's brain!
Muting the sound meant we could still be there with her, but do so without
extreme stress and alarm on our part.

Good luck! --Erin, mama to DD, b. Nov. 6, 2003

You can often help with the fussiness by drinking fennel seed tea.
Make a quart pot usign 1 heaping tablespoon fennel seeds. Start
drinking it about 1 hour before the time of day when he is the
fussiest. Try to finish the pot over the next 4 to 5 hours.

The fennel will reduce his gassiness and have a calming effect,
it is also a slight galactogogue and will help your supply.

Good luck,
Larry

Angela Schepers writes:
: Every since DS was born he's been fussy and crabby which DH and I can
: deal with because that's just how some babies are. Over the past couple
: weeks it has gotten really bad. Usually for 3-4 hours (at least) in the
: morning he cries or fusses inconsolably and no amount of holding,
: singing, swinging or any thing else I can think of will console him.
: He's eating around 3-4 oz of breastmilk every 2-4 hours and he's gaining
: weight like crazy so I know that he's not overly hungry.

: I have noticed that he does seem to have a bit of gas. He will flail
: around crying and when he passes gas will cry even harder. Sometimes he
: will get himself so upset that it's damn near impossible to get him to
: calm down. He wakes himself up from naps during the day when he passes
: gas and will cry and fuss until I can manage to get him back down. I'm
: convinced that painful gas is what is keeping him so darned upset. He's
: sleeping much better at night, usually waking up every 3 hours to eat so
: he doesn't seem to have the problem then, only when he gets up in the
: morning and sometimes into the early to mid-afternoon. We thought maybe
: we just weren't burping him enough so we spend more time burping than
: feeding but it doesn't seem to have helped. I'm excluding
: coffee/caffeine, tomato, chocolate, and garlic out of my diet to see if
: it helps him out any but I'm not very hopeful. I'm about ready to pull
: my hair out because it hurts me so much to see him so upset all the
: time. DH and I are at our wits end.

: We've tried the Mylicon drops but they've proven to be absolutely
: useless. I ordered some Gripe water over the internet today to be
: express mailed. It's supposed to be here in 2-3 working days so I'm
: hoping that will help him out. I sent DH out to look for some around
: town but it's just not available in this part of Missouri I guess.

: I don't know what else to do for him. Any suggestions or advice would
: be greatly appreciated.

: Angela & DH
: DS 5/07/04

"Angela Schepers" wrote in message
news:8UIuc.20200$3x.19551@attbi_s54...
It seems to me that he's been pretty fussy since he was born but it has
picked up in week 2. It hasn't necessarily gotten any worse since then,
his crabbiness just increased. I'm not necessarily convinced that he
has colic just yet but we're still ruling out things. I've been giving
him 1/2 tsp gripe water in a bottle 4 times a day and that seems to have
helped with his gas. I haven't noticed him passing near as much gas
which keeps him from waking up crying from gas pains. He's still kinda
crabby at times though and that's when the hairdryer seems to come in
nicely. Also, I discovered last night at 5am that the bathroom fan [snip]

That's funny, it's only been four or five months since my baby got out of
that stage, but when I was writing about it I forgot to mention that the
swing and the hair dryer worked with my daughter, too. But I do remember
that they helped. When one thing stopped working, we'd switch to the other,
and then switch back. Sometimes there were spells when nothing worked,
though. Hopefully that's not the case for your son.

When you say "cranky," do you mean he fusses would probably cry if you
weren't going through major efforts to soothe him? Colic is defined by how
long a baby *fusses*, which includes crying but also other cranky-type
behaviors, too. Babies that are unhappy for more than 3 hours a day are
labeled as "colicky." Obviously this is a pretty arbitrary rule. But
since it's not actually a medical problem, per se, I guess the label itself
isn't very important, either. The only important thing is that you seem to
have discovered some things that quiet and soothe him, which is great.

Best, Erin
Mama to DD, aged 7 months.