Newborn twins with colic - please help!

My twin boys were born 9/26 at 33 weeks. They were in the NICU for two and a
half weeks due to feeding difficulties and apnea/bradycarrdia. They're on Good
Start formula, but I did breastfeed for six weeks - it became too difficult
for me to continue. They're growing like weeds and have no apparant allergies
and don't spit up after eating.

About two weeks ago they started to cry and haven't stopped since. There is no
pattern to their hysteria. Sometimes they cry during the day and are quiet at
night, other times they cry all evening and are calm during the day. I've
tried switching their formula, running the vaccum, giving them Mylecon, putting
them in the swing/bouncy seat/car/stroller, giving them water (with and without
sugar added), burping them more frequently, bathing them, giving them a
pacifier, feeding them less at a time, and letting them cry it out. Nothing
has worked for more than an hour at a time.

I am at my wit's end. I'm completely frustrated and angry at them and myself
for not being able to find a solution to end their crying. I'm scared that I'm
going to hurt them. They are beautiful little boys and my heart is breaking
that they are in such agony. I just don't know what to do and I can't bear the
thought that I might have two months of newborn hysteria ahead of me.

Please, does anyone have any advice on how I can get through this? Thanks in
advance.
----------
Elissa - Mommy to Rebecca Meagan 9/6/00, Joshua Emmett &
Jacob Bryant 9/26/03.
"Before I got married, I had six theories about bring up children; now I have
six children and no theories." - John Wilmont, Earl of Rochester

Elissa wrote:

My twin boys were born 9/26 at 33 weeks. They were in the NICU for two and a
half weeks due to feeding difficulties and apnea/bradycarrdia. They're on Good
Start formula, but I did breastfeed for six weeks - it became too difficult
for me to continue. They're growing like weeds and have no apparant allergies
and don't spit up after eating.

About two weeks ago they started to cry and haven't stopped since. There is no
pattern to their hysteria. Sometimes they cry during the day and are quiet at
night, other times they cry all evening and are calm during the day. I've
tried switching their formula, running the vaccum, giving them Mylecon, putting
them in the swing/bouncy seat/car/stroller, giving them water (with and without
sugar added), burping them more frequently, bathing them, giving them a
pacifier, feeding them less at a time, and letting them cry it out. Nothing
has worked for more than an hour at a time.

I am at my wit's end. I'm completely frustrated and angry at them and myself
for not being able to find a solution to end their crying. I'm scared that I'm
going to hurt them. They are beautiful little boys and my heart is breaking
that they are in such agony. I just don't know what to do and I can't bear the
thought that I might have two months of newborn hysteria ahead of me.

Please, does anyone have any advice on how I can get through this? Thanks in
advance.


Awww, I'm sorry you're going through this! It's really,
really tough to go through colic with one baby, and I'm sure
it must be so much worse with two. A few thoughts:

1) They may well not be in agony. Some think that colic
is the product of an as yet unorganized nervous system.
If that's so, it's not necessarily that they're in
great pain, nor is it necessarily anything you're
doing or not doing. So don't take it personally and
don't assume the worst.

2) Now is the time to call in all your chips. Ask people
to sit with the babies so you can get away, or ask
them to take the babies so you can get some sleep.
Yes, that's foisting a difficult situation off on
them, but you'd do the same for them and your babies'
cries won't be as bad for them to endure as they
are for you to endure. Don't be proud. Get help.

3) Get counseling if you need it. Several people I
know who went through bad situations with colic
got counseling and said that it helped them get
through it with at least some of their sanity
intact.

Good luck,
Ericka

In article ,
ospam (Elissa) wrote:

My twin boys were born 9/26 at 33 weeks. They were in the NICU for two and a
half weeks due to feeding difficulties and apnea/bradycarrdia. They're on
Good
Start formula, but I did breastfeed for six weeks - it became too difficult
for me to continue. They're growing like weeds and have no apparant
allergies
and don't spit up after eating.

About two weeks ago they started to cry and haven't stopped since. There is
no
pattern to their hysteria. Sometimes they cry during the day and are quiet
at
night, other times they cry all evening and are calm during the day. I've
tried switching their formula, running the vaccum, giving them Mylecon,
putting
them in the swing/bouncy seat/car/stroller, giving them water (with and
without
sugar added), burping them more frequently, bathing them, giving them a
pacifier, feeding them less at a time, and letting them cry it out. Nothing
has worked for more than an hour at a time.

I am at my wit's end. I'm completely frustrated and angry at them and myself
for not being able to find a solution to end their crying. I'm scared that
I'm
going to hurt them. They are beautiful little boys and my heart is breaking
that they are in such agony. I just don't know what to do and I can't bear
the
thought that I might have two months of newborn hysteria ahead of me.

Please, does anyone have any advice on how I can get through this? Thanks in
advance.
----------

I remember seeing a report recently in which tight swaddling of colicky
babies along with soothing humming [or something like that] made a big
difference -- I wish I had a cite -- maybe someone here remembers? --
but the idea was to calm down their chaotic new nervous systems -- with
soft light, soft sound and firm support from swaddling -- it apparently
was very effective

and you sure do need some breaks and some help to give you the energy to
deal with this -- do anything you can to get enough of a break to be
able to cope without going nuts

and this too shall pass

"Elissa" wrote in message
...

(snip) I've
tried switching their formula, running the vaccum, giving them Mylecon,
putting
them in the swing/bouncy seat/car/stroller, giving them water (with and
without
sugar added), burping them more frequently, bathing them, giving them a
pacifier, feeding them less at a time, and letting them cry it out.
Nothing
has worked for more than an hour at a time.

That sounds so difficult!

I had preemie twins (35 weeks) but I have no experience with colic. One
thing I didn't see on your list of things you tried was wrapping them
snuggly in a blanket so that their arms can't flail around. My girls loved
being wrapped when they were infants. I have no idea whether that can calm
colicky babies, though; My impression of colic is that they don't know what
causes it and there are few remedies other than time.

Good luck.

--
sharon, momma to savannah and willow (11/11/94)

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:46:57 -0500, Ericka Kammerer
wrote:

Elissa wrote:

My twin boys were born 9/26 at 33 weeks. They were in the NICU for two and a
half weeks due to feeding difficulties and apnea/bradycarrdia. They're on Good
Start formula, but I did breastfeed for six weeks - it became too difficult
for me to continue. They're growing like weeds and have no apparant allergies
and don't spit up after eating.

About two weeks ago they started to cry and haven't stopped since. There is no
pattern to their hysteria. Sometimes they cry during the day and are quiet at
night, other times they cry all evening and are calm during the day. I've
tried switching their formula, running the vaccum, giving them Mylecon, putting
them in the swing/bouncy seat/car/stroller, giving them water (with and without
sugar added), burping them more frequently, bathing them, giving them a
pacifier, feeding them less at a time, and letting them cry it out. Nothing
has worked for more than an hour at a time.

I am at my wit's end. I'm completely frustrated and angry at them and myself
for not being able to find a solution to end their crying. I'm scared that I'm
going to hurt them. They are beautiful little boys and my heart is breaking
that they are in such agony. I just don't know what to do and I can't bear the
thought that I might have two months of newborn hysteria ahead of me.

Please, does anyone have any advice on how I can get through this? Thanks in
advance.


Awww, I'm sorry you're going through this! It's really,
really tough to go through colic with one baby, and I'm sure
it must be so much worse with two. A few thoughts:

I second that. I had one colicky baby and a granddaughter who
was colicky and it's no fun. But two has to be much worse.

1) They may well not be in agony. Some think that colic
is the product of an as yet unorganized nervous system.
If that's so, it's not necessarily that they're in
great pain, nor is it necessarily anything you're
doing or not doing. So don't take it personally and
don't assume the worst.

2) Now is the time to call in all your chips. Ask people
to sit with the babies so you can get away, or ask
them to take the babies so you can get some sleep.
Yes, that's foisting a difficult situation off on
them, but you'd do the same for them and your babies'
cries won't be as bad for them to endure as they
are for you to endure. Don't be proud. Get help.

3) Get counseling if you need it. Several people I
know who went through bad situations with colic
got counseling and said that it helped them get
through it with at least some of their sanity
intact.

I agree with this advice. But, I also have found a few things
that *may* help that you can also try.

Infant massage is good. La Leche league has a colic massage
technique that helps some babies, I think.

Here is a link. Not sure if it will give the whole technique, but
it should give you a reference

http://www.infantmassage-imis.com.au/colic/

The other thing that helped my granddaughter is Gripe Water.
It's an herbal remedy. Since my dil is Hindu and this is used
in India as a digestive aid (it's basically fennel), she tried this
and it really did help the baby get up her gas bubbles.

We found it in a health food store, but you can also buy it
online at:

http://www.colichelp.com/shop/gripewater.html

Good luck,
Ericka


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

I truly feel for you - my daughter had colic for close to 6 months, and I
cannot imagine dealing with twins!

First, rule out any physical causes with your dr, such as silent reflux, ear
infections, etc.

With my daughter, it eventually became apparent to me that she just could not
relax - it was like her nervous system was in overdrive. Dancing with her,
holding her skin to skin, and softly singing to her seemed to help a bit (she
tended to favor Enya's "Wild Child", IIRC).

Hang in there - it doesn't last forever. Enlist help from friends and family.
And if you feel yourself getting angry or overwhelmed, put the babies down, and
leave the room. It is safer to let them cry a bit while you regain your sanity
than to take a chance of hurting them out of sheer exhaustion and frustration.


Amanda

In article ,
ospam (AGreen1209) wrote:

I truly feel for you - my daughter had colic for close to 6 months, and I
cannot imagine dealing with twins!

First, rule out any physical causes with your dr, such as silent reflux, ear
infections, etc.

With my daughter, it eventually became apparent to me that she just could not
relax - it was like her nervous system was in overdrive. Dancing with her,
holding her skin to skin, and softly singing to her seemed to help a bit (she
tended to favor Enya's "Wild Child", IIRC).

Hang in there - it doesn't last forever. Enlist help from friends and
family.
And if you feel yourself getting angry or overwhelmed, put the babies down,
and
leave the room. It is safer to let them cry a bit while you regain your
sanity
than to take a chance of hurting them out of sheer exhaustion and
frustration.


Amanda





I tried to google for colic and swaddling since I had read something
about research on it

Most of the sites are commercial -- trying to sell swaddling material
[like you need something special for that?] or information

One site was: http://www.babyslumber.com/shop.html

They mention a book using Dr. Karp's method available on amazon -- I
guess if I had 2 colicky newborns, I'd give it a shot. It is the
approach where one swaddles, keeps the baby in a darkened room and makes
comforting shushing noises -- and they claim it works --

worth a try

Try the misc pregnancy NG also. Lots of helpful new moms do visit there.

Best wishes. Were they swaddled in NICU?

Elissa wrote:
I am at my wit's end. I'm completely frustrated and angry at them and myself
for not being able to find a solution to end their crying. I'm scared that I'm
going to hurt them. They are beautiful little boys and my heart is breaking
that they are in such agony. I just don't know what to do and I can't bear the
thought that I might have two months of newborn hysteria ahead of me.

Please, does anyone have any advice on how I can get through this? Thanks in
advance.

Three suggestions. One is to follow a strict schedule with the hope of
reducing stimulation. My belief is that the colic is the undeveloped
nervous system trying to deal with over-stimulation. My kid with the
worst colic responded well to doing my errands at the same time every day,
not having strangers in the house, feeding her and walking her and
bathing her at the same time, etc. She needed the TV and radio off and
the lights low, too.

The other suggestion is to learn to hear them cry without feeling like you
have to solve it. I know, "cry it out" is poor advice in many cases, but
it really does save your sanity sometimes. Put the baby in a safe place
and REMOVE YOURSELF if you feel like you can't handle it.

My last suggestion is to step outside yourself and use your sense of
humor. I made up a "lullaby" that I used to croon to my squawling brat:

Cry, Baby, Cry.
The Man in the Moon can't hear you yet.
Your tears haven't flooded
The mountains of Tibet
Your face isn't redder
Than the Sun as it sets
Cry, baby, cry.

That child is now nearly 13 and just as dramatic now as she was at 2
months. :-) It pays to learn to let her go off without having to solve
it yourself! (And a sense of humor will never let you down.)

I remember the child crying from 3-5 every single day and nearly THROWING
her at her father the instant he walked through the door. Of course, that
was just when her squawling ended and he never understood my problem with
his angel. (That part hasn't changed, either.)

-- Wendy