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My first born was so laid back, calm and rarely cried. When we found out that we were expecting after just being matched with our son through adoption, we were scared to say the least. I kept saying, “Well, if this baby is anything like James, this will be a piece of cake!” *Insert sarcastic laugh
Madison came seven months after we met our first son James and let me tell you…Madison is, well, the opposite of James. HAHA! It has truly been a different parenting experience with Madison and I have had to learn new things! Methods of soothing that worked like a charm on James are like kryptonite to Madison. After explaining his symptoms to his pediatrician, we were told Madison has Colic. A very unhelpful, uninformative diagnosis. We were at step one again and we were beginning to feel a little hopeless. We prayed to God for soooo long for our babies and all we felt was guilt that poor little Madison was driving us CRAZY!
Madison started out having colic all day. I alternated between the listed tips below and now Madison is only colicky at 7pm on the dot which is when we start bath time. Below are tips that have helped our sweet Madison become a calmer more relaxed baby! I hope that just one of these will help you and your little one!
15 TIPS for your Colicky Baby
- Bath Time-The one thing that works 100% of the time for little Madi is to take a warm bath. We set him in his bath tub paired with this stress relief baby wash and he instantly is soothed.
- Colief– We found out about Colief through a friend. It is a digestive additive that you add to your little ones formula and it helps with gas, digestion and fussiness. It is a little on the pricey end but we noticed changes in Madi’s behavior about a week after using.
- Gripe Water– We are firm believers in Gripe Water. It has been a must in all of our families medicine cabinets for years. You can give it directly or add it to your little one’s bottle. You can also purchase night time gripe water which calms your crying baby along with soothing their little belly.
- Premake your bottles- our pediatrician suggested that we premake our bottles. We use a Dr. Brown’s pitcher and make all of Madison’s bottle ahead of time. This gets all the air bubbles out of the formula and even though it takes a little time to prepare, it does save time later (especially if you have two taking bottles!)
- Swing-We received a swing at our first shower for James, who hated it. Madison, however, loves it (most of the time). There are so many swings to chose from and they all range differently in price. We like ours because it isn’t AS bulky as some (you will have no room left in your house after having a baby anyway!) but feel free to ask around and find the best swing for you. We like that ours vibrates and swings while playing white noise.
- Vibrating Chair– Again, parenting Madison was like starting ALL OVER again. James hated vibration but it really helped sooth Madison’s colic.
- Swaddle– Madison was swaddled most of the day and at night when he slept. He had Moro reflex so bad that if he wasn’t wrapped/swaddled he would be jumping all day! Keeping him tightly wrapped kept the Moro Reflex to a minimum and helped him stay calm and soothed.
- Calming Tablets– these tablets have been a lifesaver for both of our children. You see, while Madison is doing his thing being colicky and all, James decided to get 8 teeth at the same time! These tablets are all natural and help calm and relieve pain for your little one. We only used the night time ones but there are daytime ones available.
- Baby Carrier– Wearing Madison was not only the only way I could get anything done, but it was also a huge lifesaver in getting him to calm down. Having him close and warm helped his Moro Reflex and helped sooth him.
- Do not overstimulate-keeping the baby’s environment as soothing as possible is key. No bright lights, loud noises, crowds, a lot of touching or vigorous movements.
- White Noise-putting on white noise can help with soothing your baby, the moro reflex and colic. We different methods to achieve white noise. We use a white noise machine (nice for travel), a cd player with a nursery cd, watching TV on low volume, or amazon music. Most of our baby gadgets (ie. our swing and vibrating chair) have white noise as well.
- Belly Band-Sometimes when holding Madison, putting pressure on his belly with my forearm, a bath or swaddle doesn’t seem to be helping, I put a baby belly band on him. This puts consistent pressure and heat on his belly soothing his upset stomach calming him.
- Ask about switching to soy- We switched to soy after Madison was two months. It only took two days to see an improvement in his mood. Ask your pediatrician if they think that switching to soy may help soothe your little one’s tummy.
- Holding Positions-I can be holding my little one crying and switch him to facing forward having my forearm tight against his stomach and he will instantly stop crying. Experiment with different holding positions to find the one that best soothes your baby. There are so many ways to properly hold a baby to ease gas pain, neck pain and more!
- Gas Drops–Poor little Madison’s belly was just not happy! Our pediatrician suggested gas drops at every feeding. **I am not giving all of these things to my baby at once! After giving the gas drops before each feeding, Madison seemed to be taking his feedings better, less fussy.
By alternating these methods, my little one’s colic symptoms drastically improved. We are at month 3 and went from all day crying to MAYBE 1 hour beginning randomly at 7pm on the dot. Keep in mind, that one thing might work one day/hour/second and not the next. I am not a medical professional, these are merely tips that we discovered through trial and error and want to share to the other parents out there that might be going crazy too! We also consulted our pediatrician before using all of these methods!
***Our nighttime soothing routine-Madison starts crying every night starting around 7PM. We start with a soothing bath with his stress relieving body wash. We out him in warm jammies and then swaddle him. We dim the lights, put on white noise, give him his night time gripe water and then, depending on his mood, he is either cradled, put in his swing or vibrating chair. Like I said it is trial and error but the main thing is to not overstimulate your little one.
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