Declan came home from the hospital, started crying, and wouldn't stop. He cried every day, for far longer than the three hours that are supposed to be indicative of colic. He couldn't be put down. If he wasn't asleep, and wasn't being held, and even if he WAS being held, he cried.
"Let's hope he's not colicky," my mother-in-law said, one night at dinner.
I read up on colic--no one knows what causes it, though there are suppositions that it is gas, the result of immature intestines, hyper-sensitivity to outside stimuli, and so on. There are formulas, like Enfamil Gentlease or Enfamil Neutromigen (that smell like wet dog food and cost twice as much as regular formula) or gas drops (which are really more of a cure for the helplessness that parents feel than anything else). But the good news was this: most symptoms of colic disappear after three months.
So, we took out a loan against the car and bought the dog-food-smelling formula. We did not notice a difference, save the excess, cheese-like spit up spewing from my baby after every single meal. Spit up that smelled like dog food.
We started to pay attention to his fussiest times, and noticed that they were right after he ate. When he was laid flat on his back, he cried and contracted his whole body inward, and his face turned a deep purple. He was struggling. He grunted and cried for an hour after meals, spit up profusely, passed out, and then woke up (at most) after two hours, absolutely starving. In my neurotic desperation, I looked it up in every baby book I own. The symptoms pointed to baby acid reflux, or GER, gastroesophogeal reflux. After a confirmation by his pediatrician, we were told that once his esophagus matured, probably by six months, the symptoms would fade. However, some babies deal with GER until they're almost two years old.
Two years old? Let's hope he IS colicky!
Declan was put on Enfamil AR, a thicker formula (which can also be achieved by adding 2 tsp. of cereal to a regular formula). We fed him a bottle and he took a three-hour nap, his first ever. When he got used to the formula, and was still having a little trouble, we incorporated Zantac into his routine. Not on our own, of course, but there are medications that doctors feel comfortable prescribing to slightly older infants (10 weeks and up). After that, Declan started sleeping through the night. He is a completely different baby--happy and normal-colored.
He still spits up. His spit up is reminiscent of ricotta cheese, and it happens enough that my husband and I have made created the verb "cheesed" (i.e. "he just cheesed his new shirt again"). Despite the mess, I embrace his spit up because it is no longer of exorcist proportions. Hopefully that esophagus matures within the next couple of months. Otherwise I'll have to give it some chores and more responsibilities.
"Let's hope he's not colicky," my mother-in-law said, one night at dinner.
I read up on colic--no one knows what causes it, though there are suppositions that it is gas, the result of immature intestines, hyper-sensitivity to outside stimuli, and so on. There are formulas, like Enfamil Gentlease or Enfamil Neutromigen (that smell like wet dog food and cost twice as much as regular formula) or gas drops (which are really more of a cure for the helplessness that parents feel than anything else). But the good news was this: most symptoms of colic disappear after three months.
So, we took out a loan against the car and bought the dog-food-smelling formula. We did not notice a difference, save the excess, cheese-like spit up spewing from my baby after every single meal. Spit up that smelled like dog food.
We started to pay attention to his fussiest times, and noticed that they were right after he ate. When he was laid flat on his back, he cried and contracted his whole body inward, and his face turned a deep purple. He was struggling. He grunted and cried for an hour after meals, spit up profusely, passed out, and then woke up (at most) after two hours, absolutely starving. In my neurotic desperation, I looked it up in every baby book I own. The symptoms pointed to baby acid reflux, or GER, gastroesophogeal reflux. After a confirmation by his pediatrician, we were told that once his esophagus matured, probably by six months, the symptoms would fade. However, some babies deal with GER until they're almost two years old.
Two years old? Let's hope he IS colicky!
Declan was put on Enfamil AR, a thicker formula (which can also be achieved by adding 2 tsp. of cereal to a regular formula). We fed him a bottle and he took a three-hour nap, his first ever. When he got used to the formula, and was still having a little trouble, we incorporated Zantac into his routine. Not on our own, of course, but there are medications that doctors feel comfortable prescribing to slightly older infants (10 weeks and up). After that, Declan started sleeping through the night. He is a completely different baby--happy and normal-colored.
He still spits up. His spit up is reminiscent of ricotta cheese, and it happens enough that my husband and I have made created the verb "cheesed" (i.e. "he just cheesed his new shirt again"). Despite the mess, I embrace his spit up because it is no longer of exorcist proportions. Hopefully that esophagus matures within the next couple of months. Otherwise I'll have to give it some chores and more responsibilities.
It seems immature esophagi are everywhere these days. Not like it used to be. "Colicky" is a funny-ass word. So is "lain."
ReplyDeleteEthan has pretty severe reflux and was put on all kinds of medication. The projectile puke was just lovely. It was horrible to see him so uncomfortable! He finally grew out of it around 9 months. I did get a kick out of taking him to the specialist and having people coming out of rooms everywhere to see the "fat" reflux baby. (he was a C H U N K from having oatmeal in every single bottle!) Good luck and I hope it fades fast with Declan!
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