Breastfeeding and Colic

By the time she was 4 weeks old, I had eliminated dairy, citurs, spicy food, chocolate and seafood from my diet. Somewhere around 5 weeks she was "diagnosed" with colic because yes she did cry 6+ hours per day and usually it was 6 hours straight. She was inconsoalable. Like she was dying of pain and there was NOTHING I could do to make her feel better. Usually by the end of the crying spell, I was crying right along with her. Guess what the diagnosis did for us. NOTHING. There are no magic cures for colic. I did try everything anyone suggested: gripe water, chamomile tea, gas drops. While each provided some relief, she would still spend hours each night crying. Then when she turned 8 weeks she stopped. She just stopped crying. And we had a happy baby from there on out.

Looking back now, knowing what I know now as a LC, I gather that most of her tummy troubles were my problematic feeding pattern. I fed on both breasts each feed until she was 7 weeks old. She was fussy AND eating every 1.5 hours 24 hours a day. A friend explained to me the Foremilk/Hindmilk theory and instructed me on how to empty a breast before switching at a feed.

I now know that when a baby reicives too much foremilk- it causes them to be fussy/gassy. If I only knew then what I know now! Yikes.

Here are some tips to ease colic symptoms:

• After your milk is in around day 3-5, empty a breast before switching. It usually takes 15-20 minutes to empty one side and most newborns take one breast per feed in this method.
• Consider using a food journal to isolate possible food culprits.
• Consider the use of mylicon drops, gripe water but only as directed by your healthcare provider.
• Take a break. Consider these stress busting exercises.
Needing a break does not make you a bad mom, but not taking a break when you need one could put you in a position to make some bad decisions.

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