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When is colic something more? Signs of reflux

Your baby is screaming, crying, something is wrong and you don’t know what to do. You’ve tried everything to soothe them and still they continue getting louder and louder and you are probably crying yourself now too. What do you do if this becomes your every day, not just for an hour a day but hours every day, all day, after every feed, every car journey, you begin to fear your baby crying and don’t want to go out? This has happened to me with more than one baby so I know what it is like, how the screams cut through you and you just want to make everything better, but you can’t. The words colic are given to you, you try all the tips, every baby is different and so you try them all and still nothing works. When is colic something more? 

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Reflux and silent reflux can be a total mystery, Doctors and other health professionals can just brush it off with normal baby discomfort and label it colic. If you try all the tips at the bottom of the post and nothing is working, your baby seems in pain and is severely distressed then go back to the Doctors.

Write a list of symptoms so you don’t forget them all, chances are your baby will either be asleep peacefully making you look like a total liar, or in a state, in turn either will make you forget everything you wanted to say. My main advice would be to film when your baby is at their worst, if you don’t want to do it, get someone else to whilst you are comforting them. I know how hard it is to explain the severity, but the video will show it. 

Some of the things we experienced were;

We tried everything with Ava but I knew it was reflux having expereinced it with Finlay before. She ended up being diagnosed with GERD and was under a pediatrician who prescribed her Lansoprazole which is an acid suppressant. It didn’t completely solve all the issues but it definitely improved them.

Ava also has a dairy allergy and soya intolerance she had more but thankfully seems to be getting better with them. Allergies often come hand in hand with reflux and sometimes CMPA (cows milk protein allergy) can be mistaken for reflux so you need to see a health professional rather than self diagnosing.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though and if you are reading this right in the depths of reflux or colic, I know how hard it is and it seems like the crying will never end. It will, quite often as they get bigger and spend more time upright it naturally improves.

With trial and error we found things that would help soothe her sometimes. For us a sling was a lifesaver, she was close for comfort and upright which helped, we found a structured carrier (we have a Tula) was better than a wrap as it put less pressure on her stomach.

I asked some other bloggers what tips they have to help soothe a colicky or reflux baby. 

 

 

 

15 Comments

RachelSwirl says:

Our little lady had reflux and it was a bloody nightmare.

Megan says:

This is really helpful – am due in December with baby number two, and it’s good to have a refresher of signs to look out for! x #picknmix

My first was the most colicy – luckily it didn’t last too long but I know from friends who much their babies have suffered! Sarah #PickNMix

It’s just so hard when they are struggling so much and you can not seem to help them. I was lucky with ours that we did not really get colic or reflux though the first had this dreadful 5am wind he would scream and cry. Some great tips and advice xxx #picknmix

This made me sad remembering how much one of my sons cried. I had it a little with the other but not the hours of screaming. It turned out my son had allergies but it took a lot of pushing and time to get the doctors to take it seriously. Great post. I will share because every new mum could use this knowledge.

Sharon Parry says:

My first born had colic and it was a nightmare. She never seemed to be satisfied by feeding. It was hard to get information then (18 years ago) I’m sure loads of Mums will find your post so useful. #PicknMix

Claire says:

That sounds awful, poor little things, thank you for sharing your advice x #picnmix

My eldest suffered from colic a lot and the only thing that worked was gripe water – i think it is a spoonful before every feed. Even when he seemed okay I just gave it to him anyway. Hope you find something that works. #PickNMix

Gosh this brings back memories. My son had silent reflux and every feed was a nightmare. I did loads of research so knew what it was pretty quickly. Luckily my doctor was proactive. I totally agree with Dr. Browns bottles. It’s funny how it feels like it will never end and then suddenly one day you think, ‘He hasn’t cried today.’ x #PicknMix

This is such a great post to read, especially now I’m expecting #2 it’s something that’s always on the back of my mind. I’ve bought Dr Browns bottles again this time. I found them brilliant the first time round #picknmix

Great tips. I have a friend whose first child had really bad silent reflux and she was brushed off by the doctors so many times and it took months to get the right diagnosis and only because she persevered. When it came to baby no 2 she knew straight away and knew exactly what to do and how to help him.
#Picknmix

Luckily neither of mine suffered with colic, but I’ve known friends whose babies have and hearing their babies in pain was awful, so it must be so hard when it’s your own child and you can’t help them.

Stevie xx

teacuptoria says:

This is a fab post huni, so helpful to new mums. Seb suffered with colic really bad and we used all of the above to get through it! Tor xx #PicnMix

Helena says:

My heart goes out to these little ones. My second daughter has been suggested to have colic. #PicknMix

Maria says:

This is a really informative post and something I wished I’d managed to find when my babies were little. Both suffered from reflux too and my youngest was diagnosed with CMPA and we had to put him on a dairy free diet until he was over a year old. Thankfully he grew out of it and is ok now! #PicknMix

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