Colic: Remedies for Desperate Parents

 

We were lucky. Extremely lucky. Our first two babies were easy, and have I mentioned amazing sleepers? Then, SURPRISE! Our third pregnancy blessed us with two babies – identical twin boys, who weren’t so easy :) Not only were we outnumbered, but just after being released from the NICU, crying rocked our world. There was SO.MUCH.CRYING! When one boy fell asleep, the other started up. We even heard crying in our heads when they weren’t crying, and I was convinced I had gone crazy, along with our two year old - who after about two months literally snapped, especially in confined spaces…

Out of desperation I began researching colic remedies and had a difficult time finding one place that gave me more than one suggestion. After hours of research, reading the different suggestions many of you gave us, and spending 7 months with two colicky babies, I’ve finally compiled what we learned.

1. HEATING PAD - Cruiz never reacted to the heating pad, but it did help Cannon calm down a little. Put it around their tummy, and then swaddle them up. This is the heating pad we use.

2. GRIPE WATER– I know gripe water is the first thing people recommended, and is pretty inexpensive, so I’d start here. There are many different kinds, and we tried them all, but we noticed the gripe water with peppermint helped the most, but still didn’t do much for our twin boys.

3. COLIC TABLETS - We started off with these colic tablets. These worked great with Ledger, our second child, but didn’t have the strength we needed with our twins. I was later told to dissolve them in gripe water, and the mix of the two does the trick.

4. GAS RELIEF DROPS– Our babies were gassy. It’s true. I bought these gas relief drops and after I gave them a dose, they would start burping and passing gas, which always makes for a happy baby.

5. ESSENTIAL OILS– So many people suggested oils! Lavender is known for calming, and peppermint helps with pain, I know many people who have benefited from essential oils, but it didn’t seem to help our boys. I was told to drop a couple drops of peppermint in a bottle and it would help soothe their stomachs. But I love the idea of a natural remedy to help with my babies.

6.COLIC CALM– Oh baby, this stuff is AMAZING! It’s pricey, but it’s a small price to pay for sanity. Don’t let the black color turn you off, with a little spray and wash, it came out of everything. We called it black magic in our house. It didn’t solve our problem, but it would help sooth them almost instantly. Until we worked with a doctor this was by the most helpful product. Find it at Walgreens or Amazon.

7. BABY ZANTAC OF PREVACID– Our babies spit up everything all hours of the day, and then would scream terribly. It seemed like their spit up was burning their throats. It took us about three months to figure this one out, but both babies had acid reflux. Our pediatrician prescribed baby zantac, and the boys were given two small doses a day and it’s made the biggest difference! (Quite common in preemie twins)

8. CHIROPRACTOR– I had a friend refer me to Madison Ridge Chiropractic in Rexburg, ID because they work on children up to a year for free. I thought if it didn’t cost me anything, it wouldn’t hurt to try. To be honest I was skeptic, but after Dr. Roderick explained the process, and showed me what the babies would feel I said lets give it a try. The first couple of weeks I went 2-3 times each week, and then about once a week until they were 8 months. And it seriously makes the BIGGEST difference! Every time we went, within 4-6 hours both boys will poop at the exact same time, (I kid you not) and most often a blowout, and would instantly smile, and fall asleep for hours. The chiropractor explained colic is related to stomach problems, and when their little bodies are aligned, everything inside runs better and more effectively. Both boys had issues filling a diaper regularly, and our visits to the chiropractor fixed that problem. We were also grateful because we learned Cruiz had torticollis, where his neck was kinked and he always looked to the right, (common for twins, because its such a tight fit in the womb). Dr. Roderick fixed his little neck, and I grew to love the man. After a couple of months the boys both boys started acting a little better for awhile, and I took a few weeks off thinking I didn’t need to go anymore, but slowly they returned to their old ways. Once I returned, the crying lessened. I’m a full - fledged believer of this one!

9. PROBIOTICS– I had a surprising amount of comments left about this item, so I gave it a try. Healthline.com says, “Researchers at an Italian university reported that giving infants a probiotic during their first three months of life can help prevent stomach problems like colic from developing.” To my amazement, it helped. When I added this along with the zantac, we almost had normal babies…almost. It may seem pricey, but a little goes a long ways. This is the brand we used.

10. NUTRAMIGEN– Seven months later, I finally hit my breaking point, and ended up at my pediatrician’s office on a Saturday morning in tears. After discussing the boys’ history, our pediatrician wanted to switch their formula. We first tried Enfamil Gentlease, and later switched to Nutramigen (formula to help with a cows milk allergy) It’s crazy expensive, but learned from many of our readers that WIC will help with it, and if you have twins, contact your pediatrician, and even Enfamil, they help twin moms out. But within 3 days, (It takes 3 days for formula to get out of a baby’s system) our boys stopped crying, and even began sleeping at night. It was the first time we saw our boys actually function. This formula completely changed our lives, learn more about it {here}.

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Here’s to hoping something on the list helps. If not, give me a call, I’ll be more than happy to come babysit so you can drive to the nearest frozen yogurt shop, eat your emotions away, and sit in silence, all the while giving yourself a pep talk, that you really can get through the next day… which I did a little too often :)

And now that I’m on the other end, I can say it was totally worth it.