In all honesty we are having a bit of a rough time with Little Miss at the moment. Sadly she spends a lot of her life, and most of her awake time, screaming, and in pain. There is something different about the cry of a baby in pain. Tired cries are a bit whiney, hungry a bit demanding, uncomfortable a bit angry, and in pain is, to my ears, very shrill. It is horrible and draining to hear for hours on end when nothing you do seems to help. It is hard enough during the day but in the early hours of the morning, when you have been attempting to sooth your child for 2-3 hours it becomes unbearable.
Thankfully I have a wonderfully supportive husband who takes turns with me when it becomes too much and when I feel myself at the end of my rope, and I do the same for him.
So what is causing all of this screaming? I wish I knew for certain. One explanation is colic. Monkey had colic and it is hellish but we have been through it once and hard as it is we know how best to cope and get through the next few months.
Sadly it doesn’t seem as simple as that though. Why? Because some days are much worse than others, and because on those days she does the oddest of poos. I don’t know how to describe them other than jelly like. They seem to be causing her a lot of pain to pass as they are almost solid! I did what we all do and took to google to see if I could find an explanation. We already thought that she was worse when I had had milk so I cut that out early on and after my research I decided to cut out all dairy and see whether there was any improvement.
Because we don’t really know what we are dealing with, or even if we are right we decided to go to the doctors. I am sad to say I don’t feel happy or confident about going to the doctors when I am pregnant, or with my children. Because I fear being judged, or worse, dismissed as an over anxious parent. When I was pregnant with Monkey I struggled terribly with reflux and saw a Dr who made me feel like a terrible human being for even asking if there was any medication I could take while pregnant (thankfully an appt with a much nicer Dr led to us finding a safe one). Then the Dr we saw about Monkey’s colic was very dismissive about it and couldn’t get us out the door fast enough.
So it was with trepidation that we headed to the Drs on Monday. Thankfully we had a lovely Dr, which was lucky as it is basically luck of the draw which Dr you get an appt with at our surgery, unless you book way in advance. But luckily we got one of the good ones and she really listened to us and wasn’t at all judgemental.
After quite a long chat she said she didn’t think it was a milk protein allergy but could be a temporary lactose intolerance. She also said it sounds to her like Little Miss has reflux. I had considered this but as she is never actually sick I thought I was starting to overreact so dismissed it. So we now have some infant Gaviscon to give her at every feed and we will see how that goes. It isn’t a miracle cure as I don’t think it will stop the colic, but hopefully the combination of this and cutting out all dairy will help, so we can all get some more sleep, we really need it!!
It’s a bit of a faff to use as I have to mix it up before every feed and then we are currently syringe-ing it into her mouth. the Dr suggested putting it in a bottle but I tried this and failed, she’s never had a bottle and it’s such a small amount that she just didn;t get any out! I am not looking forward to having to do this out and about as it is a of a faff. Having said that though I am happy to put up with a bit of a faff if it means more sleep and a happier baby!
It is now a couple of days since I wrote the above and all I can say is yippee! So far, so good. Last nightwas the best night we have had in weeks, and I got a total of about 7 hours sleep, rather than the 3 hours I had been averaging recently! She is also just so much calmer, which is lovely as we actually get to enjoy some of her awake time rather than dreading her waking up every time in fear of what was to come. She still has colic but it doesn’t seem as bad. A dose of our favourite colic remedy Colic Calm
Fingers crossed this progress continues!
Our word for the week is Reflux
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Reading this was like going back in time! When Taylor was small he had bad acid relux, it was heartbreaking hearing him scream in pain. He had gaviscon and ended up having an additional medicine too. I hope the gaviscon sorts it all out x #WotW
My friend’s son had this and they had a hard time. They ended up weaning him early and it altered things almost immediately. Trust your instincts and I hope things improve xx
That sounds tough on you all, hope things continue to improve #wotw
Oh poor Little Miss – reflux is horrible. Jessica was on Gaviscon for quite a while when she had it and I remember the faff of having to mix it up. So glad that it seems to be helping so far and hope you all manage to catch up on some more sleep over the weekend and things continue to improve #wotw
Oh dear! Hugs!
Glad to hear things are a little better…I hope things continue to improve x
I am so glad that your doctor listened to you and the Gaviscon has worked. You must be feeling much better for a little more sleep and a happier baby, it is so tough when you can’t help them isnt it, my eldest had colic and it wasn’t nice. I hope things continue to improve further and you can enjoy Little Miss x
Good to hear things are improving – it sounds like you’ve had a bit of a tough time of it! Arthur had quite bad reflux when he was tiny, and I found wearing him really helped. We had a moby wrap which meant he was held upwards with gentle pressure on his tummy and that brought him some relief. I hope things continue to get better for you all x
So pleased that Little Miss has had a positive response to Gaviscon, I’ve been following your blog with interest as our little girl had the same symptoms. She eventually needed extra medication (which I had to ‘fight’ for) and her silent reflux was managed. Two other huge helps were seeing a specialised osteopath who carried out very very gentle movements to relax her and an ergo carrier. We ditched the pram whilst she was little. The ergo helped her reflux hugely, she still loves going in her carrier at 15 months!
I hope Little miss continues to improve xx
I’m glad Little Miss is feeling better!
Lizzie’s Daily Blog
I’m so glad that little miss is starting to improve. My eldest had colic, although not as bad as little miss, and the only think that would settle him was being driven around in the car in the middle of the night. I can’t drive so his dad was up at all hours just driving until he slept. x
Oh bless him, must have been exhausting! The lengths we go to just to get then to go to sleep eh? Xx
Oh, poor Little Miss and poor you. I do hope the gaviscon continues to help and that you all get some more restful sleep x #WotW
I’m glad that Little Miss is feeling better and you’re getting more sleep now. Both of mine had reflux, though not the silent sort, the sick everywhere all the time sort! It is hard. My friend’s 1 month old is suffering, and she suspects colic and silent reflux and has been to see a cranial osteopath which she feels is working. I do hope the gaviscon continues to offer some relief, and yes, keeping her propped up/upright helps, too. Hope you have a good weekend x Thanks for sharing with #WotW
Well it seems I spoke too soon as we were up from 2am today! Fingers crossed tonight is better. Rubbish that both if yours had reflux, it is so hard! Ooh yeah, I saw in your last comment (sorry I am so behind on replying) so I checked and there are no cranial osteopaths anywhere near here, which is a real shame! I hope that it helps your friend’s little one! Xx
I am so glad that you fund something that works. Always nice to have something to help you to make things better =) #wotw
Oh dear hope little miss is feeling better. Jake had reflux until he was about 10 months, when he was very little he was never actually sick, that didn’t start until he was a few months old and was taking much more milk. We found tilting his crib up to quite a steep angle helped him a lot as it was always worse when he was flat on his back. X
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