He cries A LOT!

[Cynister]

I don't know what is wrong. My son seems to cry a lot. I don't think it's colic because it's pretty continual throughout the day, not really worse at night. We'll go through the usual check of diaper & food to make sure he's alright there but he still seems to be cranky. There of course will be short periods of awake time where he's not crying but the majority of time he is. I don't get it. Is it a boy thing? Is it at least normal???
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[sheila]

If it is colic, this is probably the height of it.

Colic, btw, is defined as 3 hours or more crying, 3 (or more) days/nights a week, for 3 or more weeks.

My oldest was a colicky baby. A combination of swaddling, white noise, rocking, keeping her on her side and letting her suck on something (usually me) usually helped. It took a couple minutes, but she usually calmed down.

Those 5 things came from the book The Happiest Baby on the Block and are known as the 5 S's. If they help, or if you want more info about them, I found the book very helpful.

[kim]

has he always been like this? could be a growth spurt, he looks to be about the right age for one. i remember my son crying constantly for about 2 wks then going right back to normal. drove me insane!

[Cynister]

He's always been kind of cranky, but I guess I'm noticing it more now as constant. Of course he shocked me this morning when I woke up to find he had slept for almost 7 hours & was lying in his crib fully awake just looking around & not crying. Then after I got him up he sat for sometime without crying & I think I actually got an intentional smile out of him. Wierd.

[Mandi]

Could it be gas? Maybe he's crying b/c he's in pain. Alot of babies get intense gas pains. I'd try Mylicon drops or some other gas drops and see if that doesn't help.

[buzzjen]

I agree with Mandi about the gas. I also noticed from another thread that he has an umbilical hernia. My son, Ben, also had one and had terrible trouble with gas. I think it gets stuck in the part of the intestine that is sticking out. Sometimes we would push it in and lay him on his tummy so that he would get relief. Mylicon drops were our best friend for a while.

[Cynister]

Hmm, I didn't know the 2 could be related. I have noticed he is very gassy, but I thought he was just that way. I've tried every type of gas drop there is out there & sometime they just don't help when it comes to the crying. I have noticed that sometimes though if you hold him like he's lying on your chest on his stomach he doesn't cry as much. Do you know why it says on the bottle no more than 12 doses per day? A friend of mine told me that you could give it to them as much as needed & it didn't matter.

[Suzi]

FYI....I know some people who would stake their lives on gas drops (ie. Mylicon) but scientific studies repeatedly show it doesn't work any better than sugar water (a placebo). But at $12/bottle, if it makes YOU think baby cries less, I guess it's worth it! :lol: I had a colicky baby and I can also attest to the 5 S's being just about the only thing that saved my sanity. Good luck!

[MelissaM]

YUp...another vote for those wonderful 5 S's here too! I have gone through two colicy and cranky and very very weepy boys. I tried EVERYTHING - Gripe Water, gas drops, whatever I could find in an attempt to ease their discomfort. In the end though, it was a combination of swaddling, sucking, shushing, side sleeping and swaying that worked for us.

Good luck!

[Cynister]

I'm thinking maybe it's reflux? I'll have to call my Dr. on Tues to see what she thinks but I'm noticing he spits up a TON especially if you lay him down & it gets more intense usually after he finishes eating & has rested for a few minutes.

[buzzjen]

Ben was diagnosed with reflux at 4 months. He was also spitting up alot and he seemed to be in discomfort - I hope the dr has some answers for you!

[JessPearl]

Is he formula fed? My son is and we had a similar problem as you in the beginning. We switched his formula to Enfamil A.R. Lipil and it made a big difference. We thought he had colic but it was actually GERD so this formula helped.

[Cynister]

Well we saw the Dr. today & she put him on Zantac for reflux. She said it sounds like a classic case to her. We started him on it tonight & I know it usually takes up to a week to kick in fully, but I did notice a difference already. There was NO spitup at all after feeding & very little burping. I gave him a shot of the gas drops after eating & sat him up for a bit to make sure everything was ok. He fell asleep VERY quickly & I was able to put him down without incident. I'm hoping this is a sign of things to come. So far so good!