colic??

my baby is only 4 days old, I'm breastfeeding and he seems to have alot of wind. He settles fine in the daytime, but in the evening until the early hours of the morning is extremely unsettled and seems in discomfort. it sounds like it could be mild colic. i can soothe him by puting him to the breast (for comfort sucking), rocking and holding him close to me but i cannot get him to sleep in his moses basket during this period.

I'm so tired at night, but am really struggling to sleep in the day so i have still only had a few hours sleep since the birth... needless to say this is begginning to take it's toll.

does anyone have any advice?

Sarah x

Hi Sarah,
We had a similar problem with my son Zak (19 days old). He was very difficult to wind and was very "coliky". The midwife recommended using infacol. This has made a great difference - he still gets a period each day where crys & seems in pain but this only lasts a couple of hours.
Hope this helps
Frances

Thanks Frances, Have been using infacol and noticing a difference. Can i ask how long you used/are planning to use infacol for? I'm giving it before every feed and it's definately making it easier for him to bring up wind and he loves the taste and latches on better afterwards (think he knows what's coming!!). Just not sure how long we can/should use it for?

He's still not settling at night so we've given up and put him in our bed the last two nights- he settles much better and i've finally got some sleep, but am i setting myself up for problems later?

I had such good parenting ambitions (e.g. no sleeping in mummy and daddys bed, no dummy, good evening routine) and 7 days in we're already failing! I'm tempted to try him with a dummy, but don't really want to as i know the comfort sucking is an important part of breastfeeding. Also, I know it's early days, but i'm concerned that the habits we form now will last - how do you change your baby's habits once they're started?

Any opinions/advice welcome! thanks,
Sarah xx

Sarah,
We started off using infacol before every feed - for about 3 days. Am now using it about 1 a day - or more if he seems particulary coliky (appears to be having an attack at the moment!) Think you can use it for as long as necessary.
I also had intentions of no dummy, good evening routine, breastfeeding etc - have failed on every one! Asked my health visitor about importance of getting into a routine now to avoid problems in the future and she said not to worry until the baby is about a month old.

Thanks Frances. Fortunately I am still breastfeeding, but only because he has taken to it so easily - I haven't even really had to help him latch on much, he just seemed to know what to do. It is tiring though, because he loves to comfort suck as often as possible!

Good luck with Zak's colic. Join us on the november mums thread if you want to share some parenting tips.

Sarah x