Colic: Interventions
Interventions we Tried for our Colicky Baby
Elimination Diet- when I was nursing my first child, I found that she had a sensitivity to dairy in my milk. When I cut dairy from my diet, her distress was pretty much eliminated. I was hoping the same solution would work for Arthur. Per my midwife’s instructions I cut out dairy, soy, gluten, and eggs for a full two weeks. I was mostly eating fresh vegetables and protein. Over the course of the two weeks I didn’t experience much improvement in Art’s crying. However, when I added soy back into my diet, his crying felt worse to me. I decided to remove soy from my diet and I am currently still soy free. It was interesting to see how much sneaky soy is in everyday products like sliced bread, chocolate, and pretty much any processed foods. I am not sure if cutting soy really helped Art, but it certainly forced me to eat a cleaner, more whole foods diet, which I think was, in turn, great for my son.
Chiropractic Adjustment- One of the first suggestions we got from our midwife was to see a chiropractor. I took Art to the chiropractor that I had been seeing during my pregnancy. Shout out to (Lyken’s Chiropractic in Winchester, VA) He got several adjustments over the span of a couple of weeks. These adjustments were super gentle, and often done while I was holding the baby to my chest. It’s hard for me to tell if the adjustments made a big difference. I often felt that Art would have a nice bowel movement and seem more relaxed in the hours following an adjustment, however, I do not know that they had a long term effect. For our family, it just wasn’t in the budget to continue having several adjustments a week, and he didn’t seem to have any physical restrictions or major birth injuries, so we discontinued adjustments after about two weeks.
Cranio-Sacral- our Chiropractic office also had a Cranio-Sacral therapist. Arthur had two Cranio-Sacral sessions that were about 15 minutes each. Cranio-Sacral therapy has to do with the natural electric system within the body. The therapy is meant to work out the kinks in the system, so to speak, so that the body’s circuitry can flow in harmony. It's a very gentle therapy that consists of placing the fingers very lightly on certain points of the body. The therapist is feeling for pulses to indicate healthy movement in those areas. These sessions seemed very calming to Art, but it’s hard to say if it wasn’t just the dimly lit room, calming music, and warm massage table. I will say I experienced a sense of deep calm during these sessions, just from being in the serene atmosphere. We discontinued these sessions along with the Chiropractic, again for mostly financial reasons, and because we had no tangible evidence of their long term benefits. However, I did learn that moving Arthur into a dark and peaceful room, was helpful during his colicky episodes, as was heat, which I will discuss more later. Perhaps it’s worthwhile to note that if I had endless funds, I would have kept up with both Crano-Sacral and Chiropractic therapies, because they seemed to have a calming effect in the moment and for a few hours after each session, and I felt they couldn’t hurt. However, with our budget, it wasn’t reasonable to continue with these.
Lactation Consultant- We saw a lactation consultant when Art was three weeks old to see if the source of his colic might be feeding related. Our lactation consultant was able to observe that Art was often “popping off” my breast, and that each time he broke suction he was taking in air, causing an increase in gasiness. She also pointed out a tongue and lip tie. Tongue and lip ties are restrictions in the mouth that can make it more difficult for a baby to maintain a proper latch. This can lead to poor transfer of milk, nipple pain, and gas. After seeing lactation we decided to get Art’s tongue and lip tie released.
Frenectomy- We took Arthur to a pediatric dentist (Shout out to Tooth Clues in Leesburg, VA) to have his tongue and lip tie addressed. Our daughter also had a tongue tie, but she was referred to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor for her revision. They simply cut the tie with a scalpel and sent us on our way with no post-op instructions or stretches. As a new mom I was none the wiser. I continued to struggle with nipple pain until my daughter was about 4mo, likely because her tongue tie probably just grew right back. This time our lactation consultant instructed us to find a dentist who would use a laser to make the revision, and who would perform a “diamond cut” release. Our dentist was extremely thorough in her post-op instructions. After the releases we had to do lip and tongue stretches (3 different stretches for each) at least 6 times a day for at least 6 weeks! We ended up having to do them for closer to 10 weeks total. Art also had a follow up at one week and one month to assess his progress. Art’s latch did improve, as did his milk transfer. Sadly his gassiness and crying did not improve. The hardest part of this whole process was conducting the stretches, which seemed to be very painful for our baby. It was really hard to commit to doing the stretches because I felt like I was putting my child in distress, but we were warned that if we didn’t do the stretches faithfully, his ties would grow back stronger. Looking back at all the interventions we did for Arthur, this was by far the hardest. It was also around $700 for both procedures. Arthur is now 4 months old, and even with all the stretches I feel that his tongue tie has grown back some, but I still feel it is better than what he had before. Tongue and Lip restrictions can lead to problems later in life, especially with speech. I suppose it was worth it to get these addressed, but I would not want to go through it again. If you are in the thick of tongue and lip tie stretching; I see you!
Reflux Medications- after discussing Art’s behavior with his doctor, our doctor suggested that Art might have reflux. I was reluctant to put him on medication but since I had already tried an elimination diet, and the tongue/lip revision, I was willing to try this. He went on a small dose of Famotidine, which he took twice a day. I do feel this medication was a step in the right direction. Shortly after starting it I saw less fussiness at the breast, easier put-downs for naps and nighttime sleep, and longer stretches of happy phases before crying. I think some of those longer stretches were simply developmental, but I do believe the reflux medication has been helpful for Arthur.
Over this time period I was desperate to “cure” my baby of colic; and while all of these interventions probably didn’t hurt, none of them were a silver bullet. I had many moms express to me that there is only one thing that cures a colicky baby, and that is time. In time, babies develop and grow, and overcome colic. As a parent, I am constantly learning that I have little control over most things. It is our natural instinct to do everything in our power to keep our babies from pain, but sometimes we just can’t. I have also learned that my son cries when he is bored. He's a baby that loves to be near people. He loves direct eye contact. He loves new scenery. While I could sit my daughter in her bouncer and she would happily watch me clean the house and work out, Art is just not that baby. He wants to be worn, he wants to be constantly talked to, he wants me to stare deeply into his perfect eyes; and as his mom, I comply. This is just the season of life we are in. If you are struggling with a colicky baby, just know that you are not alone! You are doing all you can for your little one, but you can’t always “fix” it. Try to let go just a little bit, and let time do some of the work.
