COLIC: PRODUCTS
There are a lot of products on the market intended to help soothe a collicky baby. I tried a number of them, along with some general use baby items that happened to be helpful for my guy. I will provide an overview of our experience here and describe how useful each product was.
Mylicon- Simethicone drops are an over the counter medication marketed to help treat discomfort from infant gas. These were recommended to us by our doctor, our lactation consultant, and our midwife. We used these drops a few times a day (the bottle says you can use them up to 6 times per day, while our doctor advised using them only twice a day, we probably never used them more than three times a day). I feel like these drops were somewhat helpful. I feel like the act of dosing the drops itself had a calming effect on our baby if he was crying. Most people know that gas medications aren’t as useful for breaking up gas bubbles as actual movement is, so baby massage, leg presses, and advantageous positions such as squat like positions and tummy time, were probably more helpful than these drops. But, I do feel they at least gave me a placebo effect to feel like I was doing something to help my son in the throes of his gas pain. Since we used them minimally and were recommended by our doctor, I felt pretty safe using them. However, I know some folks will choose never to medicate their child, unless absolutely necessary. In retrospect, they were probably minimally useful.
Gripe Belt- A gripe belt is a soft belt that can be wrapped around baby’s middle and contains a soft clay insert that can be heated briefly in the microwave to provide warming comfort. I am a lady who quite likes a heating pad or rice bag when I have period cramps or a backache, so this product made a lot of sense to me. I found it did have quite a soothing effect when combined with a pacifier and a contact nap; however it did lose heat quite quickly. I do think the weight of the belt itself also had some soothing effect. Since it is a rather cheap solution, I think it is definitely worth a try if your baby is colicky. We bought the Doctor Brown’s version on Amazon and it ran about $14. Overall I found it to be one of the more useful products we tried to soothe our babe.
The Burplee Pillow- I got suckered into this purchase through an instagram ad. This pillow claims to help babies get burps out and save your shoulders. It’s apparently designed to mimic the feel of baby being up on your shoulder. It’s got memory foam, a steep incline, divots for the head and arms, and stretchy cover. It was pretty pricey, about $50. Honestly, this product was a total waste for me. My son screams on it, and it's so steep that it doesn’t really work for an infant. I’m hoping he might enjoy it more when he’s bigger. He much prefers tummy time on my boppy nursing pillow, which I already owned.
The Merlin Sleep Suit- This puffy little “Michelin Man” suit runs about $40 dollars on Amazon. It was recommended to us by our lactation consultant who had used one for her colicky daughter. I will admit this suit seemed to make Art feel nice and cuddled and secure. However, I now wish we’d never put him in the thing, as it has become a sleep crutch! This suit acts similarly to a swaddle in that it limits the amount of movement a baby has in the crib. This can be an issue when baby begins to roll! Since Art is now getting to the stage where he will soon be rock n rolling, we need to transition him to a sleep sack, and I am wishing we would have done this right from the start!
The Moby Wrap I had the Moby wrap gifted to me when my daughter was born, but I think I only used it like one time? My daughter found it constricting and she never liked to be swaddled or wrapped up tightly. For my son it was an absolute god-send. This thing saved my life! Art loved being wrapped up in this thing and held super tightly to my chest. Sometimes it was the ONLY thing that would console him. It also made my blood pressure go down, just feeling him cozy against me, and watching him become sleepy and relaxed. This worked well for Art until he hit about 3 months of age, and outgrew it.
The Ergo Baby Carrier This carrier is also great, and we are still using it with Art. We also used it a ton with our daughter, who had hip dysplasia, and the doctor actually said it helped correct her hip alignment! This product is more versatile as it can be used with the baby facing out or towards you, and the newborn insert allows you to use it when baby is still tiny. I will always swear by this tried and true product. While I think the Moby was still a little more comforting to my colicky guy, we are still using this one plenty. It’s also a little more handy for going on walks and things like that; a little more kind to your back!
MAM Pacifier Of all the pacifiers out there, my babies always enjoyed the MAM paci’s the best. Paci’s can help reduce the risk of SIDS, and sucking is a natural pain reliever for babies. Yes, pacifiers can become a sleep crutch, but crutches and habits can always be broken. This was one of our number one tools for comforting Art, and we are still keeping the Paci in play at 4mo. Luckily, Art usually drops his paci shortly after falling asleep, and he doesn’t require it being replaced, which is a big plus for us!
Fisher Price Swing The Fisher Price swing was also gifted to us when our daughter was born. She didn’t use it much at all. At 4 months, Art has pretty much grown out of using this. It was helpful towards the beginning when he would wake up with gas pains, the rocking motion settled him. We always made a point to turn off the rocking motion after he fell asleep, so that he wouldn’t become too accustomed to having motion while sleeping. There were definitely a few times where the swing came to the rescue, however, I don’t know that it would be worth it to me to purchase this product on my own. Swings can definitely become a sleep crutch for some babies, so I would recommend to use it sparingly and keep it on lower motion settings.
There are so many things out there for colicky babies, and a lot of it can be a real waste of your money! My take: invest in a great baby carrier! It will get you the most mileage. Don’t worry too much about the pacifier being a sleep crutch in the early days, but be wary of specialty sleep sacks and swings, because these habits can become much harder to break. If something is fairly inexpensive (like the gripe belt) why not give it a try and see if it helps your baby? But when it comes to fancy colic seats and pillows, they probably aren’t worth the money. At the end of the day skin to skin contact is the most soothing thing for your baby, and most likely for you as well. Don’t forget to take breaks and switch off with your partner. It’s okay to need some time without a baby on you! Remember, it’s not forever, it’s just for now. My heart is with you!
