A Lifesaver For A Crying Newborn
By
on
October 6th, 2006
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The headline is not entirely true. It's more of a lifesaver for parents and might help you stay sane during those late nights with a crying newborn. Annika has been crying a lot more than our son Daniel. He has done nothing but laugh and smile since month one. Fortunately she's been crying mostly during the day but we realized there was some kind of problem last week when she was visibly hurting right after each feeding. Her stomach was cramping and Sandra was confused over what was going on. We did know that colic can start occurring between week 6-8 and read some about it on the Internet. Our symptoms sounded exactly like colic but with less crying. Before seeing a doctor we called the free health care hot line we got over here and got some great advice.
They realized our symptoms and recommended some over the counter drops called Minifom. I'm sure similar drops are available in other countries. The drops are given just before each feeding and work by helping to dissolve gases that develop in the intestines. Full effect might not bee seen until after a few of days. Miraculously we saw a huge difference straight away. Annika became a lot calmer and started crying less. It's now been five days since we started with the drops and she's changed so much for the better we're wondering if it's the same baby. Now we're just waiting for some more smiles:-)) Crying is of course not dangerous and we can handle it but I hate to see her suffer and it was clear that she was in pain after each feeding. And she eats like her father, like a horse!
She's also having some problems with mild reflux, sometimes called GERD, which basically means she's having symptoms similar to heartburn. Acid from her stomach come back up, which is completely normal, but it sometimes stays in the throat which causes pain. reflux is common among babies and most grow out of it after a few months. Good advice if you've got this problem is to keep your baby upright for a while after each feeding, make sure she burps thoroughly, and also keep the head elevated a lot during sleeping. That has worked great for us.
If your baby is showing sign of colic, try the drops and they might just do the trick. It's an easy way to make your baby feel better and help parents from going crazy.
Have a nice weekend!
Oct 23rd, 2006 at 10:12 am
[…] Annika has been having problems with reflux, colic like symptoms, and a constantly stuffed nose. She doesn't have a cold but her nose has been so stuffed she can barely breathe which obviously creates problems. We suspect it has to do with her reflux, which is basically like heartburn for babies. Acid from the stomach comes back up, which is normal to some degree, but for her it stays in the nose. reflux can be caused by a valve in the stomach not opening and closing properly but perhaps Annika's body has now corrected this. The problem can be serious but usually disappears as the child grows. Chances of SIDS increase which is something we prefer not to think about. We are not really sure what's going on but the change in her behavior is shocking to say the least. We are scheduled to see a specialist this week and would love to tell him that she's now feeling like a normal child. We're hoping he'll laugh his ass off we're even there and declares her fit. A few weeks ago we started using some drops to lessen the pain in her stomach and get rid of gases. The change back then was dramatic but she still remained in pain. Things improved greatly but it was more like being in a different degree of hell. […]