The past few days have been exhausting, frustrating and emotionally draining. It seems like something snapped in Timmy and all of the sudden he is super fussy and in pain. He hasn't been a perfect sleeper or a completely calm, content baby at any point, but Monday night he basically didn't sleep. Last night, he slept a little more thanks to my mom holding him almost the whole time, but even that was punctuated by intense crying/screaming. Even with how tired he must be, he doesn't really sleep during the day too well either.
Maybe it is colic. It's definitely some sort of gas/tummy problem. Possibly reflux? He doesn't spit up much at all, but I've read that some babies with acid reflux actually just keep re-swallowing what comes up, which makes it worse. We started Mylicon drops yesterday, but so far I don't really see an improvement. We might try gripe water soon. Every time I have a theory of what is causing it, I read about something else it could be. He has been taking Polyvisol (vitamins) for about a week, and supposedly those can constipate babies, so I just decided that we would take a few days off to see if that relieves some pain. I decided to cut out as much dairy from my diet as I can to see if maybe he's reacting to something in the milk. I think tonight I will elevate the crib mattress a little bit.
The only thing worse than sleeping less than 3 hours in a day is listening to your baby cry and not be able to calm him down and make him feel better.
It's hard to tell whether I'm viewing this objectively. It seems to me like 50% of his awake time he is fussy and in pain. He hasn't been going down easily to sleep unless we're holding him, and even that's not a guarantee. He's napping on my chest right now, and every once in a while he'll let out a short shriek and then fall back asleep. I feel anxious constantly, worrying about whether he's ok, whether he'll sleep and what will make him feel better. He is still eating regularly. I called the pediatrician yesterday and he suggested the mylicon and gripe water, but I'm not sure at what point I should take Timmy in to make sure nothing else is wrong.
3 comments:
Im sorry things are rough now- it must be so hard to deal with school while this is going on- I cant even imagine. Maybe you should bring him to the dr just so the dr can tell you you have been doing everything right- and if there happens to be a problem then you'd hopefully find out too. being crabby at imes is normal- I remember times Jacob would cry for three hours at a time and refuse to even eat but then he'd calm down. but if timmy is crying for much longer than that i would just let the dr look at him...
good luck- just believe it gets better!
God I remember that... feeling badly for myself, feeling worse for him, and not knowing how to make it better. Everyone says "when you're a mom, you know what's wrong with your child" but that isn't really true, especially not in the beginning. I look back and wish desperately that we had taken Landon in sooner to be diagnosed with reflux (he never spit up either) because those medications did help him, as did gripe water to some extent, and hypo-allergenic formula to an even greater one (he had tummy/gas pains and reflux).
If it helps- if Timmy is pulling up his legs after eating, it's more likely to be gas, and if he's arching his back and pulling away partway through a feeding, it's more likely to be reflux. It could very well be both. Colic is generally at the same time of day, every day, usually in the evenings.
You're right, it is hard. It gets easier as they get older and you know them better, for now, trust your instinct and don't be afraid to take him to the pediatrician even if you're only sent home with a diagnosis of colic or fussiness. I never wanted to be that new mother who thinks her baby has everything she googles, but it turns out, I did have that baby and I wish I'd taken him in sooner.
Hang in there. Really, it DOES get easier. Just keep going.
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