Last week marked the conclusion of Liam’s second month of life, and for the most part, I say good riddance!
The fight against colic has continued, and while the battle has been long and hard, I think we are finally starting to win. There have been a few key moments. The baby sling-tying class was a godsend, as the scarf has proved successful during both colicky moments as well as just general baby fussiness. Of course, the colicky moments require a bit more perseverance, but fifteen or twenty minutes of walking around tend to put the little guy to sleep. And while the scarf doesn’t allow one to do everything they could possibly imagine (the pile of ironing is starting to look a lot like the Tower of Pisa), it has allowed me to get off the couch more often. The doctor also prescribed some medicine to give him to settle his stomach during his colicky outbursts, which does seem to help. However, the real solution was one of those grandmotherly pieces of advice — fennel tea. Mine was mixed up for me by the pharmacist, and consists of fennel, anise seed, and cumin. In the beginning, I didn’t really think it was having any sort of affect, so after a few days I stopped drinking it. The two following days, Liam had two colicky incidents. It could be a coincidence, but it was enough to get me to take up drinking the tea again. The incident repeated itself about a week later when I forgot and went a day without the tea, so I think it’s safe to assume I’ll be keeping up my three glasses a day for at least another month.
Liam still continues to fight against sleep during nearly every waking moment. That said, heading out with the stroller or the sling has worked very well thus far. There have been a few lunches with friends and coworkers in Liam’s company, most of which Liam has slept through entirely, or at least been quiet and calm throughout. However, while vacation brought impressive sleep improvements, our return home was another story. Suddenly, Liam decided that he would not be going to bed, not tonight, not ever. While we would eventually win the battle, it became a four-hour-long struggle — sometimes even longer — with David and I tag teaming the little guy, the first two hours with Mom, until she cried mercy and passed him off to Dad, far more of a night-owl. After a week of these struggles, I was ready to try anything — and so, the Miracle Blanket was purchased. If I am ever at a loss for a future baby shower present, I know where to turn now. While Liam hasn’t miraculously started sleeping 9pm to 9am like some of the comments, it has allowed him to understand that when he’s wrapped up, that means its bedtime. We can say goodnight, put him in his bassinet, turn on the ocean sounds, and in ten minutes, he is out. We only use it at night, however, as I don’t want it to lose its bedtime mojo. Nap time isn’t happening yet, but I’m hoping in the next month we can start to install some sort of daytime routine as well.
Liam charmed the American family on their visit as well (and we’re hoping this means they won’t wait another five years to come back!). He was on some of his best behavior, sleeping through most of our restaurant adventures and outings, and — thankfully — sleeping soundly enough not to wake everyone else up in the wee hours of the morning.
Liam likes to talk, both to others and himself, with “areu” being his favorite ‘word’ by far. He has started to find his fist on his own to suck on to his heart’s content (although he still has difficulties if he doesn’t have someone/something to stick his arm up against), and hopefully we can get rid of those pacifiers which always seem to fall out of his mouth at the most inopportune moment. He can break into a smile at the drop of a hat — however, he can also do the same when it comes to the waterworks. He needs to be held nearly all the time, and forget stepping out of the room for a minute. Seriously. He comes along with Mom everywhere in his bouncer seat (including the toilet, much to his mother’s dismay). A little independence would be lovely — hopefully the third month will bring that!
7 responses so far ↓
1 Karen // Jun 15, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I’m sorry you are enduring colic. Brandt didn’t have that, but he also was a crappy sleeper so I can relate to that part. I’m intrigued by the miracle blanket and wrap. I think I will invest in a miracle blanket for the new baby, and what kind of wrap do you use? I’ve been looking on Amazon and I’ve been leaning toward Sleepy Wrap. You really need to take a class to learn how to use them?
2 kim // Jun 15, 2009 at 9:05 pm
My wrap is an Amazonas, which is pretty much as plain as you can get — it’s just 4.5 meters of fabric, no elastic or anything, that you knot once you’ve got baby in it. I also had my mother-in-law sew up another one, about a meter longer, because 4.5 meters isn’t going to cut it in a couple more months (I’m taller than the average French woman and so there’s only a short bit left once it gets tied up).
The Sleepy Wrap looks a lot like the Moby wrap… from what I understand, these stretchy slings can be tied up without baby in them, and then you can just slide him in. I think this would make it easier, as you can make sure it’s secure before putting baby in… I think this is why the class was so important for me. In the non-stretchy models, you put baby in when you’re halfway through wrapping it, and then finish wrapping and tie it behind your back. It took me a few days to get confident in my abilities and not worry I was going to have him fall out on me!
I suggest checking out YouTube for “baby sling” because there are tons of videos showing how people tie their slings, and it can give you an idea of what kind of model you’re looking for (there aren’t as many choices here yet).
3 Julie // Jun 16, 2009 at 11:45 am
Glad to hear things are getting better! Liam sounds so much like Asher was! (not sure whether to insert a smiley or frown face here! LOL) We were pretty good at swaddling, but I think I’ll get one of those blankets next go around as well. I always hear great things and they’re more wiggly-baby-proof.
Just wait until Liam starts to move! Not only will he become much more interested in things other than “The Mom”, he’ll tire himself out so much that he’ll go back to napping! Bring on the “tummy time!”
4 andie // Jun 19, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Just so you might have something to look forward to (I think Liam and Alice are about 2 and a half months apart): Alice has never been a nap taker unless I strap her in the carseat or baby bjorn or stroller, but lately, in the past couple weeks, I’ve noticed that she’s taking one big nap in the morning and one in the afternoon and she’s really starting to sleep between 10 and 12 hours at night on a regular basis (crap, am I just jinxing myself for tonight?) So, maybe Liam will start taking longer naps as he gets older.
We loved the Miracle Blanket, not for the length of time she slept, but for the cue it gave Alice- she would just go to sleep at night and then go instantly back to sleep after her night feeding which was NOT the case before the Miracle blanket!
5 Jody // Jun 22, 2009 at 9:56 pm
hi, kim.
back to throw my experience into the mix…
mine was also colicky, or so we thought. it took 5 months and 3 doctors for us to figure out she had dairy allergies, which are super common now for some reason. the dairy allergy gave her bad acid reflux…the reflux medicine helped in the beginning a bit…but, she was also a terrible sleeper and did the straining and arching. something to maybe think about, because it was such a terrible first 5 months for us. email me if you want to talk more about it.
6 Iris // Jul 18, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Hi Jody, Kim etc,
Im interested to know more abt the dairy allergies. My baby doesn’t vomit, he has silent reflux as he does arch his back and fusses during and after he feeds. He also makes lots of “slushing noise” so I can hear the milk is coming back up his little windpipe!
My baby Joachim is 7 weeks old and the reflux makes him colicky. He sleeps well at night, but in the day refuses to nap unless he is rocked incessantly in my arms. I have both a wrap and a baby carrier and he does nap in them, but I go back to work FT in a month so not sure if his primary caretaker will be Ok with carrying him all the time.
As for the acid reflux, colick, he has it all. We have to reduce his amt of milk but increase the frequencies of feedings. Also elevated his bed to help reduce the acid reflux. He’s on zantac but not sure if that helped, or the other things I’m doing helped.
I’m hoping this will pass soon, so happy to know you’ve seen progress.
Iris
7 Jody // Jul 27, 2009 at 6:34 pm
iris,
well, of course, you should consult your pediatrician first, but ours recommended we try a hypoallergenic formula, called Nutramigen. its expensive and smells terrible, but within 2-3 days we had a whole new baby…it was wonderful. we got her a blood allergy test and found that she was allergic to dairy and eggs. by that time she was getting old enough for solid foods…we made sure she did not get any dairy/eggs for 6 months (some need more time) and she grew out of/or we tricked her body into changing, so she no longer had the allergy. by 2 she was eating any/all dairy and eggs. I really believe the reflux is caused by the intolerance to the milk and the earlier you catch it and make the change, the better your chances of your baby growing out of the allergy. it’s super hard to give up breast feeding because everyone tells you it’s best, but not if your baby feels sick all of the time. good luck!
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