Soothing a colicky baby

I am sorry to tell you that nothing will work like magic. Every child is different and it is just try and error. Here are some things that you can try or tell your daughter/ daughter-in-law to try out, I hope that something will work. 

Often the baby swallows a lot of air and get terrible wind. So you can try using a hot water bottle. Do not use boiling water because it will be too hot for the baby. Wrap the bottle in a towel and place it on you and then lie the baby on you. You probably know from yourself when you have wind that warmth makes you feel better. It's worth a try. 

Try massaging the tummy. Warm your hands before you touch your babies tummy and then gently massage him. It might release trapped wind. 

Bath you baby. You should only try that if your grandchild likes bathing. My little boy hated bathing, he used to cry through it. But if the baby enjoys bathing it can help him/her relax. 

You have to accept that sometimes you can not soothe your grandchild. He/She will cry and you won't be able do anything about it. Stay calm and just be the baby. I know it is hard to bare the crying but your grandchild will know that you are there. Try to contain him/her.

You can try swaddling your grandchild. They say it is like being back in the womb. I tried swaddling my boy but it does not do anything. It actually makes him more upset. Some people swear on it and they say their baby sleeps through the night because they swaddle him/her. You just have to try it out. 

Try different positions. Try to figure out in which position your grandchild is most comfortable. I found out that kangarooing soothes my baby. Kangaroo care means that your chest is bare and the baby is naked too. The skin to skin contact and hearing my heart beat calms him down and I enjoy it too.

White noise should help soothe a child but it drives me mad!! I found on YouTube eight hours of white noise. It might have soothed my baby but it definitely did not calm me down. I put music on that I listened to when I was pregnant. Research showed that music that you listened to while you were pregnant soothes the baby because they somehow remember it. 

Start moving! A vibrating infant seat, put him in the car and drive around, put him in a swing. I heard once a mother put her baby in the carseat and let him sit on the dryer when it was on. She felt guilty about it but I think if it does not harm the baby and it calm him/her down then do it and do not feel bad about it. You can also try putting the baby in a sling and carrying him/her around. That is how you can get things done too.

My husband welcomed me yesterday in the world of colicky babies. I studied psychology, I heard about what colic means. I read about it, tried to think of different ways of soothing a child. Now I am actually in the situation and I just think you had no idea what you were talking about. So all I can say now: try to stay calm and get help from family or friends. 

Was your child colicky? Or your grandchild has colic? What helped, what did not? Share with us your experience and help other grandparents and parents!!!

Infantile colic

Crying is a biological signal and the most effective and important form of communication. With this signal the baby is able to communicate his needs like hunger, thirst, feeling hot or cold, needing to be close to somebody. Crying is a very intense signal because it should motivate the parents to immediately react and find out what the baby needs and relieve them for their discomfort.
A baby is only diagnosed with infantile colic if the episode of crying is more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week for a three week duration. You will notice that the baby normally starts crying at the same time (late afternoon) and that the cry is high pitch and louder then normally. Often the infants won't lie on their backs or tummies. It leads to that the parents walk around with the baby for hours and hours. The change of stimulation calms the baby down for a couple of minutes but it leads to a over stimulation and exhaustion. 
I think at this point it is not really so important to discuss why some babys get it and some don't. I think it is more important to imagine what it is like for the parents of these babys. That is how you become a good support system for the family.

The parents can become chronically agitated and it leads to the feeling of helplessness, aggression, worthlessness, insecurity,  fear of failing and depression. The parental skills become restricted and it makes it even harder for them to calm their baby. Often the relationship will suffer as they are both agitated and have no time for themselves. 

A social network is very important in times like these. Mothers need a time out, need to get back her energy so that she can the strength and the patience to be able to calm her baby. You as a grandparent can be a very important resource. 

How do you think you can help your children in a times like this? If you are a mother or a father who has a colicky baby tell us how you need help? What do you need your parents to do for you?