What soothing techniques have you tried? How successful were they?
I think I have tried just about everything! When I can tell the baby is about to start his evening screamfest I swaddle him, stick a nuk in his mouth and head out to my front porch to do laps back and forth. Most of the time it has seemed to be the best thing to work. Some nights it only takes 15 minutes of walking back and forth. Then other nights it doesn't work at all. He arches his back and fights it and screams. Some nights as soon as he's asleep and I come into the house he opens his eyes and starts back up. Some nights I may have to go out and walk the porch 4 or 5 times before he's out for the night.
I tried running water. One night when the porch walking wasn't working, out of frustration I just went into the bathroom, shut off the lights and turned on the sink. He immediately closed his eyes. After about 5 minutes he was asleep. As soon as I turned the water off his eyes opened and he started crying again. This worked for about a few days, then the running water seemed to lose it's magic.
Someone recommended a warm bath in the evening, placing a wet warm washcloth on his stomach. I tried this and it worked only while he was in the bath. As soon as the bath was over it was back to crying.
I bought a hot water bottle with the intention of using it on his stomach, but when he starts his crying doesn't seem to be the time to mess with getting the water bottle filled... I keep meaning to try to get it ready before his nightly fussing begins.
I have tried/and have continued to use gas medicine even though it doesn't seem to help much.
With my first son I tried dietary changes. It seemed that dairy products would produce more/longer lasting screaming sessions, while avoiding them didn't really alleviate the crying spells. I have not had the willpower to try dietary changes this time around. But I haven't really been consuming many dairy products.
I tried belly rubs and massages. He hated having his belly rubbed, but seemed to marginally like having his legs and feet massaged.
our ped. gave us levsin to try. sometimes it works, most times not.
colic tablets - we bought the hylands brand. we started to use them, but havent seen them work yet.
warmth - she loves it outside. most times to get her to quite down we take her outside and walk around. we live in the deep south and its humid and hot. im worried about winter!
walking-she calms down quite a bit just walking around with her
swaying on knees - a mom in a waiting room at the peds told me this. you lay them face down on your knees and sway. works great a lot of times
rocking- sometimes rocking in a chair does the trick.
rice sock - a lot of people saw that warmth on their bellie helps them. so take a old sock and fill with rice.then micorwave for 30 seconds or so (check temp before you place on baby), then lay it on their stomachs
laying face down - we put her on her stomach a lot, and yes she sleeps on it. its the only way we can get her to sleep for more than a hour and not hold her, even at night. we bought one of those angel baby monitors that detects their breathing. they say it helps because it puts pressure on their stomachs.
Quoting oneofeachflavor:our ped. gave us levsin to try. sometimes it works, most times not.
colic tablets - we bought the hylands brand. we started to use them, but havent seen them work yet.
warmth - she loves it outside. most times to get her to quite down we take her outside and walk around. we live in the deep south and its humid and hot. im worried about winter!
walking-she calms down quite a bit just walking around with her
swaying on knees - a mom in a waiting room at the peds told me this. you lay them face down on your knees and sway. works great a lot of times
rocking- sometimes rocking in a chair does the trick.
rice sock - a lot of people saw that warmth on their bellie helps them. so take a old sock and fill with rice.then micorwave for 30 seconds or so (check temp before you place on baby), then lay it on their stomachs
laying face down - we put her on her stomach a lot, and yes she sleeps on it. its the only way we can get her to sleep for more than a hour and not hold her, even at night. we bought one of those angel baby monitors that detects their breathing. they say it helps because it puts pressure on their stomachs.
Ugh! I'm worried about the winter too! It seems that now the best thing to get him calmer is to walk outside on the porch! I've tried walking on the inner porch, but I do think it has something to do with being outside!
I'm going to have to try the rice sock! Great idea! Last year for x-mas my SIL made a big rice warmer thing for my husband, which he LOVED, and I bought a bag of rice with the intention of sewing some for my two little ones... totally going to sew up a little one for this little guy and see how well it works.
I have noticed that he does like being on his stomach.
you dont have to sew it. we just tie a knot in the end. works great.
talking to some other moms who had colic children they all said their little ones, perfered their tummy. its literally the only way she will sleep. which is why i think she wont sleep in the car and just screams!
Wow-these are great ideas, I will be trying the rice sock during the next crying jag. I have found that walking my son around works too-especially if he is in the snuggli pressed up very close to my chest. Also, I know it sounds weird, but turning the fan on the microwave turned up to high and walking in front of it calms him almost instantly!
Quoting mom-2-mikey:Wow-these are great ideas, I will be trying the rice sock during the next crying jag. I have found that walking my son around works too-especially if he is in the snuggli pressed up very close to my chest. Also, I know it sounds weird, but turning the fan on the microwave turned up to high and walking in front of it calms him almost instantly!
Awesome! Yes, for some odd reason some babies are calmed by certain sounds. One day the vacuum cleaner worked like magic! Keep doing the fan thing as long as it works!
for our dd we got an mp3 of white noise and played that on repeat to get her to sleep. It was much better than actually running the vacuum all the time. Just google it and you should find a bunch of mp3s you can get free.
she is 6 months old and still crying, need some advice
- NorthwoodsMom
on Sep. 8, 2009 at 12:46 PM