I love my little girl, but recently she’d become a drama queen around bedtime. Right after the boyfriend went to bed, she resorted to (in a slow buildup) waking up, trying to feed, unlatching, trying to re-latch, and failing. Eventually she just began to shriek inconsolably and wildly flail her little arms around.
Research on the internet revealed to me that yes, my baby had colic. More research gave me suggestions for causes and treatments. There are a million and one ‘remedies’ for colic…and just as many causes, so I didn’t know what started it. She was fine, she was happy. During the day she rarely fussed and even more rarely cried, mostly resorting to more friendly vocalizations like cooing in order to get what she needed from me.
At first I thought it was because around bedtime it was ‘Daddy bye-bye’ time, when he would not return to her for almost 20 hours. I then went on and began to rule out things in my diet as possible causes…I loved what I ate normally, but if it was making her distraught at bedtime, I didn’t want anything to do with it.
I knew it had nothing to do with the way our day went – They’re quite methodical, and from what I can tell make her more than happy. We wake up. I feed her, change her, talk with her. We spend a little extra time in bed just in case she’s still tired. We get up and get dressed to go out and check the mail, getting a nice walk in in the process. We get home, and if she’s asleep I let her be in the soft carrier until such time she wakes up hungry, and we spend our day sitting together entertaining ourselves until Daddy arrives. Daddy gives her a bottle. If she’s still hungry, I feed her. We spend time with Daddy, he goes to bed, and we go to bed ourselves not long after.
These fits were driving me crazy, and on night five, I finally decided enough was enough. I decided I would just let her cry. It would make both our lives easier. So I left her on her own to throw a fit for 20 minutes before returning to her and picking her up. With minimal soothing she was out cold. I was fully prepared to do this every day until she was 3 months old, when most colic ends. I had no idea the very next day I’d find the problem.
My cute little baby has a habit of holding her arms down and curling her hands up toward her face. You rarely see her arms in another position, whether she’s sleeping or awake. She also holds them down forcefully, making even dressing her difficult…let alone getting her in the car seat afterwards.
So I was less surprised than you might think when I lifted her arm and saw the bacterial infection underneath. Of course, that doesn’t mean I didn’t freak out any less. It was actually a mix of panic and relief. What would have happened if I had never seen it? Would the infection have progressed? How long would my baby have had to suffer? Thankfully, the use of butt cream is moderately universal in all things rash-y and red, of which this was both.
It just led me into the realization that every time a baby cries, they are sending a message. We might not know what it is yet, but you should be bound and determined to find out. It’s not just to stop the noise, it’s about the health and happiness of your baby. I hope I never have to handle another bout of colic in my life, and I don’t think I will. We are safe and sound and doing just fine.
Adventures of Lillybump 