Colic.
What exactly is colic?
Technically, it is when a baby cries uncontrollably for more than 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, starting at about 3 weeks and ending at about 3 months.
But I have found it is a convenient thing for doctors to say when you have a fussy baby.
Owen was miserable for the first 4 months of his life. He had trouble nursing. He was up almost all night. He spit up blood and often had a bleeding nose. He had rapid breathing. What did the doctor say? "He has colic."
Being a first time mother, I didn't really push the issue as I would now. Finally, he was diagnosed with reflux (GERD) and put on medication. Our world changed. Colic? I think not...
Alex was one week old when I started saying I thought she also had reflux. No one believed me - "she's just colicky". This time I pushed to see a pediatrician and put her on Ranitidine. It worked... for awhile.
Then all hell broke lose and I almost lost my mind. The GI specialist suggested eliminating dairy, soy, nuts, and shellfish (the most common food sensitivities) from my diet. Within 5 days, Alex was a different baby. For the first time she was calm and content. She woke up smiling instead of crying. Our world changed.
Colic? I think not...
I think doctors need to take a bit more time before writing off a challenging baby as having 'colic'. I shudder to think of the babies and parents who suffer needlessly when a dietary change or a medication would do the trick.
I also think mothers know when there is something wrong. First time mother or not. I knew Owen was more than 'colicky' - yet I let a doctor convince me I was wrong. I won't make that mistake again.
If you think there is something wrong - keep fighting to get someone to take you seriously. Trust your instincts. More often than not you are right.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
And now they call it "purple crying".
ReplyDeleteYes, I received a pamphlet on purple crying...
ReplyDeleteThe letters in PURPLE stand for the common parts of non-stop crying in infants:
P - peak pattern (crying peaks around 2 months, then decreases)
U – unpredictable (crying for long periods can come and go for no reason)
R - resistant to soothing (the baby may keep crying for long periods)
P - pain-like look on face
L - long bouts of crying (crying can go on for hours)
E - evening crying (baby cries more in the afternoon and evening)
I suspect this is also often due to something that can be fixed... easier to label it 'purple crying' than spend the time trying to figure out what is wrong. Our GI specialist said that research suggests up to 85% of 'colic' is due to a dietary intolerance.
Thanks Krista!
I just remember being handed a DVD on Purple Crying when Lukas was about 12 hours old, and they said it was the new term for colic. Then the PHN called me a few days later to see if I had watched it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't actually know that Purple was an acronym - I thought it referred to the color of the baby after extensive crying!
85%, eh? That is really high!
Caitlin watched the video but I never bothered. I was told the same thing when I brought my awake-for-12-hours-straight baby to the pediatrician. Colic. Funny though, my dad (GP) says there is no such thing as colic :) And he was in practice for 42 years.
ReplyDeleteYour Dad is one of the few to admit that!! Colic - the catchall diagnosis to appease 'over-reacting' new mothers 8-)
ReplyDelete