cim1@pyuxv.UUCP (G. Bogatko) (07/12/85)
Try putting the child on his/her back, (on your lap, head pointed away from you) and then alternatly pumping the legs, as if the child were riding a bicycle. My newest kid responds to this in about 10-20 seconds. It's effects can last from 1 minute to 5 minutes, which after an eternity of screeching can be a blessing. My second child had colic, (we now have three), and my wife was breast feeding her. What she did was eliminate one food item at a time from her (my wife's) diet until the offending substance was found. Once my wife stopped eating dairy foods, the kid's colic went away. The process is a long one, i.e. drop a food item, and the effect should be seen in about two days... if not, try another. We were sure after what seemed to be an eternity, that Adrienne would never stop howling, but she did. She also seems to have a wonderful disposition. However she did learn that if she screamed and howled long enough, that what she wanted would come to her. This is cured easily enough, if nothing is wrong, ignore the screams, and soon they stop. Hope this helps.
andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (07/14/85)
[]
"What she did was eliminate one food item at a time from her
(my wife's) diet until the offending substance was found. Once
my wife stopped eating dairy foods, the kid's colic went away."
If an offensive item in Mother's diet is to blame, you might be better
off to eliminate everything up front, and slowly return foods to the
diet. This way the child gets immediate relief, you learn right away
whether the diet is in fact to blame, and everybody can sleep while the
experiment is underway.
There are several books which discuss elimination diets. A recent one
is "The Immune Power Diet" by Berger (sp?). Synopsis: consume only
green vegetables, fish, fowl (no fat or skin), and water for a few
days; if baby doesn't get better, you can abandon this line of
research. Then gradually return different foods, one every two days,
until baby gets worse.
Another colic treatment is the "colic carry". With your arm in front
of you, palm up, position the baby with crotch over your palm, face at
about the inside of your elbow, arms hanging down to either side of
your arm. With thumb and forefinger, grasp baby's leg. Now pull in
your arm so that baby is also supported by your torso. Walk around and
jiggle the baby. This puts the right amount of pressure on baby's GI
system and may alleviate symptoms. It's also a convenient way to carry
the baby around, and kids seem to love it.
-=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew) [UUCP]
(orca!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]tp@ndm20 (07/16/85)
If you are eliminating all foods from your diet, do so only under proper medical supervision, and be careful of vitamin deficiency and malnourishment. My wife and I learned that lesson the hard way. Terry Poot