Help me! My baby won't stop crying!

I'm no expert but my husband & I have been dealing with a colicky baby for 8 weeks now. I would love to share some little tips & tricks that either may or may not have helped us over the past two months! Honestly sometimes nothing works but when you're desperate you'll try almost anything (safe of course!)

Our baby girl has gotten much better since the first few weeks. Instead of 6-7 straight hours of fussing and crying she now has a couple 20 minute spells daily. 

Here are some things I have found helped/didn't help, but might for your baby because every baby is different!

Of course you got your typical few things:

Swaddle - a tight swaddle is comforting to most babies. 

Swing/Swaying - self explanatory... I would vigorously sway back and forth no matter how painful it left my back, sometimes it is the only thing that soothed her. 

Shhhh - loudly! So they can hear it over their crying. Babies like obnoxiously loud sounds like white noise. 

Sucking - if you haven't already try introducing a binkie, 9/10 times Abigail wants her binkie. Something about that sucking that is soothing to them. 

Stomach/Side - monitored of course. They recommend not putting babies on their belly to sleep but laying down and having the baby on you is a safer alternative...this will especially work if he/she is having belly aches. 

Now here are some other things we've tried. Like I said, some have worked for us & some have not..

• car rides

• loud white noise (they have it on YouTube if you're willing to blare it on your phone/computer)

• gripe water (this mainly works for my daughters hiccups)

• "colic calm" (a $20 purchase that works for many babies! Just not mine)

• vacuuming

• infant gas drops

• running the water/shower

• rubbing in a downward motion between the baby's eyes (down towards the bridge of the nose)

• gently push legs up, like a bicycling motion 

• a warm bath using lavender scented lotion afterwards, or lavender scented body wash (they do have hypoallergenic lavender body wash/lotion)

• change your bottles! (Dr. Browns & Playtex are made special so no air gets in when the baby is feeding)

• a dab of sugar on the tip of the binkie 

• belly massage

• in a formula fed baby try changing to a formula with whey hydrolysate (like Good Start) or a low allergy formula with the milk proteins broken down for them (like Nutramigen or Alimentum) - switching Abigail to Alimentum was one of the best decisions we have made thus far. 

Also if you're concerned your baby has acid reflux or lactose intolerance contact the pediatrician. That is what they're there for!

I hope something works for you. I know there's a light at the end of this tunnel & you should know that too!

- Samantha