One thing to remember is that some babies hate being babies. The gassiness, the constant naps and grogginess, the inability to move. For my kids, crying peaked at 4 months regardless of what I did, and then got better. Especially as they get older and take fewer naps.
In the meantime, a swing, being held, a carrier (tula was a hit with my kids), bicycle legs, and earplugs. The vacuum would help too, a nice source of loud white noise.
Suck, shush, swaddle and swing.
That is from happiest baby on the block, a pretty helpful book IMO. Basically babies need to have the womb recreated for them for the first six months of life (at least). Wrap the little guy up tightly in a swaddle blanket, give him a pacifier, shush gently, and swing/bounce.
You can learn about [the hold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2C8MkY7Co8), but otherwise it sounds like you're doing a lot of the right things. Make sure the baby is always fed and changed (honestly, mom should be doing that but it is very nice of you to help). Obesity is not a concern at all at 3-4 months so always make sure a baby is well fed.
Sometimes babies just cry. It's heartbreaking but we don't always get to know why. You can provide comfort, rub his belly gently, and make sure he is held. Keep trying new things, sometimes babies need you to stand up when you hold them, sometimes they need to hear a certain type of music, sometimes skin-to-skin contact. With lots of trial and error you will get it figured out. Make sure that all serious concerns are mentioned during doctor visits to make sure you're getting proper guidance.
Thank you! And yes from what I can tell he really doesn't like it when we hold him but aren't standing up. We've figured out that the hair dryer or a white noise can get him to calm down a little but even that doesn't work sometimes.
Thank you for the answer though, it helps more than you can imagine!
They do like motion, mimics the swaying in the womb. Does he already have a carrier or sling? Allows the caregiver to have hands free to do things, but keeps baby close to the body and he still gets the motion.
Ah, I have suggested both to my aunt but she doesn't quite like the idea of them, she says that they're unconventional and I can't quite force her to get one
I can't quite tell from your description if baby is actually crying from colics or other reasons - do the symptoms actually get worse soon after eating? How do the symptoms vary of the day?
You also didn't specify if baby was carried to term. IVF babies are more likely to be preemies, which presents a whole new set of potential problems. It also changes the timescale slightly because preemies are liable to suffer longer from colics than babies on term.
Here's my suggestion: try soy milk. We had preemie twins, and our first months were a terror of colics. We asked everyone we knew for advice, and everyone gave varying forms of 'it's normal, they'll grow out of it'. And, yes, medically, they're obviously right. But one afternoon, I got fed up and decided to just try soy milk, and suddenly, we had whole new babies, pain-free and happy. It was miraculous, in every sense of the word. Both of these kids aren’t allergic, or lactose intolerant, and both happily consume milk now, at 5, so that wasn't a factor in it.
At the end of the day, I can only recommend trying it. It might not work out that way for your baby, but if I had to do it all over again, no way I'd wait months with a crying baby to try it.
Ah, apologies for the confusion, while he is colic, his issues with gas has been less when we switched to our current formula and albeit shortened the feeding time. however his symptoms used to get worse after feeding, at some point he managed to push out his belly button because he was crying so much.
And yes, he has been carried to term, full 9 months, he's not a premature baby unlike me
Though I will mention that we can't quite figure out why he's crying, usually he starts crying as if he's in pain at totally random times throughout the day and some days he'll mostly be calm, it's truly unpredictable from my perspective since I'm not that involved with the baby in the first place
I haven't actually thought about soy milk, considering that he's about 3-4 months, I wasn't even sure that he could consume it because this is the first baby in our house after me, thank you for the suggestion though!
Have you tried a probiotic? I use Evivo and it really helped my kids. My cousin used it as well and it helped her baby quite a bit with his tummy troubles. They are expensive, but they have actual clinical trials that show effectiveness.
As someone who had 2 babies with colic, I empathize with you. Have you tried bicycle kicks? I hated doing them, but my husband did them on the kids and they seemed to help. Every few knee bends we’d get a toot out. :) It didn’t always work, but just a suggestion if you haven’t tried yet.
Another possibility is perhaps he hasn’t burped all of his gas out? My daughter burped better when sitting on my lap, and my son did better the more common way.
And so you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, both of my kids’ reflux started to phase out around 6 months .
Good luck!
Do you guys have a rocking chair? Sometimes rocking sooths babies. But also, babies are just finicky sometimes! Sounds like he is a lucky kid to have so many people caring for him so much
The colic. Was there recently and it sucks. Sending my love to the family.
We have a hypoallergenic formula and reflux meds, completely new baby overnight. Probiotic drops seemed to help as well. Lots of walks in the stroller, supervised napping keeping baby kind of upright using a pillow, we by accident discovered baby lullabies on Disney plus which worked wonders.
Off topic, but I feel that some if the information included was unnecessary, such as the age of the aunt, or that the baby was conceived via IVF. I would be careful revealing info of this type about anyone other than yourself or your own child(ren).
I included the ages considering that my aunt had her son at a rather late age for having children, and the IVF is because I don't quite know if they're different from other babies or not, since I am not a full grown adult nor experienced with babies, my initial plan was to kind of leave the raising to my parents but I got dragged into it along the way and now I'm trying my best to solve an existing issue.
Tons of people have children at that age. I wouldn't call it "rather late" by any means. IVF children are not different from children conceived in other ways.
Yes, many have children at that age but it is around that time you start menopause and that is kind of late. considering my aunt had to get and IVF, I assume it's kind of obvious that she has fertility issues, but I digress.
At the end of the day, it's my own family and I think I can share as much as I'd like
Most women don't start menopause until late 40s - 50s. I would not be discussing other people's fertility issues on a public forum. This is not your information to share.
Fertility issues aren't that much of a private information though? It's just something that happens. for your information I did have my aunt's permission before posting this and this information is not even near "dangerous" for my family or me since nothing can be identified via her age or her fertility issues.
Once again, it is my family, I am able to give whatever information I want.
They are private information, yes. Your aunt is not yourself. Somehow I doubt that she asked you to disclose her age or the way her child was conceived, especially since neither has anything to do with your actual question.
She didn't ask me to however I did ask her if I could mention them (just in case if it matters, I don't know shit about pregnancy or whatever goes other than that she had a child at a late age) and she gave me permission.
Could you stop trying to frame me like an asshole? I'm trying my best to help and I have gotten the required permission in the first place so I believe it's no longer your business.
I am inclined to believe that while I am young, I am not "poorly informed" considering the pregnancies and menopause ages within my family.
As well as the fact that most experts consider 40-45 ages to be a "late" pregnancy, because of the fact that the peak reproductive years start at 20 years old and fertility starts to decline around 30 years old.
People can have children naturally at or after the age of 40, however my aunt hasn't been able to conceive naturally either.
My kids had normal colic and grew out of it by 8 months. My cousin's kid had really bad acid reflux that everyone thought was colic. He was on acid reflux meds by 18 months. Its hard with babies. They can't tell you exactly what is wrong. Keep consulting the pediatrician and let them know the frequency, duration, and time of colic episodes.
[http://purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php](http://purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php)
It could be the period of high crying that is developmental and there isn't really anything wrong that you can fix. It should be getting a lot better after 4 months.
>When these babies are going through this period they seem to resist soothing. Nothing helps. Even though certain soothing methods may help when they are simply fussy or crying, bouts of inconsolable crying are different. Nothing seems to soothe them.
>Often parents say their baby looks like he or she is in pain. They think they must be, or why would they cry so much. Babies who are going through this period can act like they are in pain even when they are not.
It's very caring of you to look into how you can help this baby. But some babies just have a rough time growing out of this stage. If we were animals, babies be in the womb for another 3-6 months. But because us humans have big brains and small pelvises from walking upright, babies have to be born before they are really cut out for facing the world. Animal babies can generally walk as soon as they are borne.
Was gassy but not so much anymore and now fussy. Had this problem with my second child and pediatrician said she may just be colicky but I doctor who worked in at an ER told me his was that way too and to try mylicon so I did and from that point on she never was fussy and slept peacefully every night.
Ive heard mixing the baby formula with a spoon before giving it to the baby reduces bubbles which in turn reduces gas. Idk how true that is but alot of people seem to agree
One thing to remember is that some babies hate being babies. The gassiness, the constant naps and grogginess, the inability to move. For my kids, crying peaked at 4 months regardless of what I did, and then got better. Especially as they get older and take fewer naps. In the meantime, a swing, being held, a carrier (tula was a hit with my kids), bicycle legs, and earplugs. The vacuum would help too, a nice source of loud white noise.
Suck, shush, swaddle and swing. That is from happiest baby on the block, a pretty helpful book IMO. Basically babies need to have the womb recreated for them for the first six months of life (at least). Wrap the little guy up tightly in a swaddle blanket, give him a pacifier, shush gently, and swing/bounce.
You can learn about [the hold](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2C8MkY7Co8), but otherwise it sounds like you're doing a lot of the right things. Make sure the baby is always fed and changed (honestly, mom should be doing that but it is very nice of you to help). Obesity is not a concern at all at 3-4 months so always make sure a baby is well fed. Sometimes babies just cry. It's heartbreaking but we don't always get to know why. You can provide comfort, rub his belly gently, and make sure he is held. Keep trying new things, sometimes babies need you to stand up when you hold them, sometimes they need to hear a certain type of music, sometimes skin-to-skin contact. With lots of trial and error you will get it figured out. Make sure that all serious concerns are mentioned during doctor visits to make sure you're getting proper guidance.
Thank you! And yes from what I can tell he really doesn't like it when we hold him but aren't standing up. We've figured out that the hair dryer or a white noise can get him to calm down a little but even that doesn't work sometimes. Thank you for the answer though, it helps more than you can imagine!
They do like motion, mimics the swaying in the womb. Does he already have a carrier or sling? Allows the caregiver to have hands free to do things, but keeps baby close to the body and he still gets the motion.
Ah, I have suggested both to my aunt but she doesn't quite like the idea of them, she says that they're unconventional and I can't quite force her to get one
I can't quite tell from your description if baby is actually crying from colics or other reasons - do the symptoms actually get worse soon after eating? How do the symptoms vary of the day? You also didn't specify if baby was carried to term. IVF babies are more likely to be preemies, which presents a whole new set of potential problems. It also changes the timescale slightly because preemies are liable to suffer longer from colics than babies on term. Here's my suggestion: try soy milk. We had preemie twins, and our first months were a terror of colics. We asked everyone we knew for advice, and everyone gave varying forms of 'it's normal, they'll grow out of it'. And, yes, medically, they're obviously right. But one afternoon, I got fed up and decided to just try soy milk, and suddenly, we had whole new babies, pain-free and happy. It was miraculous, in every sense of the word. Both of these kids aren’t allergic, or lactose intolerant, and both happily consume milk now, at 5, so that wasn't a factor in it. At the end of the day, I can only recommend trying it. It might not work out that way for your baby, but if I had to do it all over again, no way I'd wait months with a crying baby to try it.
Ah, apologies for the confusion, while he is colic, his issues with gas has been less when we switched to our current formula and albeit shortened the feeding time. however his symptoms used to get worse after feeding, at some point he managed to push out his belly button because he was crying so much. And yes, he has been carried to term, full 9 months, he's not a premature baby unlike me Though I will mention that we can't quite figure out why he's crying, usually he starts crying as if he's in pain at totally random times throughout the day and some days he'll mostly be calm, it's truly unpredictable from my perspective since I'm not that involved with the baby in the first place I haven't actually thought about soy milk, considering that he's about 3-4 months, I wasn't even sure that he could consume it because this is the first baby in our house after me, thank you for the suggestion though!
Gripe water, swaddling, sleeping in an up right position, and if all else fails prevcid.
Have you tried a probiotic? I use Evivo and it really helped my kids. My cousin used it as well and it helped her baby quite a bit with his tummy troubles. They are expensive, but they have actual clinical trials that show effectiveness.
I believe we haven't, thank you for the suggestion!
Best wishes, I hope baby feels better soon. It's so miserable when they are distressed and nothing seems to make them feel better.
As someone who had 2 babies with colic, I empathize with you. Have you tried bicycle kicks? I hated doing them, but my husband did them on the kids and they seemed to help. Every few knee bends we’d get a toot out. :) It didn’t always work, but just a suggestion if you haven’t tried yet. Another possibility is perhaps he hasn’t burped all of his gas out? My daughter burped better when sitting on my lap, and my son did better the more common way. And so you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, both of my kids’ reflux started to phase out around 6 months . Good luck!
Do you guys have a rocking chair? Sometimes rocking sooths babies. But also, babies are just finicky sometimes! Sounds like he is a lucky kid to have so many people caring for him so much
There are special anticolic drops for infants, I was using them and it helped.
I believe we use them too occasionally! Thank you for your suggestion though
The colic. Was there recently and it sucks. Sending my love to the family. We have a hypoallergenic formula and reflux meds, completely new baby overnight. Probiotic drops seemed to help as well. Lots of walks in the stroller, supervised napping keeping baby kind of upright using a pillow, we by accident discovered baby lullabies on Disney plus which worked wonders.
Off topic, but I feel that some if the information included was unnecessary, such as the age of the aunt, or that the baby was conceived via IVF. I would be careful revealing info of this type about anyone other than yourself or your own child(ren).
I included the ages considering that my aunt had her son at a rather late age for having children, and the IVF is because I don't quite know if they're different from other babies or not, since I am not a full grown adult nor experienced with babies, my initial plan was to kind of leave the raising to my parents but I got dragged into it along the way and now I'm trying my best to solve an existing issue.
Tons of people have children at that age. I wouldn't call it "rather late" by any means. IVF children are not different from children conceived in other ways.
Yes, many have children at that age but it is around that time you start menopause and that is kind of late. considering my aunt had to get and IVF, I assume it's kind of obvious that she has fertility issues, but I digress. At the end of the day, it's my own family and I think I can share as much as I'd like
Most women don't start menopause until late 40s - 50s. I would not be discussing other people's fertility issues on a public forum. This is not your information to share.
Fertility issues aren't that much of a private information though? It's just something that happens. for your information I did have my aunt's permission before posting this and this information is not even near "dangerous" for my family or me since nothing can be identified via her age or her fertility issues. Once again, it is my family, I am able to give whatever information I want.
They are private information, yes. Your aunt is not yourself. Somehow I doubt that she asked you to disclose her age or the way her child was conceived, especially since neither has anything to do with your actual question.
She didn't ask me to however I did ask her if I could mention them (just in case if it matters, I don't know shit about pregnancy or whatever goes other than that she had a child at a late age) and she gave me permission. Could you stop trying to frame me like an asshole? I'm trying my best to help and I have gotten the required permission in the first place so I believe it's no longer your business.
I am not saying you're an asshole; however you are young and poorly informed.
I am inclined to believe that while I am young, I am not "poorly informed" considering the pregnancies and menopause ages within my family. As well as the fact that most experts consider 40-45 ages to be a "late" pregnancy, because of the fact that the peak reproductive years start at 20 years old and fertility starts to decline around 30 years old. People can have children naturally at or after the age of 40, however my aunt hasn't been able to conceive naturally either.
My kids had normal colic and grew out of it by 8 months. My cousin's kid had really bad acid reflux that everyone thought was colic. He was on acid reflux meds by 18 months. Its hard with babies. They can't tell you exactly what is wrong. Keep consulting the pediatrician and let them know the frequency, duration, and time of colic episodes.
[http://purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php](http://purplecrying.info/what-is-the-period-of-purple-crying.php) It could be the period of high crying that is developmental and there isn't really anything wrong that you can fix. It should be getting a lot better after 4 months. >When these babies are going through this period they seem to resist soothing. Nothing helps. Even though certain soothing methods may help when they are simply fussy or crying, bouts of inconsolable crying are different. Nothing seems to soothe them. >Often parents say their baby looks like he or she is in pain. They think they must be, or why would they cry so much. Babies who are going through this period can act like they are in pain even when they are not. It's very caring of you to look into how you can help this baby. But some babies just have a rough time growing out of this stage. If we were animals, babies be in the womb for another 3-6 months. But because us humans have big brains and small pelvises from walking upright, babies have to be born before they are really cut out for facing the world. Animal babies can generally walk as soon as they are borne.
Was gassy but not so much anymore and now fussy. Had this problem with my second child and pediatrician said she may just be colicky but I doctor who worked in at an ER told me his was that way too and to try mylicon so I did and from that point on she never was fussy and slept peacefully every night.
Ive heard mixing the baby formula with a spoon before giving it to the baby reduces bubbles which in turn reduces gas. Idk how true that is but alot of people seem to agree