Bringing your newborn infant home from the hospital is so exciting! You check all the fingers and toes to make sure your baby is perfect. Everything is wonderful until your angel turns into a screaming child that nothing seems to soothe. You've checked the diaper, filled the belly and done everything you know to do.
Your baby may have colic. Your pediatrician can tell you for sure. The cause of colic is unknown, and there's no known cure. You can do a number of things to help soothe your baby and help restore his or her angelic quality again, though. Here are 6 easy things you can try to relieve your baby's colic.
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Dos
1. Rocking chair. The rocking motion is often soothing to a colicky baby, so parenting recommends sitting with the baby for a while to see if your infant can be soothed.
1. Rocking chair. The rocking motion is often soothing to a colicky baby, so parenting recommends sitting with the baby for a while to see if your infant can be soothed.
2. Dryer. Car rides are also a great way to soothe a colicky baby, but they can get to be really expensive, so Health offers up the idea of putting the baby in an infant seat on a running dryer. The motion of the dryer and the noise will often act like a car. Be sure to turn off your signal or that may awaken your sleeping angel when it sounds to tell you the clothes are done.
3. White noise. Another parenting suggestion is to eliminate extra sounds that may be overloading the baby's senses. Putting on some white noise can be helpful. A fancy machine isn't necessary. A fan or vacuum cleaner will do the trick.
4. Warm towel. Doctors suspect that gas may be part of the colic issue, so parenting says to place a warm towel on your baby's abdomen. The warmth will help the gas move.
5. Schedule. In order to save both your sanity and your baby's health, Health says that getting your infant on a schedule of feeding and napping is important. That way your baby doesn't have to rely on eating to fall asleep.
6. Soy. Since doctors aren't sure if colic is related to gas, getting your baby off of a formula that has cow's milk in it and onto a soy formula is recommended by Health.
Don'ts
1. Rice cereal. Although some say to give the baby rice cereal in a bottle, WebMD says you should never do that as it is a choking hazard for infants.
1. Rice cereal. Although some say to give the baby rice cereal in a bottle, WebMD says you should never do that as it is a choking hazard for infants.
2. Chamomile or gripe water. Another thing to be avoided is chamomile or gripe water. WebMD states that these are not FDA regulated, so you don't know how much you are getting in these products. This can prove to be dangerous for an infant.
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Soothing your baby will restore peace to your home and sanity to your soul. Your little angel will be home to stay.