728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Overcoming Difficulties › Breastfeeding a Colicky Baby

Breastfeeding a Colicky Baby

Tips and Techniques to Soothe and Satisfy

By Kelly Burgess

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Lisa Kelly of San Diego, Calif., is finally having the breastfeeding experience she pictured when she was pregnant with her son, Trevor, 9 months. "When I was pregnant, I had this sort of fuzzy vision of me nursing while soft music played in the background and I sipped a Chai tea – sort of an advertisement for breastfeeding-type picture," Kelly says. "It was like that for about two days, and then reality set in."

Reality was a very fussy baby who would nurse for a few seconds, then cry and fuss for long minutes, Kelly says. Trevor finally did settle down – at about 3 months – and it was smooth sailing after that, but Kelly admits she came close to giving up on breastfeeding more than once in those early days.

Colicky or Fussy?

In Kelly's case, she's not sure if Trevor had colic or was just fussy. While her doctor speculated colic might be the cause, Kelly says Trevor didn't fit the classic definition of colic, which is crying for a period of time at about the same time each day. Trevor cried all day, at any time.

Kimberly Durdin, international board certified lactation consultant and director of lactation services at the Sanctuary Birth & Family Wellness Center in Los Angeles, says colic is often used as a catch-all term for babies who are fussy and unsettled. "What I often see is that Mom will put a fussy baby to her breast, and that will make the baby worse because that's not what he wants," Durdin says.

Rubina Mason, international board certified lactation consultant and a member of the Lansinoh Breastfeeding Advisory Board, says in her experience the difference between fussiness and colic is that fussy babies will sometimes settle down with breastfeeding; colicky babies will not. In those cases, Mason says non-feeding soothing techniques need to be employed, such as snuggling, rocking and swaddling.


Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Want to see more?

Comments

There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.