Saturday, October 27, 2007

Do sheepskins help comfort babies with colic?

Here is an article that I found to be quite interesting. I've felt an actual sheepskin before and it IS quite soothing. One of the most comfortable things I've ever come across in fact.

If anyone out there has used one of these while comforting their colicky baby, please let me know what your results have been. If I get enough votes, I might just include it in my new book due out any day now.

Sheepskins Calm Colic Baby: "Sheepskins help in soothing colicky babies. Moms and dads should hold the baby close to them while at the same time cuddling and rocking them. Wrap them in a sheepskin while you are holding them close. Sheepskins are warm and tender. The warmth and the tenderness provided by the sheepskin will help the baby feel secure and lessen the crying.

Regulating Temperature

Sheepskins also regulate the temperature. They can also be used as great padding and underlay for the baby. They provide a soft cushion for the baby and pull out the moisture. In this way the baby is safe and dry. While lying on the sheepskin, you can even massage the tummy of the baby, providing some relief from colic. Remember that small things help the baby to feel secure and wanted. Secure babies are less colicky and colic also goes away faster. Moreover many sheepskins are also machine washable, making it easy to use and keep. In this way mothers and caregivers can use sheepskins for providing comfort to their babies."

www.bettercare.net
Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eugene_Mirkin

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Colic in the News Again

Recently I developed a Colic Remedy Software program that searches the entire Internet for news stories, videos, blog entries, breakthroughs, product sales and anything else relating to colic.

This has been a great tool because it keeps me up to date on all the (mis)information going on concerning the colic and various baby colic remedies before most are aware of it.
Today's example is a video of Dr. Max Vangilder who was recently interviewed on ABC News as an expert on the subject. Feel free to check it out:



The good doctor seems to be as confounded as most other pediatricians where colic is concerned. When asked about what to do for colic he states, "What works? Well really nothing seems to work..."
Does this seem familiar to anyone other than me?

There are things that work. He even states a few of them in the interview, but strangely enough, doesn't put together the fact that parents need to try different steps in an orderly fashion so that they can put together what works and what doesn't until a solution is reached.

I guess it goes with the territory though. Most doctors are used to writing a prescription. Got a problem? That this drug. If there isn't a "pill" that offers a solution then they often give up or mark it as untreatable.

I'm currently working to put together a comprehensive manual that will outline the steps families need to take in order to get closure to this issue. There is a way to end the crying...it's just the road less traveled.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Colic Can Kill!

If you have a child plagued with infant colic, your thoughts probably revolve around three points all day:

1. Is there a "Cure for Colic"
2. Is there a way of "Preventing Colic" and
3. If your baby already is experiencing colic symptoms, "How to Deal With Colic"

And while I focus most of my attention on providing help and solutions to these three problems, parents of colicky babies searching for a baby colic remedy do need to spend some time thinking about what NOT to do when managing your babies excessive crying.


Never SHAKE Your Baby!

This the dark side of dealing with Colic. The "dirty little secret" or skeleton in the closet that many doctors, professionals and other advice-givers simply do not want to bring up or acknowledge.

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome states:

"Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is the collection of signs and symptoms resulting
from the violent shaking of an infant or small child. It is a form of child
abuse. In America every year an estimated 1,200 - 1,400 children are shaken for
whom treatment is sought. Of these tiny victims, 25 -30% die as a result of
their injuries. The rest will have lifelong complications. It is likely that
many more babies suffer from the effects of SBS yet no one knows because SBS
victims rarely have any external evidence of trauma."

Now this is just a fancy way of saying that at least 300 children are killed every year by their frustrated parents and caregivers due to excessive crying. You can call it whatever you want (murder, or manslaughter are two words that come to my mind) but let's put this in perspective for you.

Imaging if 300 couples all lined up with their newborn in their arms and couple by couple these parents would step in front of you and allow you to hold their little person for no more than 5 second while you said good-bye and then walked away.

How long would it take...to hold all 300 of these children?

How would it feel to know that none of them would be able to celebrate their first birthday? And what would it be like to have to do it all over again next year?

This is the sad and scary truth that we are all fighting against. If you feel overwhelmed, then you need to take the following steps:

1. STOP! what you are doing
2. Place your baby in a safe place like his crib or his bassinet. I'm not advocating letting her "cry it out", but a few minutes of crying along will not be much different to your son or daughter than crying in your arms.
3. Go away for a few minutes. Take a shower or step outside onto the porch. Maybe call a friend to share your frustrations (someone that is caring an doesn't judge you...calling the wrong person can make you feel worse). Think about all the GOOD things that you and your baby will experience together and focus on those future memories, not the present difficult.

You love you baby, probably just as much as I love my three children. Colic CAN be overcome. It's not always easy, but there are resources available to you that can ease your child's suffering and enable you put a stop to the nightmare. Usually it's not just ONE method that will be the "magic pill" that ends up being your colic baby cure. Instead you'll need to employ multiple methods to keep the situation at bay. But whatever you do... NEVER Shake a Baby!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Is it Colic or Acid Reflux?

Recently Amy Bertrand of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a review of of the book "Colic Solved" by Bryan Vartabedian.

In her summary of the book, Amy outlines how the author is of the opinion that doctors that colic is not a condition at all but rather
"a five-letter defense mechanism of doctors who are either outdated, outwitted or just plain out of ideas".
(To read the full article about Mr. Vartabedian's outline of colic in newborns click here)

Now doctors can say what doctors want to say, but when you are sitting up night and day, crying with you baby, devoid of sleep, friendship, and family support...a doctors so-called words of support somehow fail to help.

Baby colic is a real condition and afflicts one out of five of the children born into our world. Lifestyle changes, as well as utilizing over-the-counter remedies for colic are just the start to ending infant colic.

Colic is NOT the same thing as Reflux, nor is the same thing as GERD. To say that Colic is nothing more than Reflux not properly diagnosed flies in the face of many studies as well as practical "in the trenches" experiences of many of the fellow moms who have suffered though the tough months right after birth.

I think that it is more than coincidence that Bryan Vartabedian is a pediatric gastroenterologist. He is probably great at what he does, but just because you see 100 kids a week with Acid Reflux or GERD does not mean that all cases of Colic fall under those categories.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Colic Relief is a Process, Not an Event

I recently read a story from a mother who seemed to have tried multiple colic relief methods. Take a look at a small snipet of her story below..

"I am a new first time mother with a 1 month old who was diagnosed with (in their words) 'A nasty case of colic' since birth. They also said she has reflux. My husband and I have tried I think, everything. We immediately had to put her on Alimentum (liquid gold as you probably know!). Mylacon, I think it would be the same if I took it! I tried the breast feeding route with terrible results. I'd like to thank the breast feeding Nazzis for making me feel like crap, but honestly, it was just another stressor for me and I couldn't deal with being a human pacifier."

A true path to a sure baby colic remedy is not an event...it's a process. This mother was working through the process and trying different things that she heard would work. This is good, as each baby is different. (all three of my babies had a different solution to their case of infant colic)

Patience is a virture through the whole process. As the parent of a baby in desperate need of colic relief, you'll often need to take a deep breath and be willing to try something new. It's not often that one thing does the trick (sometimes, but not often) and you need to be willing to try a combination of things until you find what works for your little boy or girl.

Good Luck!

Baby Colic Remedy - Caraway Seed Tea

While working through the different colic remedies in my three children I've come across a lot of things that work and some that don't work. Here is the one thing that worked for my oldest daughter. Caraway Seed is on of many herbs for infant colic that actually seem to be effective

We stumbled across this remedy, not for research on the internet, or from seeing our doctor, but from a conversation that my husband had with a co-worker in his office. Now normally, I think that this is the WORST method of finding a solution to a problem because there is a lot of misinformation out there concerning colic, but thankfully this baby colic remedy worked for us. It was FAST too. Alena was quite and we were back to a normal life within 24 hrs.

How to Make Caraway Tea for Your Colicky Baby

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of Caraway Seed (found in the spices section of your local drug store)
12 oz of Water (12 oz is the standard size for a coffee mug, so we just used a clean coffee mug)

Preperation Directions:
1)Pour water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2)Add in the Caraway Seed and mix in so it falls to the bottom of the pan.
3)Boil for aprox 8 minutes until the water turns to a soft brown color.
4)Remove from heat and allow to cool.
5)Pour the tea through a strainer into a storage container (we used one my Rubbermaid) and place in the refrigerator for future use.

Usage:
When mixing our daughters baby formula, we substitured one ounce of the Caraway Tea for one of the ounces of water required for the bottle. As I was breastfeeding her at the time, we supplimented breastfeeding with a bottle for one feeding a day. If you are not breastfeeding it should be fine to add an ounce of this to each bottle.

(Note: if your baby has a food alergy to caraway seed then you do not want to give them this solution, obviously. Consult your doctor if you think this might be a concern)

This solution worked like a charm for our oldest daughter, like I said...but it was completely ineffective for my second born!

Remember, each baby is different and you need to use a combination of changes in order to achieve a final end to your babies colic symptoms.

Christina Kurtz
The Colic Remedy Lady

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Welcome to the Baby Colic Remedy Blog

As a mother of 3 children who have all gone through the nightmare that we call colic, I am continually amazed at the lack of resources available to that outline exactly what to do for babies with colic.

There is a lot of general advice out there, some of it good, some not-so-good. I'll work hard on this resource to make sure that you get the straight information from a mother who's been there on the following topics:

What is Colic in a Baby and how you can identify it early on in order to implement strategies and remedies for colicy baby.

Calming Babies Colic symptoms FAST so that you both can have a normal life again.

Product reviews including baby formula for colic babies, herbs for infant colic, and different brands of gripe water.

I've been in the trenches, fighting the battle against this monster condition with all three of my children and I'll do everything I can to make sure that you can get the answer you need as fast as possible.