Miss Chloe Mae is a cranky baby. As our parents remind us, we deserve it !! As a baby, Aaron was screaming if more than 2 people were in the room. I was just screaming, period. My older brother couldn’t even take a nap unless I was crying, because he’d gotten so used to the noise. Needless to say, having been crying babies ourselves does not make dealing with ours any easier!!
As of yesterday, I’m trying a dairy-free diet to see if that makes her feel better. I cut back on my dairy a few weeks ago and it didn’t seem to make a difference, but she is still so gassy that we think it’s worth another try. I’m being a lot more strict about it this time and am trying to avoid all dairy – which is a lot harder than it sounds. (We had to look at about 5 jars of red pasta sauce before we found one without milk in it.)
She does have happy times though. She likes:
- Being bounced. Not just any bounce, but big bounces – especially on the pilates ball.
- Being outside. 90% of the time, she’ll go from screaming to completely silent the moment you walk out the door.
- Being swung in her carseat. Some have suggested that she’s just frightened, but I think she really likes it.
- Car rides – as long as she doesn’t have to sit at a red light.
- Her changing table. There have been a few times that I’ve just strapped her in and left her there for a few minutes while I get things done, because it’s one of the few places she’s perfectly content.
- Being carried in a sling.
- Playing “Wheels on the Bus.”
- Sleeping on her tummy. We only let her do this during naps when we’re with her, but it’s very tempting to put her on her tummy at night, because she sleep so much better!!
- Baths with nice warm water.
- Being naked. We put an extra changing pad down under a blanket and just let her hang out sometimes, because she absolutely loves it!!
She’s 8 weeks old today and I hope that the “magic” happens sometime in the next few weeks. Many things that I’ve read and been told, both my friends and my doctor, say that colicky babies tend to improve around 8-12 weeks, practically overnight. There’s lots of theories on why this happens – the end of the so-called “fourth trimester” when they’ve adjusted to the world or that their digestive systems mature.
We can’t wait for her to be happier, because hopefully that means she’ll be less uncomfortable. The occasion that we get a glimpse of a happy Chloe are amazing. She has such a cute little smile and I love it when she talks to us. Already, we can’t believe how much she’s grown and changed, so we’re trying to just enjoy every minute that we can!!
MamaMort 