Christi: What Colic's Really Like
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Wondertime: Do you have any stories about interacting with parents of non-colicky babies? Are they dismissive, sympathetic, well-meaning but clueless?
They don't understand, they really don't. When you meet other parents that actually have colicky children, they know exactly how to hold your baby. It doesn't bother them when the baby's screaming with them. But if you give it to a person that's never had a colicky child, I will tell you that they give your baby back. They give it back real quick. They're like, "Ah, you can have it back." The baby starts clawing at you, and he just starts screaming — you can tell he's hurting. His stomach hurts. It's not that people are not sympathetic; they just don't know how to handle it. They don't know what it's like. They've never been through it.
Wondertime: Have you had to fend off any overzealous people who haven't been through it, but they think they know everything?
No, actually, everybody's been kind of sweet. My neighbors were awesome. They never had colicky children, and they're like, "Hey, why don't you go get some gripe water, it's really good! And someone brought me over a fussy baby book [laughs]. I found people to be more helpful. Just the other day, I was in a store, and my kid doesn't really cry that much anymore, and this woman goes, "Oh, he's so sweet, he's sleeping." And I'm like, "Yeah, whatever." She started laughing. She says, "I had twins with colic." I was like, "Oh God." She goes, "That gripe water... I started laughing. And so, it's just funny, you start talking to people. There were a couple of times where I left the store because my baby was screaming so bad. People, like younger people that don't have kids, look at you like, "Hey, take your kid."
Wondertime: Any advice for moms who are going through this? Or even moms who aren't going through this. What's the right thing to say?
I think the right thing is, it takes a lot of patience, and it takes a lot of willpower to deal with it. And knowing that there's going to be a time when it's going to be done. Find someone to help you, someone that's dealt with a colicky child; they're probably the best. Someone who has a lot of patience. Because if you don't have a release, that's where it gets really, really bad. I mean, I didn't for a long time, but then people came to stay with me during Christmas, and they actually held him and took him away, and I was like, "Ahhh." You need a release. I mean, you really do. And you need to have patience, because it will be daunting. That's the worst part, the patience, because some people go crazy. People need a support system. I have 50 million friends having babies, and I'm like, "If you end up with colic, please call me."
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