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An interview with Sheryl, mom of Landon, who was 10 weeks old at the time. (Sheryl and Landon shown in photo, right)


Wondertime: How old was Landon when he started acting colicky?

About a week and a half old.


Wondertime: And what were your experiences with your doctor like?

She was very sympathetic, very understanding, knew exactly what to do to test for it.


Wondertime: Does Landon have a pattern of crying, or is it an all-day thing?

He's really getting to that point right now where he's starting to outgrow it. But when he was having it, the majority of it was at night. But there were still several periods during the day where it would be hours at a time, just screaming.


Wondertime: Did you have him tested for allergies or reflux?

We did. They checked his stool quite often. He did have the blood in the stool, they said from a milk protein allergy, along with the colic. Then we had to go do a barium swallow. Wondertime: How did you sort through and make sense of all of the contradictory advice out there?

There are really different ways to treat it. For us, I was nursing and we tried the breastfeeding elimination diet but it wasn't working. So we had to put him on Similac Alimentum. That really seemed to help him. The other contradictory thing that I found was the Levsin drops. My doctor prescribed them, and I found that it really — I just feel so helpless when he's going through this. He's hurting, so it's hurting me. The Levsin drops did provide him with some relief, but some people really are against using the drops for whatever reason. Some physicians won't even prescribe them. But I found that it helped him, and I was just glad to get him some relief.


Wondertime: Do you have any stories about dealing with parents of non-colicky babies? Are they sympathetic, or dismissive, or well-meaning but clueless?

Kind of well-meaning but clueless. They really just don't know what it's like to be up for 3 and 4 hours at a time, of just nonstop crying, that helpless feeling, that you know he's hurting but you can't help it. You've tried the walking, you've tried the bouncing, you've put him on the dryer in the car seat, you drove him around, and there's that helpless feeling, there's just nothing you can do for him.


Wondertime: When your baby is just crying and crying, and you feel so helpless, how do you relieve the stress and keep from going insane?

You know, I honestly think it's a God thing. I think He just gives me the strength to deal with that. I just try and stay as calm as possible, because if I get upset or flustered, then Landon gets even more upset. And also, my mom has been a big help. She'll come over and just sit with him for an hour, tell me just to go take a shower, have an hour to yourself. I think that's really important, to just be able to walk away for an hour and come back kind of refreshed, and ready to start over and try new things.