For the first year of my daughter’s life, my husband and I jokingly referred to her as Beauty and the Beast. During her peaceful, slumbering hours, she looked like a beautiful, little angel. But when she was awake, she was typically a screaming beast.
I’m not going to sugar coat it, Mamas: Colic is the (insert your choice expletive here) worst.
Typically, colic begins around the 2-week mark and goes away by 3-4 months. Our child is anything but typical. We endured colic for a good 6 months. Even after that, she was generally fussy for the better part of her first year.
Somehow, we survived. Many days it felt like we were hanging on by a thread, but now that we are into toddlerhood, I can confidently say that there is life beyond the dark days of colic.
While I’m no expert, here are 5 ways we got through colic – and lived to tell the tale:
- Do what works – no matter how ridiculous it may seem – During the horrible crying spells, it often seemed nothing was going to calm our baby. Swinging, rocking, shushing, swaddling – most of these things did little to soothe our girl. By accident, I discovered the magic of the dance party. I would hold our daughter and sway to 90’s music videos with her. It took her a few songs, but she would quiet down and eventually drift off to sleep. Thank you, New Kids on the Block!
- Ask for help – While on maternity leave, I would count down the hours until my husband would walk through the door. It was such a relief to have an extra set of hands on deck. We are lucky enough to live near family who helped us immensely as well. You are not a superhero, and there is no shame in needing reprieve during the newborn days – especially if they involve colic!
- Give yourself grace – As a first-time mom, I felt like an absolute failure during the long hours of crying. I cried many days with her, as I was totally overwhelmed. It’s okay if you can’t always keep it together. I know now that my daughter’s colic was not a reflection of my parenting. If you are experiencing colic, know that it is not your fault. You are not a terrible parent.
- Celebrate the victories – With a colicky baby, the good moments seem so much more amplified because they can be few and far between. My daughter’s first smile literally brought tears to my eyes. I managed to get her first laugh on video and watched it repeatedly, mesmerized by the happy sound. Even in the midst of the never-ending witching hours, there is still a lot of joy.
- Know that it gets better – It can seem downright impossible to see the light at the end of the colic tunnel, but it truly does get better with time. Try to keep your sense of humor and remember that colic too shall pass. Now that our daughter is out of the colic woods, she is a happy, animated, sassy toddler. Colic didn’t scar her, and perhaps even more miraculously, it didn’t scar us.
