180 Baby

Hudson, my sweet, easy-going, fourth child has been fighting with colic since he was around 4 weeks old. I've never experienced this before. Basically, if he wasn't sleeping or eating, there was a good chance he was crying, or really uncomfortable- especially between 4 in the afternoon until 5 in the morning. I tried lots of methods of relief, stopping short of switching to formulas etc. Nothing really helped. When he was having a tough time the only thing that seemed to help him relax was laying on his stomach, on my chest, listening to my heartbeat. Obviously not the most convenient way to help him out with three other children around- although I did love hanging out with him like that at night, at nap time, and in the morning before the girls were up. I just couldn't help him when I needed to make dinner, give the girls a bath, you know, anything that required me to be off the couch... Hanging out in the front pack was a close second, but then I ran around the house with "T-Rex Arms" trying to accomplish things or help the girls with a big baby on my chest- not easy. I felt so bad for him and could see that he wasn't a moody baby, and really didn't want to be crying, but he was in so much pain. Last weekend Jim reminded me that taking him to the chiropractor might help. I can't believe I hadn't thought of it sooner, since I have friends who swear by it (maybe I'll blame it on my lack of sleep the last month or so). One trip to see Dr. Josh and Hudson was feeling good- immediately after his adjustment at 11:00 he was super-relaxed, slept soundly, played peacefully, and didn't cry at all for the rest of the day until he was ready to eat at 5, then cried at 9:30 when he was ready to eat and go to bed for the night- and he then proceeded to sleep soundly until almost 5 am when he was ready to eat again. Praise the Lord!!! Yes, I got more sleep and it was so peaceful without all the fussiness- but what I am SO THANKFUL for is that he feels so much better and isn't in pain any more.

Mothers out there, if your baby regularly cries for any unexplained reason (like besides hunger, being tired, or some other obvious discomfort), find a great chiropractor and give it a try. It can't hurt to see if it will help. (It's a very gentle adjustment, in case you're picturing something painful. Hudson just snuggled with me the whole time, which was about 30 seconds, and never acted like it felt uncomfortable.) For the bargain price of our $25 copay Hudson is really feeling so much better, and we treated the source of his pain (his pelvis was out of alignment), not just the side effects, like extra gas from crying so much.