Our little June bug is 3 months old now! How?! The days seem long sometimes, but time truly flies by, am I right mamas? The first two months were a bit rough for her especially in the tummy department. I was worried that we were headed in the same place we were at with Lane (my now 2 year old son) early on. He had terrible gas pains, tummy issues and colic symptoms. He would just cry for hours and we didn’t know what to do or what exactly was causing it and felt completely helpless.
I’ll back track a bit and give you a little extra background info: June had a lip tie that was corrected a week after birth (our son Lane had a lip and tongue tie that we didn’t discover or get corrected until he was 3 months old), but it has taken some time for her latch to improve and honestly, it’s still not ideal. I also have an overactive let down and overproduction of breast milk that causes her to gulp quickly and intake a lot of extra air. These issues can definitely cause extra gas bubbles and stomach discomfort which was obvious.
This time around we had a better understanding of what was going on for the most part, but I also think there were/are other things going on internally that we can’t really pinpoint. If you google “What is Colic?”, WebMD will tell you the following:
Colic’s exact cause is unknown, and that’s why there’s not a clear way to help it. Some theories of what’s behind it include:
- A growing digestive system with muscles that often spasm
- Gas
- Hormones that cause stomach pain or a fussy mood
- Oversensitivity or overstimulation by light, noise, etc.
- A moody baby
- A still-developing nervous system
So needless to say, whatever was causing June to be so unhappy and obviously uncomfortable and in pain, I wanted to tackle things head on and hopefully get a handle on easing her discomfort earlier and faster than we were able to with Lane.
I had heard about gripe waters and gas drops before with Lane, but our lactation consultant at the time recommended against them because of questionable ingredients. This time around, I didn’t want to give up on the idea again completely. I really wanted to try something like that out, so I went down a google research rabbit hole to find the cleanest options out there. I wasn’t quite sure if we needed gas drops or gripe water, I just knew we needed something to help us comfort and relieve her pain.
I found an amazing blog post by the Organic Housewife: NATURAL COLIC RELIEF: MY SEARCH FOR THE CLEANEST MOST ORGANIC COLIC RELIEF REMEDY… Bingo! She breaks down the top options and the ingredients that are most concerning and why.
This post was gold and after reading it, I decided to go with Boiron ColicComfort Homeopathic Medicine.
Here’s the breakdown…
Use: Temporarily relieves symptoms associated with baby colic, including gas pain and irritability
- For Babies 1 Month & Up
- Preservative- Free (30 doses come in individual vials)
- Active Ingredients: Carbo vegetabilis 5C HPUS- Relieves bloating associated with colic, Colocynthis 9C HPUS- Relieves cramping pains associated with colic, Cuprum metallicum 5C HPUS- Relieves abdominal cramps associated with colic
- Inactive ingredients: Alcohol, Purified water
These drops definitely helped her a ton, especially in those moments where she had a rock hard stomach and seemed to be in a lot of pain. They seemed to also make things flow. She was be a bit backed up and struggling to pass stools early on, but after we gave her the drops, she usually pooped within a few hours after. Gosh, before becoming a parent, I never could have imagined getting that excited for my baby to poop.
Next thing we were diligent about is KidScents TummyGize blend from Young Living. It contains Spearmint, Peppermint, Tangerine, Fennel, Anise, Ginger, and Cardamom oils. This kids blend was specifically formulated to support a healthy digestive system, soothe indigestion issues, reduce inflammation, and can help alleviate colic symptoms. It is recommended for children 2 and up and is already diluted with coconut oil, but we just diluted even further- one drop in a quarter dollop of lotion- and rubbed that on her stomach in a circular motion as well as on her legs and the bottom of her feet every day, usually at night when she seemed to be most irritable.
I already know the importance of a good probiotic with anything gut related, but probiotics were especially key for me and June post c section after being administered antibiotics. I know my body very well and I avoid antibiotics like the plague because I know that my body doesn’t respond well to them. They can wipe out all of the bad bacteria but all of the good bacteria in your gut as well. I was personally already switching back and forth between taking Klaire Labs and Young Living’s Life 9 Probiotcs and these are passed through breastmilk, but I wanted to give June a little boost and give her her own probiotic. One we used with Lane, but didn’t discover until much later was Klaire Labs Infant Probiotic. It’s a powder, so every couple of days I will put some breast milk in a bottle and add the powder to it, so that she has some extra probiotics in her system.
June has also been seeing a chiropractor weekly since birth for torticollis as well as for her tummy issues and colic symptoms. Chiropractic care is one of the safer, more natural methods of colic relief. Chiropractors address underlying issues in the central nervous system and spine (also known as subluxation). Subluxation is a misalignment in one or more of the vertebrae of the spine. This misalignment prevents the nervous system from functioning properly, which can cause stress or dysfunction in all parts of the body—including an infant’s digestive system and gut. We have noticed huge improvements in all areas from her chiropractic visits. If you want to read more on this topic, go here.
I figured I’d also share something we tried that didn’t do much for us, but I hate to completely discredit it, because I KNOW it has worked great for many mamas…The Windi gas passer from Fridababy. I’ve loved the other Fridababy products we’ve tried, especially that snot sucker haha, so we were totally willing to give this a shot, but it just didn’t do anything for her.
So there ya have it! She is doing so much better now overall. She still has tummy issues and colic-like bouts on occasion, but they are nothing like what they were and when she does experience these, we know what will help her. We are so thankful for these things along with chiropractic care that got her through that difficult period. I highly recommend them if you are feeling the tummy trouble struggle with your newborn. One of the worst feelings as a new mama is when your baby is in pain or discomfort and you feel like you can’t help them. Typically we as parents are willing to try just about anything in desperation, so my hope is that if you are in that spot currently or in the future, that this post can help narrow down all the options out there.
Thanks for reading.
Lots of love and good health,
Tasha, The Non-Toxic Newbie
non-toxic newbie 