I actually bought that book during my pregnancy...The Happiest Baby on the Block...it seems ironic now.
M.D. is colicky. Damnit. He has been since week 2. He was 2 weeks early...so technically he was colicky from the day we was supposed to be born. And as for those "home remedies"...we tried them all. At first we thought he was lactose intolerant because he would scream after every feeding. I tried a no-dairy diet and for 2 days it worked. We celebrated! Then by the 3rd day it was back again. Screaming. Screaming. Screaming. So we switched to soy formula...maybe I was unknowingly eating dairy in tiny amounts that was getting to him. And it worked. We celebrated! And then about a week later the screaming started again. Damnit. As I sit here today we have tried breastfeeding + 3 different formulas. He has been to the chiropractor, has been swaddled, has been on Zantac and probiotics. We are finally seeing a difference.
I see a lot of baby blogs that give you the top 10 items to buy for baby. I'm going to do something different. Here are my top 5 items necessary for a colicky baby. These items (individually & grouped together) may save your sanity. They are in no particular order...because who knows which one works better than the other...all I know is thank GOD for all of them!
1) Fischer-Price Snug-a-Monkey Rocker
This rocker is a life saver for sleeping in those first few weeks. It tilts the baby at 45 degree (okay...that might be made up) angle so they don't have acid reflux in their sleep. M.D. still loves his for hanging out in when I'm cooking, though he can almost scoot himself out.
2) Dr. Brown's BPA Free Bottles
We tried EVERY kind of bottle out there. M.D. got gassy from almost all of them...these were & are awesome. We just upgraded to the 8oz size. One word of caution...they are a bitch to put together. It feels like 100 piece 3D puzzle when you've got a screaming child and you're trying to make the bottle as fast as possible. The trade-off: no crying AFTER eating from gas & bloat.
3) Cheap Stick Vacuum
There's no particular brand that is better than the other when it comes to this item. In fact, the only rule is: the cheaper the better! The sound of a vacuum cleaner can be very soothing it a crabby colicky baby, however, I have heard horror stories of people blowing up their expensive Hoover because they ran it for 3 hours straight...2 times daily...7 days a week...for 6 months...(you think I'm kidding). So my advice is to buy the cheapeast piece-of-shit vacuum you can find so if you blow it up you don't care. I bought ours the week before college started so I got it for $10.
4) Cloud B Sleep Sheep on the Go
Think of this as a travel vacuum cleaner...cuz you can't exactly plug your vacuum into your car. We brought this lamb EVERYWHERE! It hooks onto the carseat handle so they can listen to it in the car, and wherever you take them when you get out of the car. I specifically remember bringing M.D. to the chiropractor and the receptionist saying, "Where was that when I had kids?!" Apparently she recorded the sound of a vacuum on a cassette tape and brought it with her everywhere she went. Talk about hassle. Buy the lamb.
5) YouTube Womb Sounds
The best part about this item. Its FREE! We BLARED this on our surround sound in our TV room when M.D. wouldn't calm down. There's heartbeat sounds...rushing fluid...basically everything a womb's got to offer sound-wise. It totally freaked out the dogs.
So there you go. A few suggestions for you, your friends, your coworkers, your worst enemies. Colic is a bitch. It asks you...Do you STILL love this creature you created? Are you STILL happy you had a baby? I bet you don't want another one now... Yes, Yes you do. You DO still love that little screaming kicking creature. You ARE still happy you had one (though you can't wait to have a happy one)...and you definitely DO want another one.....in 100 years.