My Biggest Fear for our Second Baby (& a giveaway!)

Post written in collaboration with Infacol

As the time ticks on for meeting Baby Peaches #2, I’m starting to get really excited. Possibly more excited than when I had Violet as I know how amazingly wonderful meeting your new baby is and that feeling when your life changes in an instant. Nothing can prepare you for that and I can’t believe it’s going to happen again in less than 9 weeks! However, I am also becoming quite a lot more more nervous than the first time around as I also remember how challenging having a newborn can be. I’ve started to think about the difficult times with Violet – like when she had jaundice and we stayed in hospital for a week, how our breastfeeding journey never really worked. I wonder if it’ll be different for us this time, or maybe full of new challenges! When people hear that soon I’ll have ‘two under two’ they always say ‘Wow, you’ll have your hands full!’ honestly if I had a pound for everyone that said that I’d be quite rich by now, but actually I’m not too worried about that – the one thing that terrifies me for the new baby is if they are going to suffer with colic like Violet did. That is tough.

Violet suffered really badly with colic and it was honestly one of the most challenging times we had to face. She would scream and scream for hours every evening with trapped wind and colic symptoms, we did everything we possibly could to help her and I remember vividly being exhausted to my core. It felt like it would never end and it certainly burst the ‘honeymoon period’ of having a new baby very quickly. It makes you feel utterly stressed, frazzled and like you are doing something wrong to have a baby that just won’t stop crying, so I really feel for anyone who has suffered too.

It’s no wonder that when Infacol recently carried out some research called ‘Stress in the First Six Months’ which found that 95% of parents find having a baby stressful, 82% agree that living up to expectations of being a good parent is stressful and excessive crying in infants is stressful for 85% of mums and dads. I can fully relate, even though I have to add at this point, it’s such a happy time, full of love too. That got me by and I’m sure it will this time, whatever challenges we face.

I had no idea what colic even was when Violet was born – it’s the one thing that seems to be forgotten in parenting books and antenatal classes, yet so many babies are affected. According to Infacol, 1 in 3 British mums admit that they were not aware of colic prior to the birth of their child. This is why Infacol, Britain’s Number One Colic Remedy, and Cry-Sis, the only parenting charity dedicated to supporting parents through excessive infant crying, have launched the first Infant Colic Awareness Campaign. The campaign has been designed to educate and support parents to ensure they can experience the joys of parenthood to the full.

If you are worried your little one might have colic, here are 5 signs to look out for:

How long are the intense bouts of crying lasting? More than several hours? If your baby is crying inconsolably – don’t worry it doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong. It’s very likely to be colic.

Is your baby crying inconsolably for 3 hours or more a day, 3 or more times a week? For us it was every bedtime between about 7pm-10pm. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent pacing around the room, holding her, calming her. She just wanted to be held with me standing up the entire time – how do they know when you sit down? That’ll always baffle me.

Is your baby’s face red and flushed when they cry? This was so stressful as she looked so uncomfortable, I felt so helpless and just wanted to settle her and make her comfortable!

Does your baby clench their fists, draw their knees up to their tummy, or arch their back while crying? This can be a classic sign of colic. Their digestive system is still immature which can be very uncomfortable for them. Help them to relieve the trapped wind by rocking and moving them gently or sitting in vibrating bouncy chairs.

Are they passing wind more than usual? Violet had terribly painful trapped wind. We helped her by laying her on her back and moving her legs in a ‘bicycle legs’ circular movement.

If this is all sounding too familiar, read the post I wrote a post about how to soothe a baby with colic as I shared what worked for us.

Also, to help out I’ve teamed up with Infacol and The White Company to giveaway a gorgeous Kimbo Seersucker Sleeping Bag 0.5 togs for 0-6 months (worth £28). We bought Violet a similar sleeping bag to this from The White Company and it really helped give her some comfort, so I hope it helps your little one too!

Enter below for your chance to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK!

 

I hope this post has helped if you have a little one with colic, just remember IT WILL PASS and for more information on infantile colic, you can visit www.infacol.co.uk. To get advice on excessive crying, including one-on-one phone support, visit www.cry-sis.org.uk.