*All recommendations and opinions are my own.  I was not asked to promote anything.  I have included affiliate links to some products I found helpful but am otherwise receiving nothing for these recommendations.  I am not an expert and am speaking from my personal experience. Please hear my heart for the well being of all babies and know that these are genuine ideas from my journey with my son.

I knew the moment my son was born that he would have my heart forever.  So precious. So beautiful. Woven together in my womb by our Wonderful Maker.  When he started to get colic I wanted to help him so badly!!! Nothing hurt my mama heart more than feeling helpless when my baby cried for hours on end.  Wyatt started crying when he was just 6 weeks old for hours at a time.  Usually, the evening was the worst time. After dinner I knew I would be spending the next 4-5 hours taking turns with my husband caring for our screaming babe.

We found several things to be helpful and one overall solution.  What I have learned is that experts still don’t know that much about colic and are finding out new information all the time.  I learned that there could be several factors contributing to it as well.  So my solution may not be your solution.  But if you are reading this, my guess is you are like me, and willing to try almost anything to help you babe.

The solution: my diet.

When I first brought up the question about my diet to my doctor and my concern for how it may be effecting my son, I was honestly dismissed. “All babies cry, ma’am,” my doctor told me. WHAT?! OF COURSE I KONW THAT ALL BABIES CRY!!! I am not talking about crying…I am talking about colic–screaming for hours…

Not only did he not talk to me about options or ideas or even try to make me feel heard, he made me feel like I was an idiot for looking for alternative solutions.  I had the fortune of my older sister’s wisdom and experience in finding help from changing her diet with her babes so I was determined to seek out counsel.  I decided to see a naturopath instead.  And I must admit, this was the best decision I ever made in regards to the health of my son.

Our new doctor listened, cared and talked with me.  Our appointments are an hour or more and she takes time to address every concern I have.  As a naturopath, she looks for the simplest solution first.  After talking with her about his colic she told me that I could try to change my diet and see if it helps.

I learned that most babies have trouble digesting protein from dairy.  Think of the size of a baby and then the size of a cow–a cow is way bigger! I learned a good rule of thumb is babies can only digest protein from things their size or smaller–so chicken and turkey are usually okay.  Pig products are easier when they are around 6 months old.  So, the first thing she recommended was that I stop eating dairy and red meat.

For many moms, this is all that is required.  Some other signs that your baby is having issues with dairy and red meat are burping up milk after eating. Painful gas or painful burbs.  You could first try just taking out the cow products and see if that helps!

However, there were many other things that she suggested to take out as well.  My goal was to take them all out for two weeks and then try each one, one at a time and see how my little guy responded.

Here is the list of items I took out of my diet:

1. Dairy and red meat
2. Soy (Including Soy Lecithin)
3. Corn (Including High Fructose Corn Syrup)
4. Legumes
5. Broccoli and cauliflower
6. Eggs
7. Gluten

And let me tell you…it worked INSTANTLY! No more colic. none. zero. ever. Of course he still cried.  But, in the way a baby cries when they need something.  Not the painful hours of torment. YES IT IS CRAZY!!! I don’t think I could have done this for myself or anyone other than that sweet baby boy.

Two weeks in, I went through the list and added something in.  He responded with colic to each of them.  So I kept all of these things out of my diet.

I learned that most babies grow out of needing this around 6 months.  Mine did not.  He started to grow out of it by 9 months.  I found soft cheese to be the first thing I could introduce and gluten to be the last.

I know that this is hard to do.  Believe me, I did it for months! But it was sooooo worth it to be able to continue breastfeeding and to have my easy going, sweet, smiley guy happy and not in pain. If this diet is not possible for you, there are formulas out there that do not contain these items–staying away from formulas that contain soy or whey.  I would work with your doctor to help you find the right one.

I could not believe how much corn and soy where in EVERYTHING we eat!!!! Fortunately, since food allergies are becoming more common (or we are finally figuring out what is wrong) most grocery stores have plenty of alternative options. Here is a little about the food I ate and how I survived:

• I ate a lot of chicken salads!
• I found an amazing flax granola–“flax for life” brand
• Vanilla plant protein powder (vegan) –life saver! and milk supply saver! I would blend with a banana, coconut yogurt, gluten free oats and OJ! Yumm!
• coconut milk ice-cream “So delicious” makes one that is cookie dough flavored 🙂
• Diya gluten free, dairy free pizza–no, it doesn’t taste the same but its good.
• Potato chips cooked in avocado oil
• Alternated between almond milk, coconut milk, and homemade hemp milk
• Honey glazed almonds
• lots of fresh fruit and veggies!!!
• baked sweet potato’s for taco shells
• Peanut butter and jelly on gluten free/vegan bread–franz makes a “great seed” that’s yummy
• Coffee was still okay with my guy’s tummy
• Sauerkraut is a probiotic and yummy with some chicken sausage
• French fries
• Rice
• Homemade guacamole

Helpful warnings:

• Many “gluten free” options have dairy, soy or eggs–so read the labels!
• Many “dairy free” options still have soy or eggs
• Many “vegan” options have gluten
• Most salad dressings contain dairy or eggs or corn

So read all the ingredients before purchasing!!!

While dealing with the colic, we found the advice from “The Happiest Baby On the Block” to be most helpful.  I think the information and tips kept us sane.

After seeing the change in my little guy, a number of friends experiencing colic have also tried this option and found success!

I sincerely hope that you are able to find a solution to the colic your baby may be experiencing.  I also hope you are able to find support and people who will listen and help you along this journey.  If you find other helpful solutions, please post them below to share with our community of mamas!

As my mama often told me, I’ll encourage you, THIS IS TEMPORARY.

Yay babies!!!!