Could your colicky baby be hungry?
Yes! If your baby full of gas and wind, it may not drink enough milk and this is colic causing baby to be hungry and the reason some babies cry so much. All that air takes up space and when it is released, they often feed much better and symptoms subside dramatically! In cases where colic is not well treated, the baby can be underweight and fail to thrive.
You can test this by offering them a bottle of either expressed milk or formula not long after they last fed. If they gobble more down, chances are they are going a little hungry because of gas and wind taking up space and 'bloating' their little digestive system, leaving insufficient space for milk.
If you've ever had a big burp that needed to come out, you'll know that the last thing you felt like doing was drinking or eating a meal on top of it! And so it is with babies. Burps that haven't come up lead to pockets of gas in the intestinal area. These take up space and cause a feeling of bloating.
Many parents will experience this as a 'colicky' or unhappy baby that is always hungry and never quite seems satisfied. The feeding interval can become very short leading to frequent 'comfort' feeding.
Other reasons for slow weight gain:
breastfeeding problems like a failure to latch or poor milk supply
formula doesn't suit the baby
reflux, often due to trapped gas
sickness
If you are sure they are getting enough milk and you have been getting good burps to release, and baby is still unhappy, it is best to consult your pediatrician.
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