Colic, Reflux, and the Inconsolable

Baby

When a mother and father behold the wonder of a new life they can

easily become overwhelmed by the tasks of parenting. There is so much
to learn and being human, they will make mistakes along the way. Yes, a
Babywise routine will help settle much of a new parents’ anxiety since it
has a way of bringing order and predictability to a baby’s life and
confidence to the parents’ heart. But life is not always predictable. What
happens when a baby does not follow the routine and shows signs of
fussiness beyond the normal time periods? Perhaps he cries for food but a
few minutes into his feeding, he stops and refuses to nurse or take his
bottle. Maybe he arches his back in pain but rejects the comforting efforts
of his parents. Or more scary; you find him spiting up what looks like his
entire meal—at every meal in addition to him routinely waking out of a
sound sleep, crying in discomfort. What will a parent do?
In the last chapter, we contrasted normal and abnormal cry periods.
Some babies cry before a feeding or when going down for a nap. They
have a fussy time at least once a day, often in the late afternoon, that is
followed by a calm and relatively peaceful condition the rest of the day.
These are the normal, even expected cry periods common during infancy.
But what about parents who have a son like Asher or Ross, who show
all the signs of hunger, latch on to Mom, start feeding, and then after a
few minutes stop, start crying, and refuse to feed any longer? Out of
exhaustion they fall asleep, but 30 minutes later wake up hungry and the
frustrating cycle repeats itself. Or maybe they have a son like Caleb, who
was inconsolable and fussed all the time, screaming before, during, and