Post by ljc77 on Oct 11, 2014 1:44:00 GMT -5
Hey colic sufferers!
I have a discovery to share...My little bambino is nearly 15 weeks and I have noticed significant improvements in her all-day crying fests...however I started to get the feeling that since whatever it was that was bothering her has now gone she has some remaining issues and it seemed like a large part of it was that I sort of trained her to screach/cry if she wanted something by responding so quickly to these cues....In the early days this was necessary to survive but I started to get really frustrated with being screamed at directly in the ear if I put her in the sling and dared to stop moving her around, or if something else displeased her.....Obviously they are just babies and cries are their only form of communication but it seems like these little ones go above and beyond whats necessary to communicate....So I started looking into behavioural aspects of colic and crying and discovered a study on that subject!
It started with this link which references the study:
noLinks://ocw.usu.edu/Family__Consumer____Human_Development/oer-power-of-positive-parenting/power-of-positive-parenting/A_Word_About_Fussy_Babies.html
The study is called 'The effects of contingent music and differential reinforcement on infantile colic' - look it up! I bought the study and it's been worth its weight in gold.
In essence it's about rewarding good/adaptive behaviour and removing rewards for screaching. Basic psychology but I personally hadn't considered that babies so young could respond to that kind of thing - but they can!
Essentially in the study they instructed the caregiver to cuddle/rock/play with the baby while they were happy but if the baby started to cry for longer than 10 seconds, and if after making sure they weren't hungry/wet/tired/cold/hot/had a temp etc they were still crying the parent put them down in a safe infant carrier and left the room until they stopped crying for 30 seconds. Once they stopped crying they go back in and pick them up again. The study showed that infants crying rates dropped by 80-90% under this program. You would probbaly expect an extinction burst too I imagine (crying worsening before it improves). In the study they played music when parent and baby were happy and together and switched it off when parent left the room as apparently music helps learning but I haven't been doing this.
I'm not sure I could have done this during the worst of her crying fits to be honest because I was not sure whether there was genuine pain involved...but now that she's older and I know there's nothing wrong according to doctor (she definitely doesn't have reflux or any other health problems) I have started to do it....I can say that so far as a result of following it there are vast improvements. Initially it felt a lot like a version of CIO as she had been so used to me doing exactly what she wanted that it met with some pretty harsh crying (and i felt awful and second guessed myself). But basically it got better and better...She tends to now make different vocalisations where before she would simply cry, it's a bit like her vocabulary evolved. I am MORE than happy to do things which help my daughter and if movement helps her to be calm I am more than happy to do it - I just don't like the screeching! I also noticed since doing this that she found her thumb pretty quickly and self soothes a lot....
Anyway, sorry for the very long post but I hope it may help those who feel they may be now dealing with lingering effects of colic
Btw in the study the children were actually very young and in the throes of colic...so it seems like you can actually teach them from a very very early age.
I have a discovery to share...My little bambino is nearly 15 weeks and I have noticed significant improvements in her all-day crying fests...however I started to get the feeling that since whatever it was that was bothering her has now gone she has some remaining issues and it seemed like a large part of it was that I sort of trained her to screach/cry if she wanted something by responding so quickly to these cues....In the early days this was necessary to survive but I started to get really frustrated with being screamed at directly in the ear if I put her in the sling and dared to stop moving her around, or if something else displeased her.....Obviously they are just babies and cries are their only form of communication but it seems like these little ones go above and beyond whats necessary to communicate....So I started looking into behavioural aspects of colic and crying and discovered a study on that subject!
It started with this link which references the study:
noLinks://ocw.usu.edu/Family__Consumer____Human_Development/oer-power-of-positive-parenting/power-of-positive-parenting/A_Word_About_Fussy_Babies.html
The study is called 'The effects of contingent music and differential reinforcement on infantile colic' - look it up! I bought the study and it's been worth its weight in gold.
In essence it's about rewarding good/adaptive behaviour and removing rewards for screaching. Basic psychology but I personally hadn't considered that babies so young could respond to that kind of thing - but they can!
Essentially in the study they instructed the caregiver to cuddle/rock/play with the baby while they were happy but if the baby started to cry for longer than 10 seconds, and if after making sure they weren't hungry/wet/tired/cold/hot/had a temp etc they were still crying the parent put them down in a safe infant carrier and left the room until they stopped crying for 30 seconds. Once they stopped crying they go back in and pick them up again. The study showed that infants crying rates dropped by 80-90% under this program. You would probbaly expect an extinction burst too I imagine (crying worsening before it improves). In the study they played music when parent and baby were happy and together and switched it off when parent left the room as apparently music helps learning but I haven't been doing this.
I'm not sure I could have done this during the worst of her crying fits to be honest because I was not sure whether there was genuine pain involved...but now that she's older and I know there's nothing wrong according to doctor (she definitely doesn't have reflux or any other health problems) I have started to do it....I can say that so far as a result of following it there are vast improvements. Initially it felt a lot like a version of CIO as she had been so used to me doing exactly what she wanted that it met with some pretty harsh crying (and i felt awful and second guessed myself). But basically it got better and better...She tends to now make different vocalisations where before she would simply cry, it's a bit like her vocabulary evolved. I am MORE than happy to do things which help my daughter and if movement helps her to be calm I am more than happy to do it - I just don't like the screeching! I also noticed since doing this that she found her thumb pretty quickly and self soothes a lot....
Anyway, sorry for the very long post but I hope it may help those who feel they may be now dealing with lingering effects of colic
Btw in the study the children were actually very young and in the throes of colic...so it seems like you can actually teach them from a very very early age.