The Formula for Happiness with Gerber Soothe (Sponsored)

Bringing home your baby is a monumental occasion. There’s lots of excitement and stress to go around, but the profound peacefulness of watching your sleeping newborn is some kind of magic. Raising any infant is a balancing act of time, patience, and planning. Some babies require a little extra help in their journey to toddlerhood. This is especially true of babies with colic.

When I was a baby, I had colic. To this day, a quarter century later, I’m pretty sure my mom still hasn’t forgiven me for the stress and anxiety I gave her as a newborn. If you ask my mom right now, she’ll monologue for an hour about how high maintenance I was. Always crying. Always fussy. Always needing to be held.

With my daughter, there was a lot of stress, too. Although visitors always remarked on how calm and quiet she was, it felt like the second people left she turned into a different baby. She was fussy. She was (well, still is) clingy. She spit up often. It felt like nothing would soothe her. Then I found Gerber® Soothe Colic Drops. It was life changing. So, when Gerber and Linqia approached me about sharing my story, I gladly accepted.

My now happy, colic-free baby. 🙂

It’s important that parents of a colic, fussy baby understand what their baby is going through. Don’t take it personally. Crying is a way for babies to express how they feel. All babies cry. It’s natural. In their first year of life, babies are learning to communicate, and crying is a way for them to express themselves. However, some babies can cry for long periods of time without responding to your usual comforting methods. This can happen even if they are not hungry, too cold or warm and everything seems well. Among the reasons for excessive crying is digestive discomfort, and Infantile colic is a symptom of digestive discomfort.

Here are some facts about baby colic and Gerber Soothe…

1. It’s common:  3 out of every 10 babies may suffer from it at some point.
2. Symptoms usually start in the first 6 weeks of life and may continue for 3 to 4 months – and even longer in some cases.
3. Colic sometimes is defined as crying for more than 3 hours a day, for more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks a month. Excessive crying generally happens around evening and night time.
4. Research indicates that the type of bacteria in the infant’s intestine may determine whether a child is colicky. This suggests a role for probiotics to help support a balance of good bacteria in the digestive tract of colicky infants. In particular, the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri has been clinically shown in multiple studies to reducing crying time in colicky infants.

It’s important to know that GERBER® Soothe products (Drops and powder formula) contain L. reuteri is a probiotic that is safe for infants and naturally found in breastmilk. If you’re nursing (like me) you can use the soothe drops.
Gerber’s promise is: “Less crying for babies More smiling for all.” And that’s a great idea. That’s why you should check out the social shares with #formulaforhappiness to hear other success stories. With a colic infant, you’re not alone.

If you’re breastfeeding, get specific information on GERBER® Soothe products designed for breastfed babies here. 

If your baby is fussy and formula fed, check out GERBER® Soothe Colic Infant Formula. 

If you have general concerns about colic and feeding your fussy baby, visit this resource for more information.