On Colic

My firstborn had colic. And not just the witching hour, cluster feeding, cries when she’s tired fussiness, but what I like to think of as long colic – the 24/7 can’t sleep, can’t settle, can’t do anything but cry for months and months kind.

There is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain and not being able to fix it. And yet we lived in this space for almost two years. As a new mother, I felt overwhelmed, depleted and so alone. No advice, no product could help us. The only thing we could do was to love our daughter. To hold her while she screamed. To tell her it was going to be all right.

From the moment she was born, our oldest has been full of energy and life, always inquisitive, always interested in the world around her. And yet she spent so much of those first two years fighting to be happy.

Luckily, as the months passed, our girl won.

As the pain of her colic faded, she became the happiest, funniest, smartest little girl I knew. By the time she turned one she was walking and talking and cracking jokes. By age two she was (FINALLY) sleeping through the night. And now today, it’s almost hard to believe that my energetic, determined, kind-hearted girl was ever sad at all. She loves her siblings fiercely. Has loads of friends. Is incredibly devoted to her schoolwork and gymnastics. And sleeps for 12 long hours every night.

They say that everything with kids is a phase, and most things are. And yet when you’re stuck in the weeds, the days can seem daunting. But I’m here to tell you, even the longest colic ends. And you will be so much stronger, your relationship with her so much closer, having overcome so much together.

So to all those moms in the thick of things right now, I know there is nothing anyone can say to make the days easier. But as a mom on the other side, I know you will prevail. And it will be absolutely worth it.