Lost in translation

After another night where the angelic daytime baby turns into nighttime banshee baby, I find myself a small step (perhaps a baby step?) towards learning the new language that is "baby".

The only way that babies can communicate this early is by crying and thus if anything is needed then the first thing Eve does is cry. As mentioned before, there are a limited number of things that a baby actually needs at this stage, and so the theory goes that you work through them and eventually hit on what they are need, deliver it, and they calm down.

The problem with this, however is that just as with adults babies can often be temporarily pacified by an intermediate solution. For example, if I went to a shop really wanting the gorgeous black round-toe Alexander McQueen shoes I can be temporarily pacified with a nice pair of Jimmy Choos. I will take them home and coo over them for a bit but, in reality I still want the Alexander McQueen shoes and find myself heading back to any stockist in HK in an effort to find them in my size. Buying the Jimmy Choos made me feel good, but they are still in their box not yet worn because they didn't really address my need.

Last night, for the overnight banshee phase, as with every night since we got home from hospital Eve starts whinging about 2 hours after her 1am feed (which goes like clockwork). She never feeds much at 1am because she has a big feed after her bath prior to her 10pm feed so we don't worry too much when only about 2/3 of what she normally eats goes down. Therefore, when she starts to wail at 3am we think she's still hungry and try to feed her. For about 10 mins she drinks but then falls asleep and we pop her back in her cot feeling very smug that we have got this nighttime thing sorted out now.

Only to be woken again at 4am for the feed she was due to have as part of her routine. We are frazzled and confused again, she can't be hungry only an hour after we fed her, but still feed her and she drinks lots this time.

Only to wake up one hour later screaming again. At this point I notice that this scream sounds a bit different to the one at 4am. She is straining and really screaming continuously, whereas her "I'm hungry" scream is more an on and off cry and cannot be pacified with a finger in the mouth as the straining scream can temporarily.

I start running through the list of things that could be wrong and, to be helpful, Eve interjects with the biggest fart I have ever heard. I feel her back and tummy and she has hideous gas. That's it, she has the oft mentioned "colic". I pick up the baby book and colic is defined as lots of trapped wind, usually happens at the same time each day, and for about 3 hours. Ladies and gentlemen we have BINGO! This is exactly the problem of our little banshee.

So I stroke her back and tummy, feel the wind work through her, talk softly to her and keep her as calm as I can through her pain. Half an hour later, and a few more farts, she is asleep and sleeps through to her 7am feed, then her 10am and is back into her routine.

It would be a lot easier if she just spoke a language I could understand, say, French.