Posted by DAisym on May 17, 2008, at 15:19:02
In reply to Daisy, posted by sunnydays on May 16, 2008, at 22:36:23
The general idea is to treat colic both with medical AND psychological interventions. Medically we can look at reflux and feedings and other kinds of treatment for infants. But the cycle of sleep deprivation, tense parents, disruptions in attachments and problems in the parents relationships need psychological support. Helping new parents set good limits and supporting them is a big part of the program. And validation - "yes, this is not normal infant behavior. And yes, it is really hard to take." It was nice to be talking about the parents perception and how to help the family, instead of declaring the parents "wrong" and trying to change their mind about whether it is colic or not. Who cares? If a baby is hard to care for - hard for these particular parents, then we need to help them - intervene before child abuse or bad cycles get set up for life. We see so many babies who are ruling the household at a month old. Not a good thing.
We did talk about the myth that persists that colic is genetic. There are no studies that show this. What does happen though, is that the child hears the family lore so often about what a terrible baby they were, that they believe they will get pay-back with their own child. And the self-esteem issues for the child if the parent never gets over the difficult start are huge.
It was a good training. I talk to my therapist this morning about it - and told him that sometimes in therapy I feel like a colicky baby - nothing helps and all I can do is cry. He said he knows this which is why sometimes he feels helpless and wants to avoid painful subjects (a theme this week) that make me cry. But he has his own bag of tricks and sometimes it is just about being held - emotionally for me and literally for a baby.
Are you worried your child will have colic? Does your family still bring it up to you?
poster:DAisym
thread:829586
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20080508/msgs/829705.html