"I knew my baby would cry, but I had no idea just how much..."

The following text is an excerpt from, I Survived My Baby's Colic, a handbook for parents and caregivers:

This is my story as a mom. A mom who knew that babies cried, but who was very, very surprised at just how much, and just how frustrating that crying could be.

When Jack was 6 days old, he cried in a way he had not cried before. He cried hour after hour and nothing I did stopped it. Like all new moms, I was exhausted, and after hours of this intense crying, I was crying, too.

Three days later, he cried like that again. And that was the beginning of what turned out to be a very rough few months in all of our lives. Jack would cry hard for several hours every single night. He would also cry for what seemed like all day, one or two days a week. I began to think Jack was going to be a colicky baby. So, I started looking for any kind of information about infant crying that I could get my hands on.

At Jack's two-week checkup, neither the doctor nor I mentioned anything about crying. The doctor was very pleased with my perfect little baby who was growing well, nursing well and was very healthy. I was also trying so hard to be the perfect mom, so how could I mention my stress over his crying? I thought, "Babies cry, and a perfect mom shouldnt get stressed about it. More than that, a perfect mom wouldnt have a crying baby." So, when she asked if I had any concerns, my answer was, "Nope, we are great."

Jack would cry a little during the day, but would usually quit once he was fed or I got him snuggled and cuddled in exactly the position he wanted to be in. But, in the evening, it was a completely different story. His cry was a different cry. He sounded different. He looked different. And nothing worked to soothe him.

We tried rocking, holding, feeding, driving, walking, singing, swinging, etc. I tried every coping with crying technique I heard or read about, and none worked consistently. I learned very quickly that the few tricks that work to comfort a baby on one day, are completely useless on the next day.

I finally called the doctor's office when he was nearly 4 weeks old and talked to the nurse about his crying. I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong.