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Colic in Babies

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on June 21, 2021

Got an baby who cries for hours and resists your every effort to soothe those tears? Read on for the signs of colic, the causes and remedies to become you through.

Dorsum to Height

You bring your newborn home, and for weeks yous curiosity at your baby who does little more than sleep, eat, pee and cry.

Then one day a few weeks later, he erupts in prolonged, ear-shattering wails, complete with clenched fists, flailing legs and an unhappy blood-red face up.

No matter what you lot try, you lot can't comfort your crying babe — and that'southward not all: He repeats these heartbreaking, stressful episodes every night at the same time for what seems similar forever. Welcome to the globe of colic.

What is colic?

The reality is, all babies cry. Information technology's the best (and only) way for them to communicate their needs at this tender historic period. And as parents, nosotros're biologically programmed to respond so those needs go met.

But in babies with colic, the crying starts suddenly for no apparent reason … and has no apparent cure.

Colic is not a disease or diagnosis but a combination of baffling behaviors. Information technology's actually just a catch-all term for excessive crying in otherwise good for you babies — the problem being, there'south no solution to it besides the passing of time. And it'southward common, occurring in roughly ane in 5 infants.

These fussy periods tin become on for hours at a time, sometimes late into the night. Worst of all, try equally you might — and endeavor you will — it'south extremely difficult to calm a colicky babe, which only compounds your ain frustration, worry and exhaustion.

Doctors usually diagnose infant colic based on the "rules of 3." Your baby's crying:

• Totals at least iii hours a day
• Occurs at least iii days a week
• Persists for at least three weeks in a row

How to soothe colic in babies

In add-on to frustration and exhaustion, yous may have feelings of inadequacy and guilt as you try in vain to soothe your fussy baby. And then while staying calm is easier said than done, these strategies may help ease the strain until colic passes.

Just give each a fair shot earlier y'all switch to another (and don't pull out too many tricks at one time, or you'll overload infant's circuits — and step up the crying you're trying to terminate). Talk to your doctor for tips and possible causes of your babe'due south colic likewise.

If you suspect overstimulation:

• Respond. Crying is a infant's only way of communicating his needs. But information technology'due south also his but way of wielding whatever control at all over a vast and bewildering new environs: He cries, you come running to his side — powerful stuff when you're otherwise completely powerless. In fact, studies evidence that responding promptly to your baby's cries will reduce his crying in the long run.
• Excise excitement. Limit visitors and avoid exposing your baby to new experiences in stimulating environments, peculiarly in the late afternoon and early evening. Watch how your infant responds to sure stimuli — and steer clear of any that seem to offend.
• Create at-home. Trying to make your baby's environment peaceful might help him relax. Dim the lights, speak or sing in soothing tones (or don't speak at all) and keep other dissonance and distractions to a minimum.

If yous suspect gastrointestinal bug:

• Apply pressure to infant'due south tummy. Some colicky babies notice relief when pressure is placed on the abdomen — and the power of touch alone can exist very soothing for both parent and kid. And so identify your baby face-down on your lap or upright with his stomach confronting your shoulder, or try the "colic deport," where your niggling one lies face-down with his abdomen resting on your arm. Then gently rub or pat his dorsum every bit you lot concord him.
• Endeavor burping your babe.If your baby's inconsolable fussiness is due to gas, sometimes burping him will help salvage the pain. Make sure y'all're burping your baby finer.
• Ask nigh antigas drops.Studies prove that reducing gas may reduce the discomfort (and crying). And so ask your pediatrician almost trying gas drops made with simethicone, which works by breaking upward gas bubbles and can relieve your baby's symptoms. Though research hasn't yet shown that this handling definitively helps with colic, your doctor may recollect it's worth a try.
• Consider probiotics. Probiotic drops may potentially adjourn the crying in some colicky babies, probably considering they ease tummy troubles (probiotic bacteria grow naturally in the digestive tract and help promote intestinal health). Again, inquiry is very express, but check with your pediatrician to see if you should give it a go.
• Watch what you eat. If y'all're breastfeeding, talk to your doctor nigh whether you should try temporarily eliminating any foods from your diet that can crusade tummy troubles for your baby, such as gas-causing cruciferous veggies (cabbage, cauliflower and others), acidic citrus fruits or allergenic foods (dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish).
• Ask nearly switching formulas. For some formula-fed infants, swapping a standard variety for one designed for sensitive tummies or 1 that doesn't incorporate moo-cow'south milk can brand a difference. Studies have institute that giving colicky babies hypoallergenic whey-hydrolyzed formula decreases colic symptoms in some babies. Just be sure to go your doctor's blessing before making the switch. Also, steer clear of casein-hydrolyzed formula or partially hydrolyzed formulas as therapies for colic — there simply isn't plenty evidence that they work.

Other calming remedies for colicky babies:

• Get close.Not only does cuddling, wearing or carrying your baby give him the pleasance of security and concrete closeness to you (and after 9 months of constant closeness, that may be but what baby'southward crying for), but information technology may assist yous tune in better to his needs. Worried that property your baby besides much will make him spoiled or clingy? Set those fears aside. You can't spoil a newborn — so if holding him seems to soothe him, cuddle away.
  
• Swaddle.Toss a blanket in the dryer and while it's still warm, wrap it snugly around your lilliputian 1. The combination of warmth and the feeling of security may assistance dry out baby's tears.
• Effort white noise. The hum of the vacuum cleaner or dryer can be comforting to babies (information technology reminds them of the womb). A white noise automobile can also help.
• Play soothing music.A crying baby might also answer to the quiet singing of a lullaby or softly playing classical music. Other infants bask the sounds of nature or the whir of a fan. Repeating "shh" or "ahh" to your lilliputian ane can as well help. Experiment to find something your babe seems to like.
• Get in motion.Attempt swinging or rocking. Newborns discover gentle move comforting, since it feels similar what they experienced in the womb.
• Offering a pacifier. Some colicky babies seem to want to eat all the fourth dimension — and that might be because sucking is soothing, not because they're hungry. So if your child seems ravenous oft and adequate feedings don't seem to satisfy him, a pacifier might assist. Bank check in with your doc if yous're not sure whether baby is getting enough to eat at mealtimes, though.
• Go out of the house.Sometimes just a modify to an outdoor location will magically modify a babe's mood. Movement can assistance besides. Accept your babe for a walk in the stroller or carrier, or strap him into the car seat for a drive (but turn around and head home if the crying continues in the car — otherwise it could distract yous from the route).

Call back, yous should never requite your baby whatsoever medication, herbal or otherwise, without talking to your pediatrician beginning. And always talk to your doctor before making major changes in your diet or your baby'southward.

Colic symptoms

How practise you know for sure if your infant'southward colicky? Here are some signs of colic to look out for:

• It bears repeating, but colic mostly follows a "rules of three" pattern: The crying lasts a total of at to the lowest degree iii hours a 24-hour interval, at to the lowest degree three days a week and for at to the lowest degree three consecutive weeks.
• Crying oft occurs at around the same time every day (usually in the belatedly afternoon or early evening, simply it can vary).
• Your baby seems to be crying for no reason (not because he has a dingy diaper or is hungry or tired).
• Babe may pull up his legs, clench his fists and generally move his legs and artillery more.
• Your infant volition often will shut his eyes or open up them very wide, furrow his brow and even agree his breath briefly.
• Bowel activity may increase, and he may pass gas or spit up.
• Eating and sleeping are disrupted by the crying — babe frantically seeks a nipple just to turn down it once sucking has begun, or dozes for a few moments only to wake upwards screaming.

What's the difference between colic and normal crying?

There isn't a clear definition of exactly what colic is or how (and if) it differs from other types of crying.

Just doctors typically agree that colic crying is louder, more intense and college-pitched than normal crying — sometimes almost like screaming.

Colicky babies also seem inconsolable, and tend to cry more throughout the solar day than babies without colic. (It may very well feel like around the clock, much to tired and fraught parents' dismay, but in reality it could amount to a few hours total.)

About often, colicky periods recur daily, though some babies take an occasional nighttime off.

How to Calm a Crying Newborn

When does colic start and end?

The good news is that infant colic doesn't last forever. Most bouts outset when baby is about 2 to iii weeks old (later in premature infants), peak at around half-dozen weeks and then typically begin to taper off by x to 12 weeks.

By 3 months (though commonly a petty later on in preterm babies), about colicky infants seem to be miraculously cured. The colic may stop all of a sudden — or stop gradually, with some good days and some bad days until well-nigh of them are good and it'south articulate the phase has passed.

In the concurrently, a little cognition and a lot of patience will assistance y'all survive until the storm subsides.

What causes colic in babies?

While the exact cause of colic is a mystery, experts do know that it'due south non the result of genetics or annihilation that happened during pregnancy or childbirth. Nor is information technology any reflection on parenting skills. And it's besides not anyone'southward fault.

That said, here are some theories on possible causes of colicky crying:

• Overstimulated senses.One caption: Newborns have a built-in mechanism for tuning out sights and sounds around them, which allows them to sleep and eat without being disturbed by their environs. Near the end of the outset calendar month, however, this machinery disappears — leaving babies more sensitive to the stimuli in their surroundings. With so many new sensations coming at them, some infants get overwhelmed, often at the end of the day. To release that stress, they cry (and cry and cry). Colic ends, the theory goes, when baby learns how to filter out some environmental stimuli and, in doing so, avoids a sensory overload.
• An immature digestive system. Digesting food is a big task for a infant's make new gastrointestinal organisation. As a result, food may pass through too quickly and non break down completely, resulting in pain from gas in the intestines.
• Baby acid reflux. Research has found that infant GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) can trigger episodes in colicky babies, though it doesn't cause colic. Baby GERD is often the issue of an underdeveloped lower esophageal sphincter, the muscle that keeps tum acrid from flowing back up into the throat and oral fissure, which can irritate the esophagus. Symptoms include frequent spitting upwards, poor eating and irritability during and later feedings. The good news is, near babies outgrow GERD past age one (and colic normally goes away long before then).
• Food allergies or sensitivity. Some experts believe that colic is the result of an allergy to moo-cow'due south milk proteins (or lactose intolerance) in formula-fed babies. Less often, colic may be a reaction to specific foods in Mom'south diet in breastfed babies. Either fashion, these allergies or sensitivity tin can crusade tummy pain that may fix off colicky behavior.
• Tobacco exposure. Several studies show that moms who smoke during or later on pregnancy are more likely to have babies with colic, and secondhand smoke may besides exist a culprit. Though the link exists, it's unclear how cigarette fume might exist related to colic. The bottom line for many more pregnant health reasons: Don't smoke or allow anyone else smoke around your baby.

Gripe h2o and colic

In the category of "lilliputian evidence, lots of anecdotes" is gripe water, touted as an herbal remedy for everything from babe gas to colic.

Some parents swear by gripe h2o every bit a mode to calm a colicky baby, just no reliable studies have shown its effectiveness in relieving colic symptoms. And because it's non regulated by the Nutrient and Drug Administration (FDA), gripe water can besides be a wild card in terms of what's actually in information technology and in what quantities. Ever check with your pediatrician before giving your baby gripe water or whatsoever other treatment marketed as baby colic drops.

Tips for parents on coping with colic

Though it can safely be said that even hours and hours of daily crying doesn't seem to injure a baby, information technology certainly does leave its mark on parents. Listening to a baby'southward screams can be heartbreaking, upsetting and anxiety-provoking and can take a physical and emotional toll.

To cope with colicky crying that just won't quit, endeavor the post-obit:

• Pause it upward. A fresh fix of arms sometimes induces at-home in a crying baby. If there are 2 parents at home during baby's witching hours, make sure colic duty is divided up equally betwixt the two of you (an hour on, an hour off, a night on, a night off, or whatsoever arrangement works best).
• Take a pause. It's of import to respond to crying, which is an infant's merely manner to communicate. Merely every once in a while, taking a 10- to 15- minute suspension during a especially trying crying marathon won't hurt — and information technology might assistance both of you get through this challenging phase of babyhood.
• Tune out a little. Use earplugs, noise-canceling headphones or listen to music to lessen the outcome of your baby's wails. Don't tune out your baby so much that you can't hear him at all or for long periods of time, but at least the bouts of wailing won't exist as loud for a little while.
• Talk about information technology. Practise a little crying yourself — on a willing shoulder: your spouse'south, the pediatrician's, a family fellow member'south, a friend's. Just knowing you lot're not alone in the world of comfortless babies can make a world of difference.
• Go help. If you're at the terminate of your rope, don't hesitate ask for help — whether from your partner, mother, friend or babysitter. And if yous find that you're consistently feeling overwhelmed or are having trouble coping, talk to your md or a mental health professional. You'll not only feel ameliorate — parental counseling has actualy been shown to reduce infant crying.

When to call the medico nearly colic in babies

While the odds are that your baby'due south daily screaming sessions are due to colic, if information technology seems like your baby is crying excessively, start by seeing the pediatrician.

The doctor can examine your babe to rule out whatever other potential causes of excessive crying. And if they think you're definitely dealing with colic? It's good to get some reassurance and perchance a few actress soothing strategies.

Describing the crying (its duration, intensity, blueprint, any variation from the norm and any accompanying symptoms) volition too help the physician rule out any underlying medical condition (like reflux, an infection or a milk allergy) that could be triggering the crying.

Keep in listen, too, that this shall pass: Just when y'all think you lot can't take another night of it, the crying will let up — and so it's gone forever.

As wiped-out as you may be, give yourself a well-earned pat on the back. Yous've merely survived your start major claiming of parenthood.

From the What to Await editorial squad and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Expect When You're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such every bit peer-reviewed studies, academic inquiry institutions and highly respected wellness organizations. Acquire how we keep our content authentic and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

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