Basically, infant colic is defined as uncontrollable crying in your baby that has no definite cause.
Typically, this condition appears in first 2 weeks after the birth. Infant colic is most common condition in bottle-fed infants, but it can also occur in breast-fed infants.
Usually, crying happens during the specific times of the day, most frequently in early evening.
The symptoms of infant colic are different from one another. Some infants have various symptoms while some others have only one symptom.
Here are the most common symptoms of infant colic:
- Your baby cries continuously and loudly from 1-3 hours at a time. These crying events often happen about three or four days in a week.
- Crying can occur at any time, most of the colicky babies cry more in the early evening or late afternoon.
- Colicky baby’s face becomes red due to crying.
- Hands become clenched.
- Baby faces difficulty in falling or staying asleep.
- Your baby can lift the legs and hands and pass the gas.
- Baby’s feet become cool.
- Most of the babies reject to eat or he/she becomes fussy quickly after eating.
- Generally, the baby appears uncomfortable and always feels pain.
What can you do to help your colicky baby?
The exact cause of colic is still unknown, so there is no single treatment that can work for all the babies. First and the most important step is make sure with your pediatrician that there is no medical cause for your infant colic.
Here are few methods which can help your baby to feel comfortable. But, these methods may not work for all colicky babies.
- Maintain a diary, which includes when your baby cries and also include the activities such as feeding, playing and napping. Search for patterns, which can provide small clues for the solution.
- If you are a breastfeeding mother, then avoid consuming the diet which includes dairy products and the foods like cabbage, onions, caffeine, cauliflower, beans, spicy foods and some other gas producing substances. Consult your health care provider before you decide to avoid the dairy products from your diet.
- If your baby is bottle fed, do as much as you can to eliminate the amount of air that your baby ingests. Use a curved bottle or the bottle which has collapsible disposable liners.
- Burp your baby frequently, if he/she has lot of gas.
- Avoid over feeding your baby, because it worsens your baby’s colic. It is better to stick with your normal feeding routine.
- Consult your doctor whether you need to change the routine formula into a low energy type formula.
- Gentle tummy massage greatly helps in soothing your baby’s colic [Baby massage].
- Snugly wrap up your baby in a blanket and walk around in a horizontal steady motion.
Talk with other moms and ask them for suggestions and what methods they use in order to calm their colicky babies. Most of the times, there is no known cause for infant colic; as a mother you need to do all the things that makes your baby calm.
