What is colic?
Frequent bouts of unexplained crying and irritable behavior in a baby is often referred to as colic. The term is slightly confusing as it might suggest an intestinal problem, however the actual cause is still unknown. Colic usually starts around 6 weeks and it is found to automatically reduce when the baby is around 3 to 4 months old. Usually the extended crying and irritability onsets at the same time of the day and continues for a couple of hours without any noticeable reason. Sometimes colicky babies cry without any stop. This kind of non-stop crying can lead to aerophagia, which in turn can cause abdominal distention due to flatulence. Usually other symptoms are absent and the infant would thrive well and gain adequate weight. In some cases, non-nutritive sucking can be due to hunger. It is not proven that colic in infancy can lead to an irritable personality in adulthood.
Evaluation of Colic
An infant’s crying history is evaluated to see whether it is beyond the normal limits (a 6 week baby can cry up to 3 hours in a day). Other causes of incessant crying such as ear infection, UTI, fever and maltreatment should be eliminated before finalizing on colic as the diagnosis. Often a detailed discussion would reveal underlying problems such as the parents’ inability to cope with the newborn baby or a traumatic event as a previous death. Usually a thorough physical examination is done, more to reassure the parents that the baby is actually well.
Treatment
Parents should be calmed down and told that the baby is healthy and that they should not feel guilty about bad parenting. They should be counseled that the colic will improve with time and that there are no long term negatives associated with it. The infant may be better if rocked gently or carried around. If the baby fusses immediately after a feed, maybe allowing them to suck for some more time would help relieve the symptoms. Sometimes a pacifier or a bottle with a different hole size can be tried to help soothe the infant. Sometimes, swaddling the baby will make him more comfortable. Other things that can be tried for a colicky baby include a swing, gentle music or even white noise such as those from a car engine, vacuum cleaner or washing machine.
Milk Intolerance should also be ruled out. This can be done by using a substitute formula. Sometimes an alteration of the mother’s diet would help the situation as well in breast fed babies.