by Arianna Larson

Created on: January 10, 2010

Every baby cries, sometimes for a long period of time, which is not uncommon. Crying is the only way that a baby can communicate with you.  That’s the only way for them to indicate to you that there is something wrong, whether he or she is hungry, cold, hot, uncomfortable, etc.  In general terms, the normal pattern for an infant is to cry for about two to three hours a day within a twenty-four hour period.

An infant that cries for what it seems is no reason should be taken to their pediatrician for examination to make that health problems are not the reason.

As a rule of thumb, doctors diagnose colic using the “rule of three”, term coined by Dr. Morrison Wessel in the 1950’s and described in his book “Paroxysmal fussing in infancy, sometimes called colic”: an infant that is well fed and otherwise healthy that cries for more than three hours a day, for more than three days a week, for a minimum of three weeks.

Infantile colic, which seems extremely painful to the child, is also very distressing to the parents; however, keep in mind that colic is an affection that even though generally starts in the first few weeks of the baby’s life, it will eventually subside.

About twenty-five percent of infants are diagnosed with colic although there is no single consistent cause for it. Most parents and doctors described a child with colic as one with excessive crying, irritability and fussiness; most likely has a hard, distended stomach, with the knees pulled to the chest, clenched fists, an arched back and with the legs alternating between flexed and extended.

Between the possible causes are factors like, overfeeding, intake of certain food by the mother that can be passed to the child in the breast milk, stress, or even the air that the infant swallows when crying, plus some others still unknown.  Some doctors believe that colic could be the result of a sensitive temperament and an immature nervous system, while others believe that is the immaturity of the digestive system, or both.

Whatever the reason, what is important is to know how to bring some relief to your child when he or she is with colic.

-Do not overfeed.

-Breastfeeding mother should avoid gas-producing foods.

-In formula fed babies, a change of formula might help. Talk to your doctor about it.

-Try holding your baby face down with his/her butt a little higher than the head to try to promote the expel of gas.

-Avoid as much as possible excessive

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