How To Tell If Your Newborn Has Colic

Seeing Your Babys Health Care Provider

Your babys health care provider can often diagnose colic by asking you about the babys medical history, symptoms, and how long the crying lasts. The provider will perform a physical exam and may do some tests to check your baby.

The provider needs to make sure your baby does not have other medical problems, such as reflux, a hernia, or intussusception.

Include A Probiotic In Your Daily Regime

If digestive system problems cause colic, then taking a probiotic in your babys daily regime might be a great idea. Talk to your babys pediatrician before introducing probiotics, but its a relatively safe and straightforward step to try.

Probiotics should be given to your baby daily, just like you would take daily probiotics. Mix the probiotics in with your babys formula or breast milk. Powdered probiotics can be rubbed on the inside of your babys cheek with a clean finger.

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Are There Any Medicines Or Supplements That Ease Colic

Other than probiotics, you can try anti-gas drops sold over-the-counter. Anti-gas drops have not been proven effective for colic, but they are commonly used for gas pain in babies and are generally considered safe.

Dont give your baby any of these in an effort to calm them down:

• Infant cereal or other solid foods. Your infant baby isnt ready to digest solid food, and giving it to your baby wont help them feel better.
• Medicationssuch as antispasmodics or antihistamines. These can be unsafe for your baby.
• Herbal teas or supplements. Herbal remedies can be unsafe because the strength, dosage, and quality of the herbs cant be guaranteed. Thats one reason why many experts advise against giving herbs to your baby, while others recommend that you only do so under the guidance of your babys doctor.

Talk with your doctor before giving your baby anything other than breast milk or formula.

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Colic Always Goes Away

Your baby will most likely outgrow colic by 3 to 4 months of age. There are usually no complications from colic.

Parents can get really stressed when a baby cries a lot. Know when you have reached your limit and ask family members or friends to help. If you feel like you may shake or hurt your baby, get help right away.

When Should I Call My Child’s Healthcare Provider

Before assuming your child has colic, look for other signs of illness. These may include:

• Not sucking or drinking a bottle well
• Drinking less milk than usual
• Becoming more irritable when held or touched
• Having a strange-sounding cry
• Having a change in breathing rate or using extra effort to breathe
• Being more sleepy or sluggish than normal
• Fever of 100.4°F or higher, or as directed by your child’s healthcare provider

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How To Know If Your Baby Has Colic

Babies cry.

Thats a universal rule of parenting that we cant escape.

However, they usually have reasons to cry. Its how they communicate! If your babys diaper is wet, or if shes hungry, cold, or uncomfortable, shell cry. Can you imagine needing something and not being able to talk or move excessively? Id cry, too!

The thing is, sometimes babies cry for no apparent reason. And when I say cry, I mean, really cry. Face contorted in pain, screaming from the top of their lungs, completely desperate over nothing, apparently? Well, Houston, we have a problem.

Ollie used to cry excessively and we ran through the checklist. Over, and over again. Diaper, fine. Hunger, fine. Temperature, fine. Cuddling, fine! Everything seemed fine. Yet something clearly wasnt.

After some days passed and the crying continued , we desperately took him to the doctor. There was nothing wrong with him. Well, almost nothing.

He was colicky.

How did his Doctor Know he had Baby Colic?

To know if your baby has colic, doctors usually use therule of three. Your baby may be colicky is she has been crying:

• At least three days a week.
• For at least three hours a day.
• During a span of three weeks or more.

In addition, other signs of a colicky baby are:

Having a colicky baby isnt fun, but it doesnt last forever. Colics usually go away on their own between 4 and 6 months .

And, most importantly, there are no long-term differences between babies who had colic and babies who didnt have them.

Seeing Your Baby’s Health Care Provider

Your baby’s health care provider can often diagnose colic by asking you about the baby’s medical history, symptoms, and how long the crying lasts. The provider will perform a physical exam and may do some tests to check your baby.

The provider needs to make sure your baby does not have other medical problems, such as reflux, a hernia, or intussusception.

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How To Soothe And Treat A Colicky Baby

Many parents feel helpless and confused about what to do to help soothe their colicky baby. Here are some remedies you could try to help limit or prevent colic in your baby, sometimes even before a bout of crying starts:

Unfortunately, there is no cure for colic. Remember that sometimes no matter what you do your baby will cry. So donât beat yourself up about it. Try any number of these different approaches. If one method doesnât work within a week, go with something else on the list.

You may find that by the time youâve tried most of these steps, your baby will have outgrown this colicky phase.

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

• When will my baby get over colic?
• What is the best way to feed my baby to avoid colic?
• Should I hold my baby upright for a certain amount of time after they eat?
• Is there a good position to hold my baby in to make them feel better?
• Can I give my baby any medicines to make them feel better?
• What can I do to help myself from getting angry or frustrated when my baby cries?

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Coping With A Baby Who Has Colic

If your baby has colic, itâs important to pay attention to your own emotional state. Caring for a baby with colic can be tough, and it can make you feel anxious and inadequate, not to mention stressed.

No matter how frustrated you feel, never shake your baby. Shaking an infant can cause bleeding in the brain, leading to permanent damage and even death.

If you find yourself feeling out of control and unsure if you can cope with your babyâs crying, try one or more of the following steps:

• Breathe deeply and count to 10. Remember that many parents experience these feelings sometimes. Itâs nothing to be ashamed of.

• Put your baby safely in his or her cot and leave the room for a short break. Decide how long youâll be â for example 10 minutes â and go back when the timeâs up.

• Ask your health visitor or doctor about support groups in your local area

• Ask for and accept help from family and friends who can take care of your baby for a short period to give you a little time out.

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How Do I Know If It’s Colic Or Normal Crying

Colic is a special pattern of crying. Babies with colic are healthy, and eating and growing well but cry in spells. The spells happen at the same time of day. Most often, the crying starts in the early evening.

During a colic spell, a baby:

• has high-pitched crying or screaming
• is very hard to soothe
• can have a red face or pale skin around the mouth
• may pull in the legs, stiffen the arms, arch the back, or clench fists

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Are There Any Criteria For Colic

Of course, yes, there are two traditional criteria where the first one has undergone a transition over the years and later is more consistent.

1. Wessels Rule of 3s Diagnostic Criteria:

Symptoms lasting for more than

• Three hours a day.

• Three or more days a week.

• Three or more weeks starting around three months of age.

2. The Rome IV Criteria:

It describes colic from birth to five months of age.

• Symptoms start and stop in an infant younger than five months of age.

• Recurrent, prolonged episodes of crying without any obvious cause and cannot be calmed down by the parent or caretaker.

• The baby appears perfectly healthy, without any history of fever, illness, or failure to thrive.

Some Colic Soothing Suggestions

Its important to remember that baby colic is self-limiting the symptoms usually begin to subside at around the age of four to six months as the digestive system matures and begins to work more efficiently.

The good thing is that there are many ways to help soothe colic naturally. As long as you have checked with a GP or health visitor that there isnt a more serious underlying problem, then your baby can only benefit from the following gentle soothing suggestions.

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What Is Colic And How To Treat Colic In Babies

All babies cry to communicate. However, when your baby is healthy, well-fed and lying in a peaceful environment yet it cries, theres something unusual. All babies cry, but when a baby cries in a systematic pattern over a period of time with no apparent issue, its time to check for colic in babies.

Generally, from birth till the fourth month, all babies suffer from colic. It is hard to understand for new parents, and the worst is that there is no particular treatment for colic. It is something you would never like your child to face. However, we have seen a lot of first time parents asking that how do I know if my baby has colic.

So, if you are a first-time parent having a colicky baby, first you need to learn that how to treat colic in babies? For this, the article will assist you a lot. Here, we will introduce you to the basics of colic in babies, some of the major symptoms and the treatment for a colicky baby.

Follow this draft religiously to find your solution.

If Your Baby Has Colic The Never

Does your baby have intense crying spells that last three hours or more? They might be suffering from colic. Theres no specific definition of colic, but it generally means excessive crying for no explainable reason, says Barry Lester, Ph.D., director of the colic clinic at the Brown University Center for Children at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, and coauthor of Why Is My Baby Crying?

Pediatricians generally use the rule of threes to determine the condition: when a baby cries intensely for three or more hours at a time on at least three days of the week, for longer than three weeks in a row for no apparent reason, says Mary Ann LoFrumento, M.D., author of Simply Parenting: Understanding Your Newborn & Infant.

Colic usually begins around week 2 or 3 of the babys life and peaks at around 6 to 8 weeks. Unlike with regular infant crying, attempts to stop colic-induced sessions by feeding, burping, rocking, or changing the diaper arent successful. The condition subsidies around 3 to 4 months of age.

Some babies will respond to many of these interventions, some babies wont respond to any, and a lot of babies will respond only sometimes, explains Larry Scherzer, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. Usually by the time you try everything, the baby is old enough that a lot of the crying has ceased.

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What’s The Difference Between Colic And Normal Crying

There isn’t a clear definition of exactly what colic is or how it differs from other types of crying.

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

Colicky babies also seem inconsolable, and tend to cry more throughout the day than babies without colic.

Most often, colicky periods recur daily, though some babies take an occasional night off.

Crying For More Than Three Hours A Day

The first symptom is inconsolable, crying for more than three hours a day. It is usual for a child to start crying when hungry or wet or sleepy. However, the crying stops once the needs of the child are met.

Colicky children tend to cry continuously for no good reason. Parents can try to calm down the child, but it doesnt work. The prolonged crying happens three or more days per week for at least three consecutive weeks.

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When To Call Your Doctor

If your baby doesnât gain weight or loses weight, they may have another health problem, so itâs best to call their doctor.

Also call the doctor if they:

• Can’t be soothed at all, even for a few minutes
• Doesn’t suck strongly at the bottle or your breast
• Doesn’t like to be held or touched
• Has an odd cry or sounds like they are in pain
• Has diarrhea or blood in their stool
• Is less alert or sleepier than usual
• Eats less than usual
• Runs a fever of 100.4 degrees or more

What Are The Causes Of Colic

There isnt a concrete medical reason why infants experience colic, but several theories are to the cause. Most ideas revolve around the development of the newborn child. The theories assume that colic is a result of the intestinal growth of newborns. Knowing the possible causes of colic can assist better understand what your little one is going through and have a little patience. So, how do you do if your baby has colic?

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The Truth About Colic

There are so many things you should be taking care of with your baby. If he doesnt have actual colic, youve gotta move on.

If your baby does not have colic but is very irritable, he needs sleep. Sleep. Sleep. And more Sleep. You wont be comfortable sleep training your baby as long as you are worried about him having colic. I can not stress enough the importance of sleep! Read here to fully understand why there isnt much else as important for your baby as sleep.

There is no witching hour. Only a tired baby. Tired babies get fussy. Tiredness happens at the end of the day. In the evening. End of story.

Even your pediatrician will tell you that your baby is colicky when thats not necessarily the case. Why? Because theres not much to do about it. Telling you that your baby is colicky provides a way for your pediatrician to give you an answer without there being a big medical concern

What Is The Difference Between Normal And Colicky Crying

Sometimes your baby will cry because she is hungry or tired, or because she has a wet diaper. But when sheâs been fed, cuddled, or had her diaper changed, she will stop crying.

If, however, she seems to cry for no reason, and continues to cry even once youâve checked her diaper, fed her, and comforted her as best you can, she may have colic.

This is what sets normal crying apart from colicky crying. With normal crying, your baby will respond to comfort measures and will stop crying eventually with colic, your baby persistently cries and canât seem to be consoled.

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When To Call The Doctor About Colic In Babies

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

The doctor can examine your baby to rule out any other potential causes of excessive crying. And if they think youre definitely dealing with colic? Its good to get some reassurance and maybe a few extra soothing strategies.

Describing the crying will also help the doctor rule out any underlying medical condition that could be triggering the crying.

Keep in mind, too, that this shall pass: Just when you think you cant take another night of it, the crying will let up and then its gone forever.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When Youre Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

• What to Expect the First Year, 3rd edition, Heidi Murkoff.

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How To Soothe Colic

The unfortunate thing about colic is, theres no magic cure. Instead, there are a number of comforting techniques and home remedies you can try. Hopefully, one or more will soothe your child.

Swaddling is a popular comforting technique that involves wrapping your baby tightly, but comfortably, in a light blanket. Many babies feel safe when swaddled and are therefore likely to quiet. However, some children dislike being restrained and may squirm and become more fussy.

White noise is another soothing method that can be especially useful when trying to help your baby sleep. There are many white noise machines on the market, many of which have timers you can set to shut off at 15, 30 or 60 minutes.

With colic comes occasional stomach discomfort and gas. Consider gripe water to ease these issues and help your baby feel more comfortable.

Finally, many babies are comforted by swaying or rocking. These gentle motions can lull babies to sleep, giving you a chance to recover. If your child only calms when being rocked, you should invest in a swing or rocking seat.

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