When a baby has colic, the family environment is stressful and many family members may become upset or on edge. This is most often seen in new parents. Some symptoms of colic may be that the baby cries loudly for three hours, the baby has bowel pains or the baby pulls their feet up under themselves and clenches their fists. New parents become alarmed and upset that their new baby may cry for hours, even though they have tried just about everything to comfort the the baby.

Causes of Colic
There is no known one cause of colic. Doctors have several theories of what causes infant colic. The most popular theory is that the child had ingested air along with either the mother’s milk or bottled milk. Drinking too fast or in gulps causes air to enter the baby’s stomach which leads to gastrointestinal pain, thus the baby becomes colic. Another theory some believe is that if the baby is breast fed and the mother is eating a lot of gas producing foods such as orange juice, vegetables, like onions and cabbage, apples, plums, spicy food and caffeinated products such as cola, chocolate and tea, the baby will receive the same result through breast milk. A third theory is that infants have an immature nervous system that is unable to cope with all the intense new stimulations of new life events. As the day progresses, the stress overcomes them and they cry for hours.

Solutions For a Colic Baby
Infant colic is very common in new born children. It is not the result of poor parenting skills. In fact, about 1/3 of all babies experience colic, so having a colic baby is not uncommon. In most cases infant colic will disappear in three months. But what can you do now? How can you reduce colic symptoms? There is no single treatment for a colic baby. Many parents have experienced success trying the following methods:

1. Hold your baby and rock it in your arms.
2. Put your baby in a swing and gently rock it back and fourth.
3. Take the baby for a car ride.
4. Carry the infant in a sling or take it for a carriage ride.
5. Try turning on a fan or vacuum, using them as white noise.
6. Try using a pacifier.
7. Give the baby a warm bath.
8. Try burping the baby.
9. Use Simethicone drops to reduce the baby’s gas pains.
10. If you are the mother, and you are breast feeding, vary your diet to see if you are eating some food which produces gas. The baby would receive this food through your breast milk.

Summary of Infant Colic
Most of the time newborn colic is nothing to worry about. Make sure you go over the possible solutions for a colic baby which are listed above. Ask neighbors and friends. They have often already been through infant colic. Consult your doctor if your baby screams constantly or if the infant colic is accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, constipation or absence of urine. These symptoms may indicate a more serious problem. If you are new parents, congratulations!

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Fussiness can come at anytime of the day. It can be intermittent or at times last all day. With fussiness guessing what is wrong with your baby and helping them feel better can take hours to accomplish. It isn’t always an easy answer. A fussy baby will generally not cry, but make little and constant growling/groaning type noises. Enough to catch your attention and let you know something is wrong, but not enough to pinpoint the problem after you have learned to understand your baby’s different types of crying.

Reasons Fussiness May Occur
There are many reasons that your baby might be fussy. These include, but are not limited too:

Does your baby yell and cry non-stop without any apparent reason? Excessive gas in a newborn baby could be the culprit. Gassy and colicky babies present a perpetual challenge to their parents. Welcome to the rocky world of parenting.

Gassy Babies
Accumulation of gas in baby’s tummy can make her extremely fussy. Your newborn has an immature digestive system that is prone to accumulation of gas. The kinks will eventually straighten out but until they do, they can drive both you and baby crazy.

Explosive bowel movements and passing gas are extremely common in newborns. Some babies appear to suffer more than the others. The gassiness is sometimes more severe during the night.

Was it something I ate?
Gassiness in baby could be unrelated to your diet. It was believed that if a mom ate certain foods that caused gas, the gas would be transferred to baby via breast milk. This belief is not entirely true.

But wait; this theory has not been totally disproved either. Try avoiding foods like cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, beans and any other foods that are potentially gassy. Eliminating them one at a time can help you detect the culprit.

Breastfeeding a gassy baby can be a Herculean task, but it is well worth it.

Pin the cause down
Your baby might be swallowing a lot of gas while she feeds. Suckling very vigorously makes baby gulp a lot of air.

Bottle feeding babies tend to take in more air while feeding than their breastfeeding counterparts.

Allergy to formula this could result in gassiness too. Lactose intolerant babies cannot digest cow’s milk, which makes them gassy.

Sucking pacifiers and empty bottles for a long time can lead to gas accumulation.

Prevention is better…
Time is the best healer. As your baby grows older, her gassiness will gradually reduce as her digestive system becomes more mature. In the meantime……

Burping baby between and after feeds is probably one of the best solutions.

All men might be created equal but all bottles are not. Choose a bottle with a curved neck to avoid gulping of excessive air.

If you suspect milk allergy in your baby, you could try changing formulas or switch to soymilk.

Hush baby
Even if you know the reason for your baby’s gassiness, this is of little use to you during a crying bout. Deal with your baby’s crying spells as calmly as you can.

You can also try baby bends and tummy rolls with advice from your healthcare professional. Ask your doctor about antigas medications with simethicone.

The time-tested method of rocking can often soothe a gassy baby to sleep. Make sure you take a break to soothe your frayed nerves.

Take breaks, get help, join discussion groups, blog, talk about it…do anything that helps. Rest assured that baby’s gassiness will significantly reduce by the time she is six months old.

About the Author:
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