by James Aust

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!

About the Author
Visit James M. Aust at www.AllWomensClothes.com/

By Margaret Tye

A new baby with colic is one of the most difficult problems a new parent has to cope with. Most new parents are under pressure trying to deal with a new routine and lack of sleep, the added burden of a crying infant you seem powerless to help can be overwhelming. The only comfort that can be offered is, with 1 in 5 babies developing colic, many other parents are suffering too and that by the time the baby is four months old the problem normally disappears.

The normal symptoms of colic are continuous loud crying, flexing and extending the legs, clenching fists and often a distended tummy. Very often this occurs in the late afternoon or early evening, although it can happen at any time.

So what is colic and is there a remedy for it? There are many possible causes, but initially the most important thing that a parent must do is establish that the child is actually suffering from colic and there is not another reason for the crying. Colic, however distressed the baby seems, is not life threatening, but it is essential not to assume a crying baby has colic, check with your doctor immediately.

Once colic has been diagnosed you should try to identify the cause. If you are breastfeeding avoid foods that are likely to cause gas. Make a note of what you are eating, baby may be intolerant to something in your diet, including dairy products. If the baby is bottle fed your doctor may suggest a change of formula. Don’t overfeed the baby, we all know that bloated feeling when we have overeaten, so why shouldn’t baby feel the same. Try hard not to get stressed, I know this isn’t easy but many experts believe that babies are sensitive to stress around them and react. It’s a catch 22 situation, the more crying the greater the stress. Try to take turns in dealing with the crying baby, even rope in grandparents or a close friend so that you can walk away for 30minutes.

A continuous soothing sound such as a washing machine or tumbledryer often works. There are CD’s available that can help and I found that a tape of sea waves worked well, particularly when gently rocking the child.

Seek your doctor’s advice on medicines, he may recommend some colic relief. If colic has been diagnosed but there is any change in the baby’s behaviour, go straight back to your doctor, it’s better to err on the safe side.

Finally remember that it will pass, in a few months that screaming bundle will be toddling about getting into more mischief than you can possibly imagine!

This article is for information only. You should always consult your doctor before commencing any treatment and no liability is accepted.

About the Author:
Margaret Tye runs the FromTots2Teens website that offers information on supplies for children of all ages as well as advice on health and other child and teenage related problems.

When your baby is born he does very little. Eats, poops, sleeps and cries. Crying is the only way that your baby can communicate and at this point, all the cries sound alike. As your baby gets older however you will begin to notice different cries coming from him and you will begin to recognize better what it is that your baby needs. As your baby gets older some of his reasons for crying will change, while others stay the same.

Hunger
Still one of the most obvious reasons for your baby to be crying is hunger. Your little one is growing and burning through calories so fast that it is hard to keep up with him. If he gets a growth spurt it can seem as if never stops eating. You will learn to recognize the cry of hunger from your baby.

Pain
A newborn has very little “pain” in most cases. However, as his grows the pain begins to appear, first in teething, then in bumps and bruises as he gets on the move around the house. The pain cry will probably be more of a shrill cry, one you haven’t heard before, and one you quickly learn to recognize.

Fear/Anxiety
As your baby gets older he may start to feel a little anxiety about being left alone or being away from you. If this is the case for your baby, a brand new cry will be heard and your baby will learn from your reaction to use that cry in these circumstances.

Tired
It is possible for your baby to get over tired. When this happens not only will he not want to go to sleep, but he will probably have a cry that is so pitiful that it breaks your heart. Try not to let your baby skip a nap or get too tired that he doesn’t want to go to sleep. If he does it may be a long night for all of you.

Stubbornness
You can’t spoil a baby but boy can they make you feel like they are spoiled. Your baby may decide to get stubborn and start crying till he gets his way. This cry will probably sound less pathetic than his other ones; instead sounding more angry and upset. If this is your baby, try not to give into his stubbornness, but offer him something else to divert his attention.

As your baby changes so will his ways of communication. Soon will come the day when your baby is talking back to you and you are wishing he could only cry. Remember that at this point your baby’s only way of communicating is still crying and that the faster you learn to understand him, the happier everyone will be.

by News Canada

Right from the beginning, a baby learns that certain actions within his or her environment can bring desired results. Typically the first sign of reinforcement comes from the baby’s parents. For example, a baby learns early on in the development stage that crying will result in a parent picking him up, feeding him or changing his diaper.

Throughout this learning process it is important for parents to provide constant stimulation for their baby. Providing a baby with a selection of well-chosen toys that encourage activity and exploration is a step in the right direction.

According to the www.parents.com website, “a baby is fascinated by cause and effect and will enjoy any toy that responds to [his or her] actions and makes use of newly acquired motor skills.” For instance, a baby will love toys that allow her to hit a ball with a hammer as well as toys with buttons that cause music to play or characters to pop up. Some high-tech toys for this age will name a letter, a shape, or a number when your baby presses a button. A baby is too young to actually learn her ABCs but she’ll still enjoy interacting with these toys and being exposed to language.

Selecting a toy that provides different stages for a baby is essential – so that she will not become bored once she tackles that particular toy. Toys such as the Fisher-Price Classical Chorus Gym offer babies fascinating rewards from the early stages of reaching, through sitting and playing, right up to standing and playing the piano keys. Pressing keys to make music encourages baby’s creativity and helps to stimulate the senses when the keys light up.

Toys that also provide more than one function are ideal for a baby too. Fisher-Price’s Sesame Street 3-in-1 Baby Explorer is a good example of this, as it gives him three toys in one – a gym, an activity table and walker. Through this toy, a baby is able to develop sensory, motor and cognitive skills as he grows. In the gym mode, he can listen to soft music while developing his motor skills through click-clack pages, busy beads and adorable character toys. The activity mode helps a baby to develop her cognitive skills through character toys, which can be placed in one of two chutes to activate lights to help her to begin to understand ‘anticipating surprises.’

Selecting toys that foster development while positively reinforcing a baby’s actions are key to a happy, healthy baby.

- News Canada

About The Author
News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web. News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial “fill” items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

In many ways, a fussy baby may be worse than having a colicky baby. At least with a colicky baby you generally know that your baby will be screaming from 6pm to 9pm, or whatever hours you have been “blessed” with, and that there is probably nothing you can do about it. With fussy babies, that isn’t the case.

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:

Crying it out, also referred to by many as CIO, is the process of letting your baby cry himself to sleep. This is done as a way to sleep train a baby so that he can get more rest and sooth himself to sleep. It is not always popular however as some people believe there are better ways to get their baby to sleep.

CIO often works first and easiest during nap time. If doing CIO, your baby will probably learn how to comfort himself during the day before he does at night, so daytime is a good place to start. Once your baby gets his naps down moving onto bedtime should make the effort much easier. It is important that you maintain consistency however as to not confuse your baby.

At night you should wait till your baby is visibly tired before putting him down to CIO. If your baby seems to be crying and not giving into sleep, you don’t have to stay out of the room completely. Many people suggest letting your baby cry for five minutes, then going in to comfort them. Pat his back and talk to him letting him know you are there. When you leave, if your baby starts to cry again, let him cry for 10 minutes before you go in. Each time stretch this action out by 5 minutes until your baby falls asleep. Once or twice peek in your babies diaper just to make sure that he doesn’t need a change which could be making him uncomfortable, but still let him work out the crying on his own.

Don’t be surprised if the first attempt at CIO lasts a long time. Your baby will probably fight it the most the first time you do it. The second and third nights your baby should go to sleep much quicker than he did the first night. Every night the crying time should shorten as your baby is learning how to comfort himself and fall asleep on his own. In most cases it takes three days to sleep train your baby via the CIO method. Occasionally it may take less time or more however, depending on your baby. Also, just because your baby starts falling asleep on his own, it doesn’t mean that he won’t still fuss some at bedtime. Fussing will be normal as your baby attempts to calm himself to sleep at night.

CIO while effective can be very hard on mom and dad. It isn’t easy to listen to your baby cry and not go in to pick him up or give in and hold your baby or nurse him until he falls asleep. It takes as much will power for mom and dad to follow through, as it does for your baby to stay awake and not fall asleep. If you believe that CIO will work for your family, believe that you can do it and find a way to stay strong through the process.