What is Colic?
What is Colic?

If your baby cries about the same time each day and nothing you do seems to offer comfort, your baby may have colic. Colic is often defined as crying more than three hours a day, three days a week for more than three weeks in an otherwise well-fed, healthy baby. What is most important for the diagnosis is sustained crying in an otherwise healthy baby for a regular period of the day lasting for several weeks.

Colic can be distressing for both you and your baby. But take comfort: Colic is relatively short-lived. In a matter of weeks or months, the colic will end, and you'll have weathered one of the first major challenges of parenthood.

Symptoms

Fussing and crying are normal for infants, and a fussy baby doesn't necessarily have colic. In an otherwise healthy, well-fed baby, signs of colic include:

Predictable crying episodes. A baby who has colic often cries about the same time every day, usually in the late afternoon or evening. Colic episodes may last from a few minutes to three hours or more on any given day. The crying usually begins suddenly and for no clear reason. Your baby may have a bowel movement or pass gas near the end of the colic episode.

Intense or inconsolable crying. Colic crying is intense and often high pitched. Your babys face may flush, and he or she is extremely difficult — if not impossible — to comfort.

Posture changes. Curled up legs, clenched fists and tensed abdominal muscles are common during colic episodes.

Colic affects as many as 25 percent of babies. Colic usually starts a few weeks after birth and often improves by age 3 months. By ages 4 to 5 months, the majority of babies with colic have improved.

Causes

The cause of colic is unknown. Researchers have explored a number of possibilities, including allergies, lactose intolerance, an immature digestive system, maternal anxiety, and differences in the way a baby is fed or comforted. Yet it's still unclear why some babies have colic and others do not.

Western Medicine Treatment

Colic improves on its own, often by age 3 months. In the meantime, there are few treatment options. Gas-relief medications, such as simethicone (Gas-X Infant Drops, Infant Mylicon Gas Relief, or others), have not proved very helpful.

Some research suggests that treatment with probiotics — substances that help maintain the natural balance of "good" bacteria in the digestive tract — can soothe colic. More research is needed, however, to determine the effects of probiotics on colic.

Adopted from mayoclinic.com