What To Do If Your Baby Has Colic?
IS MY BABY A COLIC BABY?
Baby colic, also known as infantile colic. Doctors often use the term colic to describe when a baby is present with excessive crying, irritability, or fussiness. It is usually spontaneous and unpredictable; but in most cases, the baby is healthy and grows well.
COLIC IS DEFINED AS WHEN BABY IS CRYING:
- Lasts for more than 3 hours a day
- Happens more than 3 days a week
- Occurs for more than 3 weeks.
WHAT MAY CAUSE COLIC?
- Sensitive and having trouble adjusting to the world
- Unable to calm themselves
- Sensitive to gas
- Milk tolerance or allergy
Before assuming your baby has colic, look for other signs of illness.
These may include:
- Not sucking or drinking a bottle well
- Drinking less milk than usual
- Diarrhea/ vomiting
- Becoming more irritable when held or touched
- Having a strange-sounding cry
- Having a change in breathing rate
- Being more sleepy or sluggish than normal
- Fever of 38°C or higher
Call your doctor if you see any of these symptoms!
IS COLIC SERIOUS?
Colic will go away on its own usually. This often happens by age 3 months, and in most cases by age 6 months.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
- Make sure your baby is not hungry
- Burp your baby to reduce the amount of air he/ she swallows
- Bottle-fed baby: 1-week trial of a non-milk-based formula to rule out allergic reaction
- Breastfeed baby: 1-week trial of avoid foods that are likely to cause an allergic reaction (milk, eggs, nuts, or wheat) to rule out allergic reaction
- Mother to consume herbal teas containing mixtures of chamomile, vervain, licorice, fennel, and lemon balm (150 mL 3 times a day)
- Give your baby interesting things to look at: different shapes, colors, textures, and sizes
- Talk to your baby. Sing softly to your baby
- Rock your baby
- Avoidance of over- stimulation
SUMMARY
Colic will go away on its own, assuming your baby is healthy and has no medical issues.
Article written by:
Nutritionist Foo Kai Li
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 & 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
REFERENCES
1. American Family Physician (2004). Infantile Colic. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0815/p735.html
2. Johns Hopkins Medicine (n.d). Colic. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/colic
3. Mayo Clinic (n.d). Colic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colic/symptoms-causes/syc-20371074