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