how do you exactly know a child at a young age has colic. when exactly can they have it. what are somethings you can do to help with it.
I don't know when or how to know but i know that when my niece had colic we would put a towel or blanket in the dryer and swaddle her. the only other thing that helped was to give her gas medication.
I love Kristin's answer it is so dead on. A lot of preemies have colic, mine did and nothing really worked to soothe her. It started about a week after she came home from the hospital so she was around 3-4 weeks old. Swaddling didn't help as she couldn't stand to be swaddled. The only thing that did work for us was laying her on our chest and making her feel secure and warm, it was winter. It would work for about 1-3 hours each night and then we would go back to screaming. One of us would just walk around the basement with her while the other slept upstairs and then we would switch. And for her it lasted a bit longer. Because she was a preemie her colic lasted until she was about 5 months old but 3 months corrected age from her due date. It will eventually pass, I now have a happy, healthy 17mo who hardly ever cries.
My daughter started about colic when she was 3 wks old. She would start crying for no reason at about 7-9pm. It would go on for about 5-6 hrs. It would usually last til about midnight. Some things you could try is:
1. Put a peppermint in a bottle of water. Let it sit there for a bit to dissolve. Shake up the water and then give the baby some of that. The peppermint will help settle the baby's stomach and will help.
2. You can get some chamolle tea and brew some. Give the baby a dopper of two of the rea. It will help relax them and let them rest.
3. You can use a blow dryer. Blow it about a arm length away from the baby. The noise will calm the baby down. This one worked the best for my little one.
4. You can also use a vacuum. The noise works the same as the blow dryer.
5. You can also order a type of device that hooks onto the crib. It softly vibrates the crib just as it would feel on a car ride. You can look it up online for things for colic.
I hope these things help you and good luck. Just remember it won't last forever and just have patience. Take deep breathes and stay calm.
After having 4 babies with colic, we finally figured out the solution with #4!! It was dairy!! I was breastfeeding, and noticed if I had milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, etc....then I could always time 4-5 hrs. after his feeding that he would be pulling his knees up and screaming. They are in such pain, there really isn't much you can do to console them. The gas drops didn't work for us. So I reluctantly gave up ALL dairy, and sure enough, the screaming episodes stopped. Oh, I wish I had tried this with the other children!! I'm still nursing at 11 months...it was around month 5 I was able to introduce dairy back. I tried it every month, and I guess it's just something with their system and abilty to digest the milk proteins. If you're using formula, try switching to soy. Hope this helps! It saved my life...thanks to all the extra sleep we got!!
"Colic" describes a baby who cries for 4 or more hours, 4 or more days a week for 4 weeks. So, it's not really something they "have" but a way to describe the way they act. Many times it's a result of reflux, an intolerance of milk in formula, or an intolerance to something in your diet if you're nursing. Keep an eye on when and how often it happens and if you're nursing, look into cutting out dairy to see if that helps.
Gas drops can help.
Warm water in a water bottle, roll it up and down the belly.
Rub clockwise circles over the belly.
Infant massage.
Get a sling and just wear him/her all the time, or at least during fussy periods.
Comfort nurse a lot (if you're nursing).
From birth to around 3 months is the norm I think. Defined as long periods of unconsolable crying. Often it happens in the evening. The baby will cry for hours on end. My first child turned red faced, clenched her fists and it was "wah, wah, wah" for many hours, evening into night.
Things that we did.
Read "The Happiest Baby on the Block", gives lots of different soothing techniques to try.
What helped us most were:
swaddling our daughter tightly and laying her across my lap with her head resting on one knee. Then vibrating my leg up and down. (vigorously not violently).
swaddling and having her in a vibrating bouncy seat.
swaddling was a big key for us. She was always swaddled while sleeping up until 4-5 months of age. She had much more restful sleep this way. I highly recommend swaddling!
Kristin's response is the most medically accurate if you do the research (though the other mom's responses definitely have merit, too).
Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics says about colic.
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/c...
We had 1 grumpy baby (wouldn't say she was colicky) and one happy baby. Our daughter (2nd child) just couldn't get comfortable as much as she wanted and whined a lot from infancy to about 3 months. I'm not sure if it was that 12 week hump that helped her or a 6th sense that I'd just been diagnosed with cancer, but it completely reversed, and she became totally angelic.
With a colicky baby, do whatever you can to help improve their mood. Hold them differently, take them for rides in the car if they like that, sing to them, etc. Whatever works, do it!
Hi A.
I am an Independent Shaklee Distributor and there is a method of mixing pepermint ginger, alfalfa, and valerian into a tea and dispensing it to your little one with a dropper. The testimonial of a mom with a colic baby claims "THIS MIXTURE WAS A GOD SEND" Is he/she on a GOOD daily vitamin? would love to talk more. If interested please let me know at ____@____.com
S.
I thought my baby had Colic...she didnt...it was gas from me breastfeeding and me eating dairy products. To help her, my mom is a nurse and came to help me. She told me to get a recal thermometer (we have the newer ones that only go in about 1/2 inch) and take the babys temp but gently wiggle it around to try and stimulate a bowel movement or "pass gas" to releive the gas. It work INSTANTLY and then my baby slept for literlly 6 hours straight. I had to do that for about 2 or 3 weeks until the baby's butt muscles were strong enough to "push" out gas and poo on her own.
Colic is (like everyone said previous) when they cry for periods of time for no reason. From what I know it can happen to any baby up til around 12 weeks. Make sure your baby doesnt have gas though....Thats what my babys problem was. Good luck
Hello Mandapanda,
Colic can also be caused by a bacteria in the baby's GI track. there is infant probiotics they can have. Also, if the mom takes probiotics it helps the baby too! Check out the book: Digestive Wellness.
Good luck! ~C.~
If a baby is crying continuously for 3 or more hours a day, or 3 or more days a week it means the baby has colic. To deal with colic in a baby, all I know is a babies magic tea that is a herbal tea and safe for newborns.
True colic is defined as a baby with no other medical problems crying for hours on end and is completely inconsolable at least 3 days a wk for more than 3 wks. It generally starts around 3 wks old and stops by the time they are 3 months old (and it stops just as fast as it starts). Colic crying is NOT related to gas, feeding problems, reflux or anything like that; it is when there is an unknown reason for prolonged crying.
Many people say a child has colic, but the child doesn't actually meet those guidelines from the definition. What Christa mentioned is not truly colic, its a baby with a feeding sensitivity and it could be fixed by making diet changes.
