If you have a baby with colic, this can be
extremely stressful for parents. The baby will often cry loudly for hours on
end. This can make the parents feel totally helpless and very concerned that
something is seriously wrong with the baby, especially if they are new at
parenting.
Some signs that your baby has colic are if the baby cries for hours nonstop or
if the baby has bowel pains. You can usually tell when the baby is in pain
because they pull their feet up under themselves and clench their fists
together.
Colic is something that doctors actually know very little about. They really
don't know what causes it, but they do have some ideas. One theory is that the
baby takes in air with the milk he drinks which enters the stomach and causes
gastrointestinal pains. The air is ingested when a baby either drinks too
quickly or drinks in gulps.
Other people think that colic is caused by the foods the mother eats. When a
mother breast feeds her child, everything she eats is passed to the baby.
Mothers should not eat very much gas producing foods like onions, orange juice,
cabbage, apples, plums, vegetables, caffeine, chocolate, tea, or spicy foods.
If you are the mother, you can try to vary your diet and see if different foods
make a difference.
Another idea about the cause of colic is that the baby's nervous system is not
fully developed and therefore, can't handle everything going on around them.
They become overwhelmed with all the new surroundings, and begin to cry
nonstop.
Colic is extremely common in newborn babies and has nothing to do with
parenting skills. You can be a great parent and still have a colic baby.
Usually colic disappears by the age of three months.
Although you can't make the colic go away, there are some things that you can
do which will help the baby feel better:
·
Hold the
baby close to you and gently rock it.
·
Get a swing
for the baby that he can rock in.
·
Bring the
baby out for a car ride.
·
Try giving
the baby a pacifier.
·
Give the
baby a warm bath.
·
Turn on
something that makes a monotonous sound, like a fan.
·
Give the
infant Simethicone drops. This will help with the gas pains.
If your newborn has
colic, this is usually nothing to worry about. It will go away on its own. Just
make sure you try the above tips because they can really help the baby.
However, if your baby just cries nonstop or if they begin to vomit, get
diarrhea, or constipation, then make sure you see your doctor because they
could have another more serious problem.
How To Deal With Colic Babies