Facts on Colic

Most bouts of colic (excessive crying or extreme restlessness by your infant) occur during the evening.

In this article:

What is colic?

Symptoms

Causes

Diagnosis

Effect on your life

Treatment

How Chemist Online can help

Advice & Support

What is colic?
Colic (a condition where an infant has repeated bouts of crying, sleeplessness and being demanding) is not an indicator that there may be something physically wrong with your child. You child can be perfectly healthy and still display these behaviours.

Colic usually occurs in new-born babies, but older infants can suffer from colic, too.

The severity of colic in a child can vary from mild to extremely severe.

Understandably, when a baby cries for hours on end this can be very difficult for a parent, guardian or carer to cope with. There is help available for people who find it all too much.

Between bouts of colic, your baby can be calm and placid, and show no signs of restlessness or distress whatsoever.

Symptoms
Symptoms usually disappear when the baby reaches four months.

The symptoms of colic include:

Intense crying for hours on end without there being any apparent cause for upset

Restlessness and sleeplessness

Arching of the back

Drawing up of legs to the tummy

A rumbling sound from the baby’s tummy

Refusal of food at feeding time(s)

Wind

Red complexion

Causes
Despite worldwide medical research, the exact cause of colic is as yet unknown. Some medical professionals suggest that colic may be linked to:

Digestive problems caused by breast milk

Abdominal pain caused by trapped wind

Sensitivity to certain environmental factors (for example, you baby finds it hard to settle at home after leaving hospital)

The sensing of anxiety in the atmosphere (i.e. between parents who are struggling to cope and are at a loss as to know what to do when their baby is excessively crying)

Smoking during pregnancy

Diagnosis
Just about every baby in the world suffers from colic. Most parents accept this and wait for the months to pass, looking forward to when the symptoms finally disappear. However, if you are particularly concerned about your baby, arrange an appointment with your GP or a health visitor. After asking you some questions about diet, sleep, bowel movements and, of course, symptoms, they will examine your baby and then suggest ideas you could try. These may include:

Bathing you baby in warm water to calm them down

Singing softly to your baby

Taking your baby for a short and calming walk in the buggy in your local park

Propping your baby up, holding him/her, and generally giving your baby increased contact to see if the symptoms of colic become reduced as a result.

Effect on your life
Many parents find coping with a baby with colic can be extremely trying and exhausting. Although you may completely understand that your baby’s continual crying for hours on end is due to colic, and that this is something that will pass in time, you may still develop feelings of resentment when it all becomes too difficult to tolerate and leaves you frustrated.

If you feel yourself reaching ‘breaking point’ due to the impact of your baby’s colic, then do not hesitate: seek advice immediately by contacting your GP, or arranging for a health visitor to come to your home to discuss your feelings with you and to advise on how you can cope better with your situation. You can also contact an organisation called CRY-SIS – this is a support group and helpline for families with excessively crying, demanding, and sleepless babies and children. Contact details for CRY-SIS can be found at the Advice and Support section at the foot of this article.

The important thing to remember is that colic is a perfectly natural thing for your baby to have, and you are in no way to blame for your baby’s continual crying due to colic.

Treatment
Although there is no actual cure for colic, many parents find that Simeticone drops or Lactase drops used over a week (as a sort of trial period) can be helpful in reducing symptoms.

How Chemist Online can help
Through this website we have a range of treatments available to buy to help ease the symptoms of colic.


www.chemistonline.co.uk


Advice & Support
CRY-SIS (a support group and helpline for parents and families)
Helpline: 08451 228 669
Website: www.cry-sis.org.uk


This information and advice is not intended to replace the advice of your GP or chemist. Chemist Online is also not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based upon the content of the Chemist Online website. Chemist Online is also not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites.





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