– the most common cause of concern for parents of children. This feature of the condition is observed in children aged from 3 weeks to 4 months. At this age, children can cry and worry, frightening their parents and causing them a lot of anxiety.
Inexperienced mothers begin to run to doctors, expecting to find help. But due to insufficient knowledge of this condition and the reasons that provoke it, modern treatment methods do not bring the desired results.
Most babies suffer from colic.
Infantile colic affects children of both sexes. Approximately 30% of young children suffer from discomfort in.
The word “colic” itself is translated into Russian as “pain in the colon.”
To protect your baby from painful sensations, you need to clearly understand what factors can provoke them. The most common causes of colic in babies are:
It is possible to exclude certain factors only by conducting laboratory diagnostics. Since it is difficult to determine exactly what influenced the baby’s discomfort, we must try to exclude all the reasons listed above, because they are all potentially possible.
However, it is necessary to decide what causes colic in parallel with a deep study of the baby’s condition. After all, signs of something serious can be attributed to this rather harmless behavioral feature.
Prolonged crying indicates colic in the baby.
The following signs will help you navigate the intricacies of the child’s condition and determine whether the baby really has colic and not something else:
To make sure that this is not just crying, you need to carry the baby in your arms, caress him, talk in a calm tone. If there is no response, crying is a consequence of poor condition.
Another indicative sign characteristic of colic will be visible relief after the release of gases or after. But food calms him down for a short time.
If the baby is fed, he will only feel normal while eating. And as soon as the meal is finished, pain will appear in his tummy again, and the baby will report it by crying loudly. The average duration of an attack is 3 hours.
If it has been possible to establish that the child really has colic, you need to understand that after the child reaches 4 months, the colic will subside. Observant people have noticed that in relation to infant colic, the number “3” is important. The pathological condition begins at 3 weeks. The duration of the attack is 3 hours. The condition lasts 3 months.
Massaging the tummy will help eliminate colic.
The causes of colic vary from person to person, so it is necessary to help babies based on the individual characteristics of the body. There is no general treatment regimen.
It is better for parents to try all the methods suggested by experts and stick to those that really help. The most common recommendations are listed below:
TO How to help your baby with colic? It is necessary to provide the child with maximum physical and psychological comfort. It will be easier for him if the conditions around him resemble his mother's tummy. Therefore, it must be worn so that it feels the warmth of its mother.
You can expose his tummy and place it on his mother’s bare belly. It is recommended to rock the baby, and this can be done both in your arms and in cradles with automatic rocking. In the room, you can turn on a recording of natural sounds that are calm and monotonous.
It could be the sound of the surf, rain, waterfall. Often children calm down to the sound of household electrical appliances, for example, to the whirring of a hairdryer. Just the sound should not be loud or harsh.
If you cannot achieve a correct latch on the breast, you can feed your baby expressed milk from a spoon in the evenings. This will help minimize the amount of air you swallow.
Every effort must be made to keep the nursing mother calm and in a good mood. If your efforts fail to return her to a healthy mental state, it is better to turn to specialists.
A breastfeeding woman definitely needs to be reconsidered. After all, it is the harmful foods on her menu that can cause colic in a newborn. Experts recommend creating a nursing menu from the following products:
You should also drink plain still water. The diet is diluted with the products listed below. But their number should be moderate.
The following products were completely banned:
If a nursing mother pulls herself together, she will certainly be able to resolve the situation and bring the baby’s condition back to normal. A complex effect and attentive attitude towards the baby will help you “stand” for up to 4 months, help the baby endure this difficult time and painful sensations.
If the listed methods do not give any result, you need to contact.
Linex is a drug for restoring intestinal microflora.
The pediatrician must be informed about infant colic.
He will examine the child, conduct the necessary examinations, and prescribe treatment. The most commonly prescribed treatment regimen looks something like this.
The wide range of drugs that are given for colic does not mean that this is the only panacea for ills. Many of them cannot help the child at all and alleviate his condition. Therefore, experts believe that the best treatment option is watchful waiting.
You just have to survive these 4 months. Moreover, you should not give the above remedies yourself without a doctor’s prescription. Alternative medicine methods must be used with extreme caution. Before using any method, you should consult your local pediatrician.
After all, it is impossible to independently predict the consequences of the action of certain means. Advice from loved ones cannot be used as an authoritative source of information. After all, each organism is individual. What helps some may harm others.
The most common way to relieve pain in infants with colic is to take medicinal herbal infusions.
This method was used many centuries ago, when loud children’s crying was constantly heard in a house where there was a newborn baby. Using any of the decoctions described below, everyone should understand that they are all imperfect and have their own side effects.
In past centuries there were no other ways to help children, and today turning to traditional medicine is not always justified.
Fennel tea will help get rid of increased gas formation in your baby.
Fennel seeds are brewed with boiling water (one glass per spoon). The composition is infused for 60 minutes.
Then the product is filtered and given to the child one spoon at a time. The drink must be given warm.
The proportions and process are the same as for the fennel potion. For a spoonful of seeds - a glass of boiling water.
You need to infuse the composition for an hour and a half. To simplify the process, sachets purchased at the pharmacy are dipped into boiling water.
Anise seeds are boiled in water. For a glass - half a spoon. The seeds should boil for 10 minutes. Then the product is cooled, filtered, and the resulting anise water is placed in the refrigerator. The child should be given food in small doses: add 3 drops to the water.
When deciding to resort to folk remedies, you must remember that any have a multifaceted effect on the body. Since the child’s body is weak, it is simply impossible to predict the consequences. After all, each medicinal herb is a whole complex of substances that have the ability to actively act on humans.
Since not all babies have colic, it is quite possible to avoid this unpleasant condition if you do not forget about preventive measures.
Having become acquainted with the main causes of unpleasant sensations in the baby’s tummy, we must do everything to minimize the effect of all these factors.
Mom should exclude any foods that cause gas formation. After all, the condition of a breastfed baby almost entirely depends on what the mother eats and what her diet is.
Examine the child for the presence, and if detected, treat. To do this, they are examined under the guidance of a pediatrician. The treatment regimen is determined by a specialist, taking into account all the circumstances. Create the most calm environment possible: eliminate loud sounds, unpleasant intonations in conversation, remove other irritants.
Create emotionally favorable conditions for mom. Only with complete calmness of the nursing wife is the calmness of the baby possible. Ensure proper feeding with gripping of the halo to prevent air ingestion. To do this, vary the posture and position of the baby.
It is unlikely that it will be possible to completely rid a child of colic. But adults can alleviate the baby’s condition and give him the opportunity to be in a comfortable state for at least some time. Following the advice is a help not only to the baby, but also to the parents themselves. It is still easier to prevent possible negative developments than to suffer from the desperate cries of a baby.
You will learn how to help a child with colic from the video.
Colic in newborns means headaches and sleepless nights for moms and dads. Colic is a physiological condition of a small child, an adaptive reaction of the newborn to the environment. They begin around the 2nd week of the baby’s life, reach their peak intensity at 6–8 weeks and gradually disappear by 3–4 months. Occurs in 75% of babies, and 15–25% of them suffer from severe painful colic.
Interesting to know! In 2012, at the Congress of Neurologists of America, scientists from the University of California (San Francisco) presented the findings of a study in which they proved that colic is 2.5 times more common in children whose mothers suffer from migraines.
Colic is not a reason to stop breastfeeding. Mother's milk is the most suitable food for a baby!
Dear mothers, I would like to note that colic is not a reason to stop breastfeeding. Maybe you will be able to choose a mixture that will really save you from the evening cries of the baby, but you must understand that colic is not a disease, it is a normal physiological condition, and no mixture can fully support immunity, resistance to disease, provide the necessary amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. In addition, artificial babies also suffer from colic.
If a child had colic at an early age, this does not mean that at an older age he will be more prone to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This is a normal condition that the child safely outgrows and does not cause any harm to health.
Remove all foods from the diet except: water porridge with added vegetable oil, herbal tea, boiled meat, fish, kefir (up to 0.6 liters per day) and plain yogurt without added sugar, berries, fruits. By eating this way for 2-3 days, you will notice that your baby will become calmer in the evenings.
On a note! Nursing mothers who drink at least 1/2 liter of kefir per day have babies much less likely to suffer from colic.
From the 3rd day we begin to introduce one new product per day. It is better to try cottage cheese or cheese first, as they are extremely necessary for the body of a nursing mother. Don’t be surprised if these products are not suitable for your baby: it has already been proven that they can cause excessive gas formation in the intestines. We try in small quantities (10–20 g) and only in the morning, i.e. before 11 o’clock: if this new product causes colic in the baby, then by 22:00–23:00 it will have passed and the family can sleep peacefully all night. If the baby develops colic in the evening due to the introduced product, then we remove it from our diet for a month.
On the 4th day, if everything was fine in the evening of the third day, you can try the same product to be sure. Or you can try something new. And so you continue until you have introduced into your diet all the foods that you ate before giving birth.
Carefully! You should not introduce several products in one day, otherwise you will not understand which of them did not suit the child. And reassure yourself that in 4 months you will be able to eat any food.
The list of products presented below is based on a survey of breastfeeding women; these products can cause severe colic in the smallest amounts:
Go to it if all of the above does not bring results.
Recipe for dill water:
1 tsp. dill seeds or fennel fruits are poured with one glass of boiling water, left for 30 minutes, after which the broth is filtered. A fresh decoction should be prepared every day. Give approximately 3 tsp per day.
Under the age of 6 months, a child does not know how to be capricious or do something out of spite; if he screams, this is a request for help! Approach your baby with understanding, give him more affection and love, follow the tips listed above, communicate on the forums of young parents (after all, only parents are able to find the most unpredictable methods of treating their baby, which doctors could not guess), and your family will have peace and love reign.
The program “Dr. Komarovsky’s School” will tell you about the causes of colic and how to get rid of them:
Colic and gas in infants are a temporary phenomenon, but cause a lot of trouble and anxiety. Typically, a child experiences colic from the second half of the first month of a baby’s life until 2-3 months, sometimes longer or later. During the day - rarely or weakly, in the morning and at night - stronger, and in the evening - most often and painfully. Whether it’s daily or not depends on different things.
When there is pain in the abdomen, the baby behaves restlessly: he tightens his legs, straightens them tensely; may squeak, scream, refuse to eat.
If the tummy is hard and hurts, then young parents cannot always cope with it easily. But after giving birth, it is important for a mother to get a good night’s sleep, rest, and feel calm and confident.
Once upon a time, my husband and I didn’t know how to help our baby - we chronically didn’t get enough sleep and didn’t have time to do anything! The visiting nurse advised giving the child dill water, which had to be first ordered at the pharmacy. It often helps - you can use it with confidence!
They also applied it to the tummy warm diaper, warm cottage cheese or grated beets. It helped well. By the way, some people still prefer such a folk remedy as a warm compress of grated beet. Give it a try.
Wash the beets, pour boiling water over them, and grate them on a coarse grater. Squeeze lightly and wrap in gauze or diaper. Apply it warm to your tummy, cover it with parchment or something waterproof, and secure it on top with a vest, blouse, bodysuit, diaper - whatever is comfortable for you. Just be careful - things don't wash out. You can keep the compress for a long time until it dries.
Cottage cheese is even easier to use. It is very easy to apply a diaper heated with an iron or on a radiator.
Be sure to check that it is warm and not hot.
We put the bundle on the lid of a warm dish in the kitchen, heated it and wrapped it again.
It was easier with my second daughter - we learned to use a “gas tube.” It was problematic to buy it, so the acquisition was considered a great success smooth tip pipettes. The rubber band was thrown away, and the glass part was carefully used. Sometimes she helped out well, helping the baby pass gas and fart, and sometimes not so much.
How to use? - Place the child on his left side or on his back, tuck his legs. Insert the smooth tip of the pipette, lightly lubricated with Vaseline oil, into the anus. Sometimes a lot of gas passes at once, sometimes the child starts pooping mixed with gases. Fix the pipette firmly with dry fingers. You can move it a little, irritating the anus.
In my opinion, this is a very gentle method. You can just massage the anus with a clean finger lubricated with baby butt cream. For some, this is enough.
With the next ones, twins, there were no problems at all. We were already very good at doing tummy massages. In especially difficult cases, they could give an enema. All comes with experience.
However, even what we learned then, about thirty years ago, I would now reject, having adopted new knowledge.
Currently, despite the fact that there are a lot of materials available, not everyone can successfully cope with the problems of regurgitation and colic. Perhaps the strangest thing for me in this matter is that today, as in Soviet times, some of the medical staff advise using far from the best methods.
I mean gas tubes, yes, especially enemas, which cause great harm to the intestinal microflora of a little person.
A nursing mother should adjust her diet. You should not eat multi-ingredient foods (for example, cake), hot, smoked, spicy, fried foods, as well as those that cause flatulence. Milk and sweets should be limited, the amount of liquid should be increased. It is better to eat everything homemade and not buy semi-finished products.
There is no need to get too hung up on various kinds of restrictions; fanaticism is inappropriate here. Nutrition should be as simple as possible, but varied, without excesses in favor of any one or two products. If you occasionally want something you can’t do, then it’s better to eat a little, I think, than to drool.
There is no point in observing restrictions throughout the entire feeding period; it is better to loosen them little by little.
Mom should get enough sleep and walk in the fresh air. It is advisable to accept any help from loved ones in order to be calm and well rested.
Before each feeding, try to place the newborn on his tummy on a hard surface or on your lap, stroking his back and talking to him tenderly. While he is small, he can lie like this for a little while, help him.
Please note that a very tiny baby often reflexively scatters his hands. Frightened, he begins to cry. Immediately take his hands in yours, limiting his freedom, as in the womb. He calms down quickly! At such moments, you can give him a fetal position by pulling his legs towards his tummy.
You should regularly perform tummy massages between feedings, or 15-20 minutes before feeding, which are shown to every young mother by a visiting nurse. This is very important for relaxing the abdominal muscles, reducing intra-abdominal pressure, and eliminating gases naturally. If you learn how to perform them, you will not have to resort to extreme measures - gas tubes and, especially, enemas. Unpleasant phenomena will decrease and soon disappear altogether.
Most often, babies' tummies hurt in the afternoon, evening, or closer to night. You need to help the baby relax his abdominal muscles so that he can fart safely. To do this, lay him on his back and, talking tenderly, place a warm diaper folded in several layers on his tummy, which you can then lightly squeeze with your palms or massage in a clockwise direction. In the first month of a baby’s life, it’s not so much a massage as light stroking.
After working with your tummy, press your legs with your knees towards your stomach several times - together or alternately. Nothing should be done through force, but only after achieving relaxation. How? - Affection, tenderness, confidence in the voice.
You can teach your baby to a very useful position. To do this, we connect the baby’s soles (as if making “hands-on-hands” with his feet), simultaneously lifting them to the navel. The shins lie parallel to the small of the back, and the butt sticks out like a diving gosling. Press the soles of both legs with your palms in this way to your stomach, hold for a minute or two.
In this position, he rests, relaxes, can fart, and even poop sometimes. Therefore, lift the edge of the disposable diaper on which the baby is lying, covering your clothes so as not to stain them (why do you need extra washing?).
Talk to your child constantly, hum - just always quietly, gently. Never try to talk over him. Children scream louder the louder the people around them talk. On the contrary, the quieter you behave, the faster, after shouting, as if complaining to you, the baby will begin to listen to you. Moreover, each time you become more attentive, and then a smile is just around the corner! And soon it will begin to gurgle, calling out to you.
The baby begins to writhe, tuck his legs, - don’t wait for a cry, but quickly, but carefully, put him on his back. Start with the feet, with the legs - perhaps your baby will allow your palms to his painful tummy faster. There is no need to delay the process. Your goal is the tummy. They stroked, massaged, turned the baby onto his stomach, and stroked his back affectionately.
Twist and twirl it more often, but carefully, gently, so that he likes it. If he doesn’t perceive songs and speech well, distract the baby with different sounds that are interesting to him: coo, babble, hum, come up with anything. Don't be silent, otherwise he will scream.
Work out with him on the fitball. You can immediately use a fitball instead of a massage. Don't be afraid to experiment. The child is yours and only you can choose the method that suits your baby. Perhaps he will enjoy swinging on the ball for a couple of days, and then he won’t let him do it for a week. Well then, adapt to it, “agree”. He studies the world around him, you, himself, his sensations, which change from day to day, as his internal organs and systems grow, changing their ratio, location and functions, taking on an increasing load.
If the baby is calm, you can walk around the apartment with him, placing his stomach on your hand, back up, holding him with your other hand. This is what dads often wear - they are strong, their palms are wide. You can carry the baby on his tummy in both palms, holding him close to you and turning his head so that he “looks around” and let his legs hang down.
Press both legs, foot to foot, and lift to the navel, to the tummy. In this position, pressing the baby with his back to you, you can carry the baby for a long time, performing the necessary household chores, moving him first to the left, then to the right. It is very comfortable. It is advisable to involve dad in this so that mom doesn’t overstrain her spine from constant stress.
When dad is resting, let him press the baby’s bare belly to his bare chest or stomach - the warmth causes the muscles to relax and the pain to subside. Post it to yourself more often. Such contact is very useful. Sometimes just one is enough to relieve colic.
Don't be afraid to mess around with your little one. Be bolder, look for your own ways.
Don't overheat your baby, expose it more often, especially the lower part of the body. Give him freedom of movement more often. If you swaddle his arms for sleep so that he doesn’t wake himself up, then leave his legs free.
There are different opinions about overfeeding. Some experts say that it is simply unrealistic to overfeed a baby. Even if he gains up to 2 kg per month, he will still lose it when he begins to actively develop. And others do not advise overfeeding.
Bathing and swimming in a large bathtub help very well.
If your baby is bottle-fed, try using Dr.Brown's anti-colic bottles.
It is important to constantly talk and hum. The baby will remain calm longer, hearing his native voice, even if you are vacuuming in another room. And you, in turn, will be more free. Independence or helplessness of a person is laid down from birth, according to my observations.
You can play calm music for your baby, but you should carefully select the repertoire. Over time, you may notice which melody or tune he prefers, falls asleep better, lies calmly in the crib, even if he is not sleeping.
This is such a vicious circle. The closer and closer you are to your child, the faster he becomes self-confident. The main thing is trust. If he believes in you, he will believe in himself. She will develop better and more correctly, learn to be independent earlier, and give you a chance to become a happy mother. If there is peace and grace in the family from the very beginning, then the baby’s nervous system will not be harmed and you will approach the preparation of the next test - teething - smoothly, meeting the teeth much easier and calmer.
Especially for the article, I watched a lot of videos with massages for babies in the first three months of life and gave preference to this one. I suggest you watch it and learn completely simple, but very useful techniques.
Only as a last resort, in my opinion, gas tubes, enemas and medications, be sure to consult with your pediatrician. At the same time, remember that any medicines are chemicals, even those based on herbs. In addition, according to various sources, fakes now range from 50 to 80%. Do you need it?
For bottle-fed babies, the doctor will likely choose the most appropriate nutrition. They are more likely to experience constipation and the troubles described above than those who grow up on mother's milk.
Here you will read about how to properly feed a baby so that he does not take in a lot of air, and how to remove this air from the stomach so that his tummy does not hurt.
Intestinal colic is one of the most pressing problems in the first months of a baby’s life. Intestinal colic is the name given to abdominal pain associated with increased gas formation in the child’s intestines. This is due to the adaptation of the baby’s gastrointestinal tract to the new conditions of postnatal development. The child begins to show restlessness, which usually ends in uncontrollable, prolonged crying. The first colic in infants may appear after 2-4 weeks after birth and usually resolves by 3 months. Colic occurs in completely healthy children who have a good appetite and normal development.
ATTENTION, if a nursing mother during breastfeeding drinks teas containing fennel, cumin, lemon balm, anise, then colic in infants can be completely avoided! Keep this in mind!
It is better for a nursing mother who is breastfeeding to exclude from her diet:
(See the article on nutrition and what a nursing woman can eat - read the article)
If the occurrence of colic is associated with the listed products, then after eliminating them from the diet, the mother will experience colic. disappear within 1-2 days after their exclusion.
With colic, a newborn baby will be helped by the following methods that parents can do at home on their own without going to the doctor:
Despite the anxiety and concern, parents must understand that colic and gassy are common in newborns, and to This will pass in 3-4 months, because By this time, the child’s gastrointestinal tract will be quite well developed.
We also read:
The digestive system in infants is not fully formed, for this reason, children in the first three months of life may feel discomfort associated with the accumulation of gases in the intestines, which provoke colic. This problem has physiological causes, does not require special treatment, and, as a rule, goes away on its own by three months. The task of parents is to prevent the occurrence of colic, in all available ways, and to alleviate the baby’s condition if pain in the tummy does occur.
Babies express their feelings and needs by crying. The cause of crying can be fear, boredom, discomfort from wet diapers, hunger, changes in ambient temperature and pain. The source of anxiety can be determined by the intensity of the crying, its intonation and the baby’s characteristic behavior. So, in case of pain, the baby’s cry is sharp and piercing, and does not stop after the child is picked up. The child may refuse food and not respond to soothing words or lulling.
Pain syndrome in infants occurs most often with otitis media, intracranial pressure, infectious diseases accompanied by inflammatory processes, as well as various pathologies of the digestive system. Therefore, only a doctor can determine what exactly is hurting a baby.
If the baby has a normal temperature, there are no signs of intoxication of the body and visible inflammatory reactions, and sharp crying is replaced by periods of calm, when the baby walks, sleeps normally, eats with appetite and gains weight, infant colic is diagnosed. Colic is an attack of intense pain caused by increased gas formation and stretching of the intestinal walls, resulting in spasm.
The main symptoms of colic are:
Unfortunately, not only gases can bother a baby; some pathological conditions of the digestive system, accompanied by pain in the abdomen, are potentially dangerous to the health and life of the baby. Parents should know how certain diseases manifest themselves in order to promptly seek medical help.
If a child, in addition to the signs characteristic of infant colic, has other symptoms indicated in the table, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Colic in infants appears in the third week of life and stops when the baby is three months old. The main reason for their occurrence is called functional immaturity of the digestive system, which leads to increased gas formation in the intestines.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the appearance of infant colic, as well as influencing their intensity and duration:
Pediatricians, including Dr. Komarovsky, are inclined to believe that infant colic is a temporary phenomenon that simply needs to be endured. However, there are a number of recommendations that, if followed, can prevent the appearance of abdominal pain or relieve the symptoms of colic in infants. Before performing them, you should make sure that the cause of crying and discomfort was colic, and not other pathologies of the digestive system, the treatment of which requires medical attention.
How to help a baby?
Abdominal massage for colic
Another effective way to eliminate infant colic is to massage the tummy, which relaxes spasming muscles, stimulates peristalsis, the release of gases and eliminates pain due to the release of gases and accelerating blood circulation.
It’s very easy to do this massage yourself, just follow some rules:
Tummy massage for colic - video
Gymnastics for constipation and increased gas formation
It is better to do gymnastics immediately after bathing, when muscle tone is relaxed and the child is in the mood for communication. If the baby is very tired, wants to sleep or eat, it is better to refuse gymnastics, since there will be no positive result from such activities.
Medicines for colic and abdominal pain
For severe abdominal pain caused by increased gas formation, drugs based on simethicone are used; such drugs are not absorbed into the blood, do not accumulate in the body and are not addictive. Simethicone helps eliminate gas bubbles during flatulence by reducing their surface tension. The gases that are released can be either absorbed by the intestinal walls or excreted naturally, thanks to intestinal peristalsis. Most often, pediatricians prescribe the following safe drugs:
Herbal preparations that reduce gas formation in infants:
If the cause of abdominal pain in an infant is associated with changes in the intestinal microflora, probiotics are prescribed:
In case of enzyme deficiency, the doctor may prescribe medications containing the enzymes amylase, protease, and lipase. Such medicines improve the digestion of food, eliminate constipation and flatulence. Enzyme-containing products are unsafe because they can be addictive, and if they are abruptly discontinued, they can provoke inflammation of the pancreas. The most commonly used medications are:
Medications for colic - photo gallery
Pain may occur due to the mother's failure to follow a special diet. So, the list of prohibited foods that should not be consumed by a woman breastfeeding a baby includes:
In the first months of breastfeeding, the mother's diet is very limited, however, gradually, the menu can be expanded, adding new dishes to it. It is important to keep a food diary so that if your baby develops digestive disorders, you can know exactly what caused the malaise.
Medicines, although considered safe for babies, however, in addition to simethicone, contain additional components (flavors and sweeteners), which, if used frequently, can cause diathesis in the baby. For this reason, many parents resort to equally effective folk remedies to eliminate the symptoms of flatulence and abdominal pain in infants. The easiest to prepare and time-tested are decoctions made from chamomile flowers, dill seeds or fennel.
If such products are used by a nursing mother, then the likelihood of colic in the baby is reduced by half.
Infant colic is not a disease - it is a physiological process of development of the digestive system that does not require special treatment. Taking medications only briefly relieves the symptoms of pain, without eliminating the root cause of their occurrence. Pediatricians note that there is no universal remedy for getting rid of colic; some babies are helped by massage and a warm bath, others only by medications, and others are distracted from pain and calm down at the first sounds of the rhythmic hum of household appliances.
When an infant exhibits abdominal pain, it is important to exclude other causes of its occurrence, since an incorrect diagnosis can lead to complications. Thus, warming the tummy with a heating pad is contraindicated in case of inflammatory processes in the body, and taking medications based on simethicone can harm the baby with intestinal obstruction. Therefore, at the first signs of abdominal pain, parents should not prescribe treatment on their own, but be sure to show the child to a pediatrician.
It is impossible to prevent the occurrence of infant colic; this is the path that all parents and children must go through, however, by eliminating the factors that contribute to its occurrence, the frequency and intensity of the pain syndrome can be significantly reduced.
Methods for preventing colic in infants are:
Colic is normal in babies and requires a little patience and common sense from parents. Modern medicine has not yet found an intelligible answer to the question - why does colic occur in babies? As well as remedies that are 100% effective in eliminating this pain syndrome.
New parents are often concerned about the reasons for their baby's crying. One of them is colic in a newborn, so it is important to know the symptoms and effective treatments. This problem is faced by most mothers and fathers who are frightened by their screaming babies. Colic can appear in babies who are fed breast milk and in those children who are bottle-fed.
According to statistics, 80% of children suffer from this disease. Infant colic is associated with the appearance of intestinal gases, which cause pain. Until they leave the body, the child cries and is capricious. Colic occurs in completely healthy children and often does not affect loss of appetite or weight gain. However, they cause a lot of discomfort for both children and their parents.
Colic is accompanied by severe pain in the intestines, so the first sign of its appearance is considered to be capricious behavior and crying of the baby. When babies suffer from colic, some try to “bite” the hand, while others begin to wave their upper limbs and arch desperately. In this case, the following signs of colic in newborns may appear:
Pediatricians cannot reliably determine why gases occur in infants. However, there are a number of theories:
Due to the incorrect diet of a nursing mother, gases can also form. To eliminate colic, you should exclude the following foods from your diet:
No matter how worried parents are about their baby’s crying and would like to save him from the problem, it is worth accepting the fact that it cannot be avoided. This is a harmless and inevitable symptom that goes away on its own over time. Intestinal colic in newborns begins in the third week of life. They finally pass by the time the baby reaches three months of age..
When colic continues for several weeks, it can lead to other intestinal disorders: diarrhea, regurgitation, vomiting. If even with treatment with special means the symptoms do not go away, it means that they may be caused by another disease. If there is a prolonged period of recurring colic in newborns, you should consult a doctor. Another reason to go to the doctor is gas flow, which lasts a significant amount of time - more than 4 hours.
Several treatment methods can relieve symptoms and relieve pain. Tummy massage is recognized as an effective way to help a baby with colic. To do this, place the baby on a hard surface before feeding. Lightly stroke your tummy in a clockwise direction. Massage should be performed daily, then there will be a good effect.
Medicines and traditional methods of treatment can help calm the child. To remove gases, you can use a special tube or an enema. The end of the device must be inserted into the anus lubricated with Vaseline no more than 2 centimeters. After using an enema or gas tube, you need to be prepared for the child's possible bowel movement.
With infant gas, time and patience will help. It is worth understanding that it is painful, but not fatal, you just need to wait out the attacks of pain. It is important for a child to know that his parents are nearby. Close contact with the mother can help calm the baby; for this, you can lay the baby on his stomach. If the symptoms become constant over several days, then medications can help relieve them.
When colic appears in a baby, it is very important to treat it with the help of the special medications prescribed by the pediatrician. You can't do it without qualified help. The drugs are divided into several groups, each of which has a different mechanism for treating intestinal gas. In the presence of prolonged painful spasms, it is recommended to take Nurofena.
Simethicone medications are aimed at combating gas, they destroy the membrane of the vesicles and help eliminate colic. One of these means is Espumisan. This is an emulsion that is not absorbed by the intestines, but acts inside it on gases, the elimination of which leads to a reduction in bloating and pain. 25-30 drops should be given to little girls and boys to help relieve gas.
Bobotik reduces pain symptoms due to the active substance – simethicone, which is not absorbed in the intestines. Acting internally, it comes out unchanged with feces, without being absorbed into the bloodstream. If a child suffers from colic, then give 8 drops of medicine. Infacol helps reduce intestinal spasms by combining gases and promoting their natural release. Newborns are prescribed 0.5 ml of the drug. The advantage of simethicone-based products (Espumizan, Bobotik, Infacol) is that they are not absorbed into the blood and have a systemic effect.
Newborns do not yet have their own intestinal microflora. They receive beneficial bacteria through breastfeeding. To speed up the colonization of intestinal microflora, you can use probiotics. These drugs are prescribed by the doctor as a specific course of treatment, which must be completed with a specified dosage and duration. These drugs include: Acipol, Linex for children, Bifidumbacterin Forte, Bifiform Baby.
When colic bothers you, you can use herbal preparations. They help eliminate attacks of intestinal spasms. One of them - Plantex. This product is based on dry extract and fennel oil and lactose. One sachet of medicine is dissolved in liquid and given to the baby. The advantage is that it is of plant origin, but the disadvantage is that it cannot be used if you are allergic to lactose.
Traditional methods are good because they are completely environmentally friendly and safe for the child; they are easy to try at home, without having any special means at hand. A good auxiliary remedy when colic begins in a baby is a warm compress. To do this, you need to heat the sheet with an iron. Next, warm swaddling of the baby’s belly is done. A mother can treat bloating this way: place a sheet on her torso, and place the baby on top of a warm cloth.
These methods are good because they are based on natural ingredients.. Dill water, a tincture of fennel seeds, is recognized as an effective folk remedy. To do this, pour 250 g of dry extract with a glass of boiling water for 40-45 minutes, then filter and cool. The warm tincture is given to the child to drink after feeding. Another equally effective remedy is the use of nutmeg. It must be grated. The resulting gruel is used to lubricate the nipple before feeding. A medicinal bath with chamomile decoction also helps.
In order not to fight the problem, you can try to prevent it. Methods to help avoid colic in babies:
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The digestive system in infants is not fully formed, for this reason, children in the first three months of life may feel discomfort associated with the accumulation of gases in the intestines, which provoke colic. This problem has physiological causes, does not require special treatment, and, as a rule, goes away on its own by three months. The task of parents is to prevent the occurrence of colic, in all available ways, and to alleviate the baby’s condition if pain in the tummy does occur.
Babies express their feelings and needs by crying. The cause of crying can be fear, boredom, discomfort from wet diapers, hunger, changes in ambient temperature and pain. The source of anxiety can be determined by the intensity of the crying, its intonation and the baby’s characteristic behavior. So, in case of pain, the baby’s cry is sharp and piercing, and does not stop after the child is picked up. The child may refuse food and not respond to soothing words or lulling.
Pain syndrome in infants occurs most often with otitis media, intracranial pressure, infectious diseases accompanied by inflammatory processes, as well as various pathologies of the digestive system. Therefore, only a doctor can determine what exactly is hurting a baby.
If the baby has a normal temperature, there are no signs of intoxication of the body and visible inflammatory reactions, and sharp crying is replaced by periods of calm, when the baby walks, sleeps normally, eats with appetite and gains weight, infant colic is diagnosed. Colic is an attack of intense pain caused by increased gas formation and stretching of the intestinal walls, resulting in spasm.
The main symptoms of colic are:
Unfortunately, not only gases can bother a baby; some pathological conditions of the digestive system, accompanied by pain in the abdomen, are potentially dangerous to the health and life of the baby. Parents should know how certain diseases manifest themselves in order to promptly seek medical help.
Pathology | Possible reasons | Symptoms and manifestations |
The intestinal microflora of newborns is in the process of formation. Any changes in the diet of a nursing mother can affect the digestive processes. When bottle-fed, babies experience a lack of beneficial bacteria, and physiological dysbiosis can last longer than in infants. Concomitant factors affecting the qualitative and quantitative composition of microflora include the use of antibiotics in the treatment of a baby or a nursing mother. | Unstable stool - greenish diarrhea with mucus may be replaced by constipation. The child is restless, refuses food, and loses weight. After feeding, regurgitation, rumbling in the intestines and bloating are possible. | |
Lactase deficiency | Lack or deficiency of the lactase enzyme, which is involved in the breakdown of milk sugar. The pathology can be congenital with a genetic predisposition, as well as acquired. The secondary form occurs in children born before the 24th week of pregnancy, as well as when the baby is overfed. | Milk sugar (lactose) is not digested and disrupts the intestinal microflora, causing fermentation and impaired intestinal motility. FN is accompanied by bloating, rumbling, belching or vomiting after feeding. If severe diarrhea and vomiting occur, symptoms of dehydration may appear and develop rapidly. This condition is dangerous for the baby's life. |
Allergic reaction | It occurs with the early introduction of complementary foods, as well as if new food is introduced during the period of illness, when the baby’s immune system is activated. In newborns, food allergies can occur when the nursing mother does not follow the diet. | Indigestion is accompanied by diarrhea, abdominal pain and skin rashes. |
Constipation | In breastfed children, constipation occurs when the body is dehydrated or the mother's milk is high in fat. Artificial people are more susceptible to the disease. A mixture that is too thick or inappropriate can cause constipation, accompanied by cramping. | Constipation in a breastfed baby is considered to be a prolonged absence of stool, accompanied by restlessness in the baby. The child, when trying to have a bowel movement, strains and turns red. With constipation, stool is defragmented and has a dense consistency. |
Intestinal obstruction | In infants, the main cause of intestinal obstruction is volvulus or pinching of the intestine, which is associated with impaired peristalsis. In some cases, obstruction occurs due to a tumor or the presence of intestinal abnormalities, as well as severe constipation. |
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Acute intestinal infection due to infection with various types of Shigella. |
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If a child, in addition to the signs characteristic of infant colic, has other symptoms indicated in the table, you should immediately consult a doctor.
For infant colic, the rule of “three” applies - they appear in the third week of life, last three hours a day, three days a week and go away on their own as soon as the baby is three months old
Colic in infants appears in the third week of life and stops when the baby is three months old. The main reason for their occurrence is called functional immaturity of the digestive system, which leads to increased gas formation in the intestines.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the appearance of infant colic, as well as influencing their intensity and duration:
Improper feeding is one of the most important factors in the occurrence of colic. Inappropriate or thick formula, a large hole in the nipple, incorrect inclination, large portions - all this leads to increased gas formation and abdominal pain
Pediatricians, including Dr. Komarovsky, are inclined to believe that infant colic is a temporary phenomenon that simply needs to be endured. However, there are a number of recommendations that, if followed, can prevent the appearance of abdominal pain or relieve the symptoms of colic in infants. Before performing them, you should make sure that the cause of crying and discomfort was colic, and not other pathologies of the digestive system, the treatment of which requires medical attention.
How to help a baby?
This heating pad emits heat at the optimal temperature and eliminates cramps.
Modern gas outlet tubes have a retainer that does not allow the tip to penetrate deeply and prevents injury to the rectum
Warm water and a feeling of weightlessness relaxes the baby and promotes better removal of gases
Tactile contact with the mother's skin eliminates infant colic and calms the baby
Abdominal massage for colic
Another effective way to eliminate infant colic is to massage the tummy, which relaxes spasming muscles, stimulates peristalsis, the release of gases and eliminates pain due to the release of gases and accelerating blood circulation.
It’s very easy to do this massage yourself, just follow some rules:
Tummy massage for colic - video
Gymnastics for constipation and increased gas formation
It is better to do gymnastics immediately after bathing, when muscle tone is relaxed and the child is in the mood for communication. If the baby is very tired, wants to sleep or eat, it is better to refuse gymnastics, since there will be no positive result from such activities.
Medicines for colic and abdominal pain
For severe abdominal pain caused by increased gas formation, drugs based on simethicone are used; such drugs are not absorbed into the blood, do not accumulate in the body and are not addictive. Simethicone helps eliminate gas bubbles during flatulence by reducing their surface tension. The gases that are released can be either absorbed by the intestinal walls or excreted naturally, thanks to intestinal peristalsis. Most often, pediatricians prescribe the following safe drugs:
Herbal preparations that reduce gas formation in infants:
If the cause of abdominal pain in an infant is associated with changes in the intestinal microflora, probiotics are prescribed:
In case of enzyme deficiency, the doctor may prescribe medications containing the enzymes amylase, protease, and lipase. Such medicines improve the digestion of food, eliminate constipation and flatulence. Enzyme-containing products are unsafe because they can be addictive, and if they are abruptly discontinued, they can provoke inflammation of the pancreas. The most commonly used medications are:
Medications for colic - photo gallery
Espumisan L
Plantex
Bifiform baby
Lactazar
Pain may occur due to the mother's failure to follow a special diet. So, the list of prohibited foods that should not be consumed by a woman breastfeeding a baby includes:
In the first months of breastfeeding, the mother's diet is very limited, however, gradually, the menu can be expanded, adding new dishes to it. It is important to keep a food diary so that if your baby develops digestive disorders, you can know exactly what caused the malaise.
Medicines, although considered safe for babies, however, in addition to simethicone, contain additional components (flavors and sweeteners), which, if used frequently, can cause diathesis in the baby. For this reason, many parents resort to equally effective folk remedies to eliminate the symptoms of flatulence and abdominal pain in infants. The easiest to prepare and time-tested are decoctions made from chamomile flowers, dill seeds or fennel.
Name | Ingredients | How to cook | How to give to a baby | Indications |
Dill water |
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| Dill water is given to the child 10 minutes before meals, 3 times a day. |
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Fennel seed infusion |
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| A decoction of fennel seeds is given to the baby 1 teaspoon before each feeding. |
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Chamomile decoction |
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| Chamomile decoction is given in the intervals between feedings, 1 tsp three times a day. In the summer, you can dilute the decoction with boiled and cooled water and give it as herbal tea. | Chamomile helps eliminate inflammation and activates the digestive system. |
If such products are used by a nursing mother, then the likelihood of colic in the baby is reduced by half.
Infant colic is not a disease - it is a physiological process of development of the digestive system that does not require special treatment. Taking medications only briefly relieves the symptoms of pain, without eliminating the root cause of their occurrence. Pediatricians note that there is no universal remedy for getting rid of colic; some babies are helped by massage and a warm bath, others only by medications, and others are distracted from pain and calm down at the first sounds of the rhythmic hum of household appliances.
When an infant exhibits abdominal pain, it is important to exclude other causes of its occurrence, since an incorrect diagnosis can lead to complications. Thus, warming the tummy with a heating pad is contraindicated in case of inflammatory processes in the body, and taking medications based on simethicone can harm the baby with intestinal obstruction. Therefore, at the first signs of abdominal pain, parents should not prescribe treatment on their own, but be sure to show the child to a pediatrician.
It is impossible to prevent the occurrence of infant colic; this is the path that all parents and children must go through, however, by eliminating the factors that contribute to its occurrence, the frequency and intensity of the pain syndrome can be significantly reduced.
Methods for preventing colic in infants are:
There is no point in misleading new parents about infant colic: you must immediately accept the fact that colic in a newborn is a painful but normal phenomenon for which there is currently no cure. At its core, infant colic is severe abdominal pain. That is why the baby cries and screams so shrilly that the whole entrance is worried about him. However, even in this difficult situation, there is something to console yourself with: firstly, the child’s colic goes away on its own over time. Secondly, there are several methods that theoretically help relieve pain during colic.
Young children - newborns and infants - often scream, which brings a flood of stressful experiences to their loved ones. The most common cause of infant crying is colic. Simply due to the fact that by the nature of colic in infants there is nothing more than pain. More precisely, severe, “blatant” pain in the abdomen that repeats for some time.
An amazing fact: as long as humanity has existed, it has been dealing with infant colic for as long. However, medical science still cannot accurately describe the nature of the occurrence of these very colics - neither in a newborn, nor in a child several months older (whose gastrointestinal tract system is already somewhat stronger and more adapted).
The most common hypothesis about the cause of colic in infants says that the culprit is the air that the baby, willy-nilly, swallows during feeding or when crying loudly.
This air, entering the “bowels” of the child, compresses the fragile walls of the stomach and intestines, thereby causing hellish pain. Then the baby screams all over the area as loud as he can. As a rule, an attack of intestinal colic in a newborn ends after 3-4 hours, in a baby 2-3 months old - after 1.5-2 hours.
The only thing that doctors were able to clarify in more or less detail are the circumstances that (theoretically!) can provoke the occurrence of colic in newborns and infants, and most likely simply increase their duration and pain:
The baby does not latch onto the nipple correctly when feeding(and the artificial baby “has” a formula horn that is not suitable for him) - in other words, there is a “low-quality” feeding technique. In this case, the baby swallows a large amount of air, which, even if it does not directly cause colic, definitely increases its painful course.
After feeding, you did not give the baby the opportunity to burp excess air from the stomach, so this air went towards the “back door”, through the intestines, squeezing the walls and causing unbearable pain in the baby.
The baby spends too much time lying down, due to which the digestion process (including gas formation and the passage of air through the intestines) causes additional discomfort, a feeling of heaviness and pain. Still, no one has canceled such a wonderful physical phenomenon as gravity. When we spend almost half of our day in an upright position, the natural passage of “food” through the intestines resembles a slightly slower descent of an obese tourist down a winding water park slide. Now imagine that we place both the slide and the tourist in a horizontal plane - how long and how difficult will it be for him to crawl to the finish line? Of course, a newborn baby is still deprived of the joys of solid and varied nutrition, however, his intestines are never empty. And what is in it (including air) passes through the vertical intestine much easier and faster than through the horizontal one.
The child cries a lot. This is the real trap. Experiencing severe pain from colic, a newborn baby, of course, screams and cries. But, opening his mouth wide, bursting into tears and roaring, he inevitably swallows more and more portions of air. Which, in turn, can cause further attacks of colic.
The child is overfed. If a child eats an amount of food that he is not able to digest (in other words, you overfed him), then in his intestines the remains of food that lacked enzymes begin to ferment - a larger amount of gases appears, pressing on the intestinal walls. In other words, infant colic occurs.
Symptoms of infant colic mainly come down to certain behavioral characteristics of a newborn or infant. The main feature is loud screaming and crying, which begins suddenly and can stop just as unexpectedly. Often, in infants, colic generally occurs “by the clock,” starting 20-30 minutes after evening feeding and suddenly stopping on average 3 hours later.
The classic behavior of a baby during colic is a loud cry, crying, clenched fists and legs tucked up.
In any case, you must understand that the symptoms of colic are nothing more than symptoms of pain. And every person - even a tiny one - has their own. Some children may try to “bite” the hand, others may actively “wave” their arms and kick their legs, some desperately arch their backs, etc. After all, when you yourself are in unbearable pain, you also do not behave “according to a strictly described scheme,” right?
And one more important point for parents: colic in newborns and infants is a conclusion that only a doctor can make. Because infant colic itself always refers to the so-called diagnosis of exclusion. In other words: if your child suddenly howls and nothing can even console him, you should show him to the pediatrician.
During the examination, the doctor must understand that the baby is screaming not because it itches unbearably, and not because the ear “explodes” from “shooting,” and not because... And only after eliminating all possible variants of ailments, the doctor can assume that the baby's siren does not stop due to stomach and intestinal colic.
Treatment methods for colic in a newborn and an older baby are approximately the same. All of them are aimed solely at ridding the baby of a painful symptom - the pain will disappear, and the problem itself will disappear.
Alas, the situation around infant colic is such that it is sometimes impossible to separate safe and effective methods of “treating” it from ineffective advertising propaganda or even theories built, like sand castles, literally out of nothing. Let us give as an example several hypotheses about the origin of colic in newborns and infants, which in turn gave rise to corresponding treatment methods - most often simply ineffective, but sometimes unsafe for the health of the baby.
So, rescue measures from infant colic, which stem from unproven hypotheses regarding the causes of colic in infants, cannot in any way be considered adequate and effective. In other words - by radically changing the diet of a nursing mother, selecting medications for dysbiosis, any additional enzymes or drugs that help digest lactose - you are doing amateur activities that not only will not help in getting rid of colic in the baby’s stomach, but can also cause potential damage baby's health.
Isn’t it better to use proven methods of “treating” colic, which are advised to parents by experienced doctors? Without guaranteeing, of course, that this will certainly “work” (remember, until the nature of colic is determined, no method of getting rid of it can be considered 100% effective and correct), but assuring worried moms and dads that these methods are completely safe. You can even safely “overdo it” with them - there will be no harm to the child’s health from your efforts.
Despite the fact that the modern pharmacological market is literally inundated with remedies for “infant colic,” many doctors rightly argue that in reality there is not yet a single proven remedy for this disease. Simply due to the fact that the very nature of colic in infants has not yet been determined.
Approximately the same position is expressed by our respected pediatrician, Dr. Komarovsky:
“With infant colic, only two things really help - time and parental patience. Colic in newborns is painful, but not scary. And what’s most important is that it’s temporary: regardless of whether you fight them or not, the baby will go away with them in about 3 months.”
Therefore, the first thing your pediatrician will advise you as a countermeasure against colic will most likely not be any pharmaceutical drug. To begin with, he will offer you:
Despite the fact that many pediatricians (including the respected Dr. Komarovsky) are convinced that today there are no medications that can reliably relieve babies from painful colic, there is a small list of drugs, the use of which they do not forbid and consider to some extent justified for severe colic in newborns and infants. It is not known for sure whether these remedies help with colic in infants, but the fact that they help reduce gas formation is absolutely certain. For example:
For practical parents: you don’t have to look for and remember the names of any specific drugs containing simethicone or fennel fruits. Any pharmacist at the pharmacy will offer you a range of remedies and they will all have a similar effect. Take the cheapest or “attractive” one for you - there is no significant difference between them, they work the same and are equally safe for the baby.
Colic in a child is a normal occurrence in the life of a beginner. The phenomenon, unfortunately, is painful, and it is precisely because of pain that this person screams and cries sometimes louder than the trumpet of Jericho.
Modern science has not yet come up with any cures for infant colic, so the most that a sane, adequate parent can do is be patient and master several techniques that help to some extent (and even then only supposedly!) relieve the child’s pain. Patience should be enough for about 3 months, after which the baby’s colic will go away on its own.