Colic in infants is not a pathology or a disease; almost every parent is faced with them. Although colic and normal for babies, they still cause a lot of trouble: the baby’s pain, anxiety, constant crying, failure of the regime (as a result). In this article, you will learn everything about colic in a newborn: symptoms, how to understand, recognize, reasons, how to help. We will consider both medications and alternative agents that will help alleviate the condition of the baby.
Symptoms
How to recognize colic in a newborn? The first and most understandable symptom for everyone is the baby’s prolonged crying - it can last for several hours. In this case, the child will strongly compress the fists, his legs will stretch his knees to the tummy, cuddle. You can touch the tummy if it is hard and swollen, this will indicate an accumulation of gases, which causes colic in the newborn.
How to understand and recognize that the baby feels discomfort precisely because of the colic tormenting him? There are accurate symptoms that indicate this:
- a grimace appears on the baby’s face, which shows that it hurts;
- fists are tightly compressed;
- frequent discharge of gases;
- the baby's legs are tense, pulled up to the tummy;
- spitting up
- prolonged crying, in which the child bends his back (even without crying, bending the back means discomfort in the abdomen);
- bubbling in the tummy;
- the tummy is tense.
Colic can appear at any time, but most often babies suffer in the evening and at night. The kid screams for a long time, not calming down even after a hearty dinner. Often, children generally refuse to eat during colic or suckle a breast / bottle and at the same time whimper, interrupting sucking from time to time, turning away.
Exhausted by the condition of the baby, parents often wonder when the colic in the newborn will pass and he will stop suffering. Usually, the symptoms of this condition of the child are noted up to three months of age, in rare cases (10-15% of newborns), colic can occur up to 4-5 months.
When is it urgent to see a doctor?
There are severe cramps and hospitalization may be required at this time. If the baby refuses food (has not eaten for more than 4-6 hours), cries all this time, rolling up, then this is an occasion to call a children's doctor.
Everyone should know how to recognize colic in a newborn - both mom and dad, grandparents - everyone who stays with the child even for a short time! And urgent hospitalization is required if the colic symptoms described above are accompanied by one or more of the following conditions:
- fever;
- blood impurities in feces or vomit.
Cause colic
We talked about how to recognize colic in a newborn, and how painful it is. All parents worry that they did something wrong, thereby causing a similar state of the child. We hasten to reassure: almost all babies have colic and the nature of their origin is still not completely clear. The only thing people understood is that the baby’s digestive system only adapts to the intake and digestion of food, and from time to time it may fail. Kids, whether they like it or not, swallow air with milk or a mixture that irritates the walls of the stomach and intestines.
In children up to 2 months, colic can last up to 4 hours, in older ones less - up to 2 hours. There are factors that can affect the occurrence of colic (by which the child swallows a lot of air) and their duration. If you eliminate these causes, then the pain in the baby will be faster. We suggest that we continue to talk about the very causes and learn how to deal with them.
Wrong feeding technique
If during feeding the baby incorrectly grasps the nipple (or the bottle nozzle is not suitable for the baby on artificial feeding), then when swallowing food he will also swallow a large amount of air. You will note that the baby does not eat up its norm from the bottle or the breast after feeding is almost not empty - this is the first sign that the baby was swallowing air and stuffed his tummy with it. Such an amount of air can cause colic and prolong their duration.
After feeding, you definitely need to help the baby burp. Even if the feeding technique is good, the baby will still swallow a certain amount of air. If he is not allowed to exit while he is in the esophagus or stomach, he will go further with a large lump and lead to colic or their intensification.
Do not give your baby a dummy! The baby also swallows air at this time.
The child lies a lot
Of course, babies spend most of their time in a horizontal position, as they still cannot sit, much less stand. And this position is one of the causes of colic in newborns.
Air moves much more slowly from the esophagus into the intestines, and then towards the exit, accumulates, since the next one has already caught up with the previous one. In an upright position, the air moves much faster, so it is recommended that children with colic (and to prevent them) wear more in the "soldier" position.
Baby cries a lot
The reasons why the baby often cries can be very different. For example, you first accustomed the child to the hands, and now you are trying to wean him. Of course, the baby wants to handle and he does not understand why they do not take it, so he begins to cry constantly. When crying, the baby swallows a lot of air, which causes colic.
With colic, the child feels pain and cries for a long time. At this time, he delivers even more air to his digestive system, thereby exacerbating the situation.
Kid overfed
If a child has eaten more food than can be digested, or heavier food has got into his stomach, which he still can hardly digest (early feeding, too much new product at the first feeding), then the digestion process slows down. All food, which is located for a longer time to the stomach or intestines, begins to ferment, emitting gases, and for this reason colic occurs.
We learned how to recognize colic in a newborn and for what reasons they can occur and intensify. Next, we propose to consider options for helping the baby, in which the pain will weaken, and then finally pass.
Do I need to see a doctor?
Even if you clearly hear the bubbling sounds in the baby’s tummy, all other symptoms indicate colic, then still the first thing to do is contact your pediatrician. The doctor will examine the baby to exclude other possible causes of his constant crying (and they can be very different), requiring a certain treatment (diathesis, otitis media, and so on).
How can mom help?
Any pediatrician will say that colic is not a disease, and there is no point in treating them! Yes, it hurts the child, yes, it is hard for the parents, but all this is temporary! From colic, parental patience and care really helps. Consider methods that will help prevent colic (reduce the frequency of occurrence), remove them faster.
- Every day, or even more than once, give your child a stomach massage. It can be light stroking, patting, circular movements in a clockwise direction.
- Try to take the baby more often by the handles, wear it in an upright position, this will all accelerate the passage of gases.
- After feeding, be sure to help the baby burp.
- Carry your baby in a sling. This is not just excellent prevention of hip dysplasia, common today, but also the movement of the child’s body (and hence the intestines) - the gases escape faster.
- Mom’s heat will quickly relieve pain Put the child in an upright position with his tummy to his chest, walk with the baby until he calms down (and this will happen quickly!). You can still walk, let the child sleep.
- Consult your pediatrician about breastfeeding techniques. Your doctor will tell you what to do to reduce the amount of air ingested during feeding.
- If the baby is artificial, then buy a special nozzle-nipple on the bottle in the pharmacy or children's store, in which there is a special tube to minimize the percentage of air passing into the baby’s mouth.
- Use a vent pipe.
Next, we propose to consider the best remedies for colic in a newborn. We will get acquainted with both traditional and traditional medicine.
Colic herbs
Traditional medicine is safe for infants, so it is widely used to treat various diseases. There are many herbs that can help you quickly deal with colic:
- Chamomile. Dried flowers in an amount of 15 grams pour boiling water - 400 ml. Put on the stove, bring to a boil. After an hour, strain the decoction through cheesecloth to eliminate the smallest particles of the plant. To eliminate colic (and also to prevent them) give the baby a decoction three times a day for a teaspoon.
- From colic to newborns, dill water has been used for many centuries and is still a popular recipe. Take a teaspoon of seeds, pour a glass of boiling water, cook for 20 minutes. Strain, give two teaspoons (10 ml) three times a day. Dill water from colic in newborns is really a wonderful tool, there are a lot of positive reviews about it on the network.
- Fennel. On the basis of these fruits, medications for childhood colic are also prepared. The tool is very effective, many parents advise it on the Internet in their reviews. Colic in a newborn is well removed by a folk remedy: 10 grams of chopped fruit is poured with a glass of boiling water, let it brew for an hour, then filtered. Infants are given 10 ml of infusion three times a day - before feeding.
- Herb tea. Mix equal quantities of caraway seeds, anise, mint and valerian root. A glass of boiling water pour 20 grams of the collection, strain after half an hour. You need to give a teaspoon three times a day.
Medications
- "Plantex" - one sachet per day. This tool will help if the cause of colic is low motor activity (the child is lying a lot, he is little carried on his hands and in a special backpack). The composition of the drug is fennel, dill, anise, cumin, peppermint. In addition, there is lactose in the composition, so the drug is not applicable for children with intolerance. The drug to prevent colic does not eliminate their attacks!
- If intense gas formation is to blame for colic (maternal diet, a lot of air being swallowed while feeding and crying, overeating), the following drugs will help: Bobotik, Espumisan L, Sub Simplex. All this drops from colic for newborns, created on the basis of activated dimethicone (simethicone), which destroys the gas bubbles themselves, removes them quickly in a natural way. All drugs in this group are not applicable for prevention, they are given only to relieve seizures. Simethicone-based medicines are safe for children with lactose intolerance.
The drugs are prescribed for informational purposes only! Only a doctor prescribes drug treatment.
Diet for mom
If the baby is breastfed, then colic can occur due to the improper diet of the mother. It is necessary to refuse all products which the doctor forbade (milk, fried, spicy, fatty, sweets and so on).
Colic in newborns, according to young mothers, does not become so frequent if you normalize your diet!