Better Living

Anyone that has had a baby, knows that the worst sound that you can hear is them crying. Although everyone knows that all newborns cry and show some fussiness, it is also clear that when a child who is basically healthy cries for more than 3 hours straight during the process of a day, it is more than likely colic that is causing it.

These days it is estimated that up to 25% of all babies have colic. It usually starts between the 3rd and 6th week after they are born, and goes away on its own by the time the baby is somewhere around 3 months old. If the baby is still crying to the extreme after that time, chances are that some sort of health problem may be the problem instead.

There are quite a few facts about colic that you may not realize. These facts are:

·    Colicky babies generally have a healthy sucking reflex and a really good sense of appetite and are otherwise healthy and growing well. Sick babies may seem to be colicky but they won't eat very well and they won't have the same strong sucking reflex.

·    Colicky babies really enjoy being cuddled and handled. Sick babies are usually uncomfortable when they are handled.
 
·    Colicky babies may spit up a bit, but if your baby is actually vomiting and/or losing weight something is very wrong and this is not a symptom of colic.

·    Colicky babies usually have normal stools. If your baby is hard to soothe and has diarrhea or if you see blood in the stool, call your doctor.

This all being said, you should have a better idea of trying to decipher if your child actually has colic and not a more serious problem. With this in mind, this is going to be your comprehensive guide to understanding colic and how you can get your colicky baby to sleep through the night so that you can sleep through the night!

What Causes Colic?

Right this very moment, doctors really aren't sure what causes colic. Back in the day, a people believed that it was a milk allergy that caused colic, but doctors now believe that this is rarely, if ever, the case. The reason is because breastfed babies get colic too, and changes in the mother’s diet may help it.

It is now believed that colic is probably not caused by gas either; which is another failed belief system in dealing with colic. Research now suggests that more often than not, colicky babies get gas because they are swallowing too much air while they are feeding or crying.

Some more recent evidence is beginning to suggest that colic occurs when food moves either too quickly or too slowly through a baby's digestive system. It is also suggested that colic can be the result of the baby's individual temperament; which means that some babies just take a little bit longer to get adjusted to living outside of the womb, or that some babies have undiagnosed gastroesophogal reflux disease. Some parents think it is their own fault. That is simply not the case either.



In my daughter’s case, most of her colic episodes occurred during the late afternoon or at night. Most mothers themselves experience hormonal changes in the evening after giving birth. Prolactin is highest during sleep and during the morning, and cortisone which can affect the mother’s ability to deal with their baby is at its lowest around 6:00 p.m.

In the baby's body there are two important hormones, cortisone and growth hormone, and they are at their highest point in the early morning hours and lowest in the evening hours. In the first few months of a baby's life, these varying hormones are much disorganized.

By the time the baby reaches four to six months of age the pattern becomes more consistent and the colic will disappear. You may wonder if it is the stresses you feel that may be causing the colic in your baby. That is not necessarily true either. My answer to this very question was to take an afternoon nap whenever it was possible to recharge my much needed hormone levels. This can shorten the colic’s duration.

Hormonal Disturbances That Affect Colic

Progesterone just happens to be one of the hormones that can have calming and sleep-inducing effects. A baby receives progesterone from the placenta at birth but the soothing effect from it generally wears off in about a week or two and it is also suggested that colic occurs if the infant does not produce enough progesterone on his own. In general, the studies surrounding this are mixed at best but they do indicate colic occurs less in breastfed infants because breastfed babies receive higher levels of progesterone.

Prostaglandin; which is a hormone that causes strong contractions of the intestinal muscle, has also been thought of as a culprit in colic. One study even showed the infants develop colicky symptoms when they were given prostaglandin therapeutically to treat their heart disease.

Colic occurs at an age and stage of an infant's life when he can do nothing at all to ensure his own comfort and amusement. It is the time when they are almost totally dependent on their caregivers for any type of stimulation at all. Is it possible colic begins to subside at around three months of age because that is when babies can finally see clearly and can begin doing things on their own that they may find soothing, such as finger sucking, eye contact, and waving their arms and legs around, which I think is so that the baby can release stress? At around three months of age most babies also develop a higher central nervous system maturity.