As a parent, you want to fix everything. This feeling never goes away, but it’s particularly present during those first few weeks with your newborn baby. When your baby cries, you’re there with a bottle or a blanket to make it all better. That’s one of the reasons colic can be so frustrating and distressing. With a colicky baby, there’s often nothing you can do to make the crying stop.
According to some studies, colic can impact up to 25% of all newborns. Which means the chances aren’t exactly small that your baby has colic. But how do you know when your baby has colic and when they’re just being fussy? The answer can change your approach when it comes to trying to make your baby happy and comfortable.
What is Colic?
For most parents, “colic” is a phrase that strikes fear into the heart. They know that a colicky baby cries–a lot. And that can cause a significant amount of stress. In most cases, however, you don’t have to worry about colic causing long-term harm to your baby.
Colic is a medical condition in which your newborn baby will cry for no discernible or obvious reason. This crying can continue for hours at a time. Usually, colic will present during the first six weeks of your baby’s life and resolve itself by the time your infant is three or four months old. Symptoms can sometimes resolve more quickly–or take slightly longer. Every baby is different!
Colic is usually defined by the following symptoms:
Crying that occurs for more than three hours at a time.
Long crying episodes that occur three times a week or more.
Crying that continues for more than three weeks.
No one is suggesting you get out the stopwatch to time your baby’s crying episodes. But having a general sense of how long the crying lasts can help your pediatrician more accurately diagnose your baby’s colic. There is no “cure” for colic, but there are some treatments that can help make you and your infant slightly more comfortable during this time.
How Do I Know My Baby Isn’t Just Fussy?
Sometimes babies can become fussy and nothing seems to console them. They don’t want to be changed and they aren’t hungry–they’re just fussy. So what makes this different from colic?
Usually, these instances of fussiness will resolve themselves within minutes. And even if your baby is fussy for an entire afternoon, the next day will usually be better. Unless your baby has colic. You know it’s colic when the crying continues past the benchmarks described above.
Colicky babies may also present the following symptoms:
Having a face that’s bright red (or flushed).
Curling the legs in towards the belly while crying.
Excess burping or passing gas (this is an effect of swallowing air while crying, and is not in itself a cause of colic).
Clenching the hands into fists when crying.
Exhibiting a tight belly.
If your baby presents any of these symptoms, it’s a good bet you’ve got colic on your hands. But colic should be diagnosed by your pediatrician to be sure.
What Causes a Colicky Baby?
While there are several theories, no one is entirely sure what causes a baby to be colicky. The most popular (and plausible) ideas are that some babies have a harder time adjusting to life outside the womb or simply lack the ability to calm themselves. Less popular theories include the possibility that colicky babies might have a milk intolerance or are sensitive to gas. There’s also the possibility that causes may change or vary from baby to baby–or be due to a combination of factors.
Generally speaking, any baby is at risk for developing colic, especially through those first six weeks.
How is Colic Treated?
If you think your baby has colic, you should talk to your pediatrician in order to get a diagnosis and formulate a newborn care plan. It’s important to remember that colic is very common–so you aren’t alone in this, and the colic has not presented because you did anything wrong! It’s just something that happens sometimes.
Your pediatrician may recommend the following treatment items:
Feeding: It can be important to make sure your baby isn’t hungry when they’re colicky. To try feeding them. By the same token, if your baby is not interested in food, you shouldn’t force the issue (unless your provider gives you other instructions).
Try different ways of comforting your baby: Rocking, soft singing, warm baths, and so on can help soothe and comfort your baby. If something works, stick with it until it doesn’t. Then repeat the process.
Go for a car ride: In many cases, the smooth motion of the car will soothe babies and put them to sleep.
Try changing positions: Give your baby new views of the world! If your baby is used to laying down, try sitting them up.
Distract your baby: You can try using shiny or noisy objects to grab your baby’s attention. However, if the new objects make your baby’s colic worse, you may want to take the opposite approach and keep distractions and stimulation to a minimum.
You can talk to your pediatrician about what might work–and what might not.
Are There Risks Associated with Colic?
While colic itself will not harm your newborn, in some cases colic can hide an underlying health condition. So it’s a good idea to talk to your pediatrician to make sure your baby is okay. Other than that, it’s important to ensure you are getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep–in both babies and parents–can cause complications and issues all its own.
If you have questions about colic–or how you might be able to distinguish a colicky baby from a fussy baby–talk to your pediatrician to discuss the best way forward.