Although colic is prevalent among children when it actually happens and a baby screams and

cries without stopping, a new mom can be devastated. It occurs when the infant is about 2 or 3

weeks old and reaches its height at 2 months and comes down at about 3 or 4 months when it

actually stops.

The baby is not in danger because of colic, but an episode can occur almost every day, and

parents learn to deal with it and handle it well. Doctors and researchers are unable to come to a

conclusion as to what actually causes it.

Colic usually occurs after food, and as a result of severe pain in the stomach, the child cries

non-stop for hours. A typical attack can last from 1 – 4 hours. The baby becomes flushed from

exertion, and it is extremely hard on the parents to watch their tiny infant suffer so much.

While there is an episode of colic, the baby’s stomach becomes distended, and the hands and

feet become clammy and their fists are clenched. The episodes happen later in the afternoon or

in the evening usually after food. Colic does not affect all babies and researchers tend to feel

that it is through genetics – if either or both parents have had colic, it may pass on to their

children.

     The child should never be overfed. You will need to know the difference between hunger and

colic before he is fed again.

There are foods high in sugar or juice that has not been diluted that can produce gas and

worsen the problem.

There may be an allergy in the intestines, so a mother will need to discover what her child is

allergic to. It could also be something that the mother has eaten that reaches the baby through

milk while breastfeeding.

Emotions like anger, stress, and fear should be eliminated as this will reflect on the baby and

cause him pain.

The main thing is to keep calm and find out as much as you can about colic. There could be

other factors that make a baby cry – you will need to weed them out one by one before you

conclude that it is colic. As the cause is unknown, there is no real cure, but the only way to

handle colic is to be as calm as possible, keep the child comfortable, soothe him with music if

necessary and wrap him up warmly so that he feels a sense of warmth and comfort and this will

help with his pain.