When a baby is born the colon can begin to react to certain enzymes in the system and cause a lot of pain to the infant. Now this reaction can start within a matter of hours or even days and last until the child is about 8 months old. 

     Child colic is a painful condition and parents are helpless when it does attack. During a colic attack, a baby will cry incessantly and even scream at times with the pain. Doctors are not certain what reason colic pains and are unsure of how to treat it. Thankfully the colic attacks are not long-lasting and too continual. 

    Medical experts have studied the condition and are able to pinpoint the reason for the pain. They are of the opinion that bottle-fed infants are more prone to colic pains than breastfed babies are. This is, however, not a rule of thumb as breastfed babies have also been known to develop colic pains. 

   Child colic can appear without a warning causing the baby to cry out in pain and then it will just disappear almost as soon as it appeared. The best treatment for child colic is believed to be gripe water. Mothers can also hold the child upright to her body to relieve the infant from the pain to an extent. It is believed that the soothing warmth from the mama body soothes the infant's abdomen where the pain is concentrated. 

    A warm application around the tummy of the child is also known to help a great deal. Sometimes the colic pains last a very long time and parents have to take it, in turn, to hold the child upright and rock it to soothe the pain. Colic seems to attack at a set time while it does. Though the timings will differ from baby to baby, usually the colic attack comes around early evening or late at night.

    It is important to establish that the baby's crying is due to colic pains. The cause for this is that there is no apparent treatment for colic and so it must be allowed to run its course. Though there are ways to comfort the baby and reduce the pain. However, the crying must not be mistaken for colic and ignored, there may be another serious underlying status that may need immediate medical attention.

    Colic pains are usually diagnosed by the child's behavior. If a child crouches and cringes with the pain and cries more than three times a week at almost set times every time then the discomfort is definitely caused by colic pains. A teaspoon full of gripe water at least four or five times a day has been known to effectively comfort the baby.