You may have heard some parents describe their infant as a “colicky baby,” a term used to describe a baby who has frequent and prolonged crying spells, with virtually nothing you can do to soothe them.
Many healthy newborns will experience colic, but what exactly is it and why do some babies have it?
Dr. Arthur Lavin, pediatrician at Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics says colic is an old medical term used to describe unexplained pain.
“What it means is someone is in pain and we don’t know why,” he says. “For long time, people struggled to find out why an infant is in pain. They don’t tell us what’s hurting, so this idea of colic evolved.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, some of the symptoms of colic include, “intense crying that may seem more like screaming or an expression of pain; crying for no apparent reason, unlike crying to express hunger or the need for a diaper change; extreme fussiness even after crying has diminished; predictable timing, with epi- sodes often occurring in the evening; facial discoloring, such as skin flushing or blush- ing and body tension, such as pulled up or stiffened legs, stiffened arms, clenched fists, arched back, or tense abdomen.”
Colic typically begins around six weeks of age and is usually resolved by the time a baby is 3- or 4-months- old.
Doctors are still learning about colic but there are a few different theories as to why a baby may be experiencing it. The “new” way of thinking about colic is that it’s more of an indication of something else going on, rather than a diagnosis.
“Where we’re at right now with colic is that the vast majority of babies who are in pain, we find, there are known causes for their pain and we don’t even call it ‘colic’ in those situations anymore,” Lavin explains.
He says in some cases, babies could be experiencing an allergic or irritable reaction to certain food items (cow’s milk being the number one cause), or heartburn/reflux (also called GERD), which gives off a burning feeling in the esophagus from stomach acid.
If a baby is experiencing signs of colic, Dr. Lavin recommends seeing a doctor as soon as possible to rule out any medical issues going on and begin trying different ways to help the baby feel better.
“My number one advice to parents is seek medical advice from someone who can sort it out and help them figure out what’s causing the suffering,” Lavin says. “In most cases, we should be able to help the baby feel better pretty quickly.”
He says it’s a good idea for parents to keep track of how long and how often the baby is crying, what time of day and what situation the baby was in when it was happening. For ex- ample, was the baby eating, sleeping, sitting up or lying down?
“The first thing I always like to do is meet with the parents and get a good detail of the pattern of crying, when does the child seem most upset,” he says. “We try to get some clues and if the clues point more toward a food reactivity, if the mother is nursing, we’ll have her go off all dairy or have the child go on a formula that doesn’t have intact milk protein and see if colic ceases. If it’s not pointing towards food, we look at the acid reflux question and acid production.”
In Some Cases, Colic is Still a Mystery
“In other cases where the baby is quite irritable and we don’t know why, there is probably a reason that is just as physical and just as real as the reactivity of food and the burning feeling of stomach acid on the esophagus, we just haven’t figured out what those causes are yet,” Lavin says.
Colic typically goes away within the first few months of a baby’s life and there’s no link to future food allergies, digestion issues or other health problems later in life.
